Just back - those car parks are a bit slow aren't they
We were improved. Whyte and Baptiste were our standout players, and if Hanson is in the team at the weekend (I hope Brannagan is OK and that neck brace / oxygen etc was precautionary) then if will have to be as well as Baptiste, not instead of. The obvious problem is the inability to score when on top. If you add our tendency to start games brightly and then tail off as time goes on, it always seems to me that scoring early is especially important in our case, and going a goal down seems to be a huge blow to our players' mentality as they know how hard it is for us to score. I'm sorry, but for all that some people have said Obika was improved, I didn't see much of it. A couple of decent bits of closing down, one or two nice layoffs, and he even managed to get off the ground once for a header. But also a lot of not challenging seriously for the ball, hiding behind an opposition player, being in the wrong place and on his heels and showing absolutely no goal threat. I'm not 'scapegoating' (as someone will inevitably say) - I just can't see why he is being picked. Of course, with Mackie injured (well knock me down with a feather) there is really only a choice of two, but if Smith isn't going to get the nod, I might even try Browne up there. Our free kicks in dangerous areas were absolutely awful - straight to their keeper at 'pass back' pace.
I thought we'd lost when that 'goal' went in - obviously you couldn't see the offside from the other end of the ground. But actually you could see us conceding a late one after failing to score, it would have been typical.
I think both Faz and Robinson were yellow carded? Our bench has got to calm down in general, and Robinson especially has got to start being calmer and more measured - during, after and between matches. It looks panicky and unprofessional during a game, and I have yet to see it achieve anything. Rather than berating the fourth offical, concentrate on coaching/organising the team. He should know by now that the standard of refereeing is inconsistent (to be kind) - you can't rely on penalties being given or cards being brought out at the right time, so take the ref out of the equation as much as possible by scoring from open play, being clever about when you make challenges and not getting on the wrong side of him from the bench!
Thankfully, Sarge's predicted hooligan battle of the century aided and abetted by the evil TVP never happened. Both sets of supporters were perfectly fine. On the way back to the car, one of theirs asked me if 'we always played like that'. I asked him what he meant and he said 'create so many chances but fail to put any of them away. You should have been four up by half time.' I think we all knew that was going to be the problem...
