Neil Warnock....

[silvercue]

We all loved the win, but tactics second half were dreadful. Any team should be able to dominate possession/pressure aginst 9 men from any other team in the same league.

[qprfc1989]

I don't think you can blame NW for the lack of shots on goal - we're a team that recently had its confidence shattered by a 6-0 derby defeat and not won at home since April, playing against a team of 9 players worth about 9 times the value of our entire team. I don't think you can say the players lacked ambition going forward - we had plenty of promising attacks but it was just the decision making with the final ball that let us down.

[cujimmy]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but NW deserves a huge amount of credit for yesterdays game. He really out thought AVB and our tactics were spot on.

He has come in for some abuse from some recently but our tactics of closing down quickly and preventing them from playing the ball out from the back really made a difference.

Also the way he put Hill in aswell - someone with passion and a bit of height in there.

Superb!

Not sure where to start really.

For me, Colin got it all wrong again. Defending when we should be attacking or at least posing some questions for their defence. I think we had what, one shot on goal in the second half.... laughable.

It seems your whole idea of tactics boils down to instructing players to close down.... genius! And starting Hill? Was that another Colin masterclass or was it that Traore was injured? Somehow, I don't think Hill would of played if Traore was fit.

Granted the **** have a decent side, but we didn't take the game to them in the second half at all. The play seemed random with hoof ball and constant loss of possesion.

Based on the second half, a very fortunate win and all the credit should go to Drogba, Bosingwa, Luiz and the ref... we have them to thank - not Colins supposed tactical wizardry. Again, laughable.

[MattyRangers]

Not sure where to start really.

For me, Colin got it all wrong again. Defending when we should be attacking or at least posing some questions for their defence. I think we had what, one shot on goal in the second half.... laughable.

It seems your whole idea of tactics boils down to instructing players to close down.... genius! And starting Hill? Was that another Colin masterclass or was it that Traore was injured? Somehow, I don't think Hill would of played if Traore was fit.

Granted the **** have a decent side, but we didn't take the game to them in the second half at all. The play seemed random with hoof ball and constant loss of possesion.

Based on the second half, a very fortunate win and all the credit should go to Drogba, Bosingwa, Luiz and the ref... we have them to thank - not Colins supposed tactical wizardry. Again, laughable.

Have you previously caught Sir Neil Warnock hanging out the back of your Mrs or something? Whats with the "lets all hate on our manager" campaign?!

[Park Street Ranger]

Not sure where to start really.

For me, Colin got it all wrong again. Defending when we should be attacking or at least posing some questions for their defence. I think we had what, one shot on goal in the second half.... laughable.

It seems your whole idea of tactics boils down to instructing players to close down.... genius! And starting Hill? Was that another Colin masterclass or was it that Traore was injured? Somehow, I don't think Hill would of played if Traore was fit.

Granted the **** have a decent side, but we didn't take the game to them in the second half at all. The play seemed random with hoof ball and constant loss of possesion.

Based on the second half, a very fortunate win and all the credit should go to Drogba, Bosingwa, Luiz and the ref... we have them to thank - not Colins supposed tactical wizardry. Again, laughable.

That's right. And I suppose NW had nothing to do with organizing the team to outplay them in the first half, forcing them to make schoolboy errors and our taking the lead.

[cujimmy]

Have you previously caught Sir Neil Warnock hanging out the back of your Mrs or something? Whats with the "lets all hate on our manager" campaign?!

Hate is such a harsh word.

Seriously, you can't tell me we had the right game plan second half yesterday.

Adel off... no Buz. I'm sure we still played with two defensive midfielders. Lacked decent possesion... hardly any width in the play. Aimless hoofing. Total shambles.

Compare that to the way the **** played. Surely the differences can't be attributed to the lack of player quality alone?

Help me out here... enlighten me.

[cujimmy]

That's right. And I suppose NW had nothing to do with organizing the team to outplay them in the first half, forcing them to make schoolboy errors and our taking the lead.

Hardly a tactic is it?

[Park Street Ranger]

Hardly a tactic is it?

No, but if he's going to get stick for the 2nd half (which by the way I don't think he should), he should get credit for the first.

[vblockranger]

good first half tactics but then no tactics whatsoever to punish 9 men in the second half. If the sc*m had scored (and lets face it even with 9 men they had 2 or 3 chances) then how f*cking embarrassing would it have been to not win against 9 men!....Luke Young's chance in the second half was the only time we actually passed and stretched them to make our extra 2 players count...

[cujimmy]

good first half tactics but then no tactics whatsoever to punish 9 men in the second half. If the sc*m had scored (and lets face it even with 9 men they had 2 or 3 chances) then how f*cking embarrassing would it have been to not win against 9 men!....Luke Young's chance in the second half was the only time we actually passed and stretched them to make our extra 2 players count...

Said more succinctly than my sad attempt.

[Park Street Ranger]

good first half tactics but then no tactics whatsoever to punish 9 men in the second half. If the sc*m had scored (and lets face it even with 9 men they had 2 or 3 chances) then how f*cking embarrassing would it have been to not win against 9 men!....Luke Young's chance in the second half was the only time we actually passed and stretched them to make our extra 2 players count...

I think that is the point. Chelsea had nothing to lose once DD went walkies - they would have been excused for conceding two or three goals. We on the other hand had everything to lose, and with a team that player for player are probably a class above ours, even against nine it was always going to be touch and go. If we had put a similar 2nd half performance against, say Blackburn, in similar circumstances, then I would feel justified in having a go at NW and the team. Remember, this is our first year back in the PL and are playing with a recently, hastily assembled side. One step at a time.

[silvercue]

This is nothing to do with having a go at Neil or saying we want a new manager - we won - that is great.

However, it is laughable that people on this forum are saying we were immense. We were not. We played well 1st half, but 2nd half was dreadful.

The ref could have given them 3 pens - and Hill fouled in the box twice, so he was very lucky, especially when the ref was card friendly and often look for reasons to balance things out.

They had massive possession 2nd half with 9. That is not good enough - all we had to do was pressure their men, in their half - leaving us spare players - we didn't do that.

Having said that - it was all about the result and we won. But let#'s not pretend we were awesome, or NW was a tactical genius on Sun.

[Park Street Ranger]

This is nothing to do with having a go at Neil or saying we want a new manager - we won - that is great.

However, it is laughable that people on this forum are saying we were immense. We were not. We played well 1st half, but 2nd half was dreadful.

The ref could have given them 3 pens - and Hill fouled in the box twice, so he was very lucky, especially when the ref was card friendly and often look for reasons to balance things out.

They had massive possession 2nd half with 9. That is not good enough - all we had to do was pressure their men, in their half - leaving us spare players - we didn't do that.

Well, I am not one of them saying we were immense. Yes, I agree, we struggled in the 2nd half, but what did you expect? This is a game we were odds on to lose. We actually had more possession overall (BBC stats) and put in a dogged, battling performance. I fully expect us to be fighting to stay out the bottom three for most of the season, but we will improve in time. If we had wiped the floor with them, it would have been great, but it wasn't going to happen.

[rangerforevereastcote]

Well, I am not one of them saying we were immense. Yes, I agree, we struggled in the 2nd half, but what did you expect? This is a game we were odds on to lose. We actually had more possession overall (BBC stats) and put in a dogged, battling performance. I fully expect us to be fighting to stay out the bottom three for most of the season, but we will improve in time. If we had wiped the floor with them, it would have been great, but it wasn't going to happen.

possession was something like 55-45 to them, the points on here argued are correct, we were very good first half second half no. just by playing the ball we could have kept them running around chasing the ball, we made it to easy for them to regain possession (because we hoofed the ball) , as said the only time we kept and passed the ball we created a chance, i would argue keeping derry on was ok as protection but thatshould not stop him from helping in keeping the ball further forward. i would have bought bothroyd on help hold the ball up, the facts are no matter who you are if your playing in the same league as another team you should be able to keep possession and you should always have space to pass into, chelshit found loads of space and always had a man to pass to , not to much to expect. so going back to the op, yes tactics fantastic first half but coulda shoulda done better second

[Park Street Ranger]

possession was something like 55-45 to them, the points on here argued are correct, we were very good first half second half no. just by playing the ball we could have kept them running around chasing the ball, we made it to easy for them to regain possession (because we hoofed the ball) , as said the only time we kept and passed the ball we created a chance, i would argue keeping derry on was ok as protection but thatshould not stop him from helping in keeping the ball further forward. i would have bought bothroyd on help hold the ball up, the facts are no matter who you are if your playing in the same league as another team you should be able to keep possession and you should always have space to pass into, chelshit found loads of space and always had a man to pass to , not to much to expect. so going back to the op, yes tactics fantastic first half but coulda shoulda done better second

I would agree with most of what you say, except for the point about we're playing in the same league. I think we all know the PL has a few teams a class above the rest, often referred to as a mini-league.

Re possession for the Chelsea game, QPR = 51%, Chelsea = 49%. (Stats from BBC, link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15325522.stm)