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NWC

Back from Wigan - quick report on the game.

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Just my perspective on the game:We were quite slow to start - Fox got a yellow in the first few minutes which didn''t help.

I thought we waited for the ball a bit too much.

GH looked out of sorts to be fair - De Laet at times was a liability. Wes was slowly coming into the game.

Too many other midfielders not getting into the game enough.

Proper balls up for their penalty (De Laet) - he dived, obv I would say that!!

For all our failings we tried hard, we fought, we battled, we never gave

up - needless to say the 4500 y''army were superb. We deserved our goal -

didn''t see much of it, as we were at the other end!!

Second half - I don''t care what people say, we bossed this. Yes Wigan

had chances and hit the post, but I really thought we would win it.

Zak went off for Barnett, and Lambert changed formation and brought on the wonder-wingers Bennet and Pilkington.

The game was far more open then for the last 15/20 - Pilks and esp EB were great.

They hit the post - we came cose on more than one occasion. At one time

EB darted through the complete Wigan midfield only to be synically

brought down - the yellow cards were mounting up for Wigan at that

stage.

But it wasn''t to be, and we got the draw.

Fair result in the end I suppose, and one we should all be proud of.

Roll on Stoke.

Oh and PMSL at QPR - and that sicknote dyer has broken his metatarsel!!

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Thanks NWC. It sounded like a well deserved point on the radio.The latest news on Dyer is nothing broken.

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"I thought we got worse when we changed formation with bennett and pilks entering the fray, wigan seemed to dominate after that."

I agree.

Though Bennett did look quick and Diame should have been off.

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spot on with regards to the formation was holt on his own up front at the end, only change i would of made is morrison for jackson we were in control before we changed the system, holt looked lost at the end

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I think morrison was a pain in their arse all game, wigan weren''t getting pressurised as much from the back once he left the field. I imagine we brought speed on for the potential counter attack but this time round that didn''t pan out. very happy with a point though, eyes are always on the promoted sides on day 1, can''t be easy... (ask Colin [;)])

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Holt was out of sorts first half but good in the second, think he won nearly every header 2nd half.

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http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,,16426_7099968,00.html

this is what paul merson thinks.

but what does he know right

room full of geeks them blokes are funny

that''s why i love soccer Saturday

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Wigan got on top for the last 15 minutes when we brought Morison off, we stopped defending from front. Which gave their players much more time to pick their passes. Morison and Holt caused their defense to make lots of mistakes and loose passes.

 

In hindsigh I know but if Lambert wanted to bring 2 wingers on, we should have sacrficed Wes and kept 2 up top.

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Also at the game today, great atmosphere in our end, good effort everyone!I thought Morrison looked a real handful, and seemed naturally suited to playing the channels, which leaves room for Holt at centre forward.These two can hopefully link up increasingly well.Wes had a good game, he is in a position where he gets no time at all on the ball, but you could see is superior control and close skills to anyone else in our team to retain possession time and time again in tight spots. We need to create space for him with movement in the last third though.I think a few of our players will have learnt a lesson about the need to control the ball and pass better, and there were the obvious defensive mistakes, but overall think it was a very positive start.  Anyone criticising too much needs to have a think about it, we were clearly giving it all today, and whatever people think about Wigans ability it was as tough a game as we were involved in at any point last season, so a draw is creditable.    Pilkington had a very quiet sub spell, maybe not suprising coming back from a leg break, but Bennet looked more lively, so might be worth a tinker to get him involved.  Maybe at home we will see Jackson in too, however I expect a similar set up to today against Stoke next week. Also would like to see better set-pieces each free kick/corner at this level is absolutely precious.Can''t wait till Carrow Road next sunday...and be interested to see MOTD in a few minutes

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[quote user="CDMullins"]

Wigan got on top for the last 15 minutes when we brought Morison off, we stopped defending from front. Which gave their players much more time to pick their passes. Morison and Holt caused their defense to make lots of mistakes and loose passes.

 

In hindsigh I know but if Lambert wanted to bring 2 wingers on, we should have sacrficed Wes and kept 2 up top.

[/quote]

Thats how I saw it too, we missed Morrison when he went off.

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Few thoughts from the match earlier.

Great day out, city fans deafeningly loud throughout. Thought de Laet was excellent, one mistake aside. Barnett looked more confident than Whitbread. Would rather see him start.

Bennett added pace going forward - again, would like to see him start vs Stoke.

Morison was excellent. Holt looked unfit and of course his holdup play was good but he was generally a little off the pace.

I was a bit disappointed with some fans getting on city''s back. Positivity guys, come on. I also thought the bloke screaming stuff like ''f*****g take the c*** out'' when Victor Moses went on a decent run was pretty (very) out of order.

We looked vulnerable to pace, and as someone aptly put it, Moses isn''t exactly Pele.

Those are all minor gripes though, generally it was amazing to be back in the prem and I''d have taken 1-1 before KO.

p.s did anyone else see the banner in stand to our left that said ''We support Wigan and we live in mud huts''? Sense of humour or not, 14000 home fans in the premier league is pathetic.

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I thought we looked naive at times and looked like strangers in someone elses league. Wigan are experienced in the Premiership and understood how to get the best out of situations. They were more clever with winning freekicks and obviosly the penalty. We will have to learn quickly how to be smarter and play the ref a little.

We battled hard and they cannot be faulted for their effort. Morison was our MOM but Holt struggled with his touch and general sharpness but he did that last season and he came good in the end so not too worried just yet.

We did go and try to win the game in the last 15 minutes with the introduction of Bennett and Pilkington which stretched the game but we managed to hang on. I do think that Barnett is going to be the better option to Whitbread purely based on his pace.

We struglled with Moses due to the diamond and I think Martin or any other full back were always going to get battered under this formation with Moses in the opposition side. Yes he''s not Pele but he''s very quick with quick feet. Don''t underestimate that man. He''s already one of the best wingers you will see this season (top five), a very rapidly developing talent and I''m not surprised he gave us such a difficult time. Don''t think it''s going to be that tough for Martin each week because it won''t be.

I suspect it will be the diamond again at home against Stoke but don''t be surprised to see Pilkingon a little earlier this time.

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