[Albion] My one annoyance from yesterday...

[Thunder Bolt]

Which would have clashed with our blue ones? What an absolute nonsense if that's the case.

Players are not always upright when stretching for the ball, heading it etc. Some referees won't have any of the same colour whether shorts or shirts, as my Leicester example showed, so it's not 'absolute nonsense'.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Those two delightful "corridor of uncertainty" crosses put in by Knocky and Bruno in the second half that no one gambled and attacked.

Someone should have been in there for a simple tap in.

This is where we miss Ashley Barnes. Those would have been bread and butter chances to Barnes (and ignore the Amex era know-nothing haters) Big mistake letting him go, in exactly the same way as letting Murray go was a big mistake. Murray and Barnes complemented each other beautifully. Get him back!

 

[GT49er]

Players are not always upright when stretching for the ball, heading it etc. Some referees won't have any of the same colour whether shorts or shirts, as my Leicester example showed, so it's not 'absolute nonsense'.

Last weekend on MOTD, five out of the eight away teams were playing in their 'proper' kits (including Man. City and Leicester both being allowed to play in blue!). The other three matches were genuine colour clashes. So, it seems that most teams in the PL can and do play in their proper colours when away from home when there is no clash. Just us that don't, it seems.

If it is the referees that decide (and if so, how is it that the club can announce which strip will be used days before the match?) perhaps it would be interesting to keep tabs on the referees - if it's just one or two berks who are continually demanding changes, when all the rest apply common sense, maybe the authorities could have a word with them.

 

[dazzer6666]

Things I hated about yesterday

- getting hassled by endless scarf sellers outside
- endless body searches (ok probably in the circumstances it had to be
done)
- piss poor catering in the upper tier and nowhere to stand downstairs
(I asked for a bottle of water and was given/paid for a glass of water ffs)
- the ludicrously small access to the stand and steep steps.

Oh, and losing when we deserved a draw at least.

Didn’t find the sellers particularly hassling....they were there in there hundreds it seemed but not in your face. Just ignored them. Surprised the club allowed the obviously ‘unofficial’ blokes selling scarves out of bags chucked on the ground to be set up right in front the store. Can’t see Barber allowing that [emoji23][emoji23]

Got searched twice, once in the road heading down to the ground and once at the turnstile, no issues with either. The one on the road was extra, the one on the turnstile was basically the same as we do at the Amex. Given the recent Manchester history (including OT) I don’t blame them.

Concourses are totally inadequate for the numbers of people. The kids serving were good though. Queues moved far quicker than those in the WSL.

 

[essbee1]

Didn’t find the sellers particularly hassling....they were there in there hundreds it seemed but not in your face. Just ignored them. Surprised the club allowed the obviously ‘unofficial’ blokes selling scarves out of bags chucked on the ground to be set up right in front the store. Can’t see Barber allowing that [emoji23][emoji23]

Got searched twice, once in the road heading down to the ground and once at the turnstile, no issues with either. The one on the road was extra, the one on the turnstile was basically the same as we do at the Amex. Given the recent Manchester history (including OT) I don’t blame them.

Concourses are totally inadequate for the numbers of people. The kids serving were good though. Queues moved far quicker than those in the WSL.

Fair points. I have to say though - getting 70000 people away from the ground was done incredibly well in fairness.

 

[Easy 10]

Players are not always upright when stretching for the ball, heading it etc. Some referees won't have any of the same colour whether shorts or shirts, as my Leicester example showed, so it's not 'absolute nonsense'.

But our shorts are blue. How does that clash with Utd's ?

 

[chaileyjem]

Murray has no pace and Gross plays from deep . We almos NEVER "take a chance"/attack balls across the goal area.

Apart from the one Gross scored in the last game, and the one Murray scored one in the game just before that.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Apart from the one Gross scored in the last game, and the one Murray scored one in the game just before that.

Still desperately missing a 'fox in the box' tho eh?

 

[Easy 10]

It't not that we miss a fox in the box, the deliveries into the box simply weren't good enough. When we got into those dangerous positions, the ball was hammered in far too hard, and too far in front of the forwards. It wasn't picking out a player, it was just hit and hope. Knocky was guilty of it a couple of times (that first half one was horrendous), and Bruno did the same late in the game too. Its so frustrating.

 

[Stat Brother]

Still desperately missing a 'fox in the box' tho eh?

I think we need the even more elusive 'unit in the box'.

It's all very well having players in a position to score when the build up play is a little ponderous.
But as Bozza's highlighted attempts that came from fast attacks and a quick ball in where the 'fox' would be ideal, unfortunately that player wouldn't help with the rest of the game.

 

[Bob'n'weave]

Baldrick?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I think we need the even more elusive 'unit in the box'.

It's all very well having players in a position to score when the build up play is a little ponderous.
But as Bozza's highlighted attempts that came from fast attacks and a quick ball in where the 'fox' would be ideal, unfortunately that player wouldn't help with the rest of the game.

Ball must flash directly across the goal two or three times every Albion match. I always incant 'Barnes would have got that' to those around me. Which he would have done.Surely we're not still that hung up on work rate and tracking back? Genuine goal-sniffers are worth their weight in gold. For example, Defoe's goals single-handedly kept Sunderland in the Prem WELL past their sell-by date in the only smart move Poyet ever made there.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Didn’t find the sellers particularly hassling....they were there in there hundreds it seemed but not in your face. Just ignored them. Surprised the club allowed the obviously ‘unofficial’ blokes selling scarves out of bags chucked on the ground to be set up right in front the store. Can’t see Barber allowing that [emoji23][emoji23]

Got searched twice, once in the road heading down to the ground and once at the turnstile, no issues with either. The one on the road was extra, the one on the turnstile was basically the same as we do at the Amex. Given the recent Manchester history (including OT) I don’t blame them.

Concourses are totally inadequate for the numbers of people. The kids serving were good though. Queues moved far quicker than those in the WSL.

This, although I can't comment on the away concourse.

I did find it strange there weren't female stewards checking me. At least I didn't see any.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Last weekend on MOTD, five out of the eight away teams were playing in their 'proper' kits (including Man. City and Leicester both being allowed to play in blue!). The other three matches were genuine colour clashes. So, it seems that most teams in the PL can and do play in their proper colours when away from home when there is no clash. Just us that don't, it seems.

If it is the referees that decide (and if so, how is it that the club can announce which strip will be used days before the match?) perhaps it would be interesting to keep tabs on the referees - if it's just one or two berks who are continually demanding changes, when all the rest apply common sense, maybe the authorities could have a word with them.

The club announces the strip when it's obvious such as stripes at Southampton & Newcastle.
I saw a couple of tweets on Friday asking the club which strip we were wearing at OT, & the club didn't reply.

 

[Stat Brother]

Ball must flash directly across the goal two or three times every Albion match. I always incant 'Barnes would have got that' to those around me. Which he would have done.Surely we're not still that hung up on work rate and tracking back? Genuine goal-sniffers are worth their weight in gold. Defoe's goals single-handedly kept Sunderland in the Prem WELL past their sell-by date in the only smart move Poyet ever made there.

Defoe's a pretty poor example, bearing in mind he's scored so few goals this calendar year.

I'm not disputing the need for that presence.
My point is in the current set up, which is working bloody well, ol' foxy won't bring anything else to the team.
Unfortunately I think we need a fox who happens to be built like a brick outhouse, any ideas?



Oh and Barnes 'wouldn't have got that', because as already proven with Defoe just because it looks easy when it works, that don't make it so easy Ashley Barnes suddenly becomes the greatest striker in footballing history.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Oh and Barnes 'wouldn't have got that', because as already proven with Defoe just because it looks easy when it works, that don't make it so easy Ashley Barnes suddenly becomes the greatest striker in footballing history.

Barnes gave us something that we've not yet replaced, in terms of aggression and presence in the box.

 

[essbee1]

Barnes gave us something that we've not yet replaced, in terms of aggression and presence in the box.

Agreed - and sometimes a little bit too much aggression which always made me
nervous of him as a player

 

[Bozza]

Didn’t find the sellers particularly hassling....they were there in there hundreds it seemed but not in your face. Just ignored them. Surprised the club allowed the obviously ‘unofficial’ blokes selling scarves out of bags chucked on the ground to be set up right in front the store. Can’t see Barber allowing that [emoji23][emoji23]

Agree with this. Most of them seemed to be doing such a roaring trade, they had no made to hassle anyone to buy anything. My highlight of the geezers-selling-stuff was the one who had a replica European Cup and was charging people to hold it so they could take their photo with it outside the front of the ground. I admire that level of entrepreneurship.

And, as I said over here: http://www.northstandchat.com/showt...ompared-to-the-Taxpayers-Stadium-amp-Emirates - I actually liked the tat sellers and numerous burger vans and the like - it feels more like proper football to me, and in a place where we expect top level corporate modern football. The approach to the Amex from the station is bland and sterile.

 

[dazzer6666]

Agree with this. Most of them seemed to be doing such a roaring trade, they had no made to hassle anyone to buy anything. My highlight of the geezers-selling-stuff was the one who had a replica European Cup and was charging people to hold it so they could take their photo with it outside the front of the ground. I admire that level of entrepreneurship.

And, as I said over here: http://www.northstandchat.com/showt...ompared-to-the-Taxpayers-Stadium-amp-Emirates - I actually liked the tat sellers and numerous burger vans and the like - it feels more like proper football to me, and in a place where we expect top level corporate modern football. The approach to the Amex from the station is bland and sterile.

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

 

[Stat Brother]

Barnes gave us something that we've not yet replaced, in terms of aggression and presence in the box.

Bearing in mind the minimal quantity and dubious quality of the post era Barnes strikers it's understandable why posters would cling onto him as if they were Kate Winslet and he was a plank of wood.