[WakeyTerrier]

Assuming you mean me ELT when you say moan.

I've given credit for character at the end of my report and they showed plenty in the 2nd half. Let's not get carried away though. It could've been 2-3 or 3-3 at half time and neither team could claim to have played really well at that point. Town did show flashes of good football at times in that half but most of it comes through Sean Scannell, what happens when that avenue gets blocked off. At the same time Millwall cut through us a bit too easy at times in that half and I remember saying to Mitzi that you could tell we had 2 players in defence that don't usually play
I saw someone tweet on Sunday that this performance shows Powell isn't negative, I'm not sure where he gets that from and it certainly wasn't at Millwall in the second like he was claiming. Nothing really changed formation wise after the red card apart from we were a man light up front. 2nd half was mostly about containment as far as I could see and barring a couple of let offs from Millwall I thought we did that very well. We managed to pounce on a defensive error in the lead up to the 1st goal which was then made to look even worse by a massive clanger by the Millwall keeper. That was pure luck not exactly Powell telling them to be creative. The only real creative move was Bunn getting in the box for our third.
Like I say I wasn't bothered about looking creative at 10men, I'd have quite happily taken a point.

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Oh and Millwall being a hard ground and intimidating, not for a run of a mill league game it isn't. Just look at there home record

W3 D4 L8. 13pts from 45

[EastLondonTerrier]

No Wakey, although you are a critic of Powell I'm more slating how a lot of the time town fans love moaning more than praising our team, just look at the activity on this thread after a win. I would agree with a lot of that statement but don't you think that this shows a sign that Powell is instilling good things into the team. I thought he should have subbed Bunn around 65 and Vaughany at 70 but then both of them contributed to the goal at the end so what do I know eh? Also that record means nothing when you play millwall. We normally never get anything there and its only the last two seasons we've won there successively. I still view it as one of the toughest places to go, and everything seemed to conspire against us for us to lose...But we didn't, and that is huge for this group of players.

[Marco4]

Wells had had his last warning And I suppose the booking was for an accumulation of fouls. But then it wasn't a foul and if players are getting reds for such like we may as well just stop playing because referees and their stupid rule makers are ruining the game.

Just had a look at that - Wells committed four fouls all game and just one in the second half.

Even if he was adjudged to be backing in a bit there, and the ref gives a free kick, that's never a booking.

[WakeyTerrier]

Fair enough ELT. All football fans love a good moan though...it's what we do best.

I wouldn't say I'm a critic of Powell, from day 1 he's tried to make us tighter in defence which was by far the first job that needed doing. For me hes been unlucky with attacking options, Vaughan injuries have hampered our season and meant we needed to change things around due to our lack of options. In his early spell it was about picking points up and studying the ship and if that meant Grant Holt up top on his own then so be it. As we've picked points up and gained height in the table he's tried to be a little more offensive by playing 2 up top but it doesn't always work. Sometimes it's the players fault(lack of effort) sometimes you just hold your hands up and admit the better team won.
My only criticism of him is he sometimes refuses to do subs whilst it's level terms although the theory of if we are not losing don't change it does come to mind and I can see where he's coming from.

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Marco- what the stats don't show you is Wells was fouled early on in the first half and got up and shoved the opponent in the chest, the ref should probably have booked him then but didn't. The ref had his eye on him from that moment onwards.

[EastLondonTerrier]

Agree with everything you say Wakey. Oggy made this very good point yesterday on radio leeds when they were all discussing leeds, bradford and our games that loads and loads of fans were almost disturbingly quick to lambast powell for not subbing Nakhi. I said to the bloke during the first half when Mike Jones was booking players for every single foul committed that there was a red card in this game coming but I wasn't sure as to which team it would be against and I was right. I did say maybe he should have subbed nakhi at half time but as Powell rightly pointed out afterwards if that was the case he would have had to have subbed every player on a booking. And you cannot legislate for the nonsensical sending off. If Nakhi had lunged in two footed on someone then maybe the fans would have felt vindicated but he didn't. I can't fathom how actually, when you look at it from a bigger perspective that this team is improving why so many town fans are ultra-negative about Powell. Very odd and typical of us sometimes. Too many armchair fans and not enough people who actually go to games to form a solid opinion.

[MNTerrier]

i was listening to the radio Broadcast and that wonderful town pundit Keiren Oreagan said at half time he'd give Wells 10-15 minutes , then when he got sent off before that it was "that was obvious that was going to happen"

i think that attitude is typical of a small section of town fans

[Marco4]

Marco- what the stats don't show you is Wells was fouled early on in the first half and got up and shoved the opponent in the chest, the ref should probably have booked him then but didn't. The ref had his eye on him from that moment onwards.

Fair enough. I spent my Sunday watching Manchester United labour to a draw at West Ham with a Red Devil, who spent the whole game whining about Alex Song committing fouls all over the park. I think he numbered five when I checked.

[ARTERRIER]

Its getting like DATM on here with accusations of negativity!!!

[EastLondonTerrier]

There's a difference between justified critique and blanket negativity ART. Nakhi got booked for dissent in the first half after Butterfield almost got his head kicked clean off. Absolutely outrageous not to be sent off. Stupid from nakhi to get himself booked but I can understand his anger. That was a dangerous and malicious tackle by that millwall player.

[WakeyTerrier]

It'll never be as bad as DATM.

If you slate Hoyle, the standard stock answer is 'well you buy him out and put your money in', that just doesn't cut it with me. His fortune, my pittance of a wage...I probably invest a higher percentage of my disposable income into the club than he does.

That's not a pop at DH by the way, just the truth