Holmes_and_Watson

Oh for... Give it away... Big long direct run and blasted past.. Edozie not strong enough to do anything and we're vulnerable on this counters. Really need to get some control here. Not at the races so far. Stu on for Smallbone and Edozie off for Sulemana. Shame it's now when we're behind.

From the opening seconds of Baz/ Holgate mishap, we've been second best and now punished by a side that have outmuscled us about this half.

Preston had their spells on top. We took a bit to get into gear with the tempo of our passing. We made a few unforced errors along the way. A couple from Charles, one when we hadn't had an attack for a while frustrated RM. Baz made a good save on the side a lot have gone in. His distribution and vision good as usual. Made a fine stop with his leg later in the half, which went up onto Charles's arm. Thankfully, no VAR to even consider it. Preston tried to use those gaps left when we tuck in our full backs, at least 3 times. We'll always look a bit on the backdoor tearing back. But we've looked a lot more structured doing it as RMs instructions have taken hold. With 2 changes in the back line, it was good to see us look okay. Bookings for Bednarek and Smallbone could make it interesting second half there. Hopefully, we'll not have to worry about pressure. Lovely KWP goal. RM talked about him playing in midfield, and even as a 9 due to his quality pre-match. Good to see the manager freeing up some of the players like Stu and KWP. Nice to see Che also looking to get on the end of the shot. Smallbone and AA linked up well shortly after, as we had a strong spell. If we can have spells at our best tempo, when the passes are clicking, Preston might struggle to cope. Decent options from the bench too.

It's either another Smallbone goal, or a cheeky poacher's effrot from Adam Armstrong. Either way, it's a 1-0 win that will still divide supporters as to the effectiveness of the win.

Way

Express

Anthem

Cheque

Point

I've not seen a noticeable dip in Turkish's posting recently. It's a relentless Championship posting schedule and some days are going to be better than others. Harsh to think of us selling him on to another forum, never mind for less than his valuation price. 🙂

Villa will always have that doubt in their mind that they're not aggressive and front footed enough, having not gone with Jones themselves. 🙂

I was thinking that last last week, as a couple of positions on the flanks were crying out for Adams to be in the centre. Except, he was over on the other side, as that's where the passing had recently been, and he wasn;t going to be able to get there. And that wasn't his fault. That's just where our move had taken us. Yesterday, there were a couple where we were crying out for people in the box, only for there to be Arma as the only presence there, and not centrally either. Hopefully, as MartinBall improves, we'll see players more likely to take up the positions of others, being more aware of the options and risks. Smallbone would be a good example. He's being asked to perform a a lot of roles in the side, in any given match. By the time Sterwart is up and running, we'll have developed to the point we can evolve the tactic a bit round his strengths. No doubt, he'll still ahve to do a lot of things everyone else is, but within some structure that keeps him more likely to be in those dangerous areas.

That was against Hull. Now imagine we've just beaten Liverpool away... an on-pitch parade, followed by riverdance, then a light show, sky writing and *then* a flood of tears. Something to look forward to with The Process. 🙂 I don't mind a bit of acknowledgement for the support, with some consisent actions to to show the appreciation and bonding. From his comments, he know he's got a *lot* of work to improve on, so the late winner isn't going to his head as some sort of massive triumph.

I've just buy from local sources, that I've heard plenty of word of mouth about. Yes, it's probably more (although I've had some really good deals). Better that, than the horror stories I've heard from other places, and any uncertainty on just how good a deal I'm getting.

We worked hard to the final whistle and were on top for that closing spell, by some margin. Today's subs made a difference when they came on. Edozie still hit and miss with what he does, Mara taking up lots of good positions and working hard and Fraser with a good finish. There are going to be games where results are late, scrappy against the run of play. That goes both ways. But keeping going to the end, trying to make the difference shows commitment, professionalism and can pay off. Like it did today. We did well increasing the pressure after the subs, making use of the spaces and having much more of a forward presence forcing them back. But it wasn't always like that today. As someone focused on his process, Martin still has an awful lot to improve in a number of areas, we've commited ourselves to. 3 wins and a draw out of four looks great, that it's working and we are on the right path. But as Martin and SR will be more concerend with the underlying performance, they'll have seen many of the deficiences that resulted in better, more clinical sides hammering us. It sounds harsh. But that's the realistic expecation you'd expect to have for a side with our resources coming down to this division (As Leicester, and now Leeds are showing). Great for the club to reach out to show tactics and approach this week. However, I think they misjudge what they think is lack of understanding through their complexity. I think a lot of fans know exactly how it works but are weighing that against the realistic expecations for the season, the clear areas for improvement, and the effectiveness of the play that should be getting us there. Martin has been the first to point out there's a lot to be done for it to click. Which we're seeing. Looking forward to the points to be going along with that, now we're back to winning ways.

FInally a nice bread and butter cross... into the centre where we've actually got someone who can finish in there... first time shot and it's in. If only there were tactics in the world where more of that could be generated... 🙂

Yeeeees!!!!!!!!

Baz with a nice, quick direct and middle distance pass, getting us moving...

Adams... gah.... given away...

Manning... blocked. Decent move though (nice to find something positive to type)

Martin will look at Smallbone's effort as one from his tactic. But it actually took a direct run from someone to create it. As usual, with plenty of their players back. In a previous game, I thought Smallbone did well to get a good effort in. Today, in a better posisiton, it ws the same technique and had it fallen to a more natural finisher that might have been a better outcome. Smallbone is asked to cover a lot of roles.

10 minutes ago I received a telegraph that read Hull player will pass to number 7. Stop. I wondered what it was. When it actually happened our whole defence managed to get them sucked into the wrong posistion and miss that pass. I guess they didn;t get that message.. or the smoke signals.. or the carrier pigeons... meanwhile, any Hull attack can take advantage of huge gaps in the same position our tactic always leaves. No attacking advantage of numbers tucked in, when we can;t construct any incisive passing moves form them, and knacker ourselves running back to cover any remotely direct opponents.

We are moving the ball into the box. Now, you'd think haveing removed all the direct, physical players form the squad and trained them to pass, pass and pass... that was the way that would go. But nope. Today, we've implemented the hitting-it-to-people-who-will-never-win-an-aerial-challenge tactic. Wasted. We are getting more up, byt the looks of it. Which could mean anything can happen really. Disapointed to see them paly it sharply out from the back. I'm sure they don;t have our levels of training or such a capable goalkeeper for that. Next time, they won;t be so lucky, surely. 🙂

I heard they were investigating to see if his hair gives him an unfair advantage in winning those.

A playing legend. Thoughts are with family, friends and his generations of fans.