v Huddersfield (H) Match Thread

[Ellafella]

1 hour ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Think we have to give the lads and, I suppose, Rooney some credit. These are some incredibly turbulent times for the club and I thought that what is a makeshift team did well enough in the circumstances.

Sadly, I see one or two players already coming under fire on here after one game and one game only. Each to their own I guess, but thankfully the fans who attended the game were in really good voice and gave the lads plenty of encouragement. It was great to see fans back at PP and again, given the circumstances, I think the reported crowd of around 17k is far from shabby.

All in all, more positives to be taken than negatives, but clearly much work to be done, on and off the pitch.

COYR

I don’t see any problem with calling players out if the points are fairly made. If players don’t perform, then I will say so. They are not immune from criticism just like when they play outstandingly they get my effusive praise.

[Ramos]

7 hours ago, ollycutts1982 said:

Unpopular opinion but Bird offers absolutely nothing to our team. Receives the ball too square never on the half turn so his only option is ever backwards. Could do with a day watching Thorne’s highlights. Not a battler nor a passer or progressive player. I despise the fact that we get a free kick and the takers first instinct is to look behind him. 
 

Morrison may well be able to pick a forward pass. We can only hope. Decent result today but Huddersfield will be down there with us. 2 points lost for us and a point gained for them.  

I’ll keep saying this for the next 2 years. But I honestly think Liam Thompson will overtake bird in that two. Just needs to take his chance if and when he gets it. 

[Woodley Ram]

I thought the South stand were excellent and was saddened by the attendance. I was fearful over a protest but I’m glad we supported Rooney and the boys.

We were better in the game than I thought we would be. Davies and Steerman are always going to be exposed by pace I was shocked that Huddersfield took so long to work it out.

Shinnie didn’t play well in the first half but improved in the second. Roos is changing my opinion of him more for the excellent punch than the saves as we know he can do that, also unlike the Huddersfield keeper is kicking is good.

I thought Watson was played in the wrong position he is a creator not a winger but I think that is because we have lots of central midfielders.

Bryne had a torrid time, they had a plan to isolate him and use high balls to Thomas who was excellent.

I don’t have an issue with Lawrence, he run his heart out and until Sibley came on was the only spark.

As for Jozwiak shoot lad even if you miss. He is a good player but needs an end product, he had an excellent opportunity to shoot in the match but didn’t and then his head went down.

Sibley was excellent when he came on and gave their defence hell, this in turn helped Bryne as Thomas had to do more defending.

 Ebosele we have some player here, I thought he was all about speed but he showed that he has a good football brain and an excellent passing game. He will be a star in the future.

Forsyth, excellent, this guy would run through a wall for Derby.

The ref and the assistant ref in front of the East Stand. How many time did Forsyth get fouled in the second half when their defender was body checking him?  Also when Ebosele was free on the left he was clearly fouled consistently but all that was given was a throwing. Thought the ref was poor today.

Holmes, has he been on the weights looked a lot bigger and looked slower. His booing was warranted not because he is an ex player but because of how (from his own mouth) he engineered his move. The booing affected him, you could tell that when he blow a kiss to the east stand.  

Last but not least Huddlesfield are going on about Covid, just look at the quality of players they had on the bench. Also he have a much better squad than last year they have recruited well. This is a game they thought they would win easily and we were better than they thought. 

[Comrade 86]

5 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

I don’t see any problem with calling players out if the points are fairly made. If players don’t perform, then I will say so. They are not immune from criticism just like when they play outstandingly they get my effusive praise.

Not sure if there's a point that can be fairly made 90 minutes into the season, but as I said, each to their own.

[Ellafella]

10 minutes ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Not sure if there's a point that can be fairly made 90 minutes into the season, but as I said, each to their own.

You can make comments after every game. Nobody will stop you. Football players are in the spotlight and need to be able to handle the feedback both good and bad. 

[G STAR RAM]

My thoughts on yesterday's game:-

Roos - Some great shot stopping but he is the least commanding goalkeeper I have ever seen. He has such a big frame but puts it to no ise at all. In the second half one of their players won a header from a corner literally 3 yards from goal and Roos was stood 2 yards behind the line. 

Byrne - Had a stinker yesterday and was maybe lucky not to get sent off. In fairness he was up against a very good player.

Davies - Won a few headers. Still doesn't look comfortable on the ball. Played his part in our goal.

Stearman - Lookee exactly like what he is, an ageing centre half with very little ability on the ball.

Forsyth - Had a good game I thought, solid defensively and was a good outlet to get us up the pitch.

Bird - Used the ball well. A great through ball to Louie Watson which could have won us a penalty. 

Shinnie - Awful. Slow on the ball, kept getting caught in possession facing his own goal. Great battling qualities but that will only get you so far in this game.

Watson - Lots of energy and a few good touches. Dont think he is quite ready to be starting games yet.

Lawrence - Most of his touches were in positions where he was of no danger to the opposition. Thought he should have done better with the big chance that came his way.

Jozwiak - Awful. First time Ive seen him live and unfortunately looks just as bad as he did on the tv. Other endeavour not really sure what he does.

Kazim-Richards - Isolated for large periods. A few good touches. Was a major plus for us last season but if he is going to be the focal point of our attack this year I think we are going to really struggle for goals again

Sibley - Game changer. Looked to get us on the front foot and make things happen. Wasted a good opportunity when he let the defender get back at him and also if he had kept his shot down at the end we would probably have got all 3 points

The assessment of individual players may sound a bit negative but overall was pleased with the way we battled.

Truth of the matter is that we played a very poor team and made them look good. If we continue with performances like that we are in deep trouble. 

Hope that we dont see many more Davies/Stearman or Shinnie/Bird combinations this season.

Despite all of the above, what a feeling to be back in the ground and seeing all of the fans getting behind the team.

[angieram]

I think there's a difference between saying Bird had a poor game yesterday (which he did ) and saying he offers nothing to this team. 

I don't mind the first sort of comment, but the second is plain daft! 

Some are writing Jozwiak off too - or stating that he doesn't want to be here- after one game. 

Byrne doesn't get the same because he was a strong performer last season. He had a tough game yesterday too.

Lawrence is another, he worked really hard yesterday and drove the team forward. Yes, he had to come deeper than we would have liked but he got involved and tried to influence the game. He gets 4s in the ratings thread from some.

I'm only guessing @Ellafella but I think it is those sort of comments that @86 Hair Islands is referring to. 

[RoyMac5]

7 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Roos - Some great shot stopping but he is the least commanding goalkeeper I have ever seen. He has such a big frame but puts it to no ise at all. In the second half one of their players won a header from a corner literally 3 yards from goal and Roos was stood 2 yards behind the line. 

You missed the punch he came through a crowd for and a decent catch? Thought he had a very good game yesterday, particularly with an 'unknown' defence in front of him. I've not been a fan but yesterday he was good.

[Tyler Durden]

41 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

You can make comments after every game. Nobody will stop you. Football players are in the spotlight and need to be able to handle the feedback both good and bad. 

Totally agree, if some of the comments were made in isolation after one game of football then you can still speak as you find but people are not basing their feedback on one game for some players unfortunately it's a continuation of previous performances that is now colouring their opinion. 

I guess the next argument will be new season, clean slate but again that's down to individual players to show that they're an upgraded model from previous seasons. 

[RoyMac5]

9 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Byrne - Had a stinker yesterday and was maybe lucky not to get sent off. In fairness he was up against a very good player.

Whilst everyone seems to agree he didn't have a good game, throughout lots of the match he was left one on one with their most dangerous player.

[RoyMac5]

10 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Sibley - Game changer. Looked to get us on the front foot and make things happen. Wasted a good opportunity when he let the defender get back at him and also if he had kept his shot down at the end we would probably have got all 3 points

Game changer? How so, he didn't score. The pattern of play changed from the first half but we didn't score. You seem a bit blinkered in your rating?

[Ellafella]

3 minutes ago, angieram said:

I think there's a difference between saying Bird had a poor game yesterday (which he did ) and saying he offers nothing to this team. 

I don't mind the first sort of comment, but the second is plain daft! 

Some are writing Jozwiak off too - or stating that he doesn't want to be here- after one game. 

Byrne doesn't get the same because he was a strong performer last season. He had a tough game yesterday too.

Lawrence is another, he worked really hard yesterday and drove the team forward. Yes, he had to come deeper than we would have liked but he got involved and tried to influence the game. He gets 4s in the ratings thread from some.

I'm only guessing @Ellafella but I think it is those sort of comments that @86 Hair Islands is referring to. 

Yes. I agree @angieram. You’re right. It comes down to what we are actually talking about. By the way, I gave both Lawrence and Jozwiak low ratings because they were ineffectual yesterday. There may be valid reasons - ie Jozwiak hasn’t had a proper break so if I was Rooney I might rest him for a couple of games now we’ve got Morrison in - but that doesn’t detract from him getting a low rating. But yes I too am against grossly writing players off although last season I did lose total patience with Waghorn who was effectively ineffectual for many games. 

[RoyMac5]

11 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Watson - Lots of energy and a few good touches. Dont think he is quite ready to be starting games yet.

Yet Sibley is? The ref chickened out of awarding a penalty when he was through in the box, their defender clearly 'pushed' him.

[Tyler Durden]

11 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

My thoughts on yesterday's game:-

Roos - Some great shot stopping but he is the least commanding goalkeeper I have ever seen. He has such a big frame but puts it to no ise at all. In the second half one of their players won a header from a corner literally 3 yards from goal and Roos was stood 2 yards behind the line. 

Byrne - Had a stinker yesterday and was maybe lucky not to get sent off. In fairness he was up against a very good player.

Davies - Won a few headers. Still doesn't look comfortable on the ball. Played his part in our goal.

Stearman - Lookee exactly like what he is, an ageing centre half with very little ability on the ball.

Forsyth - Had a good game I thought, solid defensively and was a good outlet to get us up the pitch.

Bird - Used the ball well. A great through ball to Louie Watson which could have won us a penalty. 

Shinnie - Awful. Slow on the ball, kept getting caught in possession facing his own goal. Great battling qualities but that will only get you so far in this game.

Watson - Lots of energy and a few good touches. Dont think he is quite ready to be starting games yet.

Lawrence - Most of his touches were in positions where he was of no danger to the opposition. Thought he should have done better with the big chance that came his way.

Jozwiak - Awful. First time Ive seen him live and unfortunately looks just as bad as he did on the tv. Other endeavour not really sure what he does.

Kazim-Richards - Isolated for large periods. A few good touches. Was a major plus for us last season but if he is going to be the focal point of our attack this year I think we are going to really struggle for goals again

Sibley - Game changer. Looked to get us on the front foot and make things happen. Wasted a good opportunity when he let the defender get back at him and also if he had kept his shot down at the end we would probably have got all 3 points

The assessment of individual players may sound a bit negative but overall was pleased with the way we battled.

Truth of the matter is that we played a very poor team and made them look good. If we continue with performances like that we are in deep trouble. 

Hope that we dont see many more Davies/Stearman or Shinnie/Bird combinations this season.

Despite all of the above, what a feeling to be back in the ground and seeing all of the fans getting behind the team.

Yer think the sum of the parts was greater than the individual performances but football's a team game after all so.

I still have the nagging feeling that Huddersfield will be one of the poorer teams to visit us this season so whilst the performance was OK against them we'll get severely found out when playing better quality opposition.

[RoyMac5]

Oh and before anyone thinks otherwise I was glad to see Sibley get some match time yesterday. But I can't agree with the hyperbole about his contribution. Might have agreed if he scored - afterall other players missed chances too.

[angieram]

1 minute ago, Ellafella said:

Yes. I agree @angieram. You’re right. It comes down to what we are actually talking about. By the way, I gave both Lawrence and Jozwiak low ratings because they were ineffectual yesterday. There may be valid reasons - ie Jozwiak hasn’t had a proper break so if I was Rooney I might rest him for a couple of games now we’ve got Morrison in - but that doesn’t detract from him getting a low rating. But yes I too am against grossly writing players off although last season I did lose total patience with Waghorn who was effectively ineffectual for many games. 

I know, and that's very different when a player goes game after game without any good ones. Then you have something to base an opinion on.

I too was very frustrated with Waggy but will be ever grateful for him coming good for that last game of the season. If I'd have been manager, he probably wouldn't have been in the team!

I want more from Lawrence too, but still think he's a game changer on his day and works hard when it isn't. 

[Ghost of Clough]

4 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Game changer? How so, he didn't score. The pattern of play changed from the first half but we didn't score. You seem a bit blinkered in your rating?

If Sibley doesn't get a good rating/review because he didn't score, then everyone else must get an even worse rating/review because they didn't even look like scoring... Well other than Davies of course.

[Jimbo Ram]

6 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Game changer? How so, he didn't score. The pattern of play changed from the first half but we didn't score. You seem a bit blinkered in your rating?

Blinkered Roy Mac ? Priceless ?

[NottsRam77]

1 hour ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Yes, some fair comment there. This is why I dont understand Lawrence picking the ball up so deep. Get the forward players up the park, insist they are always on the move & task Max with finding them. Again yesterday, not enough men in the box & not enough men around Kazim. Ravel is quality but dont want him also dropping back like Lawrence....want him hurting opposition by receiving the ball in their half, turning & driving at them.

Rooney obviously wants to maximise our full back strength with the current tactics but that should be Shinnie's role to cover whichever one has moved up the park (the other one sitting deeper). Max needs to be involved in the play more.

Agree completely 

Im assuming Lawrence was dropping deep to get the ball as it was about the only area on the pitch where there was space to get the ball without a man being up his backside 

this goes back to the point some have made and yourself about runners in behind be it a midfielder or the centre forward … obviously CKR isn’t going to do that ( although he did chase down a couple of round the corner fozzy balls, but he ain’t putting the fear of god into them ) and when we’re playing a holding two neither shinnie or bird are going to be breaking ranks 

if we we’re to get a willing runner who does go in behind then that pushes them that little bit deeper toward their goal.. in turn creating pockets for our players to exploit 

until we get willing runners to go in behind be it a front man/widemen or midfielders then we’ll remain easy to play against and will continue to create v little 

[RoyMac5]

Just now, Ghost of Clough said:

If Sibley doesn't get a good rating/review because he didn't score, then everyone else must get an even worse rating/review because they didn't even look like scoring... Well other than Davies of course.

Watson through on goal? Lawrence in the box? Colin in the box at a stretch - went with his wrong foot?