[Lord Snooty]

Smith tugged their player's shirt. Penalty, fair enough. But I have now seen a replay of the first goal from the Boro end. Their player physically drags one of ours out of the wall creating the space for the ball to fly through. Why is that not a foul? You can't have it both ways, ref.

[WakeyTerrier]

Smith tugged their player's shirt. Penalty, fair enough. But I have now seen a replay of the first goal from the Boro end. Their player physically drags one of ours out of the wall creating the space for the ball to fly through. Why is that not a foul? You can't have it both ways, ref.

It's a hell of of a strike but even before the kick was taken I was saying we didn't have enough in the wall, at best it's a 3 man wall..to me the 3rd man doesn't get dragged but follows the Boro player in the wall. Serious questions have to be asked about how we set up against that free kick

[Terrier1987cas]

He 3rd player in the wall is Pelts. He doesn't get dragged, he clearly follows their lad who moved behind the wall. It's arguable as to whether he'd have blocked it if he stayed put as the ball does go where he was, but credit Leadbitter with a top strike.

[Lord Snooty]

Why would Pelts leave the wall? He must've been dragged away. If he did go of his own accord that's almost as daft as what Smith did.

[WakeyTerrier]

[Marco4]

Why do people always use Roberto Carlos as their reference point for freekicks? Aside from a relatively high profile example, he was poor at them.

[Lord Snooty]

Looks like we could be in a bit of bother for Pelts and Leadbitter scrapping in the tunnel after the match.

[Mitzi]

I expected us to lose because everyone (except me) seemed to have really high expectations for the game. I said beforehand that I'd take a draw if offered. The game seemed to bear out my thinking. I'm remembering that when Powell took over at Charlton it took him ages to get things sorted out and start winning games - but once he did, they really motored up the table.

I do like Peltier as a defensive midfielder, unlike many of you on here, and I thought he had a reasonable game (apart from their first goal, obv.) However, Coady was also playing defensively and sticking Butterfield out on the right is just daft. I can kind of see why Powell did it, though - we've all been saying, the defence needs shoring up. We've conceded more goals than anyone in the division - in fact, anyone in any division except Scunny and Carlisle, both of whom have played a game more than we have. So for people to criticise him for "going defensive" seems a bit damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

OK we still lost but, on the bright side, only to set pieces. They did have some other chances to score but nowhere near as many as the ones we have gifted other teams this season. If Smith hadn't had a rush of blood to the head, we'd have come away from that with a point. We wouldn't have deserved it but it was a close-run thing in the end.

My biggest concern was, same as it has been for ages, that when we lose the ball, we give their players far too much time and space, we don't get to them and close them down. When we did, we forced them into mistakes, so hopefully the players will realise that it's worth making the effort. As soon as we got the ball, every single one of their players was doing their utmost to mark, close down, and defend - every player turned into a defender (especially after they went 1-0 up.) When we lose the ball, a lot of the time we just let them run at us or pick their passes without even trying to do anything about it until they get to the 18-yard box.

So I reckon Powell is doing the right thing to get us more defensive-minded and if he gets that sorted, the rest will follow.