Good Run-out

[bcfcchris2016]

today i was very pleased with the overall performance. If we can keep the fitness up and play as a team like what we saw tonight, then we really should win the league by April.

We defended ever so well today and if we keep defending like that, we could as well have the most clean sheets next season. Bradley Orr, Carey, Fontaine and Woodman all looked very sharp from start to finish and Keogh also looked sharp when brought on. as for Adriano Basso, apart from THAT mistake, he did very well and dare i say his kicking has improved a little bit, but as i said apart from that one slip-up

The Midfield was also sound, Although there arn't many strong players in the middle, they all were getting back and forward when needed and i thought although Louis Carey had a great game, i thought David Noble deserved the man of the match award. I have to admit though that Cole Skuse was very quiet and did not do anything to really spark the game though he did link up well with Noble and i will still start him againest Shrewsbury. Cotterill and Murray both looked sharp tonight both making good runs and streched the southampton defence suring the game.

Steve Brooker did not do a lot in this game but did make the odd trick or two so he did ok and Showunmi will improve with more games i am sure of it.

as for the other players, Nuno Santos had his good touches and bad. one moment he would give the ball away cheaply but on the other hand he had 2 great chances which would of been great if they would of went in because it would really boost his confidence.

I'll probabley get slated for saying this but Jennison Williams is one of the most greedyest players i have seen up front for city in a long time. that chance where he rounded the keeper and kelvin davis managed to collect it, he only had to square it nicely and it would of been 2:1 easily. It is not the first time Jennison has done something like that this pre-season. if he improves his awareness and creativity, we do have a good young player in williams.

[Guest Eamer]

I have to admit though that Cole Skuse was very quiet and did not do anything to really spark the game though he did link up well with Noble and i will still start him againest Shrewsbury.

that's good to know. what we need to know now is will you be offering Santos a contract?

[TinnionForEngland]

Yes because Jennison took the wrong option once he must be the greediest striker ever, ever, ever, ever, ever? and he was anything but greedy at Hereford, you cant have been there.

that's good to know. what we need to know now is will you be offering Santos a contract?

That's great

[Ivan_is_a_legend]

if he improves his awareness and creativity, we do have a good young player in williams.

glad you pointed that out. he will learn as each game passes. next time he is in that position i thik he would do a lot better. thought he should of tried the lob straight away, but again, this will come with experience.

can blame him for wanting to score his first goal at the gate though

[Nibor]

My views.

Southampton are a team that should be top 10 in the Championship and they didn't play a weak side in the least. We could and should have won, which speaks volumes about how far we've come.

We had two chances that fell to Cotterill and Williams, both of which should have been in the net without question and perhaps would have done in a game with more importance.

We did look to be up for the game, playing with commitment (but not stupidly), and we matched Southampton quite well.

Southampton probably had better fluency moving from defence to attack more quickly with some good one or two touch passing and moving, and Blackstock could have been a problem had he been less greedy.

Our workrate was higher, we were first to loose balls more often and we seened to have more width. Overall I was quite optimistic on leaving the Gate, though we must bear in mind that it was only a friendly and we'll probably lose 8-0 to Shrewsbury now.

Basso - Poor at best. Gifted them a goal through a calamitous error and miskicked more than once.

Orr - Solid, couple of decent crosses too. Good performance.

Carey - Great to see him continuing to threaten from set pieces, defended very well.

Fontaine - Every bit as good as last season.

Woodman - Pretty good in defence but slightly wasteful of possession.

Noble - Class on the ball and used it well, always looks to have more time than he should. Could move it forward quicker.

Skuse - Covered a great deal of ground, getting behind the defence to clear up more than once and also being involved on the edge of the opposition box. Could shoot more and be more ambitious with passing.

Cotterill - Some good runs, and a couple of decent balls. Should have scored, and still needs to learn when to release it.

Murray - Looked very sharp and played a couple of superb passes that could have resulted in more. Still looks hampered by being played on the left at times and ran out of puff.

Brooker- Hard working and strong but too often didn't look up and tried to beat players to make room to shoot when he had better options. Needs to be more aware of players around him.

Showunmi - Excellent work rate, quick, decent in the air and surprisingly good on the ball for a guy his size. Definitely better than Savage and McCammon even in one showing. Looked like he was lacking first XI confidence and sharpness but seemed useful.

Subs:

Vantrier - Didn't make any mistakes, didn't have much opportunity to show off either.

McCombe - Couple of good last ditch blocks, looked briefly promising.

Keogh - Got beaten once or twice but wasn't bad for the short time he was on.

Williams - Pace, tricks and heavily left footed. Should have scored but didn't want to try a chip or use his right. Looked talented but raw as expected.

Santos - Couple of decent efforts on goal and a good cross, looks to have power and accuracy in his left foot, but seemed to drift in and out of the game (in the brief time he was on) much like a typical winger. Can see why Johnson's not sure but given our lack of left footers is worth a punt I think.

Jevons - Energetic, clever and quick. Struck a very good shot and had a few opportunites. Should probably start.

Russell - Nothing of note either way in his time on for me.

Brown - The usual, lots of energy but not much effectiveness.

[TinnionForEngland]

My views.

Southampton are a team that should be top 10 in the Championship and they didn't play a weak side in the least. We could and should have won, which speaks volumes about how far we've come.

We had two chances that fell to Cotterill and Williams, both of which should have been in the net without question and perhaps would have done in a game with more importance.

We did look to be up for the game, playing with commitment (but not stupidly), and we matched Southampton quite well.

Southampton probably had better fluency moving from defence to attack more quickly with some good one or two touch passing and moving, and Blackstock could have been a problem had he been less greedy.

Our workrate was higher, we were first to loose balls more often and we seened to have more width. Overall I was quite optimistic on leaving the Gate, though we must bear in mind that it was only a friendly and we'll probably lose 8-0 to Shrewsbury now.

Basso - Poor at best. Gifted them a goal through a calamitous error and miskicked more than once.

Orr - Solid, couple of decent crosses too. Good performance.

Carey - Great to see him continuing to threaten from set pieces, defended very well.

Fontaine - Every bit as good as last season.

Woodman - Pretty good in defence but slightly wasteful of possession.

Noble - Class on the ball and used it well, always looks to have more time than he should. Could move it forward quicker.

Skuse - Covered a great deal of ground, getting behind the defence to clear up more than once and also being involved on the edge of the opposition box. Could shoot more and be more ambitious with passing.

Cotterill - Some good runs, and a couple of decent balls. Should have scored, and still needs to learn when to release it.

Murray - Looked very sharp and played a couple of superb passes that could have resulted in more. Still looks hampered by being played on the left at times and ran out of puff.

Brooker- Hard working and strong but too often didn't look up and tried to beat players to make room to shoot when he had better options. Needs to be more aware of players around him.

Showunmi - Excellent work rate, quick, decent in the air and surprisingly good on the ball for a guy his size. Definitely better than Savage and McCammon even in one showing. Looked like he was lacking first XI confidence and sharpness but seemed useful.

Subs:

Vantrier - Didn't make any mistakes, didn't have much opportunity to show off either.

McCombe - Couple of good last ditch blocks, looked briefly promising.

Keogh - Got beaten once or twice but wasn't bad for the short time he was on.

Williams - Pace, tricks and heavily left footed. Should have scored but didn't want to try a chip or use his right. Looked talented but raw as expected.

Santos - Couple of decent efforts on goal and a good cross, looks to have power and accuracy in his left foot, but seemed to drift in and out of the game (in the brief time he was on) much like a typical winger. Can see why Johnson's not sure but given our lack of left footers is worth a punt I think.

Jevons - Energetic, clever and quick. Struck a very good shot and had a few opportunites. Should probably start.

Russell - Nothing of note either way in his time on for me.

Brown - The usual, lots of energy but not much effectiveness.

That's what i noticed about Enoch at Hereford, when i expected the ball to bounce off his long legs he did the unexpected and took a touch and had a look for an option, seems decent on the floor which is nice.

[bh_red]

think we need to take our time with Santos, we still have the shrews game and Aldershot and we need to give him a good run out of at least 60mins to see what he's about, on tonights showing Johnson was spot on that the jury is still out on him.

As for Jennison, all he did really in his goal scoring chance was to show his youth, there is no doubt he has pace and there is no doubt he COULD be a very good player, he will make wrong decisions at time but that will come with games, think it might be worth putting him out on loan to maybe to Cheltenham, Rovers or Forest Green, he needs to put on a bit of weight too, with other youngsters such as Fontaine, Skuse and Cotts we have alot of young players in the team and there is no point throwing him in just yet,

Thankfully in Johnson we hve a manager who knows how to look after the younger players, Jennison is one for later in the season maybe

oh and finally Noble - Fantasic tonight and looks alot better player than we saw last season, think he is going to be a key player this season!

[reddoh]

from what i saw of the game Bassos kicking has improved but is still prone to the odd error

santos not sure about he drifted out the game to much

Russell and brown were no where near as good as Noble and Skuse

Jevons should have started

carey and fontaine in the centre of defense were superb

did anyone notice thw savage pisstake by showunmni

[bcfc4life]

As most people will agree we seem very strong in midfield and defence which we lacked at the start of last season, but now GJ needs to pick wich 2 Forwards he wants so they can work together, Brooker and Jevons are the 2 who should have 1st choice to start and showumni and stewart as back up. as Goal keper sugestions basso no 1 but he cant afford to show off like he did today and i hope he has learned by his mistake. and i think GJ does'nt need to loan a premiership goalie as Van Trier looked good in his goal mouth, and chris wheale has had good words from the gafffer,

If you remember nearly every supporter said last sept Brian Tinion took the club back 10 or so years, but now Superman Gary Johnson has brought us foward 10 + years in the last 9 months. he is one of the best managers we have had in a long long time and I'm sure he will let our dream come true and play in the championship, and maybe take us to the prem but we never know, Every year we say 'Were Going Up' and we have been favorates for the last couple of years, but you never know

Good luck to GJ and the team, and i will be at every home game

[bh_red]

Van Trier played 15mins and needs a longer run out before making a decision, he handling was good but all basic stops, wasn't really tested

[bartolona]

oh and finally Noble - Fantasic tonight and looks alot better player than we saw last season, think he is going to be a key player this season!

Noble was the best player on the pitch tonight,just wish he would shoot more often.

[Guest]

think we need to take our time with Santos, we still have the shrews game and Aldershot and we need to give him a good run out of at least 60mins to see what he's about, on tonights showing Johnson was spot on that the jury is still out on him.

As for Jennison, all he did really in his goal scoring chance was to show his youth, there is no doubt he has pace and there is no doubt he COULD be a very good player, he will make wrong decisions at time but that will come with games, think it might be worth putting him out on loan to maybe to Cheltenham, Rovers or Forest Green, he needs to put on a bit of weight too, with other youngsters such as Fontaine, Skuse and Cotts we have alot of young players in the team and there is no point throwing him in just yet,

Thankfully in Johnson we hve a manager who knows how to look after the younger players, Jennison is one for later in the season maybe

oh and finally Noble - Fantasic tonight and looks alot better player than we saw last season, think he is going to be a key player this season!

You`re not forgetting the Glos game tomorrow night are you