04-10-2015, 10:11
Come May when we celebrate promotion (or not), this game will probably have faded from the memory but it is three points that keeps us in contention for a Playoff spot against a pretty poor side that will do well to avoid the drop.
CC picked the expected team. In fact for probably the first time ever, I predicted the starting eleven and the seven substitutes. It shows how far we have come when you look at the strength of that bench and that players like Palmer, Semedo & Sougou couldn't even make the squad.
We looked comfortable first half with Preston creating nothing. Lee should have scored after a clever flick by Nuhiu but he lost control with just the keeper to beat. Lees headed over after a good cross by Hutchinson. Otherwise, we lacked the spark of recent matches as it appeared that we thought it would be an easy three points.
We scored in first half stoppage time when Forestieri's beautiful flick put Lee clear and from the same spot where he fluffed earlier, he stroked the ball home sweetly. Strangely, it had been Lee's worst 45 minutes of the season as he failed to match his usual high standards but the goal seemed to spark him and several team mates into action.
We started the second half on fire with Bannan & Forestieri both brilliantly denied by great stops and Lees heading just wide from the subsequent corner. It was inevitable that we would score soon as we we swamping their defence but when it came, it came from a surprise source. Pudil had burst through on the left but his cross was blocked. However Preston's defenders panicked & a clearance hit the prostrate Pudil, who reacted quickly, got back on his feet and slid the ball in from an acute angle.
As the ball was crossing the line, Nuhiu ran in and touched it to try & steal the goal, running away claiming it was his. I really hate this - players trying to steal a team mates goal. Fortunately, it was already over the line and Nuhiu wasn't offside to cause the goal to be ruled out.
From that moment, the game changed. Nuhiu & Forestieri became ineffective up front and we couldn't hold the ball. Doyle & Hugill (who had replaced Keane & May) started causing our back four problems. Hunt lost his bearings and twice allowed pinpoint crosses which should have been converted but both headers from six yards flashed wide.
Nuhiu & the invisible Wallace were rightly replaced by Joao & McGugan but as at Brentford last week, the rot had already set in and Preston soon scored in a goalmouth scramble, following a corner.
After that, it was end to end stuff with Preston having the majority of possession but with Wednesday looking more dangerous on the break with Joao, Bannan & Lee prominent. Westwood was only really forced into one save, which he comfortably palmed away to his right and Preston had one other decent shot which went over from about 20 yards.
Lopez replaced the tiring Forestieri, which gave us slightly better control in CM. Lopez created one good chance and had a good effort blocked. I never thought that Preston would equalise and as they pushed more players forward, they became more exposed at the back. Bannan led a break out of three against two and with Joao unmarked in the box, chose to run the ball into the corner instead.
In the third minute of stoppage time, the Preston keeper came up for a corner & when it was cleared, we had a clear chance to score. Firstly Lopez from 50 yards but he chose not to go for it then McGugan from close to 40 yards, who swivelled and lifted the ball over the keeper, who just couldn't make it back from the other end in time, and into the net to seal the victory.
McGugan had been pretty much a peripheral figure until that moment as he struggled to control a game which we had already let slip before he entered the fray. In fact, CM had almost disappeared for both sides, which made for an exciting end to end final quarter.
Westwood - 6
Hunt - 6
Lees - 6
Turner - 6
Pudil - 7
Hutchinson - 7
Lee - 6
Wallace - 5
Forestieri - 6
Bannan - 8
Nuhiu - 6
..............................................
Joao - 6
McGugan - 6
Lopez - 6
CC appears to have settled on his first choice eleven now and it seems to be about right for now. The "Lucky One" went yesterday for her first match of the season (so a win was inevitable) and she said, "Why does Nuhiu stand offside all the time and then foul their defenders?" Hard to answer that one but he shows little subtlety in his challenges which makes it easy for referees to give fouls against him. It happens every week so it cannot be the referees fault.
I also think that CC is doing as I suggested over a month ago, to use Nuhiu from the start with a view to bringing on Joao after an hour as the opposition defenders tire. He has experimented with trying them together but it doesn't work.
Stat Attack:
Goals:
Lee 1
Pudil 1
McGugan 1
Assists:
Forestieri 1
Lopez 1
Tackles:
Bannan 6
Lee 4
Hunt 3
Hutchinson 3
Forestieri 2
Lees 1
Turner 1
McGugan 1
Interceptions:
Hutchinson 5
Lees 4
Wallace 3
Pudil 2
Turner 1
Lee 1
Forestieri 1
Clearances:
Lees 10
Turner 7
Pudil 4
Hunt 3
Joao 3
Attempts:
Lees 3
Pudil 2
Forestieri 2
McGugan 2
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Nuhiu 1
Lopez 1
Attempts On Target:
Pudil 2
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Lopez 1
McGugan 1
Key Passes:
Hutchinson 2
Forestieri 2
Turner 1
Pudil 1
Wallace 1
Bannan 1
Lopez 1
Dribbles:
Hunt 2
Bannan 2
Lopez 1
Dispossessed:
Hunt 3
Hutchinson 2
Forestieri 2
Bad Control:
Lee 6
Nuhiu 3
Joao 3
Forestieri 3
Hunt 2
Bannan 2
McGugan 1
Crosses:
Bannan 4 (2 accurate)
Wallace 4 (2 accurate)
Hunt 3 (1 accurate)
Hutchinson 1 (1 accurate)
Forestieri 1 (1 accurate)
McGugan 1 (0 accurate)
Passing Accuracy (Number of Passes in Brackets)
Lopez 100% (4)
Pudil 83% (42)
Bannan 82% (34)
Forestieri 82% (28)
Lee 80% (25)
Wallace 78% (18)
Turner 75% (44)
Hutchinson 68% (37)
Lees 67% (45)
McGugan 67% (6)
Hunt 62% (37)
Westwood 49% (35)
Nuhiu 38% (26)
Joao 0% (4)
Total Touches:
Lees 65
Hunt 57
Turner 55
Pudil 53
Hutchinson 52
Bannan 51
Westwood 51
Forestieri 42
Lee 42
Nuhiu 32
Wallace 28
Joao 13
McGugan 12
Lopez 9
So four consecutive wins & three consecutive league wins put us in the top half of the table, which already is shaping up the way most of us expected with all the better sides near the top and the likely strugglers sliding towards the bottom.
In our first five matches, we played three of the current top six and in our second batch of five matches, we played three of the bottom six. That could account for our improvement in points gained. We are generally playing much more attractive football but we are going to have to play for 90 minutes against the better sides.
CC said in his post match interview that we had a number of players running on empty and the international break will allow them to top up the tank for the challenges ahead. The next batch of games gives us seven matches in 22 days, which will test the depth of our squad with games including Hull, QPR, Arsenal & Brighton. If we are still in contention after that run of games then DC will be getting his cheque book out in January to buy the striker to get us over the line.
Two weeks rest now for the fans.
CC picked the expected team. In fact for probably the first time ever, I predicted the starting eleven and the seven substitutes. It shows how far we have come when you look at the strength of that bench and that players like Palmer, Semedo & Sougou couldn't even make the squad.
We looked comfortable first half with Preston creating nothing. Lee should have scored after a clever flick by Nuhiu but he lost control with just the keeper to beat. Lees headed over after a good cross by Hutchinson. Otherwise, we lacked the spark of recent matches as it appeared that we thought it would be an easy three points.
We scored in first half stoppage time when Forestieri's beautiful flick put Lee clear and from the same spot where he fluffed earlier, he stroked the ball home sweetly. Strangely, it had been Lee's worst 45 minutes of the season as he failed to match his usual high standards but the goal seemed to spark him and several team mates into action.
We started the second half on fire with Bannan & Forestieri both brilliantly denied by great stops and Lees heading just wide from the subsequent corner. It was inevitable that we would score soon as we we swamping their defence but when it came, it came from a surprise source. Pudil had burst through on the left but his cross was blocked. However Preston's defenders panicked & a clearance hit the prostrate Pudil, who reacted quickly, got back on his feet and slid the ball in from an acute angle.
As the ball was crossing the line, Nuhiu ran in and touched it to try & steal the goal, running away claiming it was his. I really hate this - players trying to steal a team mates goal. Fortunately, it was already over the line and Nuhiu wasn't offside to cause the goal to be ruled out.
From that moment, the game changed. Nuhiu & Forestieri became ineffective up front and we couldn't hold the ball. Doyle & Hugill (who had replaced Keane & May) started causing our back four problems. Hunt lost his bearings and twice allowed pinpoint crosses which should have been converted but both headers from six yards flashed wide.
Nuhiu & the invisible Wallace were rightly replaced by Joao & McGugan but as at Brentford last week, the rot had already set in and Preston soon scored in a goalmouth scramble, following a corner.
After that, it was end to end stuff with Preston having the majority of possession but with Wednesday looking more dangerous on the break with Joao, Bannan & Lee prominent. Westwood was only really forced into one save, which he comfortably palmed away to his right and Preston had one other decent shot which went over from about 20 yards.
Lopez replaced the tiring Forestieri, which gave us slightly better control in CM. Lopez created one good chance and had a good effort blocked. I never thought that Preston would equalise and as they pushed more players forward, they became more exposed at the back. Bannan led a break out of three against two and with Joao unmarked in the box, chose to run the ball into the corner instead.
In the third minute of stoppage time, the Preston keeper came up for a corner & when it was cleared, we had a clear chance to score. Firstly Lopez from 50 yards but he chose not to go for it then McGugan from close to 40 yards, who swivelled and lifted the ball over the keeper, who just couldn't make it back from the other end in time, and into the net to seal the victory.
McGugan had been pretty much a peripheral figure until that moment as he struggled to control a game which we had already let slip before he entered the fray. In fact, CM had almost disappeared for both sides, which made for an exciting end to end final quarter.
Westwood - 6
Hunt - 6
Lees - 6
Turner - 6
Pudil - 7
Hutchinson - 7
Lee - 6
Wallace - 5
Forestieri - 6
Bannan - 8
Nuhiu - 6
..............................................
Joao - 6
McGugan - 6
Lopez - 6
CC appears to have settled on his first choice eleven now and it seems to be about right for now. The "Lucky One" went yesterday for her first match of the season (so a win was inevitable) and she said, "Why does Nuhiu stand offside all the time and then foul their defenders?" Hard to answer that one but he shows little subtlety in his challenges which makes it easy for referees to give fouls against him. It happens every week so it cannot be the referees fault.
I also think that CC is doing as I suggested over a month ago, to use Nuhiu from the start with a view to bringing on Joao after an hour as the opposition defenders tire. He has experimented with trying them together but it doesn't work.
Stat Attack:
Goals:
Lee 1
Pudil 1
McGugan 1
Assists:
Forestieri 1
Lopez 1
Tackles:
Bannan 6
Lee 4
Hunt 3
Hutchinson 3
Forestieri 2
Lees 1
Turner 1
McGugan 1
Interceptions:
Hutchinson 5
Lees 4
Wallace 3
Pudil 2
Turner 1
Lee 1
Forestieri 1
Clearances:
Lees 10
Turner 7
Pudil 4
Hunt 3
Joao 3
Attempts:
Lees 3
Pudil 2
Forestieri 2
McGugan 2
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Nuhiu 1
Lopez 1
Attempts On Target:
Pudil 2
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Lopez 1
McGugan 1
Key Passes:
Hutchinson 2
Forestieri 2
Turner 1
Pudil 1
Wallace 1
Bannan 1
Lopez 1
Dribbles:
Hunt 2
Bannan 2
Lopez 1
Dispossessed:
Hunt 3
Hutchinson 2
Forestieri 2
Bad Control:
Lee 6
Nuhiu 3
Joao 3
Forestieri 3
Hunt 2
Bannan 2
McGugan 1
Crosses:
Bannan 4 (2 accurate)
Wallace 4 (2 accurate)
Hunt 3 (1 accurate)
Hutchinson 1 (1 accurate)
Forestieri 1 (1 accurate)
McGugan 1 (0 accurate)
Passing Accuracy (Number of Passes in Brackets)
Lopez 100% (4)
Pudil 83% (42)
Bannan 82% (34)
Forestieri 82% (28)
Lee 80% (25)
Wallace 78% (18)
Turner 75% (44)
Hutchinson 68% (37)
Lees 67% (45)
McGugan 67% (6)
Hunt 62% (37)
Westwood 49% (35)
Nuhiu 38% (26)
Joao 0% (4)
Total Touches:
Lees 65
Hunt 57
Turner 55
Pudil 53
Hutchinson 52
Bannan 51
Westwood 51
Forestieri 42
Lee 42
Nuhiu 32
Wallace 28
Joao 13
McGugan 12
Lopez 9
So four consecutive wins & three consecutive league wins put us in the top half of the table, which already is shaping up the way most of us expected with all the better sides near the top and the likely strugglers sliding towards the bottom.
In our first five matches, we played three of the current top six and in our second batch of five matches, we played three of the bottom six. That could account for our improvement in points gained. We are generally playing much more attractive football but we are going to have to play for 90 minutes against the better sides.
CC said in his post match interview that we had a number of players running on empty and the international break will allow them to top up the tank for the challenges ahead. The next batch of games gives us seven matches in 22 days, which will test the depth of our squad with games including Hull, QPR, Arsenal & Brighton. If we are still in contention after that run of games then DC will be getting his cheque book out in January to buy the striker to get us over the line.
Two weeks rest now for the fans.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.