Last night's match at Sixfields was all a bit on the quiet side, the Blades following was very laid back and the team didn't seem much livelier. Thankfully, Butler looked more assured than at Burton and I think he is going to prove a solid centre back, McGahey made a few mistakes in distribution but you can see the potential. Davies started at right back but within about 5 minutes swapped to left midfield and then had a pretty decent game, including delivering a great ball for our goal. The change came about after Crawford picked up a knock and departed, replaced by Paling who played right back, and looked better than at Burton where he got the runaround, pity about Crawford I would have liked to have seen more of him.
The rest of the midfield, McGinn, JCR and Doyle was workmanlike in a pretty even contest. Louis Reed showed some lovely touches playing off Porter without looking like scoring and Porter did what he usually does when he starts, very little. The trialist at left back looked mobile and quite lively but pretty wet behind the ears. The changes came in threes from about the hour mark, unlike the distinct improvement in performance that occurred at Burton in the second half United didn't really kick on this time. Alcock impressed most, playing centre half this time next to Maguire, starting to think we've got a good'un with him and I think in terms of performance if not in cult following he has a chance of filling the boots of Mr Brayford. The other new boy who's starting to make an impression on me is Basham, he gets forward, clearly knows his job in the middle, he also has more of a physical presence which is something we have lacked for a while in midfield.
Long looked pretty assured and in the 2 warm ups and matches I've seen he looks ahead of Howard, not sure about this Loan business... Didn't get a clear view of the penalty incident though.
No Geronimo last night which was a pity I wanted to see more after the promise at Burton.
Biggest problem still though is the lack of a striker that can capitalise on the decent stuff going on elsewhere. I am starting to worry about this, Porter is hopeless, I think Baxter is great but he doesn't lead the line and the remaining options are kids learning their trade. I hope McNulty comes good but we need to find a physical, pacey goal machine from somewhere pretty quickly.
. Stop panicking for Christ sake, enjoy the sunshine and trust those in charge who know what they're doing.
