Preece 7 Kozluk 6 Moore 7 (MOM) Foster 6 J. Gray 7 Hammill 6 Anderson 5 Colace 5 Butterfield 5 Hume 7 A. Gray 7 SUBS: Doyle 6 REPORT: After travelling down to Derby on Tuesday night and watching us play thebest 60 mins of football this season, I walked to oakwell today full of optimism for once. Both teams started the game brightly with a few chances each. Swansea are the best passing team in the division and we seemed to cope well but the 4-5-1 formation wanst really enableing us to be much of a threat as Andy Gray seemed isolated upfront. Robins did change it to 4-4-2 but it still didnt really work. Both sides had chances to win the game but nobody took them. Andy Gray had a great chance and so did Iain Hume in the 2nd half but they were levelled out with chances for Nathan Dyer in which David Preece pulled off a fabulous point blank save and also Craig Beattie late on in the game. A draw in a dull game was a fair result in the end. Preece had a reasonable quiet afternoon apart from the fantastic save he had to make. Kozluk was reasonable but does get caught out a bit. Foster had a poor game for his standard today and was eclipsed today by Big Darren Moore who was solid once again. Julian Gray had a good debut and seemed ok at left back and did everything simple. His best position is Left Midfield and he needs a few more games. Adam Hammill had a ok first half but poor 2nd. Hugo Colace, Anderson and Butterfield were well off the pace today and didnt really get hold of a good Swansea midfield. Andy Gray and Iain Hume ran their socks off and both had chances to win the game but like their counterparts, they failed to do so. All in all given a few more games, I do believe that in Mark Robins, we have the right manager and ingredients to be a hard to beat side. in glimpses today we defended well as a team that Swansea opened up far too much last season. We didnt look a threat attacking and Robins will work on this. A good point at home today in a really dull game but I think we'd have lost this one with one of Swansea's finest in charge of us. Looking up and not back is the way forward and hopefully in a few weeks, Robins will excell.
"A draw in a dull game was a fair result in the end" dont think so... as someone has already posted, if it had been a boxing match the ref would have stopped it, Swansea were so far ahead.
To be fair, we've been in that position ourselves Playing well, but wasting chances / opportunities. I can't recall many on here having much sympathy. Haven't we just been through the whole debate of preferring to play sh*t and winning...? Fact is, Swansea can't score, and that is why they are struggling.
lol @ tosh. I know that Darren Moore isnt some peoples cup of tea but what did he do wrong today????? He was our best defender today in MY opinion. Others may differ. Managers must think the same as throughout his career he has hardly been dropped. We were singin his name at Derby yet when we play at home people come on here and slate him. Rock Solid = something that is solid as a rock. ie. a big defender with not a lot of pace but good positional sense that wins 99% of his tackles and 99% of headers. Not afraid to put his body on the line and is a good leader.
lol @ tosh. I know that Darren Moore isnt some peoples cup of tea but what did he do wrong today????? He was our best defender today in MY opinion. Others may differ. Managers must think the same as throughout his career he has hardly been dropped. We were singin his name at Derby yet when we play at home people come on here and slate him. Rock Solid = something that is solid as a rock. ie. a big defender with not a lot of pace but good positional sense that wins 99% of his tackles and 99% of headers. Not afraid to put his body on the line and is a good leader.
Its his lack of pace that worries me. Backs to the wall , brick sh*thouse defending does not really enthrall me. Much prefer to see a CH that has some pace and can play football. Sorry, but DM does not fit that bill I'm afraid.
My marks Preece 7 - solid, commanding and one WORLD class save. Kozluk 6 - better than he has been but seems very anxious. Nervous, even. Moore8 (MOM) - Agree with the MOM award. Not the fastest but we would be in even more **** without his presence Foster6 - Did OK but like Kozzie, nervous and anxious. Needs to show last years dependability. J. Gray 7 - I think he was bloody good at the back. Shows what we have been missing in that position. Hammill5 - Wanted the ball early on and looked promising then drifted to obscurity. Did he touch the ball second half ? If I was reffing he would have walked. Anderson 5 - Some good vision, looks more interested. Mentally ten yards ahead of the rest, physically ten yards slower. Colace 5 - As per ADS, so much composure, self-belief and anticipation, but needs to realise this is the championship and needs to get up to the speed of the game. Butterfield 5 - Pretty insignificant, didn't do much wrong but was well off the pace. Hume 7 - Did OK and showed a few nice touches. Should have made more of his through ball chance in the second half. Another 90 mins under his belt. A. Gray 7 - First time I've seen him, did OK and held it up. Ran his socks off but I was expecting something more like Ward / Shipperley and he wasn't quite there.</p> Sub, Doyle, did ok, unlucky to be booked in my opinion. 50/50 ball</p> Ref. 2 - fecking terrible, hardly left centre circle and too easily swayed by players chirping at him. Looked like a 70's throwback ref.</p> Positives;- its a point on the board and watching the warmup thoroughly we seem to be a "team" again and the coach put them through their paces. They all listened and enjoyed. Also, it was a point against a really good team (fair enough, they were lousy finishers)</p> Negatives;- Robins has been left a real mess and this performance was a reminder that we have a HELL of a way to go to even reach an average standard. We really didn't look like we had a clue going forward. There was no plan A, so we need to find one. Fast </p>
RE: My marks Ashley Ward what a player he was, strong, not slow, good finisher good in the air, could turn players with his back to the goal had a bit of everything
if moore keeps playing, we will go down they targeted behind him everytime.and because gray is a winger playing full back, moore gets drawn out and isolated when trying to cover.
I'll qualify that............ he aint totally ****... he has his uses like against Derby, a team playing down the wing and putting in crosses (cos Kozluk was ****) and apart from 2 occasions nothing got to Hulse thanks to Moore so they took him off and Dickov was even more inneffective. But if you've got a team passing it thru the ranks then Moore gets lost, he can't keep up. So I'd keep him as an option when required, but not first choice. Can't fault his commitment and this season seems to be leading the team more than Foster.
