Went today. My thoughts for what they are worth. Started livelier than the home side and seemed to be carrying our confidence from Sunday. Well worth the goal and almost doubled the lead not long after, but once we had the lead we went quiet and we did sit back. We contained them reasonably well but lacked bite in midfield, and we were alarmingly exposed on both flanks at times. The goal came at the worst time possible and was a gift from Williams who had a poor game, made bad decisions throughout and gave the ball away too often. Williams doesn't look like a central midfielder to me - he looks like a Winger and certainly if he was making mistakes on the wing it would be less expensive. In contrast, Hourihane was on the wing and couldn't get in the game although he did come inside a lot. Second half was poor. They got well on top of us and we didn't threaten them. Winnall and Cole don't seem to have much of an understanding and neither really succeeded in holding up the ball very well. Their Winger, Newell was tasty and Bree didn't cope well. Nyatanga looks like a weakness, neither strong going forward, nor robust at the back. Turnbull's kicking was poor too. Credit to them for their winner though - a very sweet, well struck free kick. The sending off was a joke - he took the ball, definitely won the ball, and even if it was considered a foul a yellow card was very harsh. This being said, I don't think it changed the game, they had sorted us out by then. What does it mean to me? Big difference between Bradford and Peterborough - wingers. Bree is going to brilliant, but wasn't the same player when under pressure today. He's only 17. Nyatanga needs replacing. We also need a combative, robust, mobile ball winner in midfield. Young team. Not ready at the moment. Some missing component parts, but I think Wilson will get it right with a bit of time and patience. Not a disaster by any means.
Thanks for the report. Peterborough will be in the Promotion mix at the end of the season so it's a good indicator of how we're progressing.
Forgot to mention, the support was really first class. Very vocal. Out sang the home supporters all day.
Our goal came from about the only time we exploited the wings and got a cross over. Everything else was pumped up to the forwards, who had a giant of a centre half towering over them. Yet Turnbull and the defence just kept lumping it up the field. Clueless.
Thanks for the measured analysis. Don't understand why Danny would play Hourihane and Williams (or at all) the wrong way round. One of those things that just seems obvious. Like retaining Bobby Hassell and using him in defence/holding midfield. Anyway, agree re Nyatanga who seems to have lost the edge he previously brought to the side. Signings/selection/formation do all seem a bit hit or miss but in Wilson I still trust. Still recall the horror show performances of a similar influx of new signings when Danny was no. 2 to Viv Anderson, home drubbings and early season relegation worries... Turned out alright in the end and would hope that it must be clear by now to a manager of his experience what now needs to be done to make a team of this crop.
That's an assessment I'd agree with. They were better than us no doubt but it took a mistake and a world class free kick to beat us so that shows how hard we worked and defended. Can't fault Williams for effort but he gives the ball away far too much for me. Hopefully that's down to a lack I'd match sharpness.
It was obvious that they had targeted Bree as a rookie 17 year old and were very physical with him from the very start. It seemed to drain his confidence and he was a shadow of what he's been for the last few weeks.
nail on the head mate. it was exactly the same as last week , the same formation that we were all saying how well it had worked
From what I hear and read, being so far away, is that Hourihane is our new Glavin/Redders, so why is he not in the middle. It seems that we have manager after manager who play people out of position. Why?
