Wasn't going to bother posting this but sod it. Thought he had one of his poorest games ever yesterday. Passing, receiving, tackiling, shooting all below par and he clearly knew he wasn't playing well BUT, what an attitude. Always still trying to get on the ball, always trying to make himself available, and always tracking back. A fantastic approach and I can think of a number of players down the years who, when things weren't happening for them, managed to find a place to hide on a small green field. He sums up the general attitude of these players. They will know they didn't play well and, if I was Hecky, I'd start the same eleven in the reply and say " go on then, sort it. " A quick word for the Blackpool players. I thought they were excellent. I can't imagine what it must be like to play in that atmosphere and that terrible environment, but what a great gutsy performance. They had a far better attitude than we did, competed better and can count themselves unlucky not to have won it. Remember boys....respect for the opponents. We don't you going all 'Wendy' on us.
I wasn't there yesterday, thankfully. (Working all weekend). I think he is best in the position we have used him recently out wide, working with Bree. He is a great player, work rate probably the best in the whole team. He can play all over the park, but last year as full back & this year out wide, protecting & working with an inexperienced, but attacking full back has been a revelation. We may need him to play in the centre, but I pray to Norman that we keep Connor & sign Morsy. We'll see. x
First half he was appalling (then again all of the team were) , 2nd half I think he was much better, his shooting is always pretty crap but you cant really have a go at him for some of the balls he was given. But like you say his attitude is always impeccable
Reminds me of Neil Redfearn in that respect. When Redders had a stinker boy did he have a stinker simply because he never went hiding and kept on trying even though it wasn't his day.
I was looking at yr player marks for yesterday and was a bit surprised. By some distance it was the worst team and individual performance of the season (but I'd agree with most who've said they have 'earned' the right to a poor performance.) I thought the only two players who could take something positive out of the game were Davies and Hamill (ironically). Watkins and Bree in particular were, well let's just say, off the pace a little. I don't have any concerns about Watkins but Bree does worry me. Bags of talent, great going forward and fine crosser of the ball, but defensively his concentration levels are poor. Gets caught ball watching and the bal played inside him is a feature of so many games. That and a tendency to think he's Paulo Maldini (ask yer Dad) are an issue. I don't want to be too hard on the lad because in fairness I don't think we're strong as a defensive unit. It's a good job we're scoring goals for fun because if we weren't the league table would look very different. I think all out defenders look to have the individual qualities to improve as players and, critically, as a defensive unit. I only hope they get the time because they are a group still very much on a learning curve. Incidentally, don't get me wrong, the style that Hecky has adopted is a much better one than the defensive one a promoted team might have been expected to adopt. Watching BFC is a pleasure both in terms of the quality and endeavour on show.
Yes, there's no shortage of entertainment with this team, is there? Well, there was yesterday but it's "only" the cup and that doesn't have the same meaning that it used to have. Look at Norwich yesterday for example - sell out, jam packed crowds every week but wide open spaces yesterday, AND they were playing a Premier League team. Middlesbrough V Sheff Wed - crowd of 23,000 for a Yorkshire derby. Massive club - pah!!
It was a poor team performance, but Josh gave 100% from start to finish, as he always does, and for me he was our best player, although Adam Davies ran him close. Let's have less of the negativity and for once give credit to the opposition - they changed their formation to try and outwit us, and it worked well; so well, in fact, that they had many more chances than us and had the two best players on the day in Kyle Vassell and Brad Potts. I think we can count ourselves fortunate to still be in the draw tonight. For me, the best thing to take from that game was that Aidy White came through unscathed, and after a shaky first half hour showed that he is ready to return in Andy Yiadom's absence.
Our tie was one of only six where the crowd was higher than the average home league crowd of the club hosting the game. Blackpool average 3,500 so it was a 30 odd percent increase. The glamour of the cup still alive at Bloomfield Road