Not many saw this scoreline coming. If you were told that the match would finish 4-1 you would have to assume we were on the wrong end once again. I didn't follow the match as I was trying to sort the kids Nintendo out. There was a decent stream on the internet by all accounts and for once our fans had something to cheer.
The two large black and white CARD banners were on show and we can get used to seeing them at away matches in future, even if The Regime will act to have them removed if they appear in the stadium at The Valley.
Today wasn't about protests though, it was about hope. Hope that our players can claw their way out of the bottom three and prevent a disastrous relegation. Last week didn't look any better to me than recent weeks but with another week under his belt, Jose Riga appears to have got through to his players. Gudmundsson wanted to know and Cousins was playing through balls once again. Vetokele looks like he may be approaching his peak fitness again and with that extra yard of pace, he could be netting again regularly - he managed one today.
Simon Makienok isn't good enough to lead the line for a successful Championship side but he scored twice today and can make a case to be good enough for the bottom end of the division. Then we have Ademola Lookman. A slip of a lad who returned from injury in the last few minutes of play today and scored again. The only question with Ademola is, can we hang on to him post January?
Our defence was still shaky today and Rotherham missed a penalty at 1-3 which could have changed the game. 'Tex' appears to have made an instant difference at the back and with Bauer on the way back from surgery we can hope to tighten up a bit.
We are still very weak in central midfield and Johnny Jackson may get away with it against sides like Rotherham but his pace gets exposed ruthlessly against better sides. If we can bring in a midfield general I would have much more confidence we can stay up. Without it, I do fear we are still too vulnerable. We shouldn't forget that Rotherham are one of the poorest teams and look certain to be returning to League One for next season. We did beat them today, so let's enjoy that winning feeling again - it's been a long time.
The two large black and white CARD banners were on show and we can get used to seeing them at away matches in future, even if The Regime will act to have them removed if they appear in the stadium at The Valley.
Today wasn't about protests though, it was about hope. Hope that our players can claw their way out of the bottom three and prevent a disastrous relegation. Last week didn't look any better to me than recent weeks but with another week under his belt, Jose Riga appears to have got through to his players. Gudmundsson wanted to know and Cousins was playing through balls once again. Vetokele looks like he may be approaching his peak fitness again and with that extra yard of pace, he could be netting again regularly - he managed one today.
Simon Makienok isn't good enough to lead the line for a successful Championship side but he scored twice today and can make a case to be good enough for the bottom end of the division. Then we have Ademola Lookman. A slip of a lad who returned from injury in the last few minutes of play today and scored again. The only question with Ademola is, can we hang on to him post January?
Our defence was still shaky today and Rotherham missed a penalty at 1-3 which could have changed the game. 'Tex' appears to have made an instant difference at the back and with Bauer on the way back from surgery we can hope to tighten up a bit.
We are still very weak in central midfield and Johnny Jackson may get away with it against sides like Rotherham but his pace gets exposed ruthlessly against better sides. If we can bring in a midfield general I would have much more confidence we can stay up. Without it, I do fear we are still too vulnerable. We shouldn't forget that Rotherham are one of the poorest teams and look certain to be returning to League One for next season. We did beat them today, so let's enjoy that winning feeling again - it's been a long time.
Yeah it was a really good win for ourn today, for the players, Jose Riga n the owners n a massive defeat for the aggressive protesters n exenophobe moaners. I juss can't wait to see the back of them boo boys so keep it up Jose.
ReplyDeleteMak had probably his best game for the club today. He battle hard, made a nuisance of himself, won everything in the air up front and capped the display with two deserved goals. He almost spoiled it all by letting his temper run away with him, but he was up for it today.
ReplyDeleteUp until now, I would've agreed that he isn't good enough to lead the line for us, but if he can consistently repeat today's performance, he might just make it as a Championship striker.
Most of our players have underperformed this season, maybe Riga will bring out the best in him for the rest of the season?
a2c - I'm not biting!
ReplyDeletea2c - presumably you believe the moon landings were faked, the CIA were responsible for 9/11, Iraq had weapons of mass destructio and Maradona didn't punch the ball into the net.
ReplyDelete