07-02-2016, 15:27
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
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
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.