Very Disappointed

[Nibor]

on behalf of the players (which is a nice change) because their performance tonight deserved a win.

I thought every individual was worth at least an 8 and a couple went beyond that. Elliott, Anderson, Stead stood out for me but only just because everyone played well. We even managed to get the ball on the deck and play a little bit of football. If we play like that for the rest of the season we'll stay up I am sure.

I think tonight we actually played better than against Barnsley - our defence was more solid - the difference being Brighton had a faint idea about how to defend set pieces.

Despite not getting three points, the tactics IMO were spot on. We dominated a better team and created far more chances. If we'd made subs earlier we could well have come unstuck and we were creating enough that we looked like the only possible winners so I think not changing until very late on was the right move (if a change was needed at all).

I thought the ref was pretty lenient all round, there could have been five or six yellows had he been fussier and he was pretty consistent in applying that same standard to both teams letting quite a lot go. It would have been much harder to watch with more stoppages.

[glynriley]

Elliot , Anderson , Maloney & Cunningham. Our best 4 players tonight for me.

I have to hold my hands up regarding Marv , I thought he was finished at this level , but SOD seems to have got the best out of him.

Not sure about 1 up top at home though , maybe Shaun should look at the table.

[Roger Red Hat]

Elliot , Anderson , Maloney & Cunningham. Our best 4 players tonight for me.

I have to hold my hands up regarding Marv , I thought he was finished at this level , but SOD seems to have got the best out of him.

Not sure about 1 up top at home though , maybe Shaun should look at the table.

Agree about Marv. I thought he was shot as well but he looks more like his old self and worth his place in the side.

[GrahamC]

Thing is though when S O'D changed it against Barnsley we looked very porous, so I was completely comfortable with keeping it the same until very late.

It was virtually unrecognisable tonight though from the shambles we witnessed at home to the likes of Wolves, Leicester, Blackburn under McInnes.

We looked organised, committed and purposeful throughout tonight and although it will be very tough, if we can keep this up we do have a chance.

Bottom line is that we now have a coach who knows what he's doing, who can organise, inspire and motivate, and before O'Driscoll arrived we didn't.

[SaltfordRed]

I found myself leaving the Gate slightly disappointed tonight. We were terrific tonight, and really deserved the win. We did everything but put the ball in the back of the net which is frustrating. I feel that Saturday is a must win now though.

[The Red Planet]

on behalf of the players (which is a nice change) because their performance tonight deserved a win.

I thought every individual was worth at least an 8 and a couple went beyond that. Elliott, Anderson, Stead stood out for me but only just because everyone played well. We even managed to get the ball on the deck and play a little bit of football. If we play like that for the rest of the season we'll stay up I am sure.

I think tonight we actually played better than against Barnsley - our defence was more solid - the difference being Brighton had a faint idea about how to defend set pieces.

Despite not getting three points, the tactics IMO were spot on. We dominated a better team and created far more chances. If we'd made subs earlier we could well have come unstuck and we were creating enough that we looked like the only possible winners so I think not changing until very late on was the right move (if a change was needed at all).

I thought the ref was pretty lenient all round, there could have been five or six yellows had he been fussier and he was pretty consistent in applying that same standard to both teams letting quite a lot go. It would have been much harder to watch with more stoppages.

Agree Sir Nibor. Not sure of the possession stats but it must have been about 55/45 in our favour. We deserved to nick a win tonight by one goal and if it were not for several wayward shots in the last 20 mins when we had the ball in their half for most of the time, that might have been the result.

It's going to be very close with such a tight league and all the teams in the bottom third winning games lately but I think (well I believe actually) that based on recent form we will just escape the drop.

It could come down to the last game of the season (Away v Charlton). Put that date (May 4th - early k.o 12.45) in your diary, true City fans.

I think we are going to need 2000 + of us up there that day (if we get allocated that many tickets).

[Geoff65]

Based on today's performance we could go unbeaten for the rest of the season.

[Lew-T]

I couldn't make it tonight so could anyone tell me how we played, who played well etc? Cheers

[collier]

The harsh reality of this very good performance is that we are now 1 more point from safety with 1 less game to play. I agree with both sides of the argument regarding tonight's game. I think we made a play off chasing side look ordinary in 2 thirds of the pitch but in reality what did Kusack(spelling?) have to do over the 90 minutes? On balance of play maybe we deserved to win but if you don't really trouble the opposing gk, can we really say we deserved to win?

I think he got the tactics right for the first 70 minutes but the onus was on us to go more attacking and win the game, we didn't so got what it actually looked like we played for which was a point.

Again this is harsh but we could keep a clean in every game until the end of the season now, but if in each of those the opposing gk has the same amount of work to do each game as tonight, we wont win many, if any at all. This in turn will mean relegation and nobody wants that.

[Geoff65]

I couldn't make it tonight so could anyone tell me how we played, who played well etc? Cheers

Our tactic was basically let their No.6 have possession in defence, everyone else got pressurised and just like Watford, Brighton couldn't pass the ball through the 5 man midfield. As the match went on, Brighton didn't come up with a plan B and got disheartened with plan A. City grew more and more into the match and didn't quite have the quality to open up a good Brighton defence.

We had a couple of penalty decisions that didn't go our way but other than that it was all about effort, chasing and closing down. Who played well, I guess they all did, who played better than anyone else, well those who had the most work to do, namely Stead, Elliott, Kelly and Skuse, but to say those played better than anyone else is a bit of a disservice to the rest of the lads. Who had the least to do then? it was Heaton.

[Nogbad the Bad]

Elliot , Anderson , Maloney & Cunningham. Our best 4 players tonight for me.

I have to hold my hands up regarding Marv , I thought he was finished at this level , but SOD seems to have got the best out of him.

Not sure about 1 up top at home though , maybe Shaun should look at the table.

Marv. had a nasty injury and what he really needed was a run of games to get his match fitness back.

He could hardly run when he first returned to the team and it really looked like he was finished at this level - thankfully he's gradually looking more and more like his old self.

I'd like to have seen Davies on for Stead for the last 20 mins., at 6ft 1" he can play that role, and of course he is much more of a goal threat.

Agree with your 4 outstanding players but would add a fifth in Kelly who everyone around me saw as a contender for MOTM.

Great also to see Nyatanga and Fontaine looking so solid again, not only individually but as a partnership, and I'd imagine SO'D will be loath to break these two up for the rest of the season if they both keep up their current form.

[The Humble Realist]

We were the better team tonight but that doesn't neccersarily mean we deserved to win.

Kusysack had very few proper saves to make (heaton had just one I think). Brighton would argue that they kept us at bay on the edge of the box.

Very good performance though that if replicated 10more times would see us safe I'm sure.....'if' being thr key word!

[Eco]

Agree Sir Nibor. Not sure of the possession stats but it must have been about 55/45 in our favour. We deserved to nick a win tonight by one goal and if it were not for several wayward shots in the last 20 mins when we had the ball in their half for most of the time, that might have been the result.

It's going to be very close with such a tight league and all the teams in the bottom third winning games lately but I think (well I believe actually) that based on recent form we will just escape the drop.

It could come down to the last game of the season (Away v Charlton). Put that date (May 4th - early k.o 12.45) in your diary, true City fans.

I think we are going to need 2000 + of us up there that day (if we get allocated that many tickets).

Indeed, if only our midfielders could shoot like Modric !

[Swede]

I thought the whole back four were solid and its definitely a platform to build on .

I thought Anderson was clever at linking up with Stead and tucking in when needed. Kelly is getting better with every game as is Marv.

The connundrum SoD has is how to be more of an attacking force without sacrificing solidity.

It is so refreshing to read the forum and all the positive comments for ALL of the players.

And for that we have to be thankful to SoD

[Rudolf Hucker]

Elliot , Anderson , Maloney & Cunningham. Our best 4 players tonight for me.I have to hold my hands up regarding Marv , I thought he was finished at this level , but SOD seems to have got the best out of him.Not sure about 1 up top at home though , maybe Shaun should look at the table.

SO'D said, in his post match interview, words to the effect of " If you didn't know and I told you that one of the teams out there were bottom and the other were in sixth place, you'd struggle to know which was which" proving that he actually DOES look at the table!

I rest my case, m'lud!

[Red-Robbo]

Elliot , Anderson , Maloney & Cunningham. Our best 4 players tonight for me.

I have to hold my hands up regarding Marv , I thought he was finished at this level , but SOD seems to have got the best out of him.

Not sure about 1 up top at home though , maybe Shaun should look at the table.

Agree with this.

Cunningham was my MotM. Didn't put a foot wrong, controlled some very tricky customers with little cover in front of him (none when Alb came on!) and even managed to loose off a reasonable attempt at a lob on the keeper.

I think the subs should've been made 10-15 minutes earlier. Baldock in particular looked like he might've had a goal in him against a tired Brighton defence.

[havanatopia]

Agree Sir Nibor. Not sure of the possession stats but it must have been about 55/45 in our favour. We deserved to nick a win tonight by one goal and if it were not for several wayward shots in the last 20 mins when we had the ball in their half for most of the time, that might have been the result.

It's going to be very close with such a tight league and all the teams in the bottom third winning games lately but I think (well I believe actually) that based on recent form we will just escape the drop.

It could come down to the last game of the season (Away v Charlton). Put that date (May 4th - early k.o 12.45) in your diary, true City fans.

I think we are going to need 2000 + of us up there that day (if we get allocated that many tickets).

I'll do my level best to be back for that one then squire. I hear the turf at The Valley is particularly good for growing tobacco leaf

[SStandUp]

I think it shows how far this team has come since SOD took over. To be disappointed with a point against high flying Brighton says it all.

Although we didn't win, last night was our best performance of the season! Lacked a bit of quality in the final 3rd in terms of service, but Brighton never got a look in!

Roll on Saturday

[VillageRed]

Davies is certain to play with Stead on Saturday, who drops out to make way, Skuse or Marv? Skuse strokes the ball around but Marv does the maurauding.

[SStandUp]

Davies is certain to play with Stead on Saturday, who drops out to make way, Skuse or Marv? Skuse strokes the ball around but Marv does the maurauding.

I think Baldock AND Davies will be pushing for a starts, But its going to be one of the other because Steads place is certain! I would like to see Albert come in for Pearson but having said that Pearson is a bit of an engine in Midfield who works hard and applies alot of pressure to the Opposition.

I honestly dont know who you could drop, but i feel we need more quality in the final 3rd saturday. Baldock, Davies and Adomah will definitely add quality.

[Gazred]

Great also to see Nyatanga and Fontaine looking so solid again, not only individually but as a partnership, and I'd imagine SO'D will be loath to break these two up for the rest of the season if they both keep up their current form.

Agreed, a solid defensive partnership has been missing all season and it would of taken some convincing back in Dec if you'd have said Fonts and Tangs were the solution! Good on them.

Looks like Mr Atyeo's record will remain intact!

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

Agree with this.

Cunningham was my MotM. Didn't put a foot wrong,

No disrespect, but Cunningham certainly put a foot wrong a few times in the first half. One or two sliced clearances into the Dolman, and at least one occasion (and I think more than one) when he lost the man he was marking and someone else had to cover for him. Don't get me wrong, I thought the whole team played well, but I have to say that I didn't think Cunningham was MoTM. I'd probably have given that to Nyatanga, who I think is presently doing a heroic job out of position.

[bearded_red]

I thought we were excellent last night and all that was really lacking from the performance being perfect was a bit of creativity or guile in the final third and at times we were rather predictable. After seeing the team and watching the opening ten minutes I thought it was going to be a game like Watford where our primary intention was to sit deep and frustrate Brighton, but last night we did much more than that.

We dominated the game both with possession and territory and you simply would not believe that we were bottom of the league. I think the fact Kuszczak was time wasting towards the end spoke volumes for how the game had gone.

Tactically we were excellent and it was obvious what our tactics were when Brighton had the ball. Stead always stood on Upson and never even attempted the close the technically inferior El-Abd (one of the nastiest, most cheating players you will ever see), Marvin played in a unfamiliar more advanced role with the sole intention of getting in and around Bridcutt who likes to sit in front of the defence and control the possession and tempo of the game and our two wingers pushed up on their fullbacks so they were never in a position to receive the ball. This stopped Brighton doing what they like to do which is play it out from the back and this resulted in El-Abd being forced to try and come out of defence with the ball and frequently giving it away. I think it shows how well our tactics were working by just how many long balls Brighton played last night as they were simply unable to play though our midfield.

I thought all the team played very well, in particular Elliott, Stead, Cunningham, Nyatanga and Kelly and I think Steady should probably have been awarded MOTM.

[Red-Robbo]

No disrespect, but Cunningham certainly put a foot wrong a few times in the first half. One or two sliced clearances into the Dolman, and at least one occasion (and I think more than one) when he lost the man he was marking and someone else had to cover for him. Don't get me wrong, I thought the whole team played well, but I have to say that I didn't think Cunningham was MoTM. I'd probably have given that to Nyatanga, who I think is presently doing a heroic job out of position.

Well we'll disagree on that. Nyatanga had a good game, but his clearances were little better than Fontaine's.

Greg had a vast amount to contend with as Pearson (and Anderson) were playing a bit higher up the field than usual, to bolster Steady, so it was a torrid time for the left and right backs.

What I love about Greg is that he is the best natural dribbler (after Albert) at the club and he can run the ball out of trouble and run it up field.

But it was a team performance and I don't want to knock anyone. Everyone was on the scale from solid (Skuse, Fontaine) to outstanding (GC, Stead, Anderson) last night.

Going off at a bit of a tangent, I'd like to see Pearson take more of our set pieces.

[finbarr_in_z]

. Not sure of the possession stats but it must have been about 55/45 in our favour.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21584008

67% us, 33% them. Blimey!

Shots: us 13, them 0. Blimey x2!