Well on top, even after the red card, not playing great and only really producing half chances, but dominating possession, then we do produce a superb ball in to the box, Jennings gets above it, all he has to do is head it down, but he heads it up and over the bar. Later the opposition make a rare foray in to our half of the pitch and get a corner. Simple corner to the edge of the 6 yard box that every other team in the league can defend but we can't and we're 1-0 down. Doesn't matter which manager we have or which players we have, we can't deal with simple corners and seem to concede from them every other game. Sending off seemed ridiculous to me. Jennings was clearly incensed by a shocking tackle but he didn't strike out, he reigned himself in and at worst pushed the other player. I didn't think he was even going to get booked, just asked to calm it down. Far too early to pass judgement on any of the new signings. Hope we're going to get a bit more luck than that.
I agree, generally we can be optimistic about that. The midfield looked to play quick passes....often forwards, generally to feet. We didn't seem to have much natural width on the right, Berry seemed to come inside quite frequently, I think he'll need a bit of a run in the team to get used to the step up in standard. Was fairly happy with what I saw from Winnall, Bailey and Hourihane.
Everytime Brown got the ball on the haif way line Berry ran in field rather up the line which gave us very little width darn the reight. Was he central midfield for Cambridge? Berry worked hard though just sometimes made the wrong run.
The epitome of a 'Smash & Grab' if ever I saw one. The sending off, for me, was a pathetic decision. Ah, well. Drinks beckon.
I thought Crawley played well and troubled our defence a lot more than we troubled there's. I'm sure we will improve though.
I thought Crawley played poorly and were willing to give away countless free kicks with persistent fouling which the referee appeared unwilling to crack down on. The nasty foul from behind on Jennings epitomised their approach. Unfortunately, the referee deemed Jennings' reaction to be worse than the initial challenge. Up to their goal in the second half, I can't remember Davies having a save to make whereas Jensen was called upon on a number of occasions.
For me they created better shooting positions but wasted them, whereas most of our shots were from distance. McCloud beat Crainie in the first 5 mins to get behind our defence and blast a shot/ cross, I thought we never really got behind there defence at all, I'm sure DW wasn't that happy with today, room for improvement I would say.
Optimism tempered by the harsh reality that unless we stop making schoolboy errors its going to be another long season.
There certainly is room for improvement, mate. For me we need to play at a quicker pace, our passing needs to be crisper and slicker. When we get into the final third, we need to be bolder and more confident with our options and decision making. With the likes of Treacy & Lita able to offer more experienced alternatives and the lads who played today settling down, I see no reason why we can't improve on this. I'm disappointed we've lost, but feel we can & will be a lot better over the coming weeks and months.
I agree totally. A big strong striker for Winall or Lita to play off and an older head in the middle and I'm sure we will be ok.
We were outfought in every area of the pitch. We were no threat upfront Our midfield were hopeless. Anonymous and quite hopeless. None of them knew what they were doing and none had the ability to run past the opposition. It looks like we're playing a boy band! Our forwards were outmuscled and unable to hold the ball up. Puny. We need a target man if we're gonna try and play like that. Rose is not up to the job. Never will be. Winnall showd a bit of promise. A bit. Neither full back can go on the outside. Crawley had far more chances and we were lucky to get away with 0-1 We need to tough up in this division or we will go down. Saw nothing to indicate any plan. FFS kicking it up for Rose and Winnall to win headers.... Worse start to a season I can remember, optimism wise. Quite awful. And a complete contrast to our start when Wilson got us promoted. Luck had sod all to do with it. We were well beaten.
That's not a match report, it's an attempt to start an argument. It's so over the top it has no basis in reality. It's like you've been waiting for three months, desperate for us to lose on the opening day of the season, just so you can deliver it. More fool me for responding.
I was just so disappointed by it all. I'd seen a couple of the friendlies and felt fairly confident of a decent start - but it all seemed a bit of a confusing mish mash of non-events, no leaders, nothing decisive, hopeful balls heading nowhere in particular, to players who frequently didn't seem to know what to do next, or muscled off the ball by the opposition, who seemed equally at odds with any kind of precision. The very muted response at the final whistle spoke volumes. I don't want to sound harsh, I don't comment often, but there seemed to be a lack of fire, no sign of any desire to "go get". I really hope it gets sorted because this is a hard division and early and prolonged failures will cost dearly.
I thought it was a poor scrappy game from start to finish with both sides being devoid of any ideas. We lacked creativity in midfield then resorted to hoofing it up front to Rose and Winnall who were never going to compete and subsequently looked poor. I thought a scrappy goal or goal from a set piece would settle it either way so didn't really see the Jennings sending off as crucial. We are a young team who will take a good 3 months to settle. We just need to not panic and support our lads. They will have good days and bad such is the way with young inexperienced professionals.
I could see smash and grab was going to be order of the day from Crawley at the start. We must have lost the toss so they decided to put the low sun in Davis's eyes then it was hoofball from then on into the area. They slowed the game to snail pace and when they got the goal they played it on the floor and then we resorted to hoofball. They had a plan and it beat Danny's plan.
Yep - alot worse - Wigan were the FA Cup holders and obviously a good team. Crawley hardly compare a division down. Some things never change though - Jennings and the colour red.
Who said it was a match report? It was my view of what I saw. I have my own version of reality. Which seems to be shared by a few on here. Please only respond in relation to the football, rather than seeking to psychoanalyse the motives of the poster. Although in the style of a reev hth, I only ever want my team to win.