MATCHWATCH : Preston North End (a)

[Zip]

On a positive note Joao’s second goal was outstanding, A few more performances from him like that will make a world of difference. Also a nice lay off for Swift’s goal.
Swift getting loads of plaudits in Preston’s messageboard.

Swift's goal was just as good imo. Great move.

Two high quality goals.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Swift is a very good player when he plays like that though, you can tell he is a step above the rest of the team. Joao was excellent yesterday, a true sign of what he is capable of.

Hopefully this win does the teams confidence the world of good. Birmingham at home is hardly an ideal fixture given our record against them at home recently but they are a below average side as well and with a new face in the dressing room, it might just be the difference. If we can just put a run together now like what Hull and Cardiff have done, I'm sure we will be fine.

[paultheroyal]

Misogynism rules…even when we win

Some of you lot need to step away from the keyboard for a few minutes

She’s crap Spizzy. Nowt to do with her gender.

How on Earth is she crap? What sort of lame comment is that? Her job is to read out texts, and cover stories which she does admirably well.

[Hendo]

On a positive note Joao’s second goal was outstanding, A few more performances from him like that will make a world of difference. Also a nice lay off for Swift’s goal.
Swift getting loads of plaudits in Preston’s messageboard.

Makes Joao’s pass to the Posh keeper on Wednesday even more infuriating.

[Zip]

On a positive note Joao’s second goal was outstanding, A few more performances from him like that will make a world of difference. Also a nice lay off for Swift’s goal.
Swift getting loads of plaudits in Preston’s messageboard.

Makes Joao’s pass to the Posh keeper on Wednesday even more infuriating.

Yep. He had done all the hard work and then.......

[Zip]

Misogynism rules…even when we win

Some of you lot need to step away from the keyboard for a few minutes

She’s crap Spizzy. Nowt to do with her gender.

How on Earth is she crap? What sort of lame comment is that? Her job is to read out texts, and cover stories which she does admirably well.

She is dull, slow and has no knowledge of Reading FC. She takes an age to say something.

[Uke]

Misogynism rules…even when we win

Some of you lot need to step away from the keyboard for a few minutes

She’s crap Spizzy. Nowt to do with her gender.

Whatever happened to celebrity fan and R5L traffic reporter Jo Sale?

[Zip]

Misogynism rules…even when we win

Some of you lot need to step away from the keyboard for a few minutes

She’s crap Spizzy. Nowt to do with her gender.

Whatever happened to celebrity fan and R5L traffic reporter Jo Sale?

Yep. You’re going back in time Ukerzzz...over a decade ago.

[Uke]

She’s crap Spizzy. Nowt to do with her gender.

Whatever happened to celebrity fan and R5L traffic reporter Jo Sale?

Yep. You’re going back in time Ukerzzz...over a decade ago.

Well over that!

[Zip]

Whatever happened to celebrity fan and R5L traffic reporter Jo Sale?

Yep. You’re going back in time Ukerzzz...over a decade ago.

Well over that!

What happened to her?

[CountryRoyal]

Yep. You’re going back in time Ukerzzz...over a decade ago.

Well over that!

What happened to her?

Nothing I think that's just her face.

[Brogue]

[John Madejski's Wallet]

[Snowflake Royal]

On a positive note Joao’s second goal was outstanding, A few more performances from him like that will make a world of difference. Also a nice lay off for Swift’s goal.
Swift getting loads of plaudits in Preston’s messageboard.

Makes Joao’s pass to the Posh keeper on Wednesday even more infuriating.

Amazing he actually made it through to take the shot imo, he was stumbling through challenges and turns left right and centre. So it wasn't too surprising for me.

Liked that his assist for Swift looked more like an intercepted pass to Drinkwater (?) beyond him. Great ball, vision and selflessness though.

[Hound]

On a positive note Joao’s second goal was outstanding, A few more performances from him like that will make a world of difference. Also a nice lay off for Swift’s goal.
Swift getting loads of plaudits in Preston’s messageboard.

Makes Joao’s pass to the Posh keeper on Wednesday even more infuriating.

Amazing he actually made it through to take the shot imo, he was stumbling through challenges and turns left right and centre. So it wasn't too surprising for me.

Liked that his assist for Swift looked more like an intercepted pass to Drinkwater (?) beyond him. Great ball, vision and selflessness though.

Yep difficult to criticise him for that one against Peterborough. Totally made it all himself and didn't have time to properly compose himself

[Hendo]

Makes Joao’s pass to the Posh keeper on Wednesday even more infuriating.

Amazing he actually made it through to take the shot imo, he was stumbling through challenges and turns left right and centre. So it wasn't too surprising for me.

Liked that his assist for Swift looked more like an intercepted pass to Drinkwater (?) beyond him. Great ball, vision and selflessness though.

Yep difficult to criticise him for that one against Peterborough. Totally made it all himself and didn't have time to properly compose himself

Maybe, but I'd still have backed him to score. Did similar against Bournemouth at home last year and managed to slot it away.

[BarryWhiteRFC]

I guess there is no BFTG thread for this match due to the managerial situation. However, I don't get to too many games live so I wanted to give my thoughts.

Hein: 6 - Collected crosses well to relive pressure at times, I guess that is what he has been brought in to do as from my perspective it was the only area of Southwood's game which needed work. However, his distribution is weak, barring one pass out which set off a counter attack, nearly every kick seemed to go out for a throw in for Preston. Not much he good with the goal mouth scramble, but I think he will be disappointed with Preston's first.

Baba Rahman: 8 - Was excellent. Defended well and got forward well. Seemed to be all over the pitch at times. Kept control of the ball well and played passes which kept us in possession of the ball. Was one of the great performances of the day. I'm hoping the injury is not too long of a lay off as he is just seeming to find his form.

Yiadom: 7 - Typical high energy match from Yids. Was stopping a lot of the Preston attacks. Looked good going forward as well. Still struggles to put a cross on the money though. However, certainly not a bad match.

Holmes: 5 - I even think the 5 is generous. Gifted Preston a gilt edged opportunity to score, which they didn't take. All he had to do was square it and instead took a terrible shot on. This was after Holmes got caught in possession. This wasn't the only time this happened either. He seemed to struggle with distribution today. I felt nervous every time he had the ball.

Morrison: 7 - Where Holmes was poor I felt Morrison excelled. Good distribution, was throwing himself on the line when needed. Winning many aerial duels. Solid and gave me confidence.

Drinkwater: 6 - I found it very hard to score Drinkwater. At times he was excellent. He broke up so many Preston attacks. Then passed it straight back to a Preston player and put us under pressure. I think he did this at least twice, and just under hit at least three passes as well. However, he have a vital role in our third and some things he did very well.

Rinamhota: 9 - Very close to MotM for me. He was everywhere. Setting up attacks, stopping their attacks. Whenever the ball was outside of either area, he seemed to either be on the ball or close to it. He didn't give the ball away, but was still looking to play the ball forward. Was fantastic.

Ince: 5 - Honestly, seemed to do nothing for the vast majority of the game until he was switched sides, then did a bit more, but still not enough to bring him over a 5. I felt Ince should have been taken off for Meite at about the 60/65th min. As I thought Hoilett was much, much better than Ince. He just seemed to do nothing other than chase the ball around. He did put in effort I suppose, I can't fault that.

Hoilett: 8 - Was brilliant. High energy, closed down well, caused problems when he was on the ball. Most break aways we had seemed to go through him. As I said above, not sure why he was taken off before Ince.

Swift: 8 - He had an assist and a goal and he was a constant thorn in Preston's side. The finish was sublime. However, he did lose the ball numerous times. But that is to be expected from a playmaker, however, he lost the ball when I felt he had an easy pass on, I found it really frustrating at times. Especially getting into the latter stages of the match when we are trying to hold on.

Joao: 9 - MotM for me. Scored two and one assist. What more can you ask of your striker? He ran tirelessly closing down defenders and their keeper. Scored a great solo goal as well as a tap in. Unselfishly found a great pass to set Swift up. Maybe I'm a bit harsh not giving him a 10, but you need a hattrick to get a 10 in my book.

Subs

Meite: 7 - Came on, lots of energy, caused Preston issues, got brought down for what looked to me like a stonewall penalty which would have put the game to bed.
McIntyre: 7 - I was worried when Baba went off, but McIntyre came on and was great defensively, I remember him winning one header at the back post which was powerful and helped relieve the pressure.
Barker: N/A - Was hardly on the pitch. Not sure if he even touched the ball.

Overall, a vital victory and a very welcome 3 points. Oh, and I love it when we beat Preston. Also, I absolutely hate that we don't leave one player up front when defending a corner. Leave Tom Ince or Hoilett up top. If we boot the ball clear, it means we have someone to chase the ball down so it doesn't come straight back at us. It could even end up with us scoring a goal from time to time. Any one remember the last time we scored from an opponents corner?

However, enough of me seemingly complaining. Very happy with the win. Hopefully we can take some confidence into the next match. I believe we owe Birmingham a 'new manager effect' defeat.

[Snowflake Royal]

I guess there is no BFTG thread for this match due to the managerial situation. However, I don't get to too many games live so I wanted to give my thoughts.

Hein: 6 - Collected crosses well to relive pressure at times, I guess that is what he has been brought in to do as from my perspective it was the only area of Southwood's game which needed work. However, his distribution is weak, barring one pass out which set off a counter attack, nearly every kick seemed to go out for a throw in for Preston. Not much he good with the goal mouth scramble, but I think he will be disappointed with Preston's first.

Baba Rahman: 8 - Was excellent. Defended well and got forward well. Seemed to be all over the pitch at times. Kept control of the ball well and played passes which kept us in possession of the ball. Was one of the great performances of the day. I'm hoping the injury is not too long of a lay off as he is just seeming to find his form.

Yiadom: 7 - Typical high energy match from Yids. Was stopping a lot of the Preston attacks. Looked good going forward as well. Still struggles to put a cross on the money though. However, certainly not a bad match.

Holmes: 5 - I even think the 5 is generous. Gifted Preston a gilt edged opportunity to score, which they didn't take. All he had to do was square it and instead took a terrible shot on. This was after Holmes got caught in possession. This wasn't the only time this happened either. He seemed to struggle with distribution today. I felt nervous every time he had the ball.

Morrison: 7 - Where Holmes was poor I felt Morrison excelled. Good distribution, was throwing himself on the line when needed. Winning many aerial duels. Solid and gave me confidence.

Drinkwater: 6 - I found it very hard to score Drinkwater. At times he was excellent. He broke up so many Preston attacks. Then passed it straight back to a Preston player and put us under pressure. I think he did this at least twice, and just under hit at least three passes as well. However, he have a vital role in our third and some things he did very well.

Rinamhota: 9 - Very close to MotM for me. He was everywhere. Setting up attacks, stopping their attacks. Whenever the ball was outside of either area, he seemed to either be on the ball or close to it. He didn't give the ball away, but was still looking to play the ball forward. Was fantastic.

Ince: 5 - Honestly, seemed to do nothing for the vast majority of the game until he was switched sides, then did a bit more, but still not enough to bring him over a 5. I felt Ince should have been taken off for Meite at about the 60/65th min. As I thought Hoilett was much, much better than Ince. He just seemed to do nothing other than chase the ball around. He did put in effort I suppose, I can't fault that.

Hoilett: 8 - Was brilliant. High energy, closed down well, caused problems when he was on the ball. Most break aways we had seemed to go through him. As I said above, not sure why he was taken off before Ince.

Swift: 8 - He had an assist and a goal and he was a constant thorn in Preston's side. The finish was sublime. However, he did lose the ball numerous times. But that is to be expected from a playmaker, however, he lost the ball when I felt he had an easy pass on, I found it really frustrating at times. Especially getting into the latter stages of the match when we are trying to hold on.

Joao: 9 - MotM for me. Scored two and one assist. What more can you ask of your striker? He ran tirelessly closing down defenders and their keeper. Scored a great solo goal as well as a tap in. Unselfishly found a great pass to set Swift up. Maybe I'm a bit harsh not giving him a 10, but you need a hattrick to get a 10 in my book.

Subs

Meite: 7 - Came on, lots of energy, caused Preston issues, got brought down for what looked to me like a stonewall penalty which would have put the game to bed.
McIntyre: 7 - I was worried when Baba went off, but McIntyre came on and was great defensively, I remember him winning one header at the back post which was powerful and helped relieve the pressure.
Barker: N/A - Was hardly on the pitch. Not sure if he even touched the ball.

Overall, a vital victory and a very welcome 3 points. Oh, and I love it when we beat Preston. Also, I absolutely hate that we don't leave one player up front when defending a corner. Leave Tom Ince or Hoilett up top. If we boot the ball clear, it means we have someone to chase the ball down so it doesn't come straight back at us. It could even end up with us scoring a goal from time to time. Any one remember the last time we scored from an opponents corner?

However, enough of me seemingly complaining. Very happy with the win. Hopefully we can take some confidence into the next match. I believe we owe Birmingham a 'new manager effect' defeat.

In Hein's defence, I think that first one was going just wide until it came off Morro. One of those you might hope he'd do better but couldn’t really expect it

[Millsy]

I guess there is no BFTG thread for this match due to the managerial situation. However, I don't get to too many games live so I wanted to give my thoughts.

Can't disagree with much of your comments except Hoilett didn't stand out as much for me. He seemed to be done for pace a couple of times and I found him a bit frustrating tbh but he did good stuff too.

[leon]

Well I think they all did very well indeed.

Apart from Drinkwater obviously.