[fishini]

Spire-Heights, on 18 December 2016 - 07:51 PM, said:

I also believe we won because we were the better team on the day.

Agree but that doesn't mean they were poor though. They played well but not well enough, but not poor.

[Ernie Ernie Ernie]

Spire-Heights, on 18 December 2016 - 07:36 PM, said:

A top team who were poor in Saturday, imo. You can be a top side, but poor during certain games, yeah?

a below par game doesn't make you a poor side

[Spire-Heights]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on 18 December 2016 - 07:55 PM, said:

a below par game doesn't make you a poor side

I didn't say it does - I just said, even top sides can have a poor games now and then.

[Ernie Ernie Ernie]

Spire-Heights, on 18 December 2016 - 08:00 PM, said:

I didn't say it does - I just said, even top sides can have a poor games now and then.

yes that's exactly what you said

[Tha Knows...]

They couldn't finish but that's not to say they should have won. At best they were worth a draw on the balance of play

[h again]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on 18 December 2016 - 01:32 PM, said:

Swallow hard and take it on the chin, rather than saying they all kept going, give a special mention to Sam Hird, he made the difference for the defence. Evvo and Anderson did well but a large part of that was how easy Hird made it for them

Hird made a difference in that he allowed O'Neill to make a lot more forward runs, and as the man in front of the defence he did a lot better job than Liddle ever did of shielding that defence, which is greatly to his credit.
Other than that I wouldn't pick him out above any of the others. They all worked incredibly hard to shut out Bolton, but Evatt was the one setting the example and giving it everything he had. Whether that was what inspired the others is a matter of opinion, but I've never seen him give a more committed performance.

[Ernie Ernie Ernie]

h again, on 18 December 2016 - 10:54 PM, said:

Hird made a difference in that he allowed O'Neill to make a lot more forward runs, and as the man in front of the defence he did a lot better job than Liddle ever did of shielding that defence, which is greatly to his credit.
Other than that I wouldn't pick him out above any of the others. They all worked incredibly hard to shut out Bolton, but Evatt was the one setting the example and giving it everything he had. Whether that was what inspired the others is a matter of opinion, but I've never seen him give a more committed performance.

I don't think Liddle ever played that deep directly in front of the defence, always more centre mid.

Hird was brilliant

[h again]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on 18 December 2016 - 10:56 PM, said:

I don't think Liddle ever played that deep directly in front of the defence, always more centre mid.

Hird was brilliant

Perhaps I'm being unfair to Liddle, who wasn't employed specifically in the role Hird played, but he proved ineffective at shielding the defence, whereas Hird did the job he was put there to do, and fair play to him.
Nobody was brilliant - they all kept their concentration and turned in a thoroughly professional performance, but no brilliance.
And I still look forward to the day when the defence doesn't need a permanent nanny sat in front of it, but can cope mostly on its own and let the midfield get on with creating some football.

[dim view]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on 18 December 2016 - 10:56 PM, said:

I don't think Liddle ever played that deep directly in front of the defence, always more centre mid.

Hird was brilliant

I think it was defensive master plan for this particular game which was brilliant. They play very direct and rely heavily on Madine and Danny stopped that.

Then he put Dimaio on Spearing, and that worked. Then he gave O'Neil more freedom, and that worked. His headache is that the formation is never going to create many chances and we will have to change it when we are playing against a team that themselves set up defensively.

The best outcome from the day apart from the 3 points is that we now have competition for key places, which ought to focus minds.

Evo is inspirational at the moment, fighting for a new deal or a crack at assistant management if Danny leaves. On Dimaio, I agree with what Peak said. He is prone to one-two's not coming off and poor control, but none of that happened. Consistency is required.

[brianclose]

h again, on 18 December 2016 - 11:07 PM, said:

Perhaps I'm being unfair to Liddle, who wasn't employed specifically in the role Hird played, but he proved ineffective at shielding the defence, whereas Hird did the job he was put there to do, and fair play to him.
Nobody was brilliant - they all kept their concentration and turned in a thoroughly professional performance, but no brilliance.
And I still look forward to the day when the defence doesn't need a permanent nanny sat in front of it, but can cope mostly on its own and let the midfield get on with creating some football.

Haha damning Hird with faint praise again I see.

Just admit he's class and be done with it.

[fishini]

brianclose, on 19 December 2016 - 04:25 PM, said:

Haha damning Hird with faint praise again I see.

Just admit he's class and be done with it.

I just want him to admit he's a liar

[danblue]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on 18 December 2016 - 10:56 PM, said:

I don't think Liddle ever played that deep directly in front of the defence, always more centre mid.

Hird was brilliant

For me, Hird made the difference. A lots been said regarding the keeper swap so Sam's return went slightly under the radar of big news.
As for Bolton, 3/4 decent players the rest average.

[The Black Triangle]

dim view, on 19 December 2016 - 08:11 AM, said:

I think it was defensive master plan for this particular game which was brilliant. They play very direct and rely heavily on Madine and Danny stopped that.

Then he put Dimaio on Spearing, and that worked. Then he gave O'Neil more freedom, and that worked. His headache is that the formation is never going to create many chances and we will have to change it when we are playing against a team that themselves set up defensively.

The best outcome from the day apart from the 3 points is that we now have competition for key places, which ought to focus minds.

Evo is inspirational at the moment, fighting for a new deal or a crack at assistant management if Danny leaves. On Dimaio, I agree with what Peak said. He is prone to one-two's not coming off and poor control, but none of that happened. Consistency is required.

I don't think many teams will see us in the upcoming fixture list and think they would need to set up defensively to get a point or 3

[Bankrobber]

brianclose, on 19 December 2016 - 04:25 PM, said:

Haha damning Hird with faint praise again I see.

Just admit he's class and be done with it.

For me it's quite simple. We look a better team with him in it, than we do when he's not in it.

[JonB]

Bankrobber, on 20 December 2016 - 10:52 AM, said:

For me it's quite simple. We look a better team with him in it, than we do when he's not in it.

Nailed on starter if fit for me....his performances and attitude since that being transfer listed incident have been second to none and with the current situation and squad we are far better when he is fit and playing than if he's not in the side be it at centre back or central midfield.

[The Earl of Chesterfield]

fishini, on 19 December 2016 - 08:08 PM, said:

I just want him to admit he's a liar

Twenty sixteen has become known as the year of post-truth politics.

However our resident pantomime villain has been practising post-truth posting for years.

[DIFH]

The Gimp, on 20 December 2016 - 10:16 AM, said:

I don't think many teams will see us in the upcoming fixture list and think they would need to set up defensively to get a point or 3

Lets hope we surprise a few before the cat gets out of the bog - luckily the teams we face in the next couple of weeks are down there fighting a similar battle.

[Spire-Heights]

Dave In Footie Heaven, on 24 December 2016 - 09:29 PM, said:

luckily the teams we face in the next couple of weeks are down there fighting a similar battle.

Rochdale are 5th.