We could have won 7-1 last night...

[Evil Monkey 52]

...and still the same things would be happening...The same people would have rung into Canary Call to wonder why we don''t have Fraser Foster in the team...The same people would have logged onto these message boards to complain about long ball/goalkeeper/defence...CT would still come over all billy big b0ll0cks about ''getting behind the players''...The BBC would still be creaming themselves about the Leeds game today...And, more importantly, the result would still be utterly and entirely meaningless over the course of this season.It was a game, we played well in periods, not so well in others.  A mixture of not being able to keep the ball, a weak midfield, a slow defence and a ''keeper who isn''t Fraser Forster, cost us the game.The ref was diabolical, and maybe killed off the chances of a draw, but the entire result wasn''t down to him.Watford will lose more games than they win this season as better teams than us will exploit their own defences.  If Wes can find that killer ball and Holty and Martin can stay fit, if we add a little steel to the midfield, and tighten up the defence, then we''ll be in with a chance of top 10.

[Unhinged Canary 375]

Hallelujah! [Y]

[Pyro Pete 1,886]

[quote user="Evil Monkey"]If Wes can find that killer ball and Holty and Martin can stay fit, if we add a little steel to the midfield, and tighten up the defence, then we''ll be in with a chance of top 10.[/quote]So if only we had a competitive attack, a competitive midfield, and a competitive defence we could do well?  Really?

[ron obvious 1,495]

True. The result of this first game was unimportant, but it did give us an idea of how the team performs under real conditions, where our strengths & weaknesses lie.Strangely enough the only game friendly I saw - Stevenage - gave me exactly the same overall impression (although obviously at a different level): defence slow & easily bamboozled, midfield brilliant in patches, attack a bit toothless. Whitbread was playing that day. Not impressed. Outmuscled by L2 attackers.I think Hooly''s a worldbeater, he just has to learn to do less.There''s a lot of work to be done.

[Beauseant 0]

The problem is that, for many fans, it''s feast or famine. We''re either title contenders or relegation fodder, whereas, in fact, neither assumption could be made form last night. It wasn''t a Colchester by any means and some of our passing was excellent (the first goal for example), while we clearly looked shaky at the back and didn''t have enough possession. However, the current witch hunt on Ruddy (who made one handling error and had no chance with the goals) is pathetic, whereas the anti Russell Martin faction is back form their break reinvigorated.

Yes, there''s work to do, but the new side is still coming together (preseason is nothing like the real thing) and there is a lot to look forward to.

 

[Herman 9,698]

Thanks guys for some sensible posts.Been trying to get through a page and a half of bollox and was starting to despair at some of the threads.

[morty 0]

I think my main concern was physical size, or lack of it. We seemed a little lightweight, and were hustled off the ball too easily. We could do with a midfield enforcer, and I think a tough tackler like Darel sat in front of our comedy centre backs could well have made a difference.

[I am a Banana 0]

[quote user="Pyro Pete"][quote user="Evil Monkey"]If Wes can find that killer ball and Holty and Martin can stay fit, if we add a little steel to the midfield, and tighten up the defence, then we''ll be in with a chance of top 10.[/quote]So if only we had a competitive attack, a competitive midfield, and a competitive defence we could do well?  Really?

[/quote]

lol yeah basically your saying lambert has brought rubbish players in and you would rather hve last seaskn team!?

[Mello Yello 2,273]

I was quite disappointed with last nights performance......and I''m sure that I will disappointed with a few more of the 45 games (not including cup games).

Hopefully it was a wake-up call to the players, and now Lambert and the coaching staff are aware of what is required.....This defeat, like the 7-1 thrashing last season on the first day - could actually be a blessing in disguise... 

[ron obvious 1,495]

Mello! Quick! Someone''s hacked into your account! ......

[Shack Attack 0]

Whilst I think you make some decent points EM I don''t see the problem with people being critical about last nights performance. For many it will have been the first glimpse of the new signings we''ve been getting so excited about in pre-season so we''ve not got much else to base our opinions on.From what I could see last night we look a little lightweight in midfield, our centre backs look very ponderous and although we kept possession reasonably well in non-threatening areas we lacked that killer ball in the final third. That allied with the fact that the natural narrow shape of the diamond midfield means we desperately need to inject some pace into the side at full-back means there is plenty to think about. What we also saw last night was how reliant we continue to be on Grant Holt and this presents us with further questions. Now I love the guy but the fact remains that at twenty nine years old he has only ever played a handful of games at this level and we''ve no idea whether he can make the step up.My gut feeling is that he will be fine (he looked fairly lively in the twenty minutes he played last night despite not being 100% fit) and that coupled with improved performances from Surman as he settles in, Hoolahan fixing the radar on his final ball and Martin continuing to grow in stature will mean we''ll be OK. But there''s nothing wrong with being critical when performances fail to live up to expectation.

[Calle 16]

As someone said, we really looked too lightweight, and they outmuscled us all all over the pitch...

The ref allowed a lot of hard play, and that didnt suit us much...

At times we combined well, but overall it was a poor game and it can only be better now...

Main concern is the defence, Ward didnt look matchfit (and did he direct two of the goals into his own net??)

And for R Martin, I thought he was one of our top performer yesterday... Had a lot of possesion in the end at the right wing, but his crossing wasnt great...

R

[Mello Yello 2,273]

[quote user="ron obvious"]
Mello! Quick! Someone''s hacked into your account! ......

[/quote]

It''ll have to be a big chopper.....Wasn''t you was it?

[ron obvious 1,495]

Hoorah! That''s more like it.

[InLambertWeTrust! 0]

[quote user="Evil Monkey"]...and still the same things would be happening...The same people would have rung into Canary Call to wonder why we don''t have Fraser Foster in the team...The same people would have logged onto these message boards to complain about long ball/goalkeeper/defence...CT would still come over all billy big b0ll0cks about ''getting behind the players''...The BBC would still be creaming themselves about the Leeds game today...And, more importantly, the result would still be utterly and entirely meaningless over the course of this season.It was a game, we played well in periods, not so well in others.  A mixture of not being able to keep the ball, a weak midfield, a slow defence and a ''keeper who isn''t Fraser Forster, cost us the game.The ref was diabolical, and maybe killed off the chances of a draw, but the entire result wasn''t down to him.Watford will lose more games than they win this season as better teams than us will exploit their own defences.  If Wes can find that killer ball and Holty and Martin can stay fit, if we add a little steel to the midfield, and tighten up the defence, then we''ll be in with a chance of top 10.[/quote]So we shouldnt get behind the players then? Errrr ok[:S]

[Evil Monkey 52]

[quote user="Mello Yello"]

I was quite disappointed with last nights performance......and I''m sure that I will disappointed with a few more of the 45 games (not including cup games).

Hopefully it was a wake-up call to the players, and now Lambert and the coaching staff are aware of what is required.....This defeat, like the 7-1 thrashing last season on the first day - could actually be a blessing in disguise... 

[/quote]I agree with Mello... now I need to go and have a little lie down...

[Evil Monkey 52]

[quote user="Pyro Pete"][quote user="Evil Monkey"]If Wes can find that killer ball and Holty and Martin can stay fit, if we add a little steel to the midfield, and tighten up the defence, then we''ll be in with a chance of top 10.[/quote]So if only we had a competitive attack, a competitive midfield, and a competitive defence we could do well?  Really?

[/quote]That whistling sound you can hear is the point of my post going sailing over your head...

[grantroederdisaster 0]

We could of won last night with 2 decent CB''s and Holt starting the game!

[Evil Monkey 52]

[quote user="Shack Attack"]Whilst I think you make some decent points EM I don''t see the problem with people being critical about last nights performance. For many it will have been the first glimpse of the new signings we''ve been getting so excited about in pre-season so we''ve not got much else to base our opinions on.From what I could see last night we look a little lightweight in midfield, our centre backs look very ponderous and although we kept possession reasonably well in non-threatening areas we lacked that killer ball in the final third. That allied with the fact that the natural narrow shape of the diamond midfield means we desperately need to inject some pace into the side at full-back means there is plenty to think about. What we also saw last night was how reliant we continue to be on Grant Holt and this presents us with further questions. Now I love the guy but the fact remains that at twenty nine years old he has only ever played a handful of games at this level and we''ve no idea whether he can make the step up.My gut feeling is that he will be fine (he looked fairly lively in the twenty minutes he played last night despite not being 100% fit) and that coupled with improved performances from Surman as he settles in, Hoolahan fixing the radar on his final ball and Martin continuing to grow in stature will mean we''ll be OK. But there''s nothing wrong with being critical when performances fail to live up to expectation.[/quote]I entirely agree with you, Shack, but my point about people moaning was a slightly tongue-in-cheek refence to the fact that some of the posters on here would have come on here (and Canary Call) complaining regardless of the result or performance...

[Evil Monkey 52]

[quote user="CT"][quote user="Evil Monkey"]...and still the same things would be happening...The same people would have rung into Canary Call to wonder why we don''t have Fraser Foster in the team...The same people would have logged onto these message boards to complain about long ball/goalkeeper/defence...CT would still come over all billy big b0ll0cks about ''getting behind the players''...The BBC would still be creaming themselves about the Leeds game today...And, more importantly, the result would still be utterly and entirely meaningless over the course of this season.It was a game, we played well in periods, not so well in others.  A mixture of not being able to keep the ball, a weak midfield, a slow defence and a ''keeper who isn''t Fraser Forster, cost us the game.The ref was diabolical, and maybe killed off the chances of a draw, but the entire result wasn''t down to him.Watford will lose more games than they win this season as better teams than us will exploit their own defences.  If Wes can find that killer ball and Holty and Martin can stay fit, if we add a little steel to the midfield, and tighten up the defence, then we''ll be in with a chance of top 10.[/quote]So we shouldnt get behind the players then? Errrr ok[:S] [/quote]Of course we should, CT.  Or should we? Are you sure? Are you sure that you''re sure? Given that you''ve made yourself a niche as First Wizard''s flip-flopping clone, your aggressive pursuit of ''getting behind the lads'' is just a little hard to swallow.

[InLambertWeTrust! 0]

[quote user="Evil Monkey"][quote user="CT"][quote user="Evil Monkey"]...and still the same things would be happening...The same people would have rung into Canary Call to wonder why we don''t have Fraser Foster in the team...The same people would have logged onto these message boards to complain about long ball/goalkeeper/defence...CT would still come over all billy big b0ll0cks about ''getting behind the players''...The BBC would still be creaming themselves about the Leeds game today...And, more importantly, the result would still be utterly and entirely meaningless over the course of this season.It was a game, we played well in periods, not so well in others.  A mixture of not being able to keep the ball, a weak midfield, a slow defence and a ''keeper who isn''t Fraser Forster, cost us the game.The ref was diabolical, and maybe killed off the chances of a draw, but the entire result wasn''t down to him.Watford will lose more games than they win this season as better teams than us will exploit their own defences.  If Wes can find that killer ball and Holty and Martin can stay fit, if we add a little steel to the midfield, and tighten up the defence, then we''ll be in with a chance of top 10.[/quote]So we shouldnt get behind the players then? Errrr ok[:S] [/quote]Of course we should, CT.  Or should we? Are you sure? Are you sure that you''re sure? Given that you''ve made yourself a niche as First Wizard''s flip-flopping clone, your aggressive pursuit of ''getting behind the lads'' is just a little hard to swallow.[/quote]I''m just sick to the back teeth of people pining after Fraser Forster. Whats wrong with trying to break out of a niche? Maybe its time I grew up?[;)]