My take ...

[Houston_Blade]

Good report as ever. Great win and a battling performance, barring Osborn passing them the ball on the edge of our box and the defence all laying down for Mitrovic they didn't have a chance and we kept them at bay.

Fodders - 8/10 - So much better than Olsen and the defence seem to know this as well, enjoyed the "League one Wes" chant and he seemed to as well.

Robinson - 8/10 - Solid, being hypercritical he doesn't seem to have complete control of his feet at all times and headed a couple of balls backwards in midfield due to mistimed jumps.
Egan - 8/10 - Did what he needed to do. I still wish him and Bash would sort the offside trap out between them though.
Bash - 8/10 - A couple of poor giveaways but that sprint back and slide tackle near the end was pure Bash porn.

Stevens - 7.5/10 - Would have been 8 if he didn't slice or mis control the ball a few times, solid defensively though.
Bogle - 8.5/10 - Really good performance going both ways, he's grown into the team. If he'd have converted the Berge pass into a goal or assist it would have been 9.5.

Norwood - 7.5/10 - Showed that he can be useful when we don't have the lion's share of the ball, just anchored really well. His lack of pace sometimes shows him up (running slowly the wrong way around Wilson in the first half pissed me off) but he had a good game in the main. Pinpoint assist for the goal.
Hourihane - 8/10 - Thought he played really well and was shocked when he was brought off for Fleck.
MGW - 5.5/10 - Just didn't really happen for him last night, gave the ball away lots and didn't seem to be able to get hold and take on a man. Still tried to though so kudos for that.

Sharp - 7/10 - Lots of running for no reward, gave some frustrating fouls away but the bloke just never stops. McBurnie needs to watch 24/7 Billy Sharp re-runs and he might make a footballer one day.
Ndiaye - 8.5/10 - Great goal, hassled their defenders and brought others into the game. He's a lot stronger than his size suggests.

Berge - 7/10 - Did well in and out of possession, closed down well and panicked their players. Great ball to Bogle. Still needs to be a bit more forceful going forwards.
Fleck - 6.5/10 - Didn't really do much on the ball, helped us see the game out though.
Osborne - 5/10 - Came on, ran a lot, passed them the ball for the chance where they hit the bar instead of just smashing the ball forwards.

Heggingsbothums - 9/10 - I think we got lucky in that we scored a fantastic goal early on on the counter, but the shape and effort of the team from then on in was exemplary.

Fans - 20/10 - sounded great on the TV and the Bein commentators were suitably impressed.

Fulham - Wilson is a cunt and needs a good slap, Marco Silva is a mardy little fucker. The rest of them were very 'meh'. Are the fans still Chelsea's season ticket waiting list or have they got some of their own now?

Ref - Best we've had yet this season, could have punched Wilson though. I wish all refs were as forthcoming with the timewasting yellow cards, Wes seemed to be taking the piss 10x less than half the keepers we've played against this season and was booked.

Merry Christmas pommpey and keep up the good work.

 

[BiggerBladeThanThou]

Mostly agree although I thought Egan had a better game than you saw and should be notched up a point. Also felt Billy had a better game and deserves an extra point for his fitness and closing down from the front. Was such a delight to see him do that and on another day could’ve got his all important goal.

 

[varkanoid]

It just goes to show how different we see things. I thought Bogles defending was weak all night and when he was tired the last 10 minutes he could have cost us the game. He gave a couple of daft free kicks away and was nowhere to be seen when Mitrovic found space at the end and hit the post. Personally I thought Egan was head and shoulders above everyone tonight. He won his headers, made a few good blocks and tackles, no pun intended, and looked a bit more like the Egan of old.

All in all though that was a great win and it sent out the message that we're back. Good stuff!

Yep it does go to show we see different things.

To be fair Bogle wasnt tired at the end. Just over 10 minutes from end he got crocked and was hobbling about, it was clearly shown on TV and he wanted to come off but couldnt as we had used all the subs. So he played last 10 mins plus extra time with a slight injury.

Thanks for report Pommpey I also thought Egan was terrific. Apparently his NI manager said he could play in the Champions League, according to the commentator so he must have been good.

Also MGW got wacked on the back of the right foot which to me was a free kick, ref never saw it but you saw him hobble for a few minutes then obviously 10 mins or so later he had to come off. Just hope its nothing serious as if not we might not see him again.

 

[Snowflake]

Pretty hard to range anything but praise on Hecky and the lads for tonight. Whilst it wasn't a vanquishing beating of a favoured side by a team better than they, it showed United, in their current 'transitionary phase' at their level best. Most things sparkled in a festive manner tonight and it is difficult to point out weaknesses and fuck ups which makes a change. Again, one was expecting us to be found out and due a Blackburn-style pummelling but we made the league leaders look decidedly ordinary, even for all the possession and guile they had. I was somewhat surprised to see Robinson in and fearing the worst and with no McGoldrick, or McBurnie even as a sub it was difficult to see the way ahead when Billy would hit the wall at 60-70 minutes but to be honest, I expected to be buried by then and either option chasing the ball around their back four. How conditioned some of us still are. Even when we started fairly brightly -which we often do - I was waiting for Fulham to seize control, find our weakness (usually the same old suspects like Norwood or Stevens) and simply bypass on the way to a resounding win.

Whilst many - including me - have been preparing ourselves for a return to predictable WIlderball with Hecky reverting to 5-3-2 and everything going Norwood => Hollywood and us creating fuck all, what I wasn't prepared for and apologise for not seeing is a new style of 5-3-2 which is both comfortable for the players and dammit, produces results. Tonight was Heckingbottom's validation of his new role as United manager and possibly the role he has been waiting for. We started with a 3-4-1-2 which worked really well with the central midfield working very well to negate Fulham's potential dominance (think about the last time we were at Craven Cottage for a comparison of style and approach) and as much as their dangermen - Wilson and Mitrovich - threatened, we looked moderately comfortable for long spells just reducing them to long, pointless passes or wasteful short ones. Up top we just denied them space and possession, robbed them of the ball and went on the attack or in the case of N'Daiye's goal simply bulldozed forward, De Bruyne style and punished Fulham for their lax defending.

Okay, we all thought, 'great, watch us fuck this up' but again, under Hecky we refused to simply give it up because we have the audacity to take the lead, And to the ninety minute choruses of a wonderful away support, we just kept plugging, kept playing and even scored another goal albeit disallowed. We rode our luck, but so have other teams when they've come to BDTBL and we have woken up on the 70th minute and gone on the offensive and put a host of chances wide, into the kop or into the keeper's arms.

Good to see Berge get 45 minutes and Fleck back in a Blades shirt although after the break with the typical 5-3-2 we seemed string enough to hold them out.

No idea how or where we finished the game regarding positioning. It seemed very 5-4-1 with Osborn playing as auxiliary striker.

A bloody well deserved win tonight. So impressed with this turn around and we could possibly get more points out of Preston and Hull before Wilder comes back early next year. The playoffs are now within reach and that is down to the players and Heckingbottom.

Foderingham 8/10: Definitely reinforcing his claim for the No1 jersey for the rest of this season. Assured saves and stops and safe hands on crosses
Stevens 7/10: Despite some doddy-footed clearances, battled well with Wilson and showed some mature, robust determination not to roll over and let the talent of the kid bamboozle him
Robinson 7.5/10: Couldn't fault him much tonight. Committed in the tackles and in the right place save for Mitrovic outpositioning him on a couple of crosses
Egan 7/10: Pretty good if for some worrying periods when he and the rest of the central defence were collectively bullied by Mitrovic. Sometimes he seems just a bit slow and lightweight in the challenge these days and hasn't been top line since the absence of O'Connell
Basham 7.5/10: His usual 'does the right thing' self, save for a few misplaced passes. He is the anchor of our team.
Bogle 8.5/10: A pretty outstanding performance from young Jayden. Both on the ball - very capable - and off the ball - intelligent and showing gathering maturity, he is making Heckingbottom's decisions to reinstate George Baldock a very difficult one and that readers is what makes a team good in competition and strength in depth. Imagine if that were the case in 80% of our outfield positions?
Hourihane 6.5/10: A better game from him overall although he did fade in the second half and made way for Fleck
Norwood 7/10: Very well played for him in spells and no daft Hollywood passes. Fought well if at times sometimes lacking the guile to skip past opposition challenges and beat his man
N'daiye 8.5/10: A great game for him. Real shop-window stuff with his tenacious, never-say-die attitude, go-for-broke attacking and sheer will to take our game to them. A real breath of fresh air and worth all the hype and gossip about him. Brilliantly taken goal.
Gibbs-White 7/10: Lovely half from him until injured and if given another half, I feel would have put the match to bed with a goal or two.
Sharp 7.5/10: Grafted and worked and made the opposition think twice about his presence, both in possession and out of possession.

Berge 6.5/10: Nice to see him back in the game at last - but - for fuck's sake Sander. When you have the ball at your feet and the opposition backpedalling, stopping and passing backwards is so fucking last year. Run at the bastards, and score, eh? You're in the shop window now. No discerning manager worth his salt is gonna risk cash on someone with such talent being seemingly frightened to put the opposition on their heels and go at them.
Osborn 6/10: Not much time to assess and he was playing an odd position of up front-ish
Fleck (unmarked): One decent late tackle. Good to see him back, hopefully as John not Jimmy

Hecky 10/10: Well done feller. Onwards and upwards into the playoffs, please

Supporters 20/10: From start to finish, song after song after song. We done you lot!

Merry Christmas everyone. Not felt this way since McMahon hit those two free kicks past Crawley a few years ago. Jingle Bells!

pommpey

You old softee !
Berge did press on forwards once I recall, beating a couple of defenders and then running into three more.
He was also brought down when driving at them.
Great ball over the top for Bogle to run on to and cock up !
7.5 for me.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

Good report as ever. Great win and a battling performance, barring Osborn passing them the ball on the edge of our box and the defence all laying down for Mitrovic they didn't have a chance and we kept them at bay.

Fodders - 8/10 - So much better than Olsen and the defence seem to know this as well, enjoyed the "League one Wes" chant and he seemed to as well.

Robinson - 8/10 - Solid, being hypercritical he doesn't seem to have complete control of his feet at all times and headed a couple of balls backwards in midfield due to mistimed jumps.
Egan - 8/10 - Did what he needed to do. I still wish him and Bash would sort the offside trap out between them though.
Bash - 8/10 - A couple of poor giveaways but that sprint back and slide tackle near the end was pure Bash porn.

Stevens - 7.5/10 - Would have been 8 if he didn't slice or mis control the ball a few times, solid defensively though.
Bogle - 8.5/10 - Really good performance going both ways, he's grown into the team. If he'd have converted the Berge pass into a goal or assist it would have been 9.5.

Norwood - 7.5/10 - Showed that he can be useful when we don't have the lion's share of the ball, just anchored really well. His lack of pace sometimes shows him up (running slowly the wrong way around Wilson in the first half pissed me off) but he had a good game in the main. Pinpoint assist for the goal.
Hourihane - 8/10 - Thought he played really well and was shocked when he was brought off for Fleck.
MGW - 5.5/10 - Just didn't really happen for him last night, gave the ball away lots and didn't seem to be able to get hold and take on a man. Still tried to though so kudos for that.

Sharp - 7/10 - Lots of running for no reward, gave some frustrating fouls away but the bloke just never stops. McBurnie needs to watch 24/7 Billy Sharp re-runs and he might make a footballer one day.
Ndiaye - 8.5/10 - Great goal, hassled their defenders and brought others into the game. He's a lot stronger than his size suggests.

Berge - 7/10 - Did well in and out of possession, closed down well and panicked their players. Great ball to Bogle. Still needs to be a bit more forceful going forwards.
Fleck - 6.5/10 - Didn't really do much on the ball, helped us see the game out though.
Osborne - 5/10 - Came on, ran a lot, passed them the ball for the chance where they hit the bar instead of just smashing the ball forwards.

Heggingsbothums - 9/10 - I think we got lucky in that we scored a fantastic goal early on on the counter, but the shape and effort of the team from then on in was exemplary.

Fans - 20/10 - sounded great on the TV and the Bein commentators were suitably impressed.

Fulham - Wilson is a cunt and needs a good slap, Marco Silva is a mardy little fucker. The rest of them were very 'meh'. Are the fans still Chelsea's season ticket waiting list or have they got some of their own now?

Ref - Best we've had yet this season, could have punched Wilson though. I wish all refs were as forthcoming with the timewasting yellow cards, Wes seemed to be taking the piss 10x less than half the keepers we've played against this season and was booked.

Merry Christmas pommpey and keep up the good work.

The goal apart , the sprint and slide tackle from Bash was the highlight of the game for me .

A joy to behold and it comes as no surprise that the upturn in our fortunes coincides with his return to the team.

The term ‘Blades Legend’ is sometimes overused on here but I doubt that many would deny this guy that accolade . I certainly wouldn’t .

 

[Houston_Blade]

The goal apart , the sprint and slide tackle from Bash was the highlight of the game for me .

A joy to behold and it comes as no surprise that the upturn in our fortunes coincides with his return to the team.

The term ‘Blades Legend’ is sometimes overused on here but I doubt that many would deny this guy that accolade . I certainly wouldn’t .

The fact that he was on the edge of their box less than 10 seconds before made it even better. Absolute legend.

 

[Bell4]

Good report as ever. Great win and a battling performance, barring Osborn passing them the ball on the edge of our box and the defence all laying down for Mitrovic they didn't have a chance and we kept them at bay.

Fodders - 8/10 - So much better than Olsen and the defence seem to know this as well, enjoyed the "League one Wes" chant and he seemed to as well.

Robinson - 8/10 - Solid, being hypercritical he doesn't seem to have complete control of his feet at all times and headed a couple of balls backwards in midfield due to mistimed jumps.
Egan - 8/10 - Did what he needed to do. I still wish him and Bash would sort the offside trap out between them though.
Bash - 8/10 - A couple of poor giveaways but that sprint back and slide tackle near the end was pure Bash porn.

Stevens - 7.5/10 - Would have been 8 if he didn't slice or mis control the ball a few times, solid defensively though.
Bogle - 8.5/10 - Really good performance going both ways, he's grown into the team. If he'd have converted the Berge pass into a goal or assist it would have been 9.5.

Norwood - 7.5/10 - Showed that he can be useful when we don't have the lion's share of the ball, just anchored really well. His lack of pace sometimes shows him up (running slowly the wrong way around Wilson in the first half pissed me off) but he had a good game in the main. Pinpoint assist for the goal.
Hourihane - 8/10 - Thought he played really well and was shocked when he was brought off for Fleck.
MGW - 5.5/10 - Just didn't really happen for him last night, gave the ball away lots and didn't seem to be able to get hold and take on a man. Still tried to though so kudos for that.

Sharp - 7/10 - Lots of running for no reward, gave some frustrating fouls away but the bloke just never stops. McBurnie needs to watch 24/7 Billy Sharp re-runs and he might make a footballer one day.
Ndiaye - 8.5/10 - Great goal, hassled their defenders and brought others into the game. He's a lot stronger than his size suggests.

Berge - 7/10 - Did well in and out of possession, closed down well and panicked their players. Great ball to Bogle. Still needs to be a bit more forceful going forwards.
Fleck - 6.5/10 - Didn't really do much on the ball, helped us see the game out though.
Osborne - 5/10 - Came on, ran a lot, passed them the ball for the chance where they hit the bar instead of just smashing the ball forwards.

Heggingsbothums - 9/10 - I think we got lucky in that we scored a fantastic goal early on on the counter, but the shape and effort of the team from then on in was exemplary.

Fans - 20/10 - sounded great on the TV and the Bein commentators were suitably impressed.

Fulham - Wilson is a cunt and needs a good slap, Marco Silva is a mardy little fucker. The rest of them were very 'meh'. Are the fans still Chelsea's season ticket waiting list or have they got some of their own now?

Ref - Best we've had yet this season, could have punched Wilson though. I wish all refs were as forthcoming with the timewasting yellow cards, Wes seemed to be taking the piss 10x less than half the keepers we've played against this season and was booked.

Merry Christmas pommpey and keep up the good work.

Great analysis IMO

The only one/s i would slightly disagree with is Norwood - he should be lower as he worked really hard but he (along with Berge - spelt - Berge ) should have put his foot on the ball a lot more and calmed things down - he didn't , but he worked so hard.

The manager - so harsh to criticize but i think he should have brought Burke on instead of Ozzie as an outlet chase stuff down and worry the Fulham back line , especially as Billy had run his socks off .

Pepper in fly shit stuff and a great analysis as i said.

Thanks

 

[Houston_Blade]

Great analysis IMO

The only one/s i would slightly disagree with is Norwood - he should be lower as he worked really hard but he (along with Berge - spelt - Berge ) should have put his foot on the ball a lot more and calmed things down - he didn't , but he worked so hard.

The manager - so harsh to criticize but i think he should have brought Burke on instead of Ozzie as an outlet chase stuff down and worry the Fulham back line , especially as Billy had run his socks off .

Pepper in fly shit stuff and a great analysis as i said.

Thanks

The Osborn sub was a weird one, I don’t mind him, but I just don’t get what he does. Burke just to run around really fast might have done something more.

 

[Gaini Blade]

The Osborn sub was a weird one, I don’t mind him, but I just don’t get what he does. Burke just to run around really fast might have done something more.

Was thinking the same myself last night. Billy put a real shift in but was often isolated and outnumbered. Thought swapping him for the pace of Burke would occupy the Fulham defence and give them a real headache.

It all turned out well in the end though and Billy was a thorn in their side all night.

 

[Bell4]

Just another bullshit report from someone who wasn't there but watched the game on a smartphone.

Firsteenth.

I know

Funny how i always enjoy reading them though - much more than many reports from people who have actually been .

Anyway - its all good , interesting , lively , provocative stuff


Keep it up it 2022

Marry Xmas all

 

[Deadly_D'Jaffo]

I know

Funny how i always enjoy reading them though - much more than many reports from people who have actually been .

Anyway - its all good , interesting , lively , provocative stuff


Keep it up it 2022

Marry Xmas all

It's my personal, unfunny joke about Pommps views being 'less then' because he wasn't at the game. All friendly stuff.

 

[cahill]

Great report pommpey. Really enjoyed the match last night. If we can hold onto Berge, get him playing , and last nights goal scorer ( can’t spell it) plus MGW we should be quids in. Brewster starting to pick up, at last, injury notwithstanding. Be great if Moose and McBurnie could start competing for a place in the starting 11.

Enjoyed watching Bogle last night. Special mention to Jack Robinson for taking his chance in the starting line up

 

[Bell4]

It's my personal, unfunny joke about Pommps views being 'less then' because he wasn't at the game. All friendly stuff.

good man