My take ...

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Norwood is brilliant in this league as is Berge but not so brilliant when they make the big step up, our problem is that we want a midfield player who can run,tackle,pass and score Steven Gerrard was probably the only player that could have offered that so coming back to reality we have to have a worker like midfield which creates little and we need a player who can pass so on our budget we get Norwood and Berge unless we get a youth player through that is Steven Gerard’s Sheffield love child.
 
pommpey said:
Reyt win. Considering how weakened we are and we'd been turned over by the Millers midweek this looked set to be a further setback even if it were a stale, sterile 0-0. Certainly the first half suggested it was going to be that way. No McBurnie to terrorise their poor central defenders and what looked like a real pedestrian, uninspired and frankly tired approach, United looked like they'd be lucky to get anything out of today. There was also a chance we could have simply given up and let Cardiff - a pretty shit side all over the park - snatch the win and put us down the chasing pack.

First 45 there seemed to be a real disconnect with the usual suspects - midfield - playing a far too safe and careful manner and unwilling to drive up the park and put Cardiff on the back foot. We also looked vulnerable at the back with too many opportunities opening up for Cardiff's generally useless front two to fuck up. It only took one of the chances to go in to see us panic further and over-react and go further behind. Not like us to go to Cardiff as favourites and come away holding our manhoods cheap is it?

To be honest, another fucking hamstring injury to another key player didn't help us at all. Although JLTs first chuck into the mix was pretty poor, Cardiff aren't great at defending this stuff and maybe later throws may have given us better fayre. But on comes Clark and we simply look like we are playing a 4-3 training passing games in grids all over the park. We just didn't seem to wat to turn anything toward feeding Billy and Illiman to put them in. Pass-pass-pass ... back to Fods ... pass-pass-pass. Okay, possession means the opposition hasn't got the ball and we aren't under pressure. But if that is all we do, how do we win a game that depends on goals scored to be victorious? Passing it about, even if we showboat it off several keepy uppies to a chorus of 'ole's' means fuck all when it comes down to points gained. First half was just that. The only player who looked capable was Arbtaster, jinky runs and clever passes but fuck all to show for it.

Massive surprise and a huge 'What the fuck are you doing, Hecky?' to see McAtee on for Arblaster at the start of the second half. Surely get rid of the 'all fart but no stink' Osborn? Yeah, me too. I was fearing McAtee getting bullied and Osborn turning so many concentric circles that he actually disappears in a haze of soil and grass. But lo! Two minutes in and he's clean on goal. A square pass puts Billy in with a tap in. He fucks it up but lo, again, we don't give it up and spend the next ten minutes savaging Cardiff amidships. United look determined and pissed off all of a sudden and fuck me did it not look good? Okay, we can't score for fucking toffee, but we look a lot better for it. We are attacking on all flanks, Wing Backs, Midfield and even the Centrebacks are having a pop. Some great corners go in and we move, as a team, up the pitch. Then McAtee is involved ... again ... and Baldock picks their pockets and steams in on goal cracking in a great near post shot between keeper and near post. One fucking nil. Actually, thoroughly deserved if anything and one to defend and hold onto. Top of the table is at stake, or at least a top two position into the international break.

Can't henestly say Cardiff deserved anything out of this game and possibly Roy will confirm that later if some of their more honest fans come clean about their shortcomings. I was worried we wouldn't manage the lead enough and let them go level - this nearly happened - but let's face it, we were still the better side as bad as we played even in the first half.

Whichever way up you look at it, this keeps us in the fight now and the backroom staff has a game on its hands with the decompression of the squad between now and December 10th and getting everyone match fit and ready to be selected and playing for the intense Christmas into New Year period. Come out of that unbeaten and I reckon we are up. Fail to win in six and we will struggle. We need no repeats of the last catastrophic break.

Foderingham 6/10: Not a massive amount to do. Rooted firmly to the spot for two of their fucked up headers from six yards
Baldock 7.5/10: Busy as fuck up and down the flank and a well-taken goal
Basham 6/10: Hot and cold for him. Usually 'Mr Always Does The Right Thing' and now not so much. His experience shone through in the second half though
Egan 6.5/10: Between him and the other centrebacks I was disappointed to see, say, Robinson steal in with a free header and their front two pretty much not muscled out of aerial challenges especially during the first half. Better in the second, but not by much
Robinson (unmarked): really disappointed to see him crocked. I know this will please some who see him as a liability but for me he is an improved player regardless of mishaps recently
Stevens 6.5/10: A more dogged outing from him and better in some aspects of defending against a more nimble attacking threat
Arblaster 7/10: Our best player in the first half. Clever, forward-looking and tricky. No idea why he was subbed. Paired with McAtee I think we'd have been better in the second half going forward
Norwood 6.5/10: Some good, some bad. First half he was reduced to the long ball game which gave us nowt. Got stuck in and tackled and played some clever ground passes as the game grew. Free kicks shit though. Floating balls over is ploppy bobbar Sunday League stuff
Osborn 5/10: Another iffy, achieves-little-for-effort-made performance from him
Sharp 5/10: Bang average and only that. He's our only option now though and its a disappointing one at that
NDaiye 7.5/10: Reduced to fetching and carrying for much of the game and playing basically on his own. GLTTL in Qatar. Please come back uninjured and as dedicated to the shirt please

Clark 6/10: Solid enough although as guilty for letting Cardiff into gaps between him and Egan. Stole a goal off Egan.
McAtee 8/10: On fire second half. Some great runs at them and coming inside onto his favoured foot
Khadra (unmarked) Not enough time to have an impact and on for the wrong striker IMHO

HJ&SMcM 7/10: Great win with some puzzling alignments of players and substitutes but we are past the finish line now with regard recovery from injuries with December onwards with which to return with a better squad to push on.

pommpey
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I saw the line up cue meltdown. In fairness they missed a couple of sitters but 3 away wins on the bounce 2 not so great performances. Sometimes I ask myself what the fcuk do I know about football... Not a lot UTB
 
Its a team,we loose and win as a team. One of the cardiffplayers had one Job tonight,stop Norwood. Sure some of ours had special instructions aswell. Pretty sure the Staff and players dont read ratings.
 
WTF is going on with this thread? Pommps gives his honest opinion, which is objective and full of wit, yet he is taken to verify every observation he makes? Mostly I agree with much he states. We are still stuck with a style of play that works most weeks in this very poor Championship.
What do we all feel if we gain the holy grail of the Premier League? Is this team of Wilderball hasbeens good enough? Norwood, no, not a hope in hell. He has moments of brilliance, but his consistency is poor, and he is easily taken out of the game.
We have seen glimpses of what is possible going forward. The inspiring growing partnership of McB and Illi is a joy to behold. When we play fast and through central midfield, occasionally, we see the hope for the future. At times towards the end of last year when we played through the centre, using Berge at no.10 I finally thought we had found a new system. But as Pommps says many times, our default position is fucking Wilderball without the younger Basham or the marauding JO'C. TBH, I think Hecky lacks the tactical nouse to force a change. I do believe he is a cracking coach and a good manager. But we seem to lack a gameplan instilled in the players before kick off. Do we ever analyse the opposition? To me it appears he picks a bunch of his fittest players, chucks'em on and hopes for the best. No plan A, B or C. Substitutions continue to amaze me.
Well enough of my take, sorry it is your thread Pommps.....
Finally, today's game, we were pretty shit for all but 20 minutes. Thankfully they were more bobar than us. Thank fuck we got rid of C Robinson, one of our previous cow's arse banjo strikers or we would have been 3 down at half-time. A creditable win at the end of the day, thank you Furious George. Top of the league overnight, 👏.
If we make promotion as we should in this poor championship, we will need new style and momentum to survive in the EPL. Norwood, Wilderball, et al will not be the answer. Think of the future. We do have some incredible talent coming through, we need to dispense with the past, move forward and create this new style in preparation for EPL. UTB.
 
pommpey said:
Fair shout.

But from your opening statement there, I take it you'd agree that he is frustratingly inconsistent and when leaned on, is completely ineffective. He's not 'the best midfielder we have seen in a Blades shirt for (insert number of) years'. He's 'okay', but he's fucking limited. Limited in that if we play any other system or if the opposition press him, he might as well be sat in the stands. That doesn't say 'best midfielder' to me. It says 'limited'. It says ' has his moments'.

pommpey
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Like I said, when he's good he's good and when he's bad he's bad and yes, he's inconsistent as they all are. I honestly think when we're at it, and Norwood's having a good game, we're way better than any other fucker in this division. Problem is, and Tuesday was a classic example, when we're off we're fucking shite. Today showed us that in one game, first half fucking gash, second half was great and for me, that was mostly down to Norwood stepping up and being a leader. I thought he was far and away the best player on the pitch, his passing was good, he was always available and we actually had a midfield. Granted Cardiff were fucking dogger but with a scratch side, we were comfortable winners in the end.

all about opinions, nowt wrong with that.
 
Cheers, Pomps. Always look forward to reading these.

I’d probably agree that Norwood wasn’t much more than OK, but in a really low-quality game, that was enough for him to stand out as one of the few true footballers on the pitch, especially in the second half.

Happy we won, but the performance was a 0-0, at best, and we continue to struggle to create. Hope we can get some more creative options back/in after the WC.

UTB
 
sitwell said:
Norwood 6.5 . Clickbait.
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Worked with you, didn't it treacle?

Try to make room for other people's opinions, eh?

Better still, give us the benefit of your global footballing knowledge and your own match write up.

pommpey
 
pommpey said:
Saw what I needed from the game. He was 'okay' but nothing as good as the Burnley game. To some, its as if he wasn't playing, we'd be bottom of the league. I say we only play like we do - Wilderball - because he is playing. And many times it is disappointingly predictable and ineffective.

pommpey
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The Wilderball team are in the top 2 going into the World Cup break - the main reason why we aren’t almost untouchable have been the injuries . The main reason why we are still in the driving seat is O Norwood and IN with a recent contribution from OM .

This Wilderball team got to the playoff semis last season following a near disastrous start and one of the main reasons was O Norwood and MGW , under excellent management .

Many times he is disappointing and ineffective you say ….wtf??

With all due respect - you talk crap imo where ON is concerned .

Perhaps if others did their jobs now and again and we had a fitter squad then perhaps ON wouldn’t have to do so much . It’s no coincidence he seems to play better when young Doyle is in the team helping push forward but recently he has had to do everything due to the lack of competence of some of his fellow midfielders .

Wonder why he is regarded so highly by pundits and why he has the best midfield stats in the league ?

Most people can see his shortcomings and he has them, as he has a poorer game from his normal high standards from time to time - not surprising as laws of probability will dictate this due to the fact that he is almost an ever present .

It seems that when he has a fantastic game you praise him because you would look stupid if you didn’t - when the team standards drop he becomes your fall guy .

I envoy reading your take - honestly do but your view and attitude to ON is unjust Imo and it seems unjust from other peoples perspective too
 
It’s hardly Wilderball now! gone are the days of predictable waves sprinting from the back to join up as reinforcements, gone are the not scoring from corners, gone are just side ways passing it’s more attacking I agree it’s not as grest at the back but it’s nicer to watch we score a lot more that’s for sure not that I’m suggesting it’s perfect or Manchester Cityesque.
 
Looking like any two from three this season..us Burnley Watford..IMO.
 

Bell4 said:
The Wilderball team are in the top 2 going into the World Cup break - the main reason why we aren’t almost untouchable have been the injuries . The main reason why we are still in the driving seat is O Norwood and IN with a recent contribution from OM .

This Wilderball team got to the playoff semis last season following a near disastrous start and one of the main reasons was O Norwood and MGW , under excellent management .

Many times he is disappointing and ineffective you say ….wtf??

With all due respect - you talk crap imo where ON is concerned .

Perhaps if others did their jobs now and again and we had a fitter squad then perhaps ON wouldn’t have to do so much . It’s no coincidence he seems to play better when young Doyle is in the team helping push forward but recently he has had to do everything due to the lack of competence of some of his fellow midfielders .

Wonder why he is regarded so highly by pundits and why he has the best midfield stats in the league ?

Most people can see his shortcomings and he has them, as he has a poorer game from his normal high standards from time to time - not surprising as laws of probability will dictate this due to the fact that he is almost an ever present .

It seems that when he has a fantastic game you praise him because you would look stupid if you didn’t - when the team standards drop he becomes your fall guy .

I envoy reading your take - honestly do but your view and attitude to ON is unjust Imo and it seems unjust from other peoples perspective too
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And you're wrong regarding my opinion of Norwood and would thank you to stop second guessing what I see and understand about Oliver Norwood and his footballing game. It may have escaped your vision that the season before last he was dismal throughout the whole campaign. A clear indication of 'when he has a bad game, so do we'. He was totally found out and exposed for the Championship player he always was and coughed up possession and became redundant in defending and going forward. When Slav came in and tried to shift the emphasis off long punts to the wings hey presto, we lose Oliver Norwood entirely and he becomes a two man midfield bollard with Fleck. It was only when Hecky came in and restored some of the component parts of Wilderball he started to gain value ... not every game but some he was more effective ... but only when the opposition allowed him time on the ball to start spraying balls out wide. We were however hamstruck with the fact that the other components of Wilderball, namely a decent-crossing centreback and a supporting wingback, were nominally absent much of the time. We did make it to the playoffs but it was hit and miss, wasn't it? And lets be honest, many of our goals came not from Wilderball but from the almost psychic connectivity between MGW and IND. They are effectively Rand LAM in nature and picked the ball up and ran at oppositions. They hardly benefitted from Norwood's trademark 'ping' to the wings which was closed down anyway.

I don't rate Norwood up to avoid looking stupid. I'd look stupid marking him low in a game like Burnley where he had a pretty flawless outing. Mind you, Burnley's midfield were all over the shop. Compare if you will Rotherhams which had the measure of him and stopped him playing. Yesterday he was hot and cold. I still have to see him carry the ball up the pitch and still have to see him hit the 192 square feet of goal from outside the box with a meaningful shot which suggests he is as gifted as commentators on telly and on here say he is. It's his effectiveness I have an issue with. What do these millions of passes actually do? Tackling, yep, hes more measured these days and there is an improvement but banging it out to a marked wingback so it can only come backwards holds nothing for us scoring goals. It might get you out of your seat whoopon' and a hollerin' but for me it's when we hit the back of the net with one more goal than the opposition.

And if that's 'talking crap' then I can't help you any further. I spend a lot of time taking the trouble to explain my opinion to my detractors on here for the very same people to provide no evidence I am wrong save for SkyBet screenshots telling us nothing about us as a progressive, attacking footballing team. And our position - be honest - is as much to do with other teams fucking up as much as it does for us pulling a result out of the bag, like yesterday.

pommpey
 
Constantly Optimistic... said:
WTF is going on with this thread? Pommps gives his honest opinion, which is objective and full of wit, yet he is taken to verify every observation he makes? Mostly I agree with much he states. We are still stuck with a style of play that works most weeks in this very poor Championship.
What do we all feel if we gain the holy grail of the Premier League? Is this team of Wilderball hasbeens good enough? Norwood, no, not a hope in hell. He has moments of brilliance, but his consistency is poor, and he is easily taken out of the game.
We have seen glimpses of what is possible going forward. The inspiring growing partnership of McB and Illi is a joy to behold. When we play fast and through central midfield, occasionally, we see the hope for the future. At times towards the end of last year when we played through the centre, using Berge at no.10 I finally thought we had found a new system. But as Pommps says many times, our default position is fucking Wilderball without the younger Basham or the marauding JO'C. TBH, I think Hecky lacks the tactical nouse to force a change. I do believe he is a cracking coach and a good manager. But we seem to lack a gameplan instilled in the players before kick off. Do we ever analyse the opposition? To me it appears he picks a bunch of his fittest players, chucks'em on and hopes for the best. No plan A, B or C. Substitutions continue to amaze me.
Well enough of my take, sorry it is your thread Pommps.....
Finally, today's game, we were pretty shit for all but 20 minutes. Thankfully they were more bobar than us. Thank fuck we got rid of C Robinson, one of our previous cow's arse banjo strikers or we would have been 3 down at half-time. A creditable win at the end of the day, thank you Furious George. Top of the league overnight, 👏.
If we make promotion as we should in this poor championship, we will need new style and momentum to survive in the EPL. Norwood, Wilderball, et al will not be the answer. Think of the future. We do have some incredible talent coming through, we need to dispense with the past, move forward and create this new style in preparation for EPL. UTB.
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MGW isn’t our player -
Berge is injured -
Wilderball or whatever you call it is 2nd top after today and almost made the playoff final last season -
Hecky is doing an incredible job and the injuries and game time he is having to manage is top class -
Picks the fittest players and chucks em on and hopes for the best you say , oh dear .
No plan AB or C - subbed Kadra at Bristol after 30 mins as it wasn’t working and gained a gritty win with a depleted team , see same for yesterday
No one has asked Pommps to put himself out there with his take ? He says he welcomes debate and from what I read (and I enjoy his take) debate us what usually occurs . If he can’t deal with the criticism then don’t put stuff out there
 
pommpey said:
And you're wrong regarding my opinion of Norwood and would thank you to stop second guessing what I see and understand about Oliver Norwood and his footballing game. It may have escaped your vision that the season before last he was dismal throughout the whole campaign. A clear indication of 'when he has a bad game, so do we'. He was totally found out and exposed for the Championship player he always was and coughed up possession and became redundant in defending and going forward. When Slav came in and tried to shift the emphasis off long punts to the wings hey presto, we lose Oliver Norwood entirely and he becomes a two man midfield bollard with Fleck. It was only when Hecky came in and restored some of the component parts of Wilderball he started to gain value ... not every game but some he was more effective ... but only when the opposition allowed him time on the ball to start spraying balls out wide. We were however hamstruck with the fact that the other components of Wilderball, namely a decent-crossing centreback and a supporting wingback, were nominally absent much of the time. We did make it to the playoffs but it was hit and miss, wasn't it? And lets be honest, many of our goals came not from Wilderball but from the almost psychic connectivity between MGW and IND. They are effectively Rand LAM in nature and picked the ball up and ran at oppositions. They hardly benefitted from Norwood's trademark 'ping' to the wings which was closed down anyway.

I don't rate Norwood up to avoid looking stupid. I'd look stupid marking him low in a game like Burnley where he had a pretty flawless outing. Mind you, Burnley's midfield were all over the shop. Compare if you will Rotherhams which had the measure of him and stopped him playing. Yesterday he was hot and cold. I still have to see him carry the ball up the pitch and still have to see him hit the 192 square feet of goal from outside the box with a meaningful shot which suggests he is as gifted as commentators on telly and on here say he is. It's his effectiveness I have an issue with. What do these millions of passes actually do? Tackling, yep, hes more measured these days and there is an improvement but banging it out to a marked wingback so it can only come backwards holds nothing for us scoring goals. It might get you out of your seat whoopon' and a hollerin' but for me it's when we hit the back of the net with one more goal than the opposition.

And if that's 'talking crap' then I can't help you any further. I spend a lot of time taking the trouble to explain my opinion to my detractors on here for the very same people to provide no evidence I am wrong save for SkyBet screenshots telling us nothing about us as a progressive, attacking footballing team. And our position - be honest - is as much to do with other teams fucking up as much as it does for us pulling a result out of the bag, like yesterday.

pommpey
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Thanks

Just don’t agree with you

That’s allowed

And no one has asked you to take the time ????
 
Old Programme seller said:
It’s hardly Wilderball now! gone are the days of predictable waves sprinting from the back to join up as reinforcements, gone are the not scoring from corners, gone are just side ways passing it’s more attacking I agree it’s not as grest at the back but it’s nicer to watch we score a lot more that’s for sure not that I’m suggesting it’s perfect or Manchester Cityesque.
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So why does Norwood try to hit the isolated wingback then? Why doesn't he carry the ball up the pitch into space and lay it off?

Wilderball - how to do it:

1. Egan gives the ball to Oliver Norwood
2. Baldock/Stevens advance up the wings behind the fullbacks
3. O'Connell/Basham advance through the CB/FB channel
4. Norwood hits ball to WB. Egan/Norwood stay as 'anchor'
5. Lundstram/Fleck advance into pocket behind channel
6. Baldock/Stevens feed Basham/O'Connell
7. Ball is crossed from either of the three in the group to box with Sharp/Leon waiting and opposite side WB as 'sweeper'

If we don't have that formula, why is Norwood whacking it wide?

pommpey
 
Bell4 said:
Thanks

Just don’t agree with you

That’s allowed

And no one has asked you to take the time ????
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Well, disagree with me by all means. Say I am 'talking crap' requires me to explain why I am not 'talking crap'

I won't disrespect your right to disagree by describing your opinion as 'crap'. And, you are a bit light on proof aside from 'look at where we are in the league as a measure of Norwood's brilliance. That doesn't half short change a lot of factors, let alone the rest of the squad and the improvements to the likes of McBurnie who for some games had been almost Brian Deane-like in his output.

pommpey
 
cometh the hour cometh the man

McAtee showed there is a footballer getting a grip now hes settled in
Lifted the whole team as we woke up after the half time red bull,
Hecky is nurturing the walking wounded into a points collection machine away just now
 
Bell4 said:
What was hit and miss Pommps ?
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Finished fourth. Dropped some surprising points on the way. Outplayed at home and away with some remarkably poor performances yet did well against teams we should have lost to. And a bad home game v Forest versus a tigrish away game at their ground. Some would say 'inconsistent'.

pommpey
 
For once a break in the season might do us some good with the injuries. Great assessment as usual (bar Robinson being a key player, for me the lad is a bomb scare).
 
pommpey said:
Reyt win. Considering how weakened we are and we'd been turned over by the Millers midweek this looked set to be a further setback even if it were a stale, sterile 0-0. Certainly the first half suggested it was going to be that way. No McBurnie to terrorise their poor central defenders and what looked like a real pedestrian, uninspired and frankly tired approach, United looked like they'd be lucky to get anything out of today. There was also a chance we could have simply given up and let Cardiff - a pretty shit side all over the park - snatch the win and put us down the chasing pack.

First 45 there seemed to be a real disconnect with the usual suspects - midfield - playing a far too safe and careful manner and unwilling to drive up the park and put Cardiff on the back foot. We also looked vulnerable at the back with too many opportunities opening up for Cardiff's generally useless front two to fuck up. It only took one of the chances to go in to see us panic further and over-react and go further behind. Not like us to go to Cardiff as favourites and come away holding our manhoods cheap is it?

To be honest, another fucking hamstring injury to another key player didn't help us at all. Although JLTs first chuck into the mix was pretty poor, Cardiff aren't great at defending this stuff and maybe later throws may have given us better fayre. But on comes Clark and we simply look like we are playing a 4-3 training passing games in grids all over the park. We just didn't seem to wat to turn anything toward feeding Billy and Illiman to put them in. Pass-pass-pass ... back to Fods ... pass-pass-pass. Okay, possession means the opposition hasn't got the ball and we aren't under pressure. But if that is all we do, how do we win a game that depends on goals scored to be victorious? Passing it about, even if we showboat it off several keepy uppies to a chorus of 'ole's' means fuck all when it comes down to points gained. First half was just that. The only player who looked capable was Arbtaster, jinky runs and clever passes but fuck all to show for it.

Massive surprise and a huge 'What the fuck are you doing, Hecky?' to see McAtee on for Arblaster at the start of the second half. Surely get rid of the 'all fart but no stink' Osborn? Yeah, me too. I was fearing McAtee getting bullied and Osborn turning so many concentric circles that he actually disappears in a haze of soil and grass. But lo! Two minutes in and he's clean on goal. A square pass puts Billy in with a tap in. He fucks it up but lo, again, we don't give it up and spend the next ten minutes savaging Cardiff amidships. United look determined and pissed off all of a sudden and fuck me did it not look good? Okay, we can't score for fucking toffee, but we look a lot better for it. We are attacking on all flanks, Wing Backs, Midfield and even the Centrebacks are having a pop. Some great corners go in and we move, as a team, up the pitch. Then McAtee is involved ... again ... and Baldock picks their pockets and steams in on goal cracking in a great near post shot between keeper and near post. One fucking nil. Actually, thoroughly deserved if anything and one to defend and hold onto. Top of the table is at stake, or at least a top two position into the international break.

Can't henestly say Cardiff deserved anything out of this game and possibly Roy will confirm that later if some of their more honest fans come clean about their shortcomings. I was worried we wouldn't manage the lead enough and let them go level - this nearly happened - but let's face it, we were still the better side as bad as we played even in the first half.

Whichever way up you look at it, this keeps us in the fight now and the backroom staff has a game on its hands with the decompression of the squad between now and December 10th and getting everyone match fit and ready to be selected and playing for the intense Christmas into New Year period. Come out of that unbeaten and I reckon we are up. Fail to win in six and we will struggle. We need no repeats of the last catastrophic break.

Foderingham 6/10: Not a massive amount to do. Rooted firmly to the spot for two of their fucked up headers from six yards
Baldock 7.5/10: Busy as fuck up and down the flank and a well-taken goal
Basham 6/10: Hot and cold for him. Usually 'Mr Always Does The Right Thing' and now not so much. His experience shone through in the second half though
Egan 6.5/10: Between him and the other centrebacks I was disappointed to see, say, Robinson steal in with a free header and their front two pretty much not muscled out of aerial challenges especially during the first half. Better in the second, but not by much
Robinson (unmarked): really disappointed to see him crocked. I know this will please some who see him as a liability but for me he is an improved player regardless of mishaps recently
Stevens 6.5/10: A more dogged outing from him and better in some aspects of defending against a more nimble attacking threat
Arblaster 7/10: Our best player in the first half. Clever, forward-looking and tricky. No idea why he was subbed. Paired with McAtee I think we'd have been better in the second half going forward
Norwood 6.5/10: Some good, some bad. First half he was reduced to the long ball game which gave us nowt. Got stuck in and tackled and played some clever ground passes as the game grew. Free kicks shit though. Floating balls over is ploppy bobbar Sunday League stuff
Osborn 5/10: Another iffy, achieves-little-for-effort-made performance from him
Sharp 5/10: Bang average and only that. He's our only option now though and its a disappointing one at that
NDaiye 7.5/10: Reduced to fetching and carrying for much of the game and playing basically on his own. GLTTL in Qatar. Please come back uninjured and as dedicated to the shirt please

Clark 6/10: Solid enough although as guilty for letting Cardiff into gaps between him and Egan. Stole a goal off Egan.
McAtee 8/10: On fire second half. Some great runs at them and coming inside onto his favoured foot
Khadra (unmarked) Not enough time to have an impact and on for the wrong striker IMHO

HJ&SMcM 7/10: Great win with some puzzling alignments of players and substitutes but we are past the finish line now with regard recovery from injuries with December onwards with which to return with a better squad to push on.

pommpey
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I haven’t seen the match nor the highlights but everything you say is spot on !!!!!!!!
 
There's teams that will climb into the play offs , west brom and Coventry could weigh in, Millwall will threaten but as usual finish 8th or 9th
dont think Luton will . and Blackburn seem a bit vulnerable away
Watford haven't impressed after a good start
We can get top 2 provided our injured stars come back, if we were fully fit the top could be ours
Swansea seem like QPR to have hit the buffers just now

I would be delighted with 2nd , and fairly happy with a top 6 spot again if injuries take their toll
 
Cheers pommpey enjoy the well deserved reporting break
 

blade too long said:
There's teams that will climb into the play offs , west brom and Coventry could weigh in, Millwall will threaten but as usual finish 8th or 9th
dont think Luton will . and Blackburn seem a bit vulnerable away
Watford haven't impressed after a good start
We can get top 2 provided our injured stars come back, if we were fully fit the top could be ours
Swansea seem like QPR to have hit the buffers just now

I would be delighted with 2nd , and fairly happy with a top 6 spot again if injuries take their toll
Click to expand...
After being in the top two most of the season a play off place finish would be a disappointment. Stating the obvious really
 
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