[peiowl]

I missed this game, but doesn't sound like I missed much.

I won't be missing this afternoon's game though. Because this guy is on the mound.



#ComeTogether #gojaysgo

[Maddix]

Thought that was a decent performance today. Not brilliant but good enough to match one of the better teams in the division. Hull started well and had a few half hearted efforts on goal but after 15 mins we came into it and had some very good moments without over working their keeper although they got in some great blocks to help him out. Can see why they keep so many clean sheets. We got our goal and could have had a pen before and after it. Looked like a trip on Kieran Lee before the goal and Forestieri got body checked when making a run into the box.

Second half they started well again and got their goal and pushed us back by playing forward a bit earlier and getting runners onto the knock downs. We got back into it and had a few near misses, especially when their defender nearly scored a beauty at the back post. It took a very good save to keep it out. The end of the game was quite even and an untimely, off the ball, injury stopped us in our tracks as we looked like we were building up to a grandstand finish! Ref limped off to much sympathy. Not!

All in all, an ok day, especially as I got the score and scorer prediction bang on. Hurrah!

I thought that too. Big Dave was just about to play in the man coming into acres of space from the wing when the fuucking ref goes and gets himself poleaxed   I genuinely think something was said at HT though because the officials seemed pretty fair in the 1st half but we couldn't buy a decision in the 2nd.

[Towinjustonce]

Happy with the point in one way but feel we had a great chance with Bannans shot to go 2-0 up just before half time, which has now cost us 3 points.

Brighton and Reading are top two which is unexpected and we need minimum 4 points over the next two games or otherwise I think the top 5 will pull away from us the way the table is shaping up....and Derby still have to play.

Another score on the BML so can't complain to much about today.

[Maddix]

On reflection, I'll take that point after all, we usually lose when we are kicking down in the first half

[madsteve]

A Point Gained or Two Points Lost?

I'm sure everyone saw the game either live or on TV so won't go through the details too much.

Before the season, I ranked all our matches in order of the degree of difficulty and only two home matches were in the top ten most difficult games - Boro & Hull. Maybe it is a measure of how far we have come in that Boro swept us aside two months ago whereas yesterday we matched Hull all the way.

It wasn't a great game. It probably wasn't as entertaining as recent games but we were playing a side who were in the PL last season and still had the majority of the squad from last season. A draw against Hull probably rates higher than wins against Fulham, Brentford & Preston.

CC produced a surprise by preferring Joao to Nuhiu up front. We started slowly but gradually grew into the match and by the time we scored, we were certainly the better side. A great instinctive finish by FF. Bannan should have made it 2-0 when he fired over with the goal gaping from 15 yards.

Hull equalised against the run of play when we failed to clear several times and the ball broke to Hernandez to score.

After that, we were still in it for a while but Hull dominated the final 20 minutes after Joao had departed. There was the comedy moment when the referee got his position wrong and was wiped out by a Hull player and had to depart. He had let a lot go in the challenges which contributed to the game but had got a bit picky in the second half.

Our midfield was less dominant than in recent matches but this was hardly surprising against better opposition. Lee moved forward to support the striker well but his passing was very hit & miss. Bannan didn't have anywhere near the influence he has had in recent matches while Wallace was largely anonymous. Hutchinson was the stand out midfield player on the day & the way he took control of two dangerous situations in the closing minutes was particularly impressive.

Westwood - 6 - generally sound but his kicking was poor
Hunt - 5 - easily beaten several times
Lees - 6 - set up goal but bothered by pace of Hernandez
Turner - 7 - a rock in defence
Pudil 6 - did his usual effective job
Hutchinson - 7 - protected our back four well
Lee - 6 - good movement, mixed passing
Wallace - 5 - not really involved & crosses not as effective
Forestieri - 7 - some real quality & a good instinctive finish for goal
Bannan - 6 - less effective & missed chance
Joao - 7 - his pace force Hull to defend deeper, needs to be stronger but good link up play
.........................................................
Nuhiu - 6 - doesn't hold it up as well as Joao but is stronger
Helan - 6 - hardly involved

Stat Attack:

Goals:

Forestieri 1

Assists:

Lees 1

Tackles:

Turner 5
Lee 4
Pudil 3
Hunt 2
Lees 2
Wallace 2
Hutchinson 2
Bannan 2
Forestieri 2
Helan 1

Interceptions:

Turner 5
Hutchinson 3
Lees 2
Hunt 1
Pudil 1
Lee 1
Forestieri 1
Joao 1

Clearances:

Turner 10
Lees 8
Westwood 1
Hunt 1
Pudil 1
Lee 1

Attempts:

Forestieri 4
Lees 2
Joao 1
Pudil 1
Wallace 1
Bannan 1

Attempts On Target:

Forestieri 1
Joao 1

Key Passes:

Lees 2
Forestieri 2
Westwood 1
Hunt 1
Wallace 1
Lee 1
Bannan 1

Dribbles:

Forestieri 2
Joao 1
Lee 1
Wallace 1

Dispossessed:

Forestieri 7
Hutchinson 2
Hunt 1
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Joao 1

Bad Control:

Joao 6
Lee 3
Bannan 2
Nuhiu 2
Forestieri 1
Turner 1

Crosses:

Wallace 7 (2 accurate)
Bannan 6 (2 accurate)
Hunt 2 (1 accurate)
Lee 2 (1 accurate)
Pudil 1 (1 accurate)
Hutchinson 1 (0 accurate)
Forestieri 1 (1 accurate)

Passing Accuracy (number of passes in brackets)

Turner 77% (30)
Forestieri 76% (25)
Lees 73% (33)
Hutchinson 71% (49)
Wallace 71% (24)
Joao 71% (17)
Bannan 70% (27)
Helan 67% (3)
Lee 64% (36)
Pudil 63% (27)
Hunt 52% (29)
Nuhiu 44% (9)
Westwood 29% (34)

Total Touches:

Westwood 63
Hutchinson 60
Lee 53
Turner 52
Lees 49
Forestieri 45
Bannan 41
Hunt 39
Wallace 36
Pudil 35
Joao 32
Nuhiu 13
Helan 5

There was some hostility from a number of fans to Joao and he received quite a bit of abuse each time he touched the ball and even more each time he lost it. I really don't understand this. Maybe it was because he replaced the fans favourite, Nuhiu, for this game but here we have a young lad who is incredibly talented and is going to be a big star and a few idiots decide to boo his every touch. He is raw but it is clear that he will improve rapidly and he could well be the player to fire us into the PL, like Hirsty did in 90/91.

I was intrigued by several hostile comments made against Gary Birtles during the TV commentary during the matches. When I got home, I viewed the key moments of the match and the pundits comments. Usually I find fans over react but this time Birtles' views appeared to be rather biased. The possible penalty for a foul on Lee fell into the category of "I've seen them given" yet Birtles accused Lee of diving. He should know that when you are moving at that pace that the slightest knock sends you tumbling and Lee suffered here by trying to stay on his feet. The Hutchinson tackle was a bit wild and may have been close to a red but in the context of the match, it was a yellow. The referee had allowed normal yellow card fouls by Hull players go so this was a yellow but Birtles said it was a clear red. Strange that no Hull players seemed to think so.

Finally (on TV coverage), a word about Peter Beagrie. He usually gets a bad press from Wednesday fans as an ex United player but his views yesterday were very positive about Wednesday and pretty accurate. He praised our style of play and summarised where we are pretty well.

We move to QPR on Tuesday, a game which I see as no tougher than Saturday's game. They have continued to score despite Austin's injury but they do concede goals as well so if we are positive, we could get a result.

---

I would also add that the movement of the Hull City players was terrific. I don't know if it showed up on the TV coverage but Hernandez, Huddlestone & Clucas were always finding space by moving which made it increasingly difficult for us to get any control of the match.

Most teams in this division won't have so many players of that quality but it is a great benchmark for us to see how far we have come in a short space of time.

Onwards & Upwards!

[peiowl]

Amazing array of stats. Well done. But is Nuhiu really a fan favorite? Just like to understand why if that were the case.

[madsteve]

Amazing array of stats. Well done.  But is Nuhiu really a fan favorite?  Just like to understand why if that were the case.

Wednesday fans like a trier and they also like an under dog that comes good. Nuhiu falls into both categories.

He stumbles around like a drunk bear but his heart is in the right place & the fans love to see someone of limited ability come good.

There were several of the Nuhiu "Fan Club" that were booing Joao every time that he touched the ball and abusing him every time that he made a mistake - pretty much what they didn't like other fans doing to Nuhiu. The truth is that they offer different things. Joao has skill, pace, tricks and is a good finisher while Nuhiu knocks defenders about and runs himself to a stand still.

Nuhiu isn't good enough if we have promotion ambitions and Joao isn't good enough yet. Joao will most likely be good enough next season provided we give him enough match time this season. My view is that CC thinks this way as well but continues to build Nuhiu up because he needs him for this season. My gut feeling is that we improve our chances of winning for now by starting with Nuhiu and bringing on Joao after an hour.

[consilio]

Hutchinson was outstanding yesterday. Man of the match by a country mile. Turner also excellent.

Didn't hear any booing or moaning about Joao so hopefully just a small pocket of supporters.

As soon as Nuhii came on we started to struggle. Joao wa a excellent at holding the ball and bringing it down on his chest, linking with FF. The ball just hits Nuhiu and it's a lottery in which direction it goes. He rarely brings the ball down and looks for the flick on every time.

I would continue to start with Joao. He gave two England CB's the run around and made Dawson look like a little boy.

Bannan had his poorest game as a creative force but I think his main objective was to stop Elmohamady, which worked. Wallace did the same on the other flank. Excellent point, well done.

[Statesideowl]

Great report, MS.

We're starting to look good and there are positives. Hull are a team I expect to be in the top 6 if not top 3 really.

That's disappointing to hear fans were booing Joao. This kid is a rough diamond, a fine polish away from being a gem. Just about every aspect of the club is undergoing a positive transformation. We will still lose games and have shitty days but we're in no situation that warrants booing of any sort imo.

I thought Hull's movement was very good, especially during the final 20 mins or so pinning us in or final third. Even had a half chance or two to sucker punch us.

As for Birtles. He went off like an arsehole. As I said at the time. Rarely have I heard such blatant one sidedness.

Agree about Beagrie, he summed it up fairly imo. Hinchliffe was about to tell his Di-canio Vs Alcock story but they cut him off

I think QPR are rocking a bit at the moment, it's a tough game. I believe we could shock them, or at least get the point.
Rotherham won't be an easy 3pts but it should be 3pts.
Forest are in a bit of freefall and I can't see Freedman lasting much longer so that'll add to their injury woes. No reason why we can't sting them for 3pts

[madsteve]

Hutchinson was outstanding yesterday.  Man of the match by a country mile.  Turner also excellent.

Didn't hear any booing or moaning about Joao so hopefully just a small pocket of supporters.

As soon as Nuhii came on we started to struggle.  Joao wa a excellent at holding the ball and bringing it down on his chest, linking with FF.  The ball just hits Nuhiu and it's a lottery in which direction it goes.  He rarely brings the ball down and looks for the flick on every time.  

I would continue to start with Joao.  He gave two England CB's the run around and made Dawson look like a little boy.

Bannan had his poorest game as a creative force but I think his main objective was to stop Elmohamady, which worked.  Wallace did the same on the other flank.  Excellent point, well done.

It was small number of fans booing Joao but noticeably included a group who always give Nuhiu a standing ovation when he goes off so it seemed to be motivated by him not being Nuhiu.

It was interesting that Forestieri was the player who gave the ball away the most yesterday but he gets cut more slack because he adds so much else.

You make a good point about Bannan & Wallace doing a job preventing Hull using the flanks effectively.

---

Great report, MS.

We're starting to look good and there are positives. Hull are a team I expect to be in the top 6 if not top 3 really.

That's disappointing to hear fans were booing Joao. This kid is a rough diamond, a fine polish away from being a gem. Just about every aspect of the club is undergoing a positive transformation. We will still lose games and have shitty days but we're in no situation that warrants booing of any sort imo.

I thought Hull's movement was very good, especially during the final 20 mins or so pinning us in or final third. Even had a half chance or two to sucker punch us.

As for Birtles. He went off like an arsehole. As I said at the time. Rarely have I heard such blatant one sidedness.

Agree about Beagrie, he summed it up fairly imo. Hinchliffe was about to tell his Di-canio Vs Alcock story but they cut him off

I think QPR are rocking a bit at the moment, it's a tough game. I believe we could shock them, or at least get the point.
Rotherham won't be an easy 3pts but it should be 3pts.
Forest are in a bit of freefall and I can't see Freedman lasting much longer so that'll add to their injury woes. No reason why we can't sting them for 3pts

It is a minority but some fans appear to have become Nuhiu fans rather than Wednesday fans.

Hull are a very good side at this level yet we made them look largely ineffective yesterday. Last season we were easily beaten by most top six sides.