Positives from today

[Lightsoot]

Avoiding a humiliating scoreline and Hamer being introduced to the crowd before kick-off were the only positives for me.

I’m struggling to understand the exaggerated praise for Osula and Traore. If the bar is that ‘they are young’ and ‘didn’t do that bad’, then it’s a really low one.

I was disappointed by the workrate and awareness of both our strikers, particularly in the first half when they rarely made a nuisance of themselves and pressured the Palace defenders. Yes, Osula had 2 decent efforts which offers hope, but off the ball he was dreadful and gave away too many fouls.

I expect more from Traore, but accept it’s early days and patience is needed. But he looked weak, clueless and not as fast as I hoped, admittedly based on one game with zero midfield support. Plus, he’s already been given a song on the back of….. putting pen to paper which irritates me.

 

[blade67]

In short supply, but let’s av em.

1: Will Osula. Running his blood to water deep into added time. Intelligently, too. Looked closer to being ready for this level than he previously has, as an off the bench option at least.

2: Benie Traore. StIll looks his age. Naive in some of his pressing and tackling, and in some of the runs he makes. But genuinely rapid; looked much less like a lost child than he did v Stuttgart; power to add as he beds in and gets used to a role; could flourish this season eventually, as another off the bench option.

3: Bash reprising his giraffe-on-ice Cruyff collapses … in the Prem! (a little like Leon getting a go against Liverpool in 19/20—whatever the deficiencies of the squad/recruitment/management that have allowed this to happen, what’s not to love?).

4: The first half. We were still well in the game at HT.

5: The crowd stuck with the team, despite, well, everything

6: Better times ahead. With incomings and returns from injury, 4-6 of today‘s starting XI won’t be starting in 4-6 weeks time.

7: Pigs lost.

8: So did Forest.

9: We’re not bottom, yet.

Err, that’s it.

Well done to find 9, even if a couple are bit of a stretch. 1,2,5 and 6 are the most significant. And if 6 goes well and we can put a real fight, there is a season to enjoy.

 

[RichardKeys]

For Eze he’d actually scored against us for QPR in the promotion season. We could have got him at the end of that season but instead we went for such luminaries as Callum Robinson and Luke Freeman instead.

Hindsight is great isn't it. Freeman was QPR's player of the year that season. Robinson also had a very good campaign at Preston. At the time, both seemed good acquisitions and there was little/no complaint from fans when they signed.