Really enjoyed today. Yes I know our opponents were absolutely awful but I was thoroughly entertained…and, in the end, that’s why we go to football have to credit them, unbeaten in 6 now but let’s see how many points we get in the next 6.
That's the third worst team in the Championship right there, and people thought there was a chance we'd get relegated from this piddly division lol. We're the most mid tabley mid table team you could wish to assemble.
12 points in 6 games although large caveat that apart from Cardiff who are 9th, the other 5 teams are bottom half, with 3 of them in the bottom 4. Need to start frequently beating top half teams teams ( those outside of the top 4 )to indicate real signs of progress .
It’s a good bounce back from that miserable night at Sunderland. Maybe that will turn out to be the nadir of the season. We shall see. It’s good to go unbeaten in the block of fixtures from one international break to another. If we were ever going to achieve such a feat, this now completed block was probably the most likely one, as there weren’t any really scary looking fixtures in the six. Maybe we should have got more points (Millwall and Huddersfield) but again you can’t moan too much about 12 points from 18 from the poor league position we were in. And today was great fun. Unlike the QPR match, today’s good win was spread over both halves. There were a few encouraging signs again that few players have an automatic starting place (good to see the under-performing Louza benched again, for example). Nobody seemed to have missed a team meeting this week. We have a really impressive record of goals off the bench this season, with another two (plus an assist) today. (The assist being Healey’s long-awaited first goal contribution for us). We were at times today the complete opposite of the horrible timid showing of last Saturday, and it was good to see. Rather typical isn’t it that after our biggest win in ages, it’s two weeks off now! But at least we can keep the unbeaten run for another fortnight! And on a personal level, I have England v Malta to look forward too in the break!
Our next set of fixtures stinks (5 of the next 6 are vs teams in the top 8), so it was very important we took advantage of the favourable run we've just had, and you can't say we haven't done that. Unbeaten in 6, 9 scored, 3 conceded, 4 clean sheets. Can't ask for much more than that.
He's got some decent assists in previous years from his corners. Issue is, he's clearly instructed to hit them hard and flat which gives a high chance of them being headed away at the near post but if he does get it past them then they tend to create good quality chances.
Yes, none of us want the corner to be headed away by the first man, but believe it or not, that's not the ultimate goal! That area just above the head of the first man just happens to be the most dangerous area
There is someone who sits behind me who always bangs on about not beating the "1st man " . It is why teams set up defensively at a corner with a player positioned there ! Including us !! Maybe @reids could add some insight here but could a late run from an attacker to get in front of the "1st man" defender be worthwhile ?
Even if we do lose our next 6 (which I'd still say is unlikely), it's hard to envisage any of the mob in relegation trouble overtaking us. Next season when the parachute payments run out is still a bit of a worry, but this season we will be just fine
I don’t mind that but why don’t we cover off the most likely/potential clearance channel then? Time and time again the man on the near post not only clears it but easily gets it into space.
Incidentally, dunno if it was because we had bagged so many but not one player really gave a **** to celebrate with Martins. He had to do it with kids in the stand.
This is usually my kind of fan form so I do empathise - but I was the opposite for a change. This was the first game of the season I’ve been able to go to. Fell nicely for me!
But six games ago we were in the bottom quarter, so it is improvement. Let’s hope it’s the beginning of progress.
True, however in the last three games we have conceded thirteen goals against Leicester. Ok one of those was the FA Cup but I hope with a new team spirit we can give them a game. A draw would still be a very good result.
Yeah, that's something a lot of good set-piece teams do. Just under 30% of corners (excluding shorts) result in the attacking team winning the first contact, so a good strategy is to obviously maximise your chances of winning the first contact by attacking multiple areas rather than putting all your eggs into one basket - so Rajovic attacking the near corner of the 6-yard area, whilst Sierralta + Hoedt target central and someone else attacks the back-post etc. Considering how often (below) we hit that zone - it's definitely a good idea to spread our players out!
I liked Hamer today in goal, distributed the ball quicker than we have in the past and although didn’t have a lot to do, he seemed to be communicating well and got Porteous to throw himself away from the ball to claim it on one occasion, set Asprilla away nicely too with a quick release. Also ventured from his line fairly frequently. I also think Rajovic showed his profile well today, he is a striker who may not be technical or massively skilled but he is consistently in the centre of the box waiting for the ball, which if delivered well gives him the chance to finish, he doesn’t deviate too much from this and also ran and ran today and put in a shift! Seems to love celebrating a goal too! Livermore and Kayembe look solid as a midfield pairing too, win the ball and hard to get back off it as well. Porteous rides his luck a little with some of his challenges but mostly gets away with it although some of the challenges are unnecessary and could cost us against better teams. Nice to see Healy get his assist too, shame he couldn’t get his shot away but unselfish in knocking it back for Martins. Happy enough with the performance, even happier with the score and hopefully the confidence is building in the team
Say what you like about Rajovic but he knows where the back of the net is, he just needs the service which Sema duly provided. Also, superb win going into what looks like a tough run of fixtures on paper.
Played well in the 1st half and controlled most of the game. The 2nd half, despite going 3 up and killing the game, we were off the pace with Rotherham seeming to have more of the ball, without doing anything with it. If they hadn't gone down to 10, in the 80th minute, I doubt we would have got the two late goals. Regardless, a wins a win
Agree. Everytime I see an old Zola game I'm amazed at how good we were esp when we were on the ball. I've often tried to put my finger on what it was that made us look so good and I think it was the confidence that zola gave them to move the ball quickly but also to run with ball into spaces and make the oppo think. That's the piece that our guys need to gradually add and I think they've made a start.?
That was fun. Rotherham were bad but I thought we caused that by playing well and on the front foot. The midfield is finally a functioning midfield which has made a huge difference. Livermore was exceptional today. Rajovic is a good striker at this level once you accept him for what he is. Offers nothing outside the box but give him chances and he’ll score. The same can’t be said for Bayo. Sema excellent again. Me and my brother were pondering who would be the best player to have if you had to have 11 of the same player to play every position and I think it’s easily Sema. Think Val has done a pretty good job in recent weeks. We’re hard to beat now. Not sure we have been since the Xisco season. Might be boring at times, but it’s better than being hammered by average teams. Think today also showed why Healy hasn’t been near the team. Surprised by a few people praising him on Twitter. Looked incredibly rusty and his first touch was terrible. Think he needs to go on loan somewhere and play 10-15 games to get match fit.
Hamer only really had one save to make today worthy of the name. And Rotherham never really put him under any pressure when having to make any passes. The idea that he's on the same level of Bachmann is laughable based on his general performance level for us, and today thankfully didn't really test him.
