Posh Match Report 1 - report of game

London Road has often seemed a happy hunting-ground for the Reds and so it proved again on Saturday. My previous visits had both seen us win 3-1. In November 2002, the season after we were relegated, the scorers were Sheron (2) and Dyer. In March 2005, it was Chopra (pen), Nardiello and Shuker who won the points for the Reds.

Back today came the loanees Shotton, Dickinson and Doyle into the line-up and out went Kozluk, Halfredsson.

So the following team took shape from the start:

Steele
Shotton Foster Moore Dickinson

De Silva Colace Doyle Hammill

Macken Bogdanovic

There were early skirmishes at both ends, De Silva drawing a save from debutant Amos; Batt doing the same from Steele and then a mess-up between Foster and Moore almost letting Posh in again. By the time we were ten minutes in Posh had, in all honesty, established a firm grip on midfield and were stroking the ball around well, although without the end-product being too threatening. We got into the mode of chasing shadows, closing down rather too slackly and looking as though we were losing our way. Another cross-cum-shot flashed across our penalty area from Batt (deputising for the injured Mackail-Smith) and it just looked a matter of time before Posh got a goal. When it did come, it seemed both unexpected and unfair. Moore was adjudged to have fouled McLean (or Zakuani?) from a corner; both fell to ground and the referee (who made some odd decisions at times – see Foster’s booking) pointed to the spot. George Boyd flashed it home confidently and, at this point, I could not see us getting back into it. Our main ploy had been pretty much route one from the back up to Macken and Bogdanovic – both battled well with Macken in particular having mostly good first touches and doing his best to hold the ball up for the others. Hammill often looked a distinct threat down our left when given the very occasional chance – it was not often in the first half hour, but his tricky feet and change of pace always made him difficult for Charlie Lee of Posh.

It was, therefore, something of a surprise when we scored from our first good chance. Macken found space on the right and delivered a curling cross to perfection for Bogdanovic expertly to thump his header past the stranded Amos. Macken often reminds me of John Hendrie with his somewhat bandy-legged style and slightly pin-toes, which mean it is almost impossible for him do anything other than put a curl on the ball. This was a super set up and a class finish as well. Cue great celebrations in which Bogdanovic seemed to try to shake the hand of every Reds fans behind the goal. Unfortunately, this caused a surge during which a safety gate burst open and Daniel found himself booked.

This brought us back to life and backed by some of the best away support I have witnessed, especially behind the goal, our confidence grew. Posh wobbled clearly enough, but huffed and puffed and started to re-establish their midfield control and pressure when an error let De Silva loose with the ball down the right channel just over half-way. It is good to see a player control the ball, run with it, but also keep his head up to be aware of what is going on around him. De Silva surged forwards to commit a defender, which made more space for Macken’s right-wing run. The pass found Macken to perfection and he closed in from the right flank to rifle an unstoppable bullet past Amos from what I thought was a very tight angle. 2-1 to the Super Reds – somewhat against the balance of play, but who cares?

So 2-1 at half-time.

What would be the cunning plan for the second half? Hold the lead, defend deep and hit on the counter? Go for broke and more goals? It was mostly the former.

However, there was early positive intent when a nice passing move between Jon Macken and Nathan Doyle put in Hammill wide left and he went for glory, but missed with one of his trade-mark curling right-footers. Posh got their fluid passing going again, although we were by now putting them under more pressure. Danny Cole (his history is very like that of Aaron Lennon in that he started as a Leeds academy player and moved to Tottenham, from whom he is on loan to Posh) looked a quick and tricky winger and it was a good job that we had Ryan Shotton marking him. He combined well down the left to cut back a cross to Lee Frecklington whose curler from 20 yards had Steele beaten, but just missed the top corner. Posh continued to press and pass, although we were making a better fist of closing them down. Morgan had a header off target and Batt had a shot deflected into the side-netting, whilst our defence was blocking and battling to generally good effect. The Posh rookie keeper, Ben Amos, an early loanee Christmas present from father to son Ferguson, looked dodgy all afternoon and another flap almost allowed Foster to score, but the chance went away. We then had the ludicrous ‘foul’ and booking of Steve Foster. I was certain (and it was right in front of me in row B) that it was McLean who had fouled Foster as they tangled for a through-ball, but when the ref blew, it was to indicate a free-kick to Posh and a yellow-card for Foster – bizarre and surely wrong. Cue ribald derision from the shed behind the goal of our refereeing standards at times this season. However, justice was done and we witnessed one the hilarious moments of the match when Lee Frecklington’s attempt to find the top corner ended up finding the car-park via the stand roof. What do they practice in training? Justice anyhow, but Foster’s card ought to be rescinded.

Iain Hume came on and, I thought, gave us options which we had not previously had. He beavered away, snapping at the defenders heels and hurrying them into mistakes, which all helped us keep more possession to hold on to the lead. He also improved our short passing game and so we were able to hold the ball for longer spans of time. Humey’s persistence nearly found a way through and then I thought we had scored a simply superb goal, but it was flagged offside. De Silva got the ball wide right when a Posh move broke down. He weaved this way and that through defenders and finally got behind the last defender, cutting the ball back across goal for Macken to tap into the empty net. As it was the far end, I could not see to what extent it was offside. By this stage I might argue that we deserved it, as the balance of play had swung our way and Posh heads had dropped, their efforts becoming increasingly desperate and speculative.

After five minutes of mostly good containment by the Reds the whistle went and the points were heading home along the A1 to Oakwell.

 

RE: Posh Match Report 2 - Match Analysis

It is often characteristic of good managers taking over failing clubs that they start by making their team hard to beat and then develop their style from there. That seems, on the formation and style of today’s win, pretty much where Robins is at in the development of the team. It will be good to see the team develop further over the next couple of seasons, maybe keeping the ‘hard to beat’ steel, but added more and more creativity.

Robins’ preferred type of formation is becoming clear, the most notable feature being his options for centre midfield, in which he significantly chose to keep Colace (a holding/marking midfielder), but pair him with Nathan Doyle (a full-back/defensive midfielder) as a replacement for Halfredsson, who was injured. No such extravagance as a free-role for JCR, then! Robins seems to see the role of the central midfield pair (at least in away games) as being to act as a defensive ‘hub’ in front of the back four, soaking up pressure and, in an ideal situation, being the launch-pad for Reds counter-attacks. The defensive bit worked ok today, but the style of it meant that we almost seemed to be giving Posh two-thirds of the pitch and letting them play quite freely there without enough challenge. It also meant that the back four behind Colace and Doyle defended very deep, which may be helpful for Darren Moore, but left us rather open to Posh to be able to get among us without much of an offside trap, or the like.

The other change is the way Robins’ uses his wide midfielders, in this case De Silva and Hammill. While the centre midfield is held firm, the creativity is happening down the flanks, which is good thinking, as it stretches defences and is also a source of crosses for the strikers. De Silva has been re-born in a new role under Robins, but isn’t a natural winger. However, the role does give him greater freedom and space to express himself, which he did very well at times. On the other side, Hammill is always going to ask questions of defenders and can cross effectively, as well as having a good right foot shot on him, which I always think makes a right-footed left winger a bigger threat. It would have been good to have seen the full backs get forward more in support of the wingers, but that might have been extravagant in an away game in which it was more important to grind out the sort of result we did.

The forward pairing found themselves having to manage our mostly route-one system much of the match, presumably largely to by-pass Posh’s passing style through midfield. Posh actually had a lot of possession, so I don’t think this worked that well as a system, especially in the first half. Posh will regret not having made all that possession pay. Chances for us were at a premium, so it was quality finishing by both our strikers with two of the chances they got. Both were finishing of the highest quality, which makes up for Tuesday.

Julian Gray came on for Hammill, which reinforced our defensive intentions in the last quarter, whilst keeping a degree of forward threat. Hume came on for Bogdanovic and performed very well. He hassled the Posh defenders, which hadn’t happened enough and kept chasing down everything – impressively positive attitude. Butterfield came on for Doyle and, along with Hume, helped get our short-passing game going for longer periods, which was a good idea during the time we were holding on for the three points.

 

RE: Posh Match Report 3 - Player Analysis

LUKE STEELE 8: really very impressed with Luke back on his old stomping ground (not a single mention in the programme though – odd!). He looked like a keeper on the top of his game and commanded his area pretty well. There were a couple of very high crosses which were as far out as the penalty spot, but he called, came and claimed with the confidence of a keeper in form. Some smart saves as well and he gives confidence to the defence in front of him. Could still have a premiership career in front of him on this show!

RYAN SHOTTON 8: a class player on this showing, with a good first touch, good pace and great skill at separating ball from attacker. I agree with most of the other comments that we would do very well to hang on to him for the season, or permanently, if possible. He has confidence in his own skill, so seems to have a lot of time, even in pressured situations. Had his hands full when Danny Rose first came on, but got the better of him by skill and pace. Pity he got booked, but it was right in front of me and he did pull Rose’s shirt.

DARREN MOORE 7: won a lot in the air, but I cannot say ‘everything’ on this occasion. Wise head in situations where forwards need to be eased off the ball. The system of deeper defence undoubtedly helps his lack of pace – I would not like to see him in a foot-race with a nippy striker like Jamie Ward! I thought it a very soft penalty and Moore will think that you would give a penalty from every corner if penalties are given for his tangle with McLean. He was obviously making this point to the referee at half time.

STEVE FOSTER 7: did fine, winning his fair share of headers and making a good team with Moore – they should know each other’s style by now. He was unfortunate to be booked – it looked ridiculous and we should have had the free-kick, if anything. Made one early blooper with Moore, but otherwise ok.

CARL DICKINSON 6: did his bit, but nowhere near as mobile as Shotton on the other side. On the other hand, a solid full-back, naturally left-footed and with the traditional Reds ‘they shall not pass’ attitude, which older readers will recall.

ANDERSON DE SILVA 7: just flashes of the master-craftsman today, but he always looked comfortable on the ball and played his part in our second goal. He has the skill to run our midfield and there were occasions when you could see both the skill and the footballing brain behind a very talented player, who got stuck in enough today and was unlucky not to see his great approach-work rewarded with a third goal at the end. It would have been a top-qualilty goal had it stood.

NATHAN DOYLE 6: did his bit and was presumably under instructions not to cross the half way line, because I can’t recall seeing him do so more than a couple of times. Defended well enough, but, for me, he did not impose a strong enough influence on the building of our counter-attacks.

HUGO COLACE 6: very similar to Doyle, but he did get an early shot away at Amos. I can fully understand why opinions on him are divided. On the one hand, he didn’t hassle the opposition midfield enough for me, which was a reason they had the run of two-thirds of the pitch. He seemed also short on mobility – remember Kevin Richardson of old, who seemed to be tied to the centre-circle at times – similar with Colace. On the other hand, he marks space well and anticipates well and our midfield looks less secure without him. The jury’s still out for me – even after a season.

ADAM HAMMILL 8: a constant threat to Posh down the left with his trickery on the ball and changes of pace and direction. I think that he is on a two-year contract with us and I think that he is a two-year development project for us to turn him into a versatile midfielder with a premiership future. I reckon that he models himself on Steve Gerrard and there are some similarities. Best of all, he looked up for it today right through until substituted (was he limping?) and clearly understands his current role, which means that he will perform to the best of his ability – and he has a lot of that. Should score goals as well, but could learn when it is better to pass/cross instead.

JON MACKEN 9: and my man-of-the-match by quite a distance. I remember being particularly critical of him in the Norwich match last season, saying that I thought he played as if he had forgotten to get out of bed that morning. Well, that could not be said of his performance today. First, he battled very well for the long-balls flung up his way. His first touch, both with head and foot, was good. He managed to get us moving forward on a good number of occasions. Two, he made our first goal with a quality cross for Bogdanovic, superbly bent on to Daniel’s head. Third, he himself scored a cracker of a goal. He took his time, but didn’t panic. I thought he had taken it on to too tight an angle, but the shot was like cannon and gave the rookie keeper no chance – the sort of clinical finishing we have lacked at times. Reminds me more and more of the best of John Hendrie.

DANIEL BOGDANOVIC 8: did his bit pretty well and has been developed under Robins as much more than the traditional playground ‘goal-hanger.’ His work-rate was very good and he pulled defenders around a good bit, as well as battling for control of the long ball. He took his goal really well. It was an excellent set-up by Macken, but he still had to win the header and get it on target. He looks more and more like the natural goalscorer and his broader game has improved. He has done well to get into the team ahead of the likes of Andy Gray and should keep his place if he keeps scoring.

JULIAN GRAY 6: did his bit ok, defending the left side, which was our weaker side defensively, but not offering the forward threat of Hammill.

IAIN HUME 8: never stopped running, hassling and trying from the moment he came on. Close to scoring. Improved our passing game and our possession. A live-wire who really delivered in his cameo performance.

JACOB BUTTERFIELD 7: also did his bit, especially making a positive impact on our passing game after he came on, meaning that we held possession of the ball better, passing accurately and playing the possession game well. He obviously knew his instructions and played them out well. Great to see that he has the belief that he is now a genuine part of the squad and not just a token acknowledgement to the academy. That is good man-management from Robins and the guy is worth it. Another one who could go to even greater heights with the right support and development.

So there you have it. Another three points to the Reds following a three-match losing run. Out-passed for some of the match, but solid in defence at the back and in midfield and clinical finishing to seal the win.

Next up Sheffield United! If we win, we could go above them! Anyone want to invent a version of the well-known song “Bye-bye, Blackwell?” Because I reckon he could be given his cards if Blades lose. How’s about a Morgan own goal and a Hume penalty after a Morgan foul to seal a 2-1 win? “Wouldn’t it be luverley!”

Yours in sport!

TE

 

How do you remember all of that.

 

I must be autistic!! nt

 

I enjoyed that very comprehensive

See the idea of splitting up made good reading (Y) (Y) (Y)

 

Excellent. Thank you for all the time and effort you take to write such comprehensive and interesting reports.
Please keep them coming - time permitting.

 

cheers for that, great read mate,

are you sure hammil only on 2 year contract? thought it was 3 years

 

RE: Posh Match Report 2 - Match Analysis

Great read, thank you. It's interesting that the Rovrum fans, when they were moaning about Robins leaving, were saying that he was boring and negative away from home.</p>

What they neglected to add was that he won almost half his away games for them, and so far he's delivering the same for us. </p>

If he can continue to do that I don't give a sh*t how he goes about it!
</p>

 

RE: Posh Match Report 3 - Player Analysis

Forgive me for being pedantic about an excellent piece of work, but if you read Barry Fry's piece in the programme there's a fair bit about Luke Steele and it's very complimentary.</p>

It also reveals that Arsenal were competing with his signature from Peterborough, and that the Posh eventually got &pound;900,000 for him!
</p>

 

You're quite right!

I just found it!!! I was looking at the players profiles pages where it does not even give the Posh link a mention under Steele's picture. Well spotted. Captain Mainwaring: "I was wondering who would spot that first!"

 

Hammill signed a 3 year contract. nt

 

yeah its a 3 year deal !

 

make that a 3-year project then!! nt

 

great stuff - thanks

 

quality reporting - thanks TE

I think John Macken is still underrated - you can't put a price on a cool head in front of goal!