Today. Will people be happy with just getting a win?

[Parky]

We had a good first half which I'd put down to Wigan coming with a 4-4-2 formation and trying to make a game of it to their credit, when Kilbane got sent off and they replaced Sibi so that they could shut up shop and we looked like we did against Villa for parts of the second half after that.

 

No movement in midfield and a lot of balls played around at the back because there was no outlet, still needs working on.

 

 

That passes as creativity around here apparently. It is sometimes an education to glance over these pages.....

 

Real creativity ends up in goals and  I don't count hitting a lot of balls into the danger area and having a swing at it as creativity. Sorry. God bless and all.

[Parky]

Only 1-0, but very much a quality display!

 

 

 

Should be against this lot with 10 men tbh. Otherwise I would be worried. Big plus for me was how stuck at it and the players were very positive on the ball and looking up all the time. Worried by the lack of a genuine creative player/hub. We nearly didn't break them down today and we will struggle against better sides to make chances. But not bothered at the moment and happy with the points.

 

We didn't break them down? We had 3 clear-cut 'should have been a goal' chances in the first half and plenty more in the second when they decided to defend with 10 men. We're just not finishing well atm, which is down to our strikers not being sharp enough. There's no problem with a lack of chances being created.

 

18 shots today, doesn't really scream LACK OF CREATIVITY to me. Plus we still are waiting for our "creative" midfielders to play.

 

 

18 shots what? Vodka....Big sam looking bemused with 15 min to go?

 

 

You clearly wouldn't know a creative midfielder if he wrote on your forehead with a felt tip.....CREATIVE MIDFIELDER.  blueyes.gif

[Parky]

I'm pleased that:

 

(a) after what has undoubtedly been a very difficult week with many people casting aspersions about his abilities, and many fellow posters publicly ridiculing him for being so way off the mark Parky pulled a real result out the hat today in predicting it would be a difficult and very hard-fought narrow win. His chakra remains in full balance and he is properly vindicated.

 

(b) Great to see Ickle Micky breaking what was starting to look like a real home hoodoo (for him personally and for the team)

 

We'll obviously be expecting the goals to FLOOD in against Derby - but I suspect we'll not be having a goalfest like Liverpool's today against the Rams. All the same, bearing in mind what I heard about the performance (one of persistence, resilience and determination) things are looking up.

 

 

 

 

You're too kind sir! And a gentleman to boot.

 

 

Many people? Intellectual prawns more like. mackems.gif

 

 

G Jonah always has a sniff if Dave and Wullie have been there......

 

 

Nitey Nite.

[Dinho lad]

I'd be happy with a draw at derby

 

yooooooooou what?!

[Dave]

I'm pleased that:

 

(a) after what has undoubtedly been a very difficult week with many people casting aspersions about his abilities, and many fellow posters publicly ridiculing him for being so way off the mark Parky pulled a real result out the hat today in predicting it would be a difficult and very hard-fought narrow win. His chakra remains in full balance and he is properly vindicated.

 

(b) Great to see Ickle Micky breaking what was starting to look like a real home hoodoo (for him personally and for the team)

 

We'll obviously be expecting the goals to FLOOD in against Derby - but I suspect we'll not be having a goalfest like Liverpool's today against the Rams. All the same, bearing in mind what I heard about the performance (one of persistence, resilience and determination) things are looking up.

 

 

 

 

You're too kind sir! And a gentleman to boot.

 

 

Many people? Intellectual prawns more like. mackems.gif

 

 

G Jonah always has a sniff if Dave and Wullie have been there......

 

 

Nitey Nite.

 

What a crock of shit.

[Shak]

He's been replaced by an evil, more cynical Parky.

[Parky]

I'm pleased that:

 

(a) after what has undoubtedly been a very difficult week with many people casting aspersions about his abilities, and many fellow posters publicly ridiculing him for being so way off the mark Parky pulled a real result out the hat today in predicting it would be a difficult and very hard-fought narrow win. His chakra remains in full balance and he is properly vindicated.

 

(b) Great to see Ickle Micky breaking what was starting to look like a real home hoodoo (for him personally and for the team)

 

We'll obviously be expecting the goals to FLOOD in against Derby - but I suspect we'll not be having a goalfest like Liverpool's today against the Rams. All the same, bearing in mind what I heard about the performance (one of persistence, resilience and determination) things are looking up.

 

 

 

 

You're too kind sir! And a gentleman to boot.

 

 

Many people? Intellectual prawns more like. mackems.gif

 

 

G Jonah always has a sniff if Dave and Wullie have been there......

 

 

Nitey Nite.

 

What a crock of shit.

 

I see you saw the game.

[Dave]

I see you saw the game.

 

I did, yes. Why?

[macca888]

I watched the game on TV down here in Australia and whilst I know it is not the same as axctually being there, with the benefit of replays, there was a lot of things which should be pointed out.

 

We all know it is generally more difficult to play against  10 men than 11 and that proved the point yesterday. Along with a very ordinary display by the officials and some wayward finishing particularly by Owen, I thought our display was excellent.

 

Granted, a creative midfielder in the mould of a Riquelme would possibly have opened up Wigan more often but in the first half alone, we created a lot of chances particularly down the right hand side. Wigan seemed content to double up on Milner and Zoggy down the left and our major attacking outlet was through Steven Taylor down the right. That is where we eventually got the goal from anyway.

 

The refereeing display was atrocious. Bennett, as usual, wanted to be the star of the show and totally missed a blatant handball by Bramble and the goal in the first half to Owen was NOT offside either. Add to that the finishing of Owen and we were unlucky not to be 3 or 4 up at Half time.

 

To be honest, Kilbane's sending off was a joke. He jumped into theback of Smith but did not lead with his elbows. I thinkm it spoiled the game as a contest and I believe we would have found it a lot easier to score and create chances against 11 men than we did against 10, defenders.

 

Still, we create chances with notable misses by a "greedy" Ameobi who took the chance off Zoggy's toes, Butt and Ameobi again.

 

Apart from a Koumas free kick and the Sib's header straight at Harper, I cant remember another chance Wigan created other than long range efforts.

 

One final point, Heskey should have been sent off for leading with his arms and elbows against Taylor and Harper.

 

All in all, under difficult circumstances against a team that was intent on setting their stall out for a draw, it was a capable performance and well deserved victory in the end. We will fare a lot better against teams who actually come to SJP to win. WHU in 3 weeks time should be very interesting.

 

As for the bloke on here who would be happy with a point at Derby, get real pal. If we want to finish in the top 6 at the very least, we have to go to places like Derby and WIN

[Taylor Swift]

We had a good first half which I'd put down to Wigan coming with a 4-4-2 formation and trying to make a game of it to their credit, when Kilbane got sent off and they replaced Sibi so that they could shut up shop and we looked like we did against Villa for parts of the second half after that.

 

No movement in midfield and a lot of balls played around at the back because there was no outlet, still needs working on.

 

 

That passes as creativity around here apparently. It is sometimes an education to glance over these pages.....

 

Real creativity ends up in goals and  I don't count hitting a lot of balls into the danger area and having a swing at it as creativity. Sorry. God bless and all.

 

If creating a half dozen clear-cut chances isn't creativity then fuck me we don't need this 'creativity' you're on about. Owen should have had a hat-trick, Butt had two clear chances, one which he passed and the other one blazed over. Ameobi also had a one on one which he missed, Milner could have done better with a half-volley in the penalty area and Taylor hit the bar. We created a fuck load of chances but it just didn't go in. There's not a problem with creating chances, at least there wasn't in this particular game.

 

Maybe you should have really watched the game instead of trying to perpetuate your agenda regarding the creative midfielder? We were good everywhere today. Defense, attack and midfield. We dominated and battered them and only a fool would say 1-0 was a 'just' result.

[Guest mobiius]

I'd be happy with a draw at derby.  I hope that we go for a win, but i think 5 games in, 9 pts, unbeaten (including 3 away games) is good.  I know we've not played any of the big boys, but for us it doesnt seem to matter away, we'll lose to any of them.

My aim is to win at home and draw away.

 

Going off that i suppose we are already out of the cup cos we have drew one of the "big boys". Its like reading the G.Roeder team talk philosophy. A draw at derby, balls that man we want to be going anywhere with the view to winning and only on reflection at the final whistle should we be thinking that a draw was a fair result.

[Taylor Swift]

Parky, this 'style' was only used for the first time in the league (from the start) yesterday. And we played well. We created chances. It's irrelevant comparing yesterday's game to the Bolton or Villa game because we're not playing the same formation. I wholeheartedly agree with you that we lack creativity when we're playing 4-3-3 but honestly, yesterday, we created plenty of chances and should have won at a canter. Hopefully Sam sticks to 4-4-2 because it's obvious that we're playing to our strengths (Milner's more effective, Owen's nearer to the goal, Viduka has more support etc.).

[Cajun]

Only 1-0, but very much a quality display!

 

 

 

Should be against this lot with 10 men tbh. Otherwise I would be worried. Big plus for me was how stuck at it and the players were very positive on the ball and looking up all the time. Worried by the lack of a genuine creative player/hub. We nearly didn't break them down today and we will struggle against better sides to make chances. But not bothered at the moment and happy with the points.

 

We didn't break them down? We had 3 clear-cut 'should have been a goal' chances in the first half and plenty more in the second when they decided to defend with 10 men. We're just not finishing well atm, which is down to our strikers not being sharp enough. There's no problem with a lack of chances being created.

 

18 shots today, doesn't really scream LACK OF CREATIVITY to me. Plus we still are waiting for our "creative" midfielders to play.

 

 

18 shots what? Vodka....Big sam looking bemused with 15 min to go?

 

 

You clearly wouldn't know a creative midfielder if he wrote on your forehead with a felt tip.....CREATIVE MIDFIELDER.  blueyes.gif

 

So you starting to agree the £6m for Smith could have been spent better then Jackanory?

 

Thought you would be quiet around this time without anything to make up

 

Are you honestly trying to say we didn't create enough chances to score at least 5 yesterday?