shurlock

After Chaplow who's been hit and miss since his return, Guly gives us more defensively than any of our other wide midfielders. He can't tackle but he tracks back and closes -hence why he was brought on at Leeds. They exploited the space down the wings; but I don't how much is due to Guly or our widemen are naturally tucked in. Its not the first time opposing fullbacks have enjoyed success against us.

It was far from a subdued performance in the first half -not to mention it was a relatively fresh team (5 changes from the team that began on Saturday). Thought we were v.bright and won all the second balls. Had we got a goal, it could have been a Derby or Burnley and we could have been out of sight. It was a much better performance than Watford and Leeds and we created more chances than the Cardiff game which people gushed over for reasons unbeknown to me. They came back into it in the 2nd half without really threatening (Chopra's header apart) and we got slightly nervy as the game went on. But is that really a surprise, especially against an in-form side. Agree with your ratings: Lambert had a poor game by his standards (not so sure if the knock affected him). He drifted to the wings to find a mismatch with the fullbacks but as a result became less potent. Lallana started really brightly but faded (still think his decision-making and distribution need work - needs to play more first-time balls), though it was a nice change to see us stretching Ipswich by pinging the ball early into space for him and Lee to chase. Hammond was poor; but his inclusion was understandable after Cork's performance as well as the shift he put in on Saturday. Guly was excellent in the first half - and whatever people say, he gives us a lot defensively - hence why he was brought on at Leeds. I'm glad Chaplow was left out of the squad - contrary to the mugs on here who were proclaiming the second coming, he's had a subdued return. And as far as balancing defensive and attacking responsibilities, Guly is probably the best we have atm. If Ipswich got room down the flanks, that's largely because we set up with a narrow midfield.

He had a poor game tonight by his very high standards.

Chaplow had a very poor first half -was anonymous for the first 20 mins and provided Richardson little cover. Was happier when Puncheon went to the right -and that's not saying a great deal given his performance. Chaplow had a better 2nd half, especially as his engine allowed us to break, though he put us in a mess with a few woeful passes. Cork was off the pace -Clayton was excellent for them in the middle (the ref let a lot slide and we didn't match their aggression). Still from struggling during our dodgy patch, Cork has looked much better in recent weeks and come close to MOTM. Like quite a few of our players, he tends to fire when the rest of the team is firing. Only Morgan looks capable atm of influencing games - independent of how others are perfming. Guly did well when he came on. Closed down and tracked back, though I wish he stood players up rather than attempt too many tackles.

[video=youtube;y57T7_-hrjE] [video=youtube;SzOIw-NsG9M]

Thought the repeated references to whippets and prostitutes in each were dull and repetitive. Seen this kind of thing done better elsewhere.

Still don't see it happening.

A. We'll meet again...and all that

The replays make it look harder than it was - in part because the cameras were tracking Lallana and picked Sharp up only at the last moment. That made it look like the ball came at him point blank; but that wasn't wholly the case. Another case of where you had to be there to see the whole phase of the play unfold.

No doubt it will come as a disappointment to some on here; but the biggest land grab in human history was carried out not by the Brits but by the Chinese in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Nah- fundamentalism was well on the rise before Iraq, Afghanistan etc- the roots are far more complex than the lefty strawman story of a big bad blundering US trampling all over a poor, helpless Middle East. While i don't doubt foreign policy has fanned the flames;they have been smoldering for a long time. Talking about Muslims as a whole is also wildly simplistic. The factors that radicalise some British Muslims -notably the identity crisis that afflicts many 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants- are not found elsewhere - say in sedentary countries or countries that have Islam as the state religion. Finally, what's gone in Israel might be wrong on plenty of levels; but lets not pretend that the ones who are least willing to show solidarity or support are neighbouring Arab countries. When interests clash with principle, most couldn't give a sh*t about few palis and it's one reason why pan arabism has never got off the ground.

No two ways about it - it was a poor miss. When Lallana hit the shot, Sharp was hovering on the edge of the box. He had time to anticipate that the keeper might spill the ball and figure out where it might go. Yes the save came at him and he was running in but it was hardly smashed back in his path and given his starting position, its not as if he saw the ball at the last moment. Now compare that with Reid's miss a few mins before where he blasted the ball over the bar. There he genuinely saw the ball at the last moment as it came through a crowded 6 yard box, wasn't anticipating the ball and had no time to adjust. That was a difficult chance; Sharp's was not straightforward but it was much easier and for CF rather than CB he should have buried it.

Yep it was fonte's assist.

It will be touch and go. All the normal tickets for Watford were gone by the time they went on general sale, with only the family ones remaining (1 adult + 1 child); while the allocation for WHU was 50% bigger than the current one for Millwall.

Millwall is one of the safest trips there is.

Don't worry those fat c*nts have enough experience with the bar scanners. Many are on intimate terms with the self-scan tills at their local tescos to cover up their late night, shame-filled, bingeing sessions.

Maybe tadanari's interpreter? got his badges and coached one of huddersfield's youth teams.

The Tranmere result was worse IMO.

It was some consolation that we played them in the league a few weeks later -again in front of the Sky cameras hoping for another Spurs exhibition (Pleat was commentating, how biased can you get); but this time we beat them pretty soundly.

Brucey was definitely on the take.

Performance wasn't pretty but we got the result. The pitch didn't look as bad as it was made out before the game - we've played on far more cut up pitches in L1 on which we were able to knock it about, so you can only push the argument so far. The first goal was manna from heaven -unexpected and undeserved; if it hadn't arrived, it would have been interesting to see how things would have panned out, whether we would have been able to muster up any fluency. But after it came, we were able to keep it tight and play the percentages. In fairness, we managed to create the better chances, albeit they were few and far between which says as much about how gash Watford were. Sh*t fans, sh*t ground is an understatement. Thought Morgan played well, his influencing growing over the course of the game. Jos and Fonte started off shakily, aided and abetted by some poor communication with KD; but they bossed the 2nd half. Notwithstanding a couple of sitters, Lee had a decent game. He nicked in front of the CBs to good effect to lay the ball off while he busted a gut down channels to gather Butterfield's punts (easy to see why FR is our no.1), making the most of Watford's rashness and hesitation at the back. Not the quickest player out the blocks; but got decent pace once in flight and reads defenders runs well. Don't think Lallana's injury changed much, though Punch looked less effective than in other games -not helped by being out of position. Rickie was a threat: even if he'll play much better than today and not have a sniff at goal. Chaplow's still gingerly looking for some match fitness -shocking first half; steadier second. I wouldn't be surprised if he drops back down once Guly returns. Not a great performance; but it didn't need to be. Since a lax August/September when we haemorrhaged goals, we've tightened up immeasurably. Defense and good organisation are an undersung part of our game and today it was on full display.

Dont dislike the game-my granddad had a trial with one of the NY teams back in the 1930s; but think it has fallen to pieces and apathy has won the day. The NFL shows that a limited dose of good-old socialism works.

Both my spares are now gone.

Like Delldays, any jobs going...? Got one or two skills, including foreign languages, so happy to move abroad (ideally after promotion)

I have two juniour tickets available in the family section. Prefer to get rid of them as a pair. PM me if you want then.