Gone for a Burton, Back from the game thread

[Kieron1981]

First half was a cracker... then burton seemed to go defencive after their goal and was just on damage limitation


was a little annoyed only 5800 turned out.... people should love every game and show the boys some support... i understand people work evening and stuff but not 13000 from saturdays attendance... shocking

Mooney deserved his goal... never really had a chance and when he did he proved a decent player

[Thaumagurist*]

was a little annoyed only 5800 turned out.... people should love every game and show the boys some support... i understand people work evening and stuff but not 13000 from saturdays attendance... shocking

I don't really care, I actually enjoyed the room and the choice of seat and being able to catch the bus back to town without worrying about a long queue for it.

Anyone who is annoyed about the crowd needs to get over it.

BTW, I was sat near the drummers. Bloody loud, I wasn't happy about it.

[Isaac Hunt]

All done and dusted within ten minutes as we caught them completely cold.

Poor
Rosenior - seriously, he should be embarrassed to play like that as a first team regular

Henry - acts like billy big shit, plays like billy bit shit. Not about to threaten Kebe's place in the side

Good
Gylfi - first look at him last night and thought he was decent. Looks an intelligent footballer and impressed even without the piledriver.

Mooney - not sure he's ready for a place in the first team but looked lively enough and nothced a couple.

Average
The rest.

Mills looked like he was playing in second gear, bit lackadaisical but will play better against better teams I think.
Bignall did well with his goals but otherwise looked a bit raw
Armstrong and Harper were rusty but just about got by
Marek blew hot and cold, wasn't as good as I was hoping.
Pearce was fine
Hamer's handling and shot stopping were decent. Distribution could do with a bit of work though

Agree with this. I thought Marek & Stretch were borderline poor, given what they're both capable of. Would probably make allowances for them not being 100% fit. I thought they got worse as the game went on.

On this showing it was fairly clear why BR selected the the starting XI he did for the Forest game. I was disappointed in Henry.

[Terminal Boardom]

I think I watched a different game to some. It seemed to me that we played with a midfield diamond with effectively 2 up front rather than the 4-3-3 that we used on Saturday.

Hamer - Confident debut. Will do him a power of good
Rosenior - Looks like he is hideously short of confidence.
Mills - Won't have an easier 90 minutes. Very comfortable and assured. Good recovery after going to ground.
Pearce i- Showing signs of serious class.
Armstrong - First game back after a long time out. Looked rusty. On this showing could struggle to displace Plastic but early days.
Harper - Covered every blade of grass and always available for a pass.
Henry - Looked unsure of what he was supposed to do or where he was supposed to do it.
Sigurdsson - Can't ask more from a debutant. Fantastic strike with his right foot for the goal. Needs to work on his shooting with the left.
Matejovsky - Frustrating as anything. Some good with some incredibly average. Needs to show more consistency throughout 90 minutes let alone game by game.
Mooney - Looked very assured but needs to keep an eye on the last defender as he strayed into offside positions too often.
Bignall - What more can be asked of the lad? The perfect debut!
Hunt - Good to see some minutes put in. Unlucky not to score.

As I said before the game elsewhere, this was a chance for some kids to fill their boots. I quite like this passing stuff. I wonder why no-one else has tried it before?

BTW, I was sat near the drummers. Bloody loud, I wasn't happy about it.

So why didn't you move?

[Thaumagurist*]

I think I watched a different game to some. It seemed to me that we played with a midfield diamond with effectively 2 up front rather than the 4-3-3 that we used on Saturday.

Yes, I thought they were playing 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield.

BTW, I was sat near the drummers. Bloody loud, I wasn't happy about it.

So why didn't you move?

Thought about it, decided I couldn't be arsed. They weren't hitting the drums all the time though.

[Terminal Boardom]

I think I watched a different game to some. It seemed to me that we played with a midfield diamond with effectively 2 up front rather than the 4-3-3 that we used on Saturday.

Yes, I thought they were playing 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield.

BTW, I was sat near the drummers. Bloody loud, I wasn't happy about it.

So why didn't you move?

Thought about it, decided I couldn't be arsed. They weren't hitting the drums all the time though.

Where I was sat in the Upper West, it sounded as if they had a microphone with them! Also sounded as if there was some attempt to "pipe" crowd sounds therough the speakers. Now that is sad. It will be designated fans with megaphones next

[Sir Rodney Effing]

So, the growing consensus over Rosenior is turning into a bit of a unanimous cry that he's simply not good enough at the moment. How has this come to pass - or rather, how has this come to him not being able to pass? He seemed such a good player this time last year, didn't he?

Delete "at the moment" and you've got it.

[willz_royal]

was a little annoyed only 5800 turned out.... people should love every game and show the boys some support... i understand people work evening and stuff but not 13000 from saturdays attendance... shocking

I don't really care, I actually enjoyed the room and the choice of seat and being able to catch the bus back to town without worrying about a long queue for it.

Anyone who is annoyed about the crowd needs to get over it.

BTW, I was sat near the drummers. Bloody loud, I wasn't happy about it.

Are you not deaf then?

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

was a little annoyed only 5800 turned out.... people should love every game and show the boys some support... i understand people work evening and stuff but not 13000 from saturdays attendance... shocking

did you see the crowds at the other games by any chance?

It's not like Reading were the only club to get a low crowd. I think Palace only got 3000 for their match. The highest was 10000 at Southampton, then the two Sheffield clubs got crowds slightly bigger than ours. Ours was 4th highest on the night.

[Thaumagurist*]

was a little annoyed only 5800 turned out.... people should love every game and show the boys some support... i understand people work evening and stuff but not 13000 from saturdays attendance... shocking

I don't really care, I actually enjoyed the room and the choice of seat and being able to catch the bus back to town without worrying about a long queue for it.

Anyone who is annoyed about the crowd needs to get over it.

BTW, I was sat near the drummers. Bloody loud, I wasn't happy about it.

Are you not deaf then?

Yes and I would have heard it even without my hearing aids, they were that loud.

[Handsome Man]

Rosenoir was Sh1t.What do they see in him?

Pace.

Pity his brain isnt in tune with his feet then

I think we might have found our new escape goat!

[Thaumagurist*]

I think we might have found our new escape goat!

"Escape goat"? That either was you not making sense or you trying to be funny.

[brendywendy]

oh cmon spacey - "the escape goat" on purpose typo, is as common as "stundents" on here
its ironic innit


and actually, after a long discussion we found that the 'scape@ in scape goat is just a truncated escape anyway.

[North Somerset Royal]

All done and dusted within ten minutes as we caught them completely cold.

Poor
Rosenior - seriously, he should be embarrassed to play like that as a first team regular

Henry - acts like billy big shit, plays like billy bit shit. Not about to threaten Kebe's place in the side

Good
Gylfi - first look at him last night and thought he was decent. Looks an intelligent footballer and impressed even without the piledriver.

Mooney - not sure he's ready for a place in the first team but looked lively enough and nothced a couple.

Average
The rest.

Mills looked like he was playing in second gear, bit lackadaisical but will play better against better teams I think.
Bignall did well with his goals but otherwise looked a bit raw
Armstrong and Harper were rusty but just about got by
Marek blew hot and cold, wasn't as good as I was hoping.
Pearce was fine
Hamer's handling and shot stopping were decent. Distribution could do with a bit of work though

Agree with this. I thought Marek & Stretch were borderline poor, given what they're both capable of. Would probably make allowances for them not being 100% fit. I thought they got worse as the game went on.

On this showing it was fairly clear why BR selected the the starting XI he did for the Forest game. I was disappointed in Henry.

Agreed except I think that Marek was more than borderline poor. Although he came up with the occassional telling pass by and large he surrendered the ball far too cheaply to claim a place in BR's first 11. As for Rosenior last season I gave him the benefit of the doubt but after last nights woeful display I think we need to bring in another RB asap.

I was surprised to see on the OS this morning that they played 4-3-3 as it looked like 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond to me.

Shame so few bothered to turn out. Suggestion on BBCRB after game was that club should give tickets away to schools etc. However problem with that is it involves extra costs for a bigger crowd with no return other than the hope that it will encorage some new fans. Ironic that with such a small crowd the programmes had sold out before KO so presumably crowd exceeded clubs expectations.

[Alan Partridge]

First look at Bignall and importantly for Rodgers and Reading he's got the raw attributes to play up front on his own, which instantly makes him different to our current forwards. His first touch was good, he's lightning quick and on the day he finished well. Almost scored a hattrick when he brought a long ball down and in one movement swivelled and shot and Poole made an excellent save to his right. Only Burton but Bignall did all required and more.

Hamer I like a lot. Clearly a confident lad and he made 2 outstanding saves when he game was still in the balance and the one cross he went for he claimed well. Kicking was a bit up and down but overall i think he looks a great prospect.

As mentioned the only slight downer was Rosenior, he was bloomin awful. I thought he did ok saturday in all honesty, i saw he got a bit of stick but I thought he made some key blocks and tackles thought he was quite good. But yesterday yep really bad.

First two games and the style is evident in that we are almost trying to copy the Swansea method, the test will be when the young players take a few knocks. St James' Park saturday 45000+ almost certainly, against some real established players in a hostile environment, will our youngsters have the confidence and belief to play the way they have in the first two games? If we lose, will they still have that beleif to take it on? Hope so. Because even if we aren't at the top of the league, watching Reading maybe a hell of a lot less painful this season.

[Snowball]

Hamer - Looks athletic, confident, solid. No chance with the deflected goal
Rosenior - One horrible mistake early but otherwise solid game. Loads of overlapping second half
Mills - Let their left striker get a VG shot away (but no cover and bollocked Pearce.) Athlete, confident, could be a star.
Pearce - We won't keep him unless we go up. Will be a Premiership star sooner rather than later
Armstrong - Considering not yet 100% fit, thought he had an excellent game
Harper - Thought he was fantastic (the Karacan role from Forest) after one bad pass early. Worked his socks off. Excellent
Henry - After 5 minutes one run and shot I thought he'd replace Kebe. He then disappeared for an hour but was much better last 20. He was 7+ for 30 minutes and a 5 in the middle. Odd, really
Sigurdsson - A true star. Wanted the ball, oozed confidence is big and getting bigger. I'd've been happy without the goal and other shot. Will be a Premiership player
Matejovsky - Couple of errors but loads of good stuff. He is going to love this system. I wonder if he should be the quarterback though?
Mooney - Took first goal extremely well. Old fashioned striking. Excellent follow-up for second. Made loads of runs but didn't get the ball. Had he played v Forest instead of Church we'd've won
Bignall - Fabulous prospect. Ball seemed to stick to him even when it bounced off him (I know what I mean)
Hunt - Keen when he came on. Could've scored and made the goal for Mooney



It's never easy to judge when the opposition is that much lower in status


but we were very, VERY good in the first half
and I thought the referee was favouring Burton once they were 4-0 down.

But there wasn't one of these 12 who couldn't cover for the first 11, not one, if he started, would I say, "Oh dear."

I think this 11/12 would have at least drawn with Forest, but I fancy they'd've won

I don't understand why people are trashing Rosenior

[Royal Rother]

I wonder how many more an aggressive cut price initiative would have added to the gate. Not saying it would necessarily work but £10 for adults and kids for £3 seems an experiment worth taking for early round Cup matches.

[Maguire]

I think this 11/12 would have at least drawn with Forest, but I fancy they'd've won

I think they would have lost to Forest with 11 or drawn if they'd been allowed to play 12.

[Snowball]

Karacan Saturday and Harper last night may have been "defensive midfield"

but when we had the ball at the back and were stroking it around they came
back to the CBs to work/play the ball and were rarely under any pressure

If it would work, once we have the ball I'd love to see Matejovsky come back
and do this job. It seems to give us lots of different options and I think he would revel
in the time and space.

Saturday (Church) and again last night, a lot of runs went unnoticed. If we start seeing them
we will get a lot of goals.



HOWEVER. this pattern of play is going to be sussed, surely? Will teams play higher up the pitch
and start to pressurise the defence more? If they do will we cope at the back and will Karacan/Harper/Matty
looks so comfortable?

[W&E Royal]

I like Rosenior, people too easily pick up on his mistakes but never praise the good things he does. He's blessed with a lot of pace, he's good in the tackle and I think he's a very good defender. If he could pass the ball better and cross it like Glen Little every time then he wouldn't be playing for us now would he!

On another subject. There was an old man sitting next to me and he obviously loves slagging off Harper and Rosenior, he moaned very loudly when Harper gave the ball away in the first half but then i didn't hear him for about an hour till Harper gave the ball away again. Not one mention about the good things he did. There is lots of "FFS Harper, always passing the ball back" but there was no mention of all the forward passing he did, always looking to get Bignall away to utilise his pace.

I hope Harper does leave and is appreciated by the Wolves fans because they'll understand that not all players can be a all action hero and some HAVE to be the water carrier.

Rant over