[Jacko The Flopsy Piglet]

 Any word on the injury front ?

Great win yesterday, still can't believe it . Results like that are what makes a promotion winning team.

We will not be denied......

I was just thinking the same about the injuries and the digging out of a great result against the odds.

Amazing Match!

Report Tomorrow!

Sounds like MS had a good day as well. Can't wait to see what he's got to say too.

[madsteve]

Wow, what an afternoon. It was a roller coaster of emotions. It was a day of contrasts when fortune, bravery & quality all played their part.

As seems to be always the case these days, it was a bad weather day with torrential rainfall and our feet (and a lot more) were already soaked before we reached the ground. There was no evidence of the masks for Barry Bannan Day (or week). The only one we saw was on the floor as we left at the end. Clearly an organiser cock up compared to the slick organisation of Semedo Day. Still, ill advised in my opinion.

CC chose to replace Nuhiu with McGeady and Lees replaced the injured Loovens. In the warm up, Lee was injured so Hutchinson moved forward & Sasso came in at the back.

It was hard to be certain what formation that CC was planning here but it appeared that he was sticking with the 4321 with Hooper up top with FF & McGeady behind although the latter played pretty much wide left. We started brightly & had them pinned in their final third for the opening 7-8 minutes until a series of unfortunate incidents stopped us in our tracks.

In the same move, Hutchinson went down holding his knee after a challenge and Westwood went down with a head injury. After around eight minutes, Westwood was stretchered off and replaced by Price. A few minutes later & Hutchinson had to give up and was replaced by McGugan. This showed CC's intent to win, rather than going for the safer option of Semedo. Maybe he reasoned that Semedo would stop our flowing passing game.

We seemed to go more 442 now with FF up front with Hooper with McGeady playing as a left winger and the other three playing narrower & deeper. In fact, Wallace, McGugan & Bannan all seemed to want to play just in front of the back four.

Birmingham created a couple of good chances as we gave away possession far too much with aimless balls forwarded and we were indebted to Price for keeping us level with two smart saves. In stoppage time, we went behind after probably our worst defensive gaff of the season and it came from our most consistent defender, Lees. Firstly, he made a bad decision not to clear but then he gambled by trying to play it out off Morrison's foot and was fully punished by Donaldson's clinical finish.

Second half, it appeared that Wallace pushed further forward and more to the right but we were still playing 442 with Hooper & FF isolated and McGeady cutting a lost and lonely figure on the left. This left Bannan & McGugan in the centre & for all of Bannan's efforts, Birmingham were able to get at our defence pretty comfortably where Lees appeared badly affected by his earlier error.

Price made two more saves to keep us alive, one an amazing point blank block as we hung on by a thread.

I was surprised that Nuhiu hadn't replaced McGeady at half time as he contributed nothing, meaning we were effectively playing with ten men. In fact nearer nine as McGugan strolled around contributing next to nothing. Nuhiu entered around the hour mark and we switched to 4321 and the game changed in an instant.

Suddenly Birmingham were faced with the formation that found them out on Boxing Day and it found them out again. They didn't know whether to line up with Nuhiu or track FF & Hooper as they dropped off. It does beg the question as to why CC didn't start this way.

Suddenly, Bannan was everywhere, Nuhiu was linking play and FF & Hooper were buzzing. It began to look only a matter of time before we scored and we went close a few times before a glorious few minutes deep into the match. A beautiful move resulted in Hooper creating space & firing in from the edge of the box, off the crossbar to equalise - our best team goal of the season.

Two minutes later & the turnaround was complete. FF broke free on the right, Hooper had made the run so the pass was easy and we scored the perfect goal. Promotion teams score lots of goals like those.

After that it was relatively easy. There was a scare when Fabrinni threw himself down in our box but the referee (who was strong throughout) immediately waved it away.

Westwood - 6 - injured
Hunt - 5 - some terrible passing
Lees - 4 - badly affected by error
Sasso - 6 - good performance
Pudil - 5 - some terrible passing
Hutchinson - 6 - injured
Bannan - 7 - influential as we went 4321
Wallace - 6 - quiet first half but threat last half hour
McGeady - 4 - way off the pace
FF - 8 - looked lost for an hour but then came alive
Hooper - 9 - third match winning double, that's what £3m buys you
....................................................................
Price - 8 - an absolute hero from his first touch to his last, could barely believe it
McGugan - 4 - CC gave him his chance & he blew it, strolled around
Nuhiu - 8 - skill, power, assist, great half hour

Stat Attack:

Goals: 2 - Hooper

Assists: 1 - Nuhiu, FF

Tackles: 6 - Pudil, 4 - Hunt, Bannan, McGugan, 3 - McGeady, 2 - FF, 1 - Lees, Sasso, Wallace

Interceptions: 4 - Sasso, 3 - Bannan, McGugan, 2 - Hunt, Lees, 1 - Westwood, Pudil, Hutchinson, FF

Clearances: 6 - Lees, 5 - Sasso, 3 - Pudil, 2 - Hunt, 1 - Hutchinson, Nuhiu, Price

Attempts: 7 - Hooper, 4 - FF, 3 - McGugan, 1 - Wallace, Nuhiu

Attempts On Target: 3 - Hooper, 1 - Wallace, FF

Key Passes: 4 - Wallace, 3 - FF, 2 - Bannan, Nuhiu, 1 - Hunt, Hooper

Dribbles: 4 - FF, 2 - Nuhiu, 1 - Hunt, Hooper, McGugan

Dispossessed: 4 - FF, 2 - McGeady, Nuhiu, 1 - Wallace, Hooper

Bad Control: 4 - FF, 3 - McGeady, 2 - Hooper, 1 - Hunt, McGugan

Crosses (Accurate in brackets): 8 - Wallace (3), 4 - Bannan (1), 2 - Pudil (0), McGeady (0), 1 - Hunt (0), FF (1)

Passing Accuracy (Total Passes in Brackets):

Wallace - 92% (37)
Hooper - 86% (36)
Sasso - 86% (36)
Hutchinson - 83% (6)
FF - 83% (24)
McGeady - 83% (24)
Bannan - 77% (51)
Lees - 74% (38)
Hunt - 72% (39)
McGugan - 69% (29)
Nuhiu - 65% (20)
Pudil - 62% (45)
Price - 37% (35)
Westwood - 0% (0)

We had several players that played poorly (or worse) yesterday - McGeady, McGugan, Lees, Hunt & Pudil yet we still came away with a sensational victory. Some of these were down to CC's bizarre tactics and team selection. He appears to be learning too slowly that we win playing 4321 and invariably lose playing 442. At least he made the change early enough yesterday to win the match but from now on, he has to get it right from the start.

It was a magnificent victory - one of those that happens in a promotion run it and maybe is a glimpse of glorious finish to the season ahead.

The celebrations at the final whistle were amazing both from fans & players. Nuhiu did his trademark while Pudil did the "Puddles."

There are quite a few negatives here - CC's formation for an hour, CC's team selection, Lees' terrible error, McGeady's no show, McGugan's lack of effort & poor passing for an hour. However, we won & won magnificently. Also, all the negatives can be addressed and resolved before next weekend. Most are down to CC. I was disappointed that he didn't continue with 4321 but surely he will now. McGeady will come good but needs to be introduced gradually from the bench rather than disrupting a winning formation. Lees can be told to forget the mistake & go back to being the division's top defender knowing that it cost us nothing.

We just need CC to stick with 4321 and the Playoffs are the minimum we are going to achieve. Our defence is more than adequate, our midfield is solid & creative and in FF & Hooper, we have two players that can win us matches in an instant

[Statesideowl]

Hooper's 3 Million price tag is fast becoming a bargain. A Striker with pedigree, finding his feet again. Whenever you see us move forward there's an intelligence and confidence, players whom are on a similar wavelength.

I'm really becoming disappointed with Mcgugan. Whenever he gets a chance to play he half-arses it. Wandering about as if he wouldn't mind being elsewhere.
Mcgeady will come good I have no doubt. just like Hooper when we signed him.

[Imre varadi]

I dont think lees will be a problem next week and in future as he will probably line up with captain loovens ( who i think is past it ) but when he has the armband lees concentrates on being the best defender weve had at hillsborough since a long time 

As for Barry it seems he is playing like all the divas weve had here for the last 15 years in which he thinks a flash of skill here and there are enough for him to stroll around picking his arse ? he obviously got a big attitude problem   i was trying to exsplain this to mr manering that scoring goals is all fine and dandy but if you toss it off the rest of the game your good (goals ) are worth shit when you play in center midfield 

McGeady for me is just a replacement for wallce anyway as if we start going down the road of 4-4-2 football we will blow it big time   better than sougou not good enough at the moment everton are glad to see the back of him by the way and celtic laugh there bollocks off 

And to price and he played well you say so hats off to him   but he only another game of not playing well   played well at leeds although signs were there  had a howler at Shrewsbury although Turner was there   still for me hes very vunerable at just about everything to do with set peices   and we should go out and get some premiership experiance in for the last half of the season !! as it seems westwood is hit and miss and we havnt got a clue about wildsmith   there are about 10 premiership goalies we could get on emergency loan and all going well kepp thm on a month to month contract 

[madsteve]

Hooper's 3 Million price tag is fast becoming a bargain. A Striker with pedigree, finding his feet again. Whenever you see us move forward there's an intelligence and confidence, players whom are on a similar wavelength.

I'm really becoming disappointed with Mcgugan. Whenever he gets a chance to play he half-arses it. Wandering about as if he wouldn't mind being elsewhere.
Mcgeady will come good I have no doubt. just like Hooper when we signed him.

Hooper was a total no brainer - I was staggered that many doubted his signing initially as he is proven at this level.

My issue with McGeady is that he doesn't really fit properly into our system and if CC tries to shoehorn him in like he did yesterday then it will disrupt us as a team and have a negative affect. He has to use him sparingly until he is up to speed and even then, he has to fit our system or be a Plan B.

---

I dont think lees will be a problem next week and in future as he will probably line up with captain loovens ( who i think is past it ) but when he has the armband lees concentrates on being the best defender weve had at hillsborough since a long time 

As for Barry it seems he is playing like all the divas weve had here for the last 15 years in which he thinks a flash of skill here and there are enough for him to stroll around picking his arse ? he obviously got a big attitude problem   i was trying to exsplain this to mr manering that scoring goals is all fine and dandy but if you toss it off the rest of the game your good (goals ) are worth shit when you play in center midfield 

McGeady for me is just a replacement for wallce anyway as if we start going down the road of 4-4-2 football we will blow it big time   better than sougou not good enough at the moment everton are glad to see the back of him by the way and celtic laugh there bollocks off 

And to price and he played well you say so hats off to him   but he only another game of not playing well   played well at leeds although signs were there  had a howler at Shrewsbury although Turner was there   still for me hes very vunerable at just about everything to do with set peices   and we should go out and get some premiership experiance in for the last half of the season !! as it seems westwood is hit and miss and we havnt got a clue about wildsmith   there are about 10 premiership goalies we could get on emergency loan and all going well kepp thm on a month to month contract 

In fairness to Price, he was fine at Shrewsbury and made a few top saves to keep us in it as well as the penalty. It was those around him that let him down. He has looked shaky at set pieces but yesterday, he was magnificent and his first one handed punched clearance less than a minute after coming on was a thing of beauty.

Ok, I am still praying that Westwood will be fit for Saturday but Price no longer fills me with dread.

As for McGugan, as players return to fitness, his chances will become less & less.

[Imre varadi]

Just watched the highlights and thank fook the ref wasnt a crook !! he was spot on !! but on another day with the usual crooks we get that would have been a penalty !! if only we could have this ref every week !!

[Statesideowl]

That's good to hear regarding Price. I hope he continues to improve.
We're steadily carving out our staring XI you can see all the pieces coming together, it's just a shame that players like Mcgugan that recently signed 3yr deals?, will now need to be phased out/replaced.

I haven't heard much regarding Vermijl so he isn't doing much on loan, hopefully Preston will purchase. Lachman & Bus are also only out on loans, thus still taking up squad places. Once all these players are replaced with better, we will have so many options for starters and impact subs that we should truly be pushing for promotion next season, if we fail this go around.
As it is we're not looking bad, it's ours to throw away at this stage. The onus is on the other teams below to catch us.

[Imre varadi]

One of the shots just hit price in the stomach ?

[Statesideowl]

Ref got it spot on for the penalty decision. The way the guy flopped was pathetic.

However, immediately after tee was a red card decision. Vaughan's reaction and dirty tackle from behind on Wallace is a straight red imo. It's worse the more you watch it, the ball is at least 6ft ahead of Wallace when he's chopped down
Watching the replay and fracas after Sasso was a star, he shoved off every Brum player that grabbed one of our wee men

[consilio]

I thought McGeady did ok. He's an outlet as he carries the ball at pace which frightens defenders.

Our first goal was absolutely outstanding. Bannan, Nuhiu and FF worked superbly to feed Hooper who finished via the crossbar.

Price made one decent stop low down to his left from Donaldson. The second save just simply hit in in the chest, he didn't move.

Price 7

Hunt 7
Lees 5
Sasso 7
Pudil 6

Wallace 6
Magugan 6
Bannan 8
McGeady 6

FF 7
Hooper 9

Nuhiu outstanding from the bench. He changed the game.