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Frustrated is probably the word that best describes my feelings right now. I guess its similar to how Reading fans felt when they couldnt beat us with 10 men. We have proven it is much harder to play 10 men in our last 2 games (With us being on both sides of the coin).
THE GAME
All in all, a draw was a fair result, so no complaints about that - we didnt deserve to win any more than they did. However, the circumstances is what makes it a hard pill to swallow - we had 70 mins to play against 10 men and didnt capitalise (and threw away a 1 goal lead).
They started the better of the two teams - they had a shot hit the post in the first 30 seconds (given offside though) and they were on top when we scored. What a goal by Smith though. Things then only got better for us when Majewski (?) got sent off for a two footed challenge on Taarabt - which after seeing on the tv at home it was a nasty challenge.
However a fluke of a goal let them back into it and we never really pressed home our advantage. The free kick which they scored from was a schoolboy error to give away - stupud by Connolly. They did threaten us in the second half but didnt really get a shot on goal. We had a few but never really looked like we were going to press home our numerical advantage.
It was a frustrating afternoon as Forest basically played with 5 defenders and stopped most of our build up - although somehow we kept on giving them chances to win it with poor poor defending. But we seemed to run out of ideas in the second half, and the game just petered out - a missed opportunity in my book.
THE RATINGS
KENNY - 8 - not much to do tbh but came out for crosses well and blocked a couple of shots in the first half. couldnt do anything about the goal.
HILL - 8 - assured in defence and moved to CB when gorkss was subbed. did well in both positions and actually moving him to CB shored up the defence.
GORKSS - 5 - very poor imo - was subbed (guessing it was because he was poor) and deservedly so. didnt cope well at all with them and hasnt done well recently. i wouldnt be surprised to see shittu start against preston.
CONNOLLY - 7 - better than gorkss and won alot of headers - but a few shaky moments and needlessly gave them a free kick which led to their goal.
ORR - 6 - average really - better than recent games, and did well going forward - still a few question marks about his defending and clearances but overall did ok.
DERRY - 8 - got stuck in and closed down well at times and the midfields were pretty even really.
FAURLIN - 9 - MOM - some great passing, tackled well, and got stuck in. look comfortable on the ball and was the key link to the wingers.
SMITH - 8 - great goal and was a blow that he had to go off - he was playing very well. was causing them problems and was getting some good crossing in.
ROUTLEDGE - 7 - playing on the LW did well - kept trying and had two men on him alot which made it difficult. possible penatly claim late on.
TAARABT - 7 - played on the RW and was a threat, although was closed down very quickly. tried and tried but nothing really worked.
HULSE - 5 - poor game yet again. why oh why is he starting games. was the constant break up of attacking moves. he cannot trap a bag of cement, his control and first touch is that bad. had a glorious opportunity when he chested the ball down but he then miscontrolled it. we need better upfront. won virtually no headers.
SUBS:
MILLER - 7 - came on for smith but for some reason was put on the wing when hulse was badly struggling. made some great runs into the box and crossed the ball, but no support meant the ball went across goal on numerous occasions. caused alot of problems for them but would have been better in the centre.
VAAGAN MOEN - 6 - came on for faurlin and his first touch was to take a free kick. the stage was set for his first touch to be a goal but it wasnt to be. did ok but not really noticed.
CHIMBONDA - 7 - had alot of the ball when he came on for gorkss (hill moved into CB with chimbonda going to LB) and linked well with routledge and taarabt but little end product.
THE MANAGER
6/10 - i cannot understand why hulse is starting games. he offers nothing to the side. his control is awful. we must start with HH or Miller if we want to win games. Also, i have said this before - long ball tactics yet again didnt work. When we keep pumping the ball up to Hulse who wasnt winning anything, and Miller being stuck on the wing it is incredibly frustrating. We have proved time and time again we score goals when playing it on the floor - so why the horrible long ball! If it was working i could live with it, but it wasnt, and hasnt worked for us much. At the start of the season we played it on the floor, why has it changed?
However, subing gorkss was a good decsion as we were looking shaky at the back. We looked a bit better when he went off. Shittu should start next week.
THE REF
7/10 - got a bit of stick for a couple of decisions, but overall did well. deservedly sent their player off for a terrible tackle. Luckily taarabt was ok. However he did miss alot of fouls on Hulse when he was constantly jumped over by defenders. But overall a decent game from Mark Clattenburg.
FINAL WORD
As i said im frustrated we didnt win, as we really should be winning against 10 men at home, no matter who the side we are facing is. Ultimatley i dont think there was enough urgency about us in the second half, which i expected us to really make them work. Give forest credit, they worked hard and closed us down. But we had no ideas and had little opportunities.
On the bright side, I said before the reading game that I would have been happy with four points from the two games against Reading and Forest, and although the three points came not when I expected, we got four points. So not bad really.
Form is looking good - one defeat in 10 (7 unbeaten) and we have won 5 of those 10. So with on paper easier games coming up we really need to kick on now - 25 points should be enough.
THE GAME
All in all, a draw was a fair result, so no complaints about that - we didnt deserve to win any more than they did. However, the circumstances is what makes it a hard pill to swallow - we had 70 mins to play against 10 men and didnt capitalise (and threw away a 1 goal lead).
They started the better of the two teams - they had a shot hit the post in the first 30 seconds (given offside though) and they were on top when we scored. What a goal by Smith though. Things then only got better for us when Majewski (?) got sent off for a two footed challenge on Taarabt - which after seeing on the tv at home it was a nasty challenge.
However a fluke of a goal let them back into it and we never really pressed home our advantage. The free kick which they scored from was a schoolboy error to give away - stupud by Connolly. They did threaten us in the second half but didnt really get a shot on goal. We had a few but never really looked like we were going to press home our numerical advantage.
It was a frustrating afternoon as Forest basically played with 5 defenders and stopped most of our build up - although somehow we kept on giving them chances to win it with poor poor defending. But we seemed to run out of ideas in the second half, and the game just petered out - a missed opportunity in my book.
THE RATINGS
KENNY - 8 - not much to do tbh but came out for crosses well and blocked a couple of shots in the first half. couldnt do anything about the goal.
HILL - 8 - assured in defence and moved to CB when gorkss was subbed. did well in both positions and actually moving him to CB shored up the defence.
GORKSS - 5 - very poor imo - was subbed (guessing it was because he was poor) and deservedly so. didnt cope well at all with them and hasnt done well recently. i wouldnt be surprised to see shittu start against preston.
CONNOLLY - 7 - better than gorkss and won alot of headers - but a few shaky moments and needlessly gave them a free kick which led to their goal.
ORR - 6 - average really - better than recent games, and did well going forward - still a few question marks about his defending and clearances but overall did ok.
DERRY - 8 - got stuck in and closed down well at times and the midfields were pretty even really.
FAURLIN - 9 - MOM - some great passing, tackled well, and got stuck in. look comfortable on the ball and was the key link to the wingers.
SMITH - 8 - great goal and was a blow that he had to go off - he was playing very well. was causing them problems and was getting some good crossing in.
ROUTLEDGE - 7 - playing on the LW did well - kept trying and had two men on him alot which made it difficult. possible penatly claim late on.
TAARABT - 7 - played on the RW and was a threat, although was closed down very quickly. tried and tried but nothing really worked.
HULSE - 5 - poor game yet again. why oh why is he starting games. was the constant break up of attacking moves. he cannot trap a bag of cement, his control and first touch is that bad. had a glorious opportunity when he chested the ball down but he then miscontrolled it. we need better upfront. won virtually no headers.
SUBS:
MILLER - 7 - came on for smith but for some reason was put on the wing when hulse was badly struggling. made some great runs into the box and crossed the ball, but no support meant the ball went across goal on numerous occasions. caused alot of problems for them but would have been better in the centre.
VAAGAN MOEN - 6 - came on for faurlin and his first touch was to take a free kick. the stage was set for his first touch to be a goal but it wasnt to be. did ok but not really noticed.
CHIMBONDA - 7 - had alot of the ball when he came on for gorkss (hill moved into CB with chimbonda going to LB) and linked well with routledge and taarabt but little end product.
THE MANAGER
6/10 - i cannot understand why hulse is starting games. he offers nothing to the side. his control is awful. we must start with HH or Miller if we want to win games. Also, i have said this before - long ball tactics yet again didnt work. When we keep pumping the ball up to Hulse who wasnt winning anything, and Miller being stuck on the wing it is incredibly frustrating. We have proved time and time again we score goals when playing it on the floor - so why the horrible long ball! If it was working i could live with it, but it wasnt, and hasnt worked for us much. At the start of the season we played it on the floor, why has it changed?
However, subing gorkss was a good decsion as we were looking shaky at the back. We looked a bit better when he went off. Shittu should start next week.
THE REF
7/10 - got a bit of stick for a couple of decisions, but overall did well. deservedly sent their player off for a terrible tackle. Luckily taarabt was ok. However he did miss alot of fouls on Hulse when he was constantly jumped over by defenders. But overall a decent game from Mark Clattenburg.
FINAL WORD
As i said im frustrated we didnt win, as we really should be winning against 10 men at home, no matter who the side we are facing is. Ultimatley i dont think there was enough urgency about us in the second half, which i expected us to really make them work. Give forest credit, they worked hard and closed us down. But we had no ideas and had little opportunities.
On the bright side, I said before the reading game that I would have been happy with four points from the two games against Reading and Forest, and although the three points came not when I expected, we got four points. So not bad really.
Form is looking good - one defeat in 10 (7 unbeaten) and we have won 5 of those 10. So with on paper easier games coming up we really need to kick on now - 25 points should be enough.
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