You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, so I wasn't expecting to be Barca overnight. Going two goals down had me fearing the worst. The first goal was fair enough but giving away the penalty in that fashion was far too familiar a scenario and whatever happens it's clear there's a lot more work to be done with the defence. But who can complain about the comeback and moreover the style with which we did it? OK we were at home but we dominated possession and played very patiently.
There seemed to be less panic going forward with players willing to pass sideways if nothing was on rather than giving it away as we have been doing. Retaining possession reduced the threat on our own goal and it was a far more assured performance than we've had recently despite the early setbacks. There seemed to be more options and the players' attitude seemed much more controlled and focussed.
We will play better teams, we have to go on the road and I'm not overwhelmed with all the selections but IMO there were a lot of positives that came out of the game. More importantly, the negatives are things that can be worked on and I think the dreamteam showed enough tactical nous to suggest that they'll be able to come up with the answers despite the limited budget - in other words I think they'll get the best out of the current squad.
Going forward, we looked much better than we have done although the defence is still a major concern and I'm not sure that any combination of Mills, Ream and Knight will ever be good enough but I live in hope. Clearly they're sticking with a back 4 and maybe they'll try playing Ricketts in the middle again to calm things down until Wheater is back and Riley on the right at some stage but after yesterday the back four is my only real concern given that we've shown we can play with confidence going forward and convert chances into goals.
Only one game but if they keep that level of performance, commitment, patience and mobility up we could become a force to be reckoned with in this league. It will be difficult over the next few games, but I hope the Board give these lads a proper chance to build on this positive start.
7/10 IMO.
There seemed to be less panic going forward with players willing to pass sideways if nothing was on rather than giving it away as we have been doing. Retaining possession reduced the threat on our own goal and it was a far more assured performance than we've had recently despite the early setbacks. There seemed to be more options and the players' attitude seemed much more controlled and focussed.
We will play better teams, we have to go on the road and I'm not overwhelmed with all the selections but IMO there were a lot of positives that came out of the game. More importantly, the negatives are things that can be worked on and I think the dreamteam showed enough tactical nous to suggest that they'll be able to come up with the answers despite the limited budget - in other words I think they'll get the best out of the current squad.
Going forward, we looked much better than we have done although the defence is still a major concern and I'm not sure that any combination of Mills, Ream and Knight will ever be good enough but I live in hope. Clearly they're sticking with a back 4 and maybe they'll try playing Ricketts in the middle again to calm things down until Wheater is back and Riley on the right at some stage but after yesterday the back four is my only real concern given that we've shown we can play with confidence going forward and convert chances into goals.
Only one game but if they keep that level of performance, commitment, patience and mobility up we could become a force to be reckoned with in this league. It will be difficult over the next few games, but I hope the Board give these lads a proper chance to build on this positive start.
7/10 IMO.