Chez

Mellis and Hammond tired as well though.

I said it all last season and nothing has changed. We do not have a left and right midfielder at the club worth his salt. Those tha do get a game ther just never get to the byeline...ever. Why on earth not?

everyone is entitled to their opinion and I don't see how you came to the conclusion about Pardews' opinion of him seeing as he signed two centre backs immediately and dropped Perry thereafter.

what was the reason, cos he failed to spot that we were tiring in midfield before they scored and failing to change the formation that might have prevented us being exposed down the left hand side. He didn't stop the side bombing on looking for the third and settling for a 2-1. He brought Wotton on who sits so deep that tyhe opposition has no choice but to take charge and put us under...lots of things Pardew might have done differently.

I real mixed bag. He was not picked out with a pass and thats why he was to be found in an offside position so often. His first touch was often extremey good but at times woeful. He didn't show hsi pace much and he didn't really do anything of note. He didn't work all that hard, he did jog across the pitch and track his man from time to time. He certainly wasn't a great threat going forward in terms of dribbling, but he showed good awareness with his passes inside being decent. He tired about 10 minutes before he came off. Can't say I'm all that impressed and pull those socks down FFS you big girl.

the side now reminds me exactly of the side JP put out. We passed teams to death but lacked a real cutting edge and then were often caught on the break, especially exposed down the wings. The passing from JPs side in the first half of last season was JUST AS good as we saw last night. I don't want to think about how bad it got later on (under JP) and then under Wotte and I pray we don't have to watch **** like that again for a long long time.

Plenty of effort there if you ask me. Great first touch as usual, but he won less headers for two reasons - we played it on the deck a lot more, and when we did loft it, their centre back fouled him a fair bit. Thought he should have scored in the first half with the header, but great assists for AL and great goal (or assist) for the second. I thought he needed to get into the box a little more. But you could see he was trying to create that chance to shoot on the edge of the box, but there was never really that space he needed.

lets see how they respond. They played opretty well last night for 70 minutes. Can they replicate that for 96 and show that that defeat was a blip on this very steady improvement we have seen so far.

I thought we were tiring before they equalised. In fact I suggested to a mate that we make a sub and revert to 4-4-2 as we were far too open. Unfortunately Pardew shut the gate after the hose had bolted.

one other lack of consistency came when Trottman went through there man and sent the ball 20 yards away - he clearly got the ball but the ref felt the strength of the tackle and the position it came from justified a free kick. This came about 20 seconds after a underhit ball to Lallana saw their fullback go through him at mach II and sent the ball 20 yards foward. He didn't really touch Lallana as AL avaded the tackle, but it was strong and from behind (a possible ankle breaker due tot he poor pass). Absolutely no difference in the two tackles IMO and in my outdated view of football both `solid' tackles. Amazingly poor refereeing though. If you can't be consistent over a 30 second period what chance over 96 minutes.

the ball ran away from him and he went down untouched. The ref intepreted that to be an attempt to win a free kick and booked him. It was in a dangerous area so you can see why the ref thought Hamond might be trying to con him. I'm not sure he was, but he certainly didn't try to stay on his feet. Mind you when you are at full pelt and the ball goes away from you, you do often kind of go to ground in desperation. Not sure I can fault the ref on that one. I don't think it ws a pen on Hammond or a handball either. Hammond was a little luck y not to get red as he dived in rashly (perhaps not getting much of the man though it was still a risky challenge) in the second half, but the ref played advantage and didn't go back. The tackle on Hammond looked a bad one to me and he could easily have gone IMO. All about the angle the ref saw it though. I've seen worse refs I have to say.

70 minutes gone and the side (especially midfield) looked out on its feet. Morgan, Mellis, Hammond and Lallana had all run themselves into the ground and I respect the work they put in last night. But this failure to last the course happened a lot last season and we have come unstuck again this season several times, including Millwall and Yoevil. Naturally you would think it was simply down to a lack of fitness. Maybe the players we have (and also in the past) lack that long distance engine required, or maybe, and this is my point, the amount of running they are being asked to do is a large part of the problem? The 4-3-3 formation saw Lallana playing up front (and doing a bloody lot of running across the line to create space) but also chasing opposing players back into our own final third. Hammond and Morgan spent a lot of energy closing down wide players after their keeper had set them off on counter attacks, and Mellis made quite a few (mostly) unseen runs beyond Lambert. I'm not sure of the solution here as well all want to see us coming out strong straight from the off and attacking constantly. I personally love the shirt pass and move football we offered last night, but that takes it out of midfielders especislly if it breaks down in the final third and you have to turn around and chase back.

as I said, his lack of pace is a problem for me and was exposed last night. Lets hope there aren't too many Andy Williams out there.

very good atmosphere. Makes me miss the really big crowds of old.

just in case you are coming to the game that way.

agreed. Just for the record I'll say it again that I believe Perry to be one of the main reasons why we have struggled over the last few years. There is no doubting his comittment but the number of goals we have conceded because we didn't have a Jardi or someone of his ilk clearing things out from set peices and crosses is unbelievable. Pardew is to be praised for identifying that weakness immediately and actually doing something about it.

James' major improvement last seaosn coinscided with us reverting to a 4-4-2 adn actually having cover in front of him. Prior to that he was absolutely bloody terrible, suceptocal to pace, trickery, the ball over the top and over his shoulder. He was especially weak in the air costing us numerous goals to crosses where quite simply he did not do enough to prevent a clean header. As I mentioned he did improve and his ability and composure on the ball (attributes of a midfielder) were clear to see. The position is a slight concern, but Thomas looks a reasonable option - although he will get done from time to time I'm sure (he was easily beaten in the Yoevil game for instance) - but he offers height and strength and is OK on the ball. His injury is not serious so I don't see the need for a loan.

makes a lot of sense. Since they changed kick off times from 7.30 to 7.45 in league games, half time has increased by five minutes and so has the additional time added at the end. Add to this the unbelievable length of time it takes to get out of the stadium (it must be a safet hazard if you ask me), get over the bridge and then out of town and before you know it it is getting late by the time you get home.

I had 2-0 in the last home game. I have this one 3-1

I fancy our chances against anyone at home. We dominate possession in most games and teams that have the ball most more often than not win more games than they lose. Obviously we have struggled for goals but all teams go through sticky patches, what is key is that we keep passing the ball and just up the pace a little. Can anyone tell me, do Rovers sell out there ground? Is their support much much bigger than ther 7000 crowds suggest? I recall them getting 40,000 for a Wembley final a number of years back.

apart from some much needed additional experience, improving relations with Barnsley, getting an unhappy player out the door for a few weeks, a chance to advertise one of our players to a potential buyer, possibly a loan fee or his wages paid?

Is your assessment of James based on commentary from Saturday or in general do you not rate him at right back? Also are you suggesting we get a loanee in until Murty comes back or do you not rate him either and feel we need a replacment full stop?

a very poor guess would be that away fans don't tend to come on mass so there is no reason to start so late (7.45 is too late IMO anyway) thereby attracting more home fans and their kids.

anyone able to tell me how is Andrej Pernecky coming along?

I can't think of a worse player to play right back. Perry is as slow as they come, has never played there before, is terrible on the ball, doesn't get forward and will not improve most of those facets over the course of the season. Absolutre madness to even think about playing him there.