Robbored Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 At half-time last night I has worried that Brum were going to give City a real thumping, so good did they look in the first 45. Carslake and McFadden ran the show and they looked to have quality players all over the pitch. It made we wonder how many if any City players would get into the Birmingham team. It was predictable that Brum would sit back to defend the 2 goal lead in the second half and also predictable that Johnson would have got into the City players at HT and that they would come out fired up. Thats exactly what happened and City with some braver refereeing should have had one or possibly two penalties. Sproule made a difference. Brum were frightened of his pace and he should have scored when through on goal but Taylor pulled out a good save.City had a number of other close shaves and Skuse blazed over from 12 yards out. Trundles goal was sublime. A great spot from him to catch Taylor in no mans land and it then looked as if City might nick a draw but you have to complement Brum on thier defending - they were all immense. As so many times before - its a case of 'what if'. Had City started the game with the same gusto and engery as they started the second then we would have probably been looking at a City win. But turning up for 45 mins in a 90 min game simply isn't good enough. Overall I'm disapointed that City lost but at the same time not too despondent. If City play against Donny like they did in the second half last night the Donny could be on the wrong end of a heavy defeat. Heres hoping.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DanC Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 At half-time last night I has worried that Brum were going to give City a real thumping, so good did they look in the first 45. Carslake and McFadden ran the show and they looked to have quality players all over the pitch. It made we wonder how many if any City players would get into the Birmingham team. It was predictable that Brum would sit back to defend the 2 goal lead in the second half and also predictable that Johnson would have got into the City players at HT and that they would come out fired up. Thats exactly what happened and City with some braver refereeing should have had one or possibly two penalties. Sproule made a difference. Brum were frightened of his pace and he should have scored when through on goal but Taylor pulled out a good save.City had a number of other close shaves and Skuse blazed over from 12 yards out. Trundles goal was sublime. A great spot from him to catch Taylor in no mans land and it then looked as if City might nick a draw but you have to complement Brum on thier defending - they were all immense. As so many times before - its a case of 'what if'. Had City started the game with the same gusto and engery as they started the second then we would have probably been looking at a City win. But turning up for 45 mins in a 90 min game simply isn't good enough. Overall I'm disapointed that City lost but at the same time not too despondent. If City play against Donny like they did in the second half last night the Donny could be on the wrong end of a heavy defeat. Heres hoping.... From my vantage point it seemed as if it was more of a crap shot than a good save. If that was Scott Murray it would have been a goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roe Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 To be honest I thought we did start pretty brightly and with enough 'gusto' but Brum hit us on the break a few times and always looked like scoring when they had the ball. Their 2nd goal obviously deflated our lads and it was just a case of waiting til half time to give it a go for the comeback. I don't think we should've have any penalties but certainly could've scored a few other ways (Sproule's chance and a few scrambles on the line). All in all I was quite pleased with the way we played against a strong (enough not the strongest) team in the Championship. Like you said though, I don't think they'd want any of our players in their starting 11 and that probably does show the gulf on quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy082005 Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 From my vantage point it seemed as if it was more of a crap shot than a good save. If that was Scott Murray it would have been a goal. Nah it was a difficult chance, Murray would have done the same thing. Trundle on the other hand...would have buried it. Sproule came in on a bit of an angle, and Taylor done well to close his angle and cover the near post (as a good goalie should do), therefore making it difficult for a right footer to finish that. What was needed there was for Sproule to open up his body and hit it left footed around the keeper into the far corner..........but he doesnt have a left foot, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnozRobin Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 Too often we have needed a 'roasting' or a 'rocket' at half time to get us going. Last night really was a game of two halves, but it was obvious from much earlier than half time that we lacked width. Mcindoe playing in the middle or on the right simply doesn't work - stick him out left where he can link up with Mcallister and leave him there. Similarly, the way we are playing at the moment does not suit Maynard at all and makes him look ineffective, which he clearly isn't. Surely he needs balls behind the defenders to latch onto, but i can't see where they are coming from with the current system. We need a Brian Tinnion type player... Finally, it's obviously time to bring Marvin back - Skuse is solid cover, but he doesn't have the ability to dominate the midfield in the way Marvin does. A great effort from the lads in the second half and hopefully if GJ gets the starting 11 right for Saturday, we should bounce back with 3 points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riaz Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 If City play against Donny like they did in the second half last night the Donny could be on the wrong end of a heavy defeat. Disagree. We had lots of possesion but never really looked like scoring - our goal came from the keepers mistake and we were very predictable. I hope on saturday city are more imaginative and not so direct and long ball. I also hope Sproule plays and we can use his pace. From my vantage point it seemed as if it was more of a crap shot than a good save. If that was Scott Murray it would have been a goal. Sproule could have done better, but by the time the ball landed at his feet, the keeper had got very close! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bh_red Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 From my vantage point it seemed as if it was more of a crap shot than a good save. If that was Scott Murray it would have been a goal. definately a good save, one of VERY FEW taylor had to make, i don't think Murray would have scored it as he doesn't seem to have the legs anymore to get into that position depressingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jambodinho Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 Here are my thoughts on last night. 1st and foremost, Birmingham are the best side we have played so far in the Championship and they didn't really look like they were trying at times. 1st half we played far far too narrow, trying to put balls onto Adebola's head. As the guy doesn't even jump it is never going to work. Also their left back back, Murphy took advantage of the extra time and space he was given and set up their second goal. Was Basso even fit from the start? Weale look a solid keeper so he should keep his place now. He should be our number 1 and its down to Basso to try and earn his place back. 2nd half, was much better. We brought on Sproule and immediately we had more width and it paid off as we spent the majority of the 2nd half in their half of the pitch. I'm not Lee Johnson's biggest fan but i thought he was our best performer on the night. As the sponsors always give the man of the match award to a City player, it was him that deserved it most. I hope GJ doesn't stick with this narrow, long ball up to Adebola system as against decent teams we are going to get nowhere. Lets get back to the beginning of last season when we played 2 wingers out wide hugging the sidelines, taking players on and getting the crosses in. Come on you reds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Stan Hibbert Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 not so direct and long ball.... Completely agree Riaz. Why do we constantly launch balls through the middle to Dele? The guy is much more of a threat with the ball to feet. The lack of width was so frustrating last night. I felt a bit sorry for McAllister at times, the bloke was having to face 2 or 3 Brum players at a time during the first half. Sproule has to play, purely because we have nobody else at the moment. With his pace there is always a chance that he'll make something happen either for himself or someone else. I would much rather have the width in the side, we looked completely unbalanced in the first half last night. And what's happened to the "weasel"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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