Saturday expectations

[Kenilworth]

25k +

You heard it here first !

and... a 3 nil home win.

Clap Clap Clap

Yeah, in Matts parallel universe.

 

[Mad Mick]

19,692 attendance

 

[Rattly Noise]

How does that compare to previous years? Do we normally see a drop at this time? Personally I didn't go as I was travelling back from holiday and I suspect there'll be plenty of others with similar reasons.

 

[Foxy]

I'd be happy with us just to score.

How long has it been?

Managed to bag one in style for you today!

 

[Houso]

Yeah, I was a bit wrong with that attendance.

Not far off on the majority though.

Leon Britton <3

 

[Guesty]

Bloody hell, you must be suicidal with that turn out mate!

Some encouraging signs, but Bartley and Nosworthy at Centre Half really worries me, and we were one wonderstrike off drawing that game, just as Boro were one defensive lapse from drawing last Sunday. We can't keep winning games like that, we need better service to the forwards, and better forwards to service, not that useless lump Evans, who offered the square root of fuck all again upfront today.

 

[shorehamview]

Nobody predicted swirly wind, half-hearted drizzly rain, a French thunderbolt and a Welsh dwarf tying Preston's midfield in knots half then time then? Still, nice to see Fergie Jr has still got Shrek's big brother in his squad. That Parkin is one big fat fucker, the earth was trembling like that bit in Jurassic Park when they get chased by the tyrannosarus rex.

 

[Micalijo]

For a new manager with ticket offers?

Nah, I'd find that worrying despite the oppo.

What is worrying is that we are now finding out the true damage inflicted on our great club by the one and only Mr Kevin Blackwell, with a bit of help from a board who were disgracefully blind to it.

 

[shorehamview]

What is worrying is that we are now finding out the true damage inflicted on our great club by the one and only Mr Kevin Blackwell, with a bit of help from a board who were disgracefully blind to it.

What is worrying is that some people declared that all would be well when Blackwell went. Now that has happened there is still doom and gloom all around.

We've got a new manager.
He's trying to change the style of play.
He's brought in two new players, one of whom scored.

So stop sucking the lemons to maintain the scowl, stroke a puppy, cuddle your child or your teddy, watch something noce on the telly, make a nice cup of tea and dunk some bikkies in,and cheer up for a few minutes.

You'd think we'd just had the ground bulldozed and told to play amongst the dogshit in Endcliffe park. Lighten up. Smile. You might actually like it.

 

[Guesty]

Nobody predicted swirly wind, half-hearted drizzly rain, a French thunderbolt and a Welsh dwarf tying Preston's midfield in knots half then time then? Still, nice to see Fergie Jr has still got Shrek's big brother in his squad. That Parkin is one big fat fucker, the earth was trembling like that bit in Jurassic Park when they get chased by the tyrannosarus rex.

Thank Christ the fat bastard didn't try his usual trick of trying to kill our Right Back this time around (kicking Halford in the bollocks in the play-offs, attempting to decapitate Geary, I think, last year) because it would have been poor little Matt!

Britton is English though

 

[mattbianco1]

but a definate dwarf

 

[shorehamview]

Britton is English though

We signed him from Swansea. If a Welsh granny means you can play for Wales, or even an English granny who has been to see Tom Jones, then Britton qualifies as Welsh.

 

[Guesty]

We signed him from Swansea. If a Welsh granny means you can play for Wales, or even an English granny who has been to see Tom Jones, then Britton qualifies as Welsh.

It's a fair cop.

He's played his entire career in Wales I suppose (well, expect for away matches obviously). I think he was on West Ham's books, but didn't play.

I agree about him tying them up in knots though!

 

[Micalijo]

What is worrying is that some people declared that all would be well when Blackwell went. Now that has happened there is still doom and gloom all around.

We've got a new manager.
He's trying to change the style of play.
He's brought in two new players, one of whom scored.

So stop sucking the lemons to maintain the scowl, stroke a puppy, cuddle your child or your teddy, watch something noce on the telly, make a nice cup of tea and dunk some bikkies in,and cheer up for a few minutes.

You'd think we'd just had the ground bulldozed and told to play amongst the dogshit in Endcliffe park. Lighten up. Smile. You might actually like it.

Believe me, all is well now Blackwell has gone. That is all I cared about football wise for a long, long time but poor old Speedo has got to face the reality of dealing with Blackwell's squad building and it has to be mentioned. I get alot of stick on here, ridicule and abuse - fair enough, no problem, deserve it at times but I do enjoy reading that some clappers thought 23k would be a worrying crowd.

I am 100% delighted that we have won today, great for the club and all we need is a bit of pace and BDTBL will be a good place to be again.

 

[mattbianco1]

I do enjoy reading that some clappers thought 23k would be a worrying crowd.

I am 100% delighted that we have won today, great for the club and all we need is a bit of pace and BDTBL will be a good place to be again.

i think the attendance of 19k was absolutely shocking! No excuse for that at all. But it has to be said the crowd were more appreciative of the football on show, maybe due to the new passing style, maybe due to the fact that we were missing 4k grumbling idiots. I dont know but i think i prefer it with 19k.

With regards to Mics bottom comment, i'm not sure i'm hearing this right. All we need is pace ? How many pacy players do you think we need 1/2 or 10/11? I thought the squad we had was abysmal and depleted etc.. ?

 

[lenners]

i think the attendance of 19k was absolutely shocking! No excuse for that at all. But it has to be said the crowd were more appreciative of the football on show, maybe due to the new passing style, maybe due to the fact that we were missing 4k grumbling idiots. I dont know but i think i prefer it with 19k.

With regards to Mics bottom comment, i'm not sure i'm hearing this right. All we need is pace ? How many pacy players do you think we need 1/2 or 10/11? I thought the squad we had was abysmal and depleted etc.. ?

Fans aren't going to spend more than £20 to watch very average Championship football.
As for 'grumbling idiots', you'll be talking about the thousands of long-standing fans who could no longer justify spending good money on mind-numbing 'anti-football'.
And they won't come back to watch the kind of dirge that was served up yesterday. Any team in the country can pass the ball aimlessly around the back four and midfield for 90 minutes - we used to do it regularly under Robson.
We were rescued by a freak strike completely out of sync with the rest of the performance.

 

[Micalijo]

i think the attendance of 19k was absolutely shocking! No excuse for that at all. But it has to be said the crowd were more appreciative of the football on show, maybe due to the new passing style, maybe due to the fact that we were missing 4k grumbling idiots. I dont know but i think i prefer it with 19k.

With regards to Mics bottom comment, i'm not sure i'm hearing this right. All we need is pace ? How many pacy players do you think we need 1/2 or 10/11? I thought the squad we had was abysmal and depleted etc.. ?

Allow me to clarify. The squad is abysmal, no doubt about it - horribly short of spark, flair, pace, width, creativity. WIll Speed be allowed to bring anyone in? Certainly hope so. A bit of pace (striker and a winger) should make a huge difference in terms of entertainment rather than a push for top 6 which I think is miles away. I felt we were so easy to defend against yesterday and it was lucky that PNE were so limited themselves.

 

[Houso]

It was Speed's second game.

His. Second. Game.

The squad is not abysmal. Far from it. We have a playoff standard Championship side at the very least.

 

[lenners]

It was Speed's second game.

His. Second. Game.

The squad is not abysmal. Far from it. We have a playoff standard Championship side at the very least.

Really? Our forwards have scored one goal in five matches and did not remotely look like scoring yesterday.
On what basis does this make us 'a play-off standard Championship side at the very least'?

 

[Houso]

Because players who have played very well in the past at this club and elsewhere, do not become awful players over night.

The strikers could have played for another 90 minutes yesterday, but without the service, they would have had few chances to score.

I agree with the comment about some of the aimless passing yesterday; but like I mentioned, it's Speed's second match in charge and bad habits die hard. Or more to the point, good habits aren't easy to pick up.

Evans, Cresswell and Bogdanovic have all scored goals in this league before, but they did so previously with chances served up to them. With one man up front yesterday, it was always going to be tough for the former two to make space to score. The support from the flanks just wasn't there.

That said, for a second match in charge, it was very very promising.

 

[Trigger Blade]

Fans aren't going to spend more than £20 to watch very average Championship football.
As for 'grumbling idiots', you'll be talking about the thousands of long-standing fans who could no longer justify spending good money on mind-numbing 'anti-football'.
And they won't come back to watch the kind of dirge that was served up yesterday. Any team in the country can pass the ball aimlessly around the back four and midfield for 90 minutes - we used to do it regularly under Robson.
We were rescued by a freak strike completely out of sync with the rest of the performance.

Is this a new tactic len? You've managed to lambast the performance that had most people leaving the ground happy and entertained, without mentioning the opposition. Traditionally, you'd say that Preston were the worst team we'll face this season (cf Boro), or something like that, suggesting we only won because the opposition were even more rubbish than us. Now, we're only winning because we scored a freak goal.

The lack of clear-cut chances is a worry, we put in loads of crosses, mostly overhit, but that can be worked on. If we're still not scoring when we get the ball in the danger area, then you can revive your one man crusade against our £750k man Ched.

If that was a dirge, which would more usually be aural rather than visual, but I get your point, I'd be happy to watch more of them.

 

[lenners]

Is this a new tactic len? You've managed to lambast the performance that had most people leaving the ground happy and entertained, without mentioning the opposition. Traditionally, you'd say that Preston were the worst team we'll face this season (cf Boro), or something like that, suggesting we only won because the opposition were even more rubbish than us. Now, we're only winning because we scored a freak goal.

The lack of clear-cut chances is a worry, we put in loads of crosses, mostly overhit, but that can be worked on. If we're still not scoring when we get the ball in the danger area, then you can revive your one man crusade against our £750k man Ched.

If that was a dirge, which would more usually be aural rather than visual, but I get your point, I'd be happy to watch more of them.

If there are many more games like that, 19,000 will seem an excellent crowd before long.
Most people left the ground relieved we'd managed to scab a 1-0 win against a poor side. As I said before, any team can pass the ball around the back four and midfield for 90 minutes - the opposition will happily let you do it all day.
And quite obviously we did only win because of a freak strike.
As for our £3m man, taken off after an hour was it? An hour in which we'd had not a single shot on target?
If we're due to pay another £250k or so on 40 or 50 appearances, we might have to think hard about whether he's really worth it.

 

[Houso]

Len, did you miss the amount of occasions we broke forward swiftly but didn't find a final ball.

We got into so many good positions yesterday, but lacked the invention. More time on the training pitch and the movement and creativity will come.

 

[lenners]

Len, did you miss the amount of occasions we broke forward swiftly but didn't find a final ball.

We got into so many good positions yesterday, but lacked the invention. More time on the training pitch and the movement and creativity will come.

We were clueless in the final third all game.
And we rarely broke forward swiftly as we have no pace in the team. Even when we did break there would be no support anywhere near the player furthest forward.
We have real problems with the frontline - even Wardy was poor yesterday.

 

[Houso]

I must have imagined the handful of times we broke forward swiftly then.

But yes, we were poor in the final third and Ward was poor yesterday and had a strop on for most of the match.

HOWEVER, we won, passed it fairly well, had a couple of VERY promising player performances and will get better. Especially if we do get in some more pace.

 

[shorehamview]

I must have imagined the handful of times we broke forward swiftly then.

You did. If we're told it didn't happen then it didn't happen. If we're told it's pitch black outside at midday, then there's no point going for a sunbathe, because the sun won't be there. If we're told not then it can't have happened. If we are told that America was discovered by Harry America, an unemployed wheel-tapper from Heckmondwike then who are we to disagree? It's like Stephen Fry, without the smiling. Or the funny bits. Or any laughing, or even wry smiles. In fact, not Stephen Fry. More like Henry's Cat then.

 

[lenners]

I must have imagined the handful of times we broke forward swiftly then.

But yes, we were poor in the final third and Ward was poor yesterday and had a strop on for most of the match.

HOWEVER, we won, passed it fairly well, had a couple of VERY promising player performances and will get better. Especially if we do get in some more pace.

Plus points were steady performances at the back from the fullbacks - with steady being a vast improvement on QPR.
Bartley did fine until he struggled against the Beast late on.
But Britton for me was the main plus point and improved as the game went on.
However, much as I admire Monty's appetite and I can see Ertl tries hard, it's going to be impossible for Britton to have a really significant impact if he has no-one else to really play football with in midfield.
By the way, was Morgan dropped? Being transferred? Injured?

 

[Nick Jansky]

However, much as I admire Monty's appetite and I can see Ertl tries hard, it's going to be impossible for Britton to have a really significant impact if he has no-one else to really play football with in midfield.

A midfield of Britton, Ertl & Williamson would match most in this division. I am really hoping that this summer's op has finally sorted Willo out once & for all. Its an old cliche, but his eventual return to the team will be like making a high quality new signing.

 

[chipsncake]

Is this a new tactic len? You've managed to lambast the performance that had most people leaving the ground happy and entertained, without mentioning the opposition. Traditionally, you'd say that Preston were the worst team we'll face this season (cf Boro), or something like that, suggesting we only won because the opposition were even more rubbish than us. Now, we're only winning because we scored a freak goal.

The lack of clear-cut chances is a worry, we put in loads of crosses, mostly overhit, but that can be worked on. If we're still not scoring when we get the ball in the danger area, then you can revive your one man crusade against our £750k man Ched.

If that was a dirge, which would more usually be aural rather than visual, but I get your point, I'd be happy to watch more of them.

"one man crusade against our £750k man Ched"

Come off it pal, I don't know a single Blade away from this board who doesn't think he should be anywhere else but on the way out.

 

[chipsncake]

A midfield of Britton, Ertl & Williamson would match most in this division. I am really hoping that this summer's op has finally sorted Willo out once & for all. Its an old cliche, but his eventual return to the team will be like making a high quality new signing.

You may be right, but we can't afford to wait for Williamson to return before we replace Monty.