[madsteve]

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

CC was close to pulling off a great smash & grab raid against the division's most durable opponents and promotion favourites. The fact that we conceded in the opening minute yet still re-grouped to put in a decent second half showing gives great credit to CC & his squad.

CC had already explained that several players had to be rested as their figures were in the red zone & that others could only play part of the match so the starting line up wasn't much of a surprise. However, he lost Hooper on the day, which meant that our formation had to change & that we would go into the match without our lucky talisman.

Before the kick off, I was concerned about Sougou offering any protection for Palmer & straight from the kick off Palmer was left exposed facing two players with little support, allowing Downing to swing the ball in perfectly to give Boro the lead.

Once we settled down, we worked our way into the match and followed the plan of keeping it tight. In fact, if we hadn't conceded the goal, the first half went according to CC's plan. The goal meant that he had to make adjustments earlier than planned. An injury to Hutchinson used up one sub but the introduction of FF was inevitable.

Gradually, we took control of the play although Bannan was below par, giving the ball away too much and his delivery from set pieces wasn't good enough. Nuhiu was our final throw of the dice although why was Helan removed when he was starting to impact positively rather than Sougou who was doing little.

One impressive aspect of the performance was the way that Loovens was talking to team mates during the game to give them little pep talks, most noticeably to Palmer, Helan & Joao. It showed the growing togetherness of the team which will serve us well in the coming months.

Boro made defensive substitutions and were content to just hold us at bay. After Nuhiu's introduction, we had our new preferred formation but without Hooper's movement, it is far less effective. We had a few half chances & scrambles in the box and overall matched the best team in the division.

Wildsmith - 6 - no chance for goal but otherwise sound
Palmer - 6 - given no protection but grew into the game
Hutchinson - 6 - did what he did effectively until his knee gave way
Loovens - 7 - good leader
Wiggins - 5 - just looks a bit short of the standard
Semedo - 5 - not good enough, particularly if we are chasing a game
Sougou - 5 - doesn't influence the game enough, doesn't track back
Lee - 5 - hardly involved
Bannan - 5 - below par, gave the ball away too much
Helan - 5 - just getting going when subbed
Joao - 6 - ended up too deep trying to find ball, better second half
....................................................................
Pudil - 6 - solid job
FF - 7 - turned us from ordinary to a threat
Nuhiu - 5 - little impact, gave the ball away too much

Stat Attack:

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Tackles: 4 - Loovens, Wiggins, Bannan, 2 - Lee, 1 - Hutchinson, Semedo, Sougou, Helan

Interceptions: 3 - Hutchinson, 2 - Palmer, Wiggins, 1 - Sougou, Joao, Pudil

Clearances: 4 - Wiggins, Joao, 3 - Loovens, 2 - Hutchinson, Semedo, Lee, 1 - Palmer

Attempts: 3 - FF, 1 - Wiggins, Bannan, Nuhiu

Attempts On Target: 1 - Bannan

Key Passes: 1 - Bannan, Joao, Pudil

Dribbles: 1 - Joao, FF

Dispossessed: 2 - Joao, 1 - Wiggins, Sougou, Helan

Bad Control: 3 - Helan, FF, 2 - Wiggins, Joao, 1 - Palmer, Sougou, Bannan, Lee, Nuhiu, Pudil

Crosses (Accurate in Brackets): 7 - Bannan (2), 3 - Sougou (0), 2 - FF (1), Helan (0), 1 - Palmer (0), Semedo (0), Lee (0)

Passing Accuracy (Total Passes in Brackets):

Hutchinson - 87% (39)
Semedo - 85% (33)
Lee - 82% (28)
Joao - 80% (25)
Pudil - 80% (20)
Loovens - 78% (51)
Wiggins - 77% (17)
Sougou - 75% (28)
Helan - 75% (20)
Palmer - 73% (45)
Bannan - 72% (54)
FF - 60% (10)
Nuhiu - 40% (5)
Wildsmith - 33% (33)

I had this game rated as our number one toughest of the season so in fact we acquitted ourselves pretty well. Just a shame that the early goal meant that we had to change our plan. Even so, we made a decent fist of it in the second half. We now face a run of fixtures that we can win and hopefully that will keep us in touch with the top six.

My main criticism since Boxing Day has been CC's obsession with it being unfair that Boro had a bigger break. While this is true, it gives the players an excuse to lose. He would have been far better not to mention it & get on with it. It didn't stop Bolton beating Blackburn did it.

Happy New Year. We go to Fulham on Saturday (hope I am well enough) and I think Bannan is suspended so that won't help us. We need to start winning away & Fulham is the place to start.