We were fortunate today....

[Mello Yello 2,572]

Huff an'' a puff.....but we were lucky.....

[Houston Canary 0]

HUH!?!?!  Do you mean the penalty?  I have seen the play (I replayed it 5 or 6 times), and despite the Rovers'' player claiming the ball hit his chest, it would have had to have made an incredible directional change to have hit him where he indicated, under his arm. Kind of like the magic bullet theory! (re: JFK)

Was the camera that showed this being run by someone named Zapruder?

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="Mello Yello"]Huff an'' a puff.....but we were lucky.....[/quote]Well yes we were, but in those conditions against a team happy to sit deep, we pushed and pushed and eventually got our reward.  Are you not happy with the win, Mello?  It''s a strange post to make.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="Mello Yello"]Huff an'' a puff.....but we were lucky.....[/quote]

I wouldn''t call it lucky.

Tranmere had two golden chances before we scored but failed to capitalise. They never looked like getting back in the game after we scored.

[ZLF 335]

I am with mello - happy with the win but the pen is debatable and had we not scored then I am not sure we would have made a breakthrough.   Its a moot point as we did,  but the crowd were starting to get groany with the number of misplaced passes and we had markeldy fewer good chances than the defensive tranmere.

[Branston Pickle 4,149]

When you consider the number of dodgy pens awarded against us last season - and also those ''certs'' not given to us, particularly at home which cost important points - it is surely fair enough that we get occasional iffy ones in our favour this time around (though I still think it was fair enough).

We clearly weren''t at our best yesterday, and they missed 2 good chances, but we were by far the better side and controlled almost the entire game. It really is entirely a moot point but I''m also of the opinion that had they scored, we''d have upped our game and probably won anyway.

[Mister Chops 7]

I seriously think everyone is understating the effect of the conditions yesterday.  The rain was hard and driven on the wind and the pitch was soaked and slippery.  We plugged away and got our reward and I think everyone''s being a bit harsh considering.  No it wasn''t a classic, but it wasn''t the 0-0 v Walsall either.

[B-ru 0]

Well I was unfortunately not at the game yesterday, i did see the goals on sky sports last night.

I think that we were lucky to get the penalty, have seen them not given before.

I only saw the goals once, but am I right in thinking the Doc scored with a crafty flick?

[Yellowfuture 71]

Games at home against teams at the bottom are going to be a real problem for us as we all knew. I think there was only 1 offside against us yesterday, Tranmer were playing so deep, and good luck to them they could easily have got a point. Our diamond makes us  too narrow for these sorts of games IMO and we  are not using the full  backs effectively to stretch defenses. Drury was in a lot of space quite a lot of the time but was not used very much, not sure if he`s got enough pace to make much difference there anyway. Our lack of genuine pace in the side is going to be a real problem for  us IMO, Wes may twist and jink but is always surrounded by three players. I believe the conditions did play a part in our problems yesterday, there were a lot of overhit passes, but we can expect more of the same in the coming months. I  think overall we were  a bit fortunate, we were pushing forward so  much that we did leave ourselves very exposed at the back and on another day could  have conceded.    

[dreamteam 0]

Take the win, be happy, stop looking for problems.

[Beauseant 0]

I think that what we''re seeing at the moment is a combination of the "we''re really a Championship club, so we should win handsomely every week against the rubbish in this division" syndrome and a certain degree of selective amnesia about the Championship winning season. Have I lost my marbles or did we not achieve a number of ugly wins that year?

Yesterday''s conditions were awful, and we were far from our best. Yes, Tranmere should have scored before halftime, but the fact is that if a side sits deep with men behind the ball they are going to create a chance on the break at some point. Thanks to big Frazer it didn''t come off for them, but other than another break in the second half they created nothing of note. We were the only side actually trying to win the game and I find it hard to believe that without the penalty we would not have broken them down, although nerves would have frayed as time ticked away. I thought our performance was very patient (perhaps overly so at times), although I would have liked to have seen Hughes on for Russell.

Not pretty, but three vital points and the continuation of a run which is becoming most unCity like in its longevity and consistency (at least as far as recent seasons go). Like most I''d love to see week after week of flowing football, but that''s not realistic. What wins things is the ability to play below par yet get results, a skill that we are becoming very adept at.

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote user="Mello Yello"]Huff an'' a puff.....but we were lucky.....[/quote]Napoleons'' biggest requirement from his generals was that they were lucky.  If Lambert is lucky, I''m feeling even more confident about our chances this season. 

[Mello Yello 2,572]

On the score predictions I said 2-0 to City.....I also mentioned that the weather would play a significant part....and we had to play the ball on the deck.

I didn''t see the Tranmere players wearing oilskins, deep sea waders and sou''wester hats...to protect them from the elements?

The weather was the same for both sides....

I''m pleased we won, the performance wasn''t top drawer, I wasn''t expecting it to be.

But if Tranmere had put their chances away....I think they''d have claimed all the points....and that we were ''fortunate'' to be awarded the penalty.

But then again....I also thought our Right Back played well.

 

[paul moy 235]

Just watched the incident  a few times and it was a clear penalty because the defender raised his arms as the shot was taken and clearly stopped the ball from going in the goal. Not lucky whatsoever, and I would have been very annoyed if that had not been given.

[WeAreYellows49 0]

[quote user="Beauseant"]

I think that what we''re seeing at the moment is a combination of the "we''re really a Championship club, so we should win handsomely every week against the rubbish in this division" syndrome and a certain degree of selective amnesia about the Championship winning season. Have I lost my marbles or did we not achieve a number of ugly wins that year?

Yesterday''s conditions were awful, and we were far from our best. Yes, Tranmere should have scored before halftime, but the fact is that if a side sits deep with men behind the ball they are going to create a chance on the break at some point. Thanks to big Frazer it didn''t come off for them, but other than another break in the second half they created nothing of note. We were the only side actually trying to win the game and I find it hard to believe that without the penalty we would not have broken them down, although nerves would have frayed as time ticked away. I thought our performance was very patient (perhaps overly so at times), although I would have liked to have seen Hughes on for Russell.

Not pretty, but three vital points and the continuation of a run which is becoming most unCity like in its longevity and consistency (at least as far as recent seasons go). Like most I''d love to see week after week of flowing football, but that''s not realistic. What wins things is the ability to play below par yet get results, a skill that we are becoming very adept at.

[/quote]

We won by lots of one nils if my memory serves me correctly.  A win is a win, scrappy, tidy or indifferent, it''s only points on the table that will get us promoted, and to get those points we need wins, be they 1-0, 2-0 or 10-0.  [:)]

[chicken 0]

Bah those pens must be split 50-50 on given not given - I have seen them go either way from the prem all the way down the leagues to Sunday league. I wouldn''t say its lucky, just that some you get some you don''t.The game was not a classic but we had our fair share of chances too. Smith hit one just over the bar - on another day he would have tucked it under the bar and into the net. And at the end of the day you don''t win games by number of chances created you win them by number of goals scored. And to be fair it will be a very rare game at any level where one team has absolutely no chances. The quality of a team is in one that can take the chances they make, whether that be a pen, set piece or open play.If Tranmere had won it would have been a travesty - they didn''t come here to win so why would they deserve to? As mentioned after the Walsall game there will be teams that come to Carrow Road to do nothing but try and achieve a respectable score line. You look at Martin, Holt and Hoolahan and they will all score or create goals. Its enough for some of the teams in this league to be happy with a draw against them. And again I will say it again - thats actually a compliment to how good our team is if the best some teams can hope to do is simply stop us from playing and from scoring.It is also testament of good teams that sometimes for whatever reason they don''t play their best football but are still capable of winning games.

[still holding out for new heroes 0]

the one weakness obvious yesterday (and one Lambert has been quoted on) was a lack of pace, they packed the midfield making in difficult to pass through them, they were also playing so deep that any balls that did manage to find their way through had to be perfect (or running quickly out of play / to the keeper), we didnt really get in behind in wide areas, and should have made better use of the fullbacks in the first half, I thought our best play was when we got the ball more often to Drury in advance positions second half. Whilst Martin was fine yesteday I probably would have used MacDonald from half time just to give a different dimension to the game. Overall no one had a poor game and we deserved to win, I''m not sure I''d say we were lucky, Forster makes a superb save and the pen looked fair enough to me (we probably had a better shout for a handball just before), also nothing lucky about the way our defense is playing at the moment, apart from the one chance that Forster saved, back 4 were faultless again. I like the formation generally, but if we do have money to spend in Jan, it should be used on a pacey experienced striker.

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="chicken"]Bah those pens must be split 50-50 on given not given - I have seen them go either way from the prem all the way down the leagues to Sunday league. I wouldn''t say its lucky, just that some you get some you don''t.[/quote]Indeed.  If the same game had been played at Tranmere''s ground, they''d have had a pen and we wouldn''t have done.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

Last season we played much better and lost. The decisions went gainst us like they did Tranmere yesterday. We noticed it and commented about it. But I was told we were where we deserved to be. I was told you make you''re own luck. I was told it all evens out over the course of a season. Now I don''t believe you make your own luck and I don''t believe that bad luck ever did even itself out. But we did end up with a losing mentality and clubs at the bottom never seem to get the rub of the green.

A wise poster pointed out to me last season that over a longer period of time these things would even out. And so you saw yesterday that fortune (and a referee) favoured a team with a winning mentality. Were we lucky? maybe, but certainly not if we weren''t unlucky last season[:O]

 

[ZLF 335]

[quote user="still holding out for new heroes"]the one weakness obvious yesterday (and one Lambert has been quoted on) was a lack of pace, .[/quote]

Not sure why pace would have helped? I really do not think Cody would have helped - and it did not really benefit Ots much.  They played 9 men across the pitch 10-15 yards in front of their pen box.  There was no space for pace - and there was also little width once we had shuffled the ball across the pitch.

Some widith did help - but because the movement of the ball was so slow by the time the ball had got to Drury the gap had been closed.

With better ball players we COULD have exploited the gaps better - but we needed to move the ball faster and more accurately - it was not getting the ball to players that was the prob - not a lack of pace. 

[Syteanric 1]

[quote user="chicken"]Bah those pens must be split 50-50 on given not given - I have seen them go either way from the prem all the way down the leagues to Sunday league. [/quote]

not when im reffing you dont! by the book me!

[Scooby 0]

[quote user="paul moy"]Just watched the incident  a few times and it was a clear penalty because the defender raised his arms as the shot was taken and clearly stopped the ball from going in the goal. Not lucky whatsoever, and I would have been very annoyed if that had not been given.[/quote]

Exactly!  It was a clear Penalty, the ref was perfectly positioned.  Why is that lucky?  We had the vast majority of the possesion, we were the better side, we kept a clean sheet again.  I fail to see how we can be considered lucky to win the game. 

[Robert N. LiM 6,276]

I thought Tranmere showed visiting teams exactly how to defend against us. Yes, they did sit deep, but they also pushed their back four quite far forward, knowing we have no pace up front, so the ball over the top is not a risk. As a result, the area between the back four and the midfield was incredibly small, and that is exactly the area where Hoolahan usually does so much damage. Our lack of width meant we didn''t have another option, and, as ZLF says, we didn''t move the ball quickly enough to pull them out of position.

Really fair play to Lambert for getting Hoolahan to drift wider in the second half, where he found more space. Because he was on the right so often, that also opened up space down the left, which directly led to the penalty decision.

I think we were a little lucky not to be behind at half-time. I thought the penalty was marginal but probably just about the right decision, and I''m not sure we would have won the game if it hadn''t been given.

It wasn''t a great performance, but we came away with all three points and that''s what counts. As Korey says in today''s EDP, patience is going to be the key all season - there''ll be many more games like that one.

[Hardhouse44 289]

One  of the biggest strokes of luck we had Saturday was that they played Ricketts up front. How he could pick up his wage packet for the week without feeling ashamed is beyond me.