Leicester 0 Albion 1
My assessment:
Albion started with a flourish and for the first 20 minutes were clearly the better team, passing the ball and keeping possession.
After about ten minutes we put in a lot of crosses from the left and the two Leicester central defenders were really up and against it, but we did not get the run of the ball from the head-downs or else we could have got a goal.
Not forgetting the Kuipers and Cullip mix up which Leicester were not good enough to take advantage of, was that Connolly?
Then Albion could not keep it up and Leicester played reasonable then, never losing the ball for 20 minutes. But they never got around our full backs, never got through the middle and were left with long balls in, one of which Dublin got a clear header under pressure over Mayo? and he should have scored, but strikers miss one out two of these. Leicester were on top for this period.
Then Leicester tried to play the ball out of defence and started making mistakes, letting Adam Virgo in for a goal I have only seen the like from the Albion once before (Willie Irvine against Villa in 1971). A goal from open play, albeit taking advantage of a Leicester mistake.
Albion deserved to be in the lead because Adam Virgo was better than Dion Dublin.
In the second half, Leicester ran out of ideas and although the Albion midfield chased shadows at times, Albion were never really under serious threat in the second half. They never got down to the byeline and Kuipers saved well as is expected of him on just the one occasion.
Adam Virgo was lucky the referee did not stop the hand-ball but at least he did not his arm on the shoulders of his opponent when it would have been a foul and a penalty anyway.
When Leicester brought their subs on the game was up for them as they weren't as good and Gillespie suffered from his inability to kick with his left foot.
Butters and Cullip headed the ball out of defence much better than Leicester.
I think both manager's got their tactics right. Leicester were just plain not good enough players on the day, and I am not so sure they are really that much cop. They nearly overrun Albion's makeshift midfield at times (Currie and Nicolas did not seem to have the stamina) but then ran into a stonewall defence.
But if Dublin had scored, it could have been a different result. Not that Michel Kuipers really had much to do. He touched the ball so infrequently, I was bit worried be might let one of their innocuous shots slip.
Nothing wrong with the fitness of both teams either. Micky Adams still looks a competent manager, but not a brilliant one. Mark McGhee, is my kinda Manager.
Mark McGhee also played the way I would. A lot up the left hand side. Away from home, there is not point having two wingers. You can only play on one wing at a time. If we had Richard Carpenter in the team he could have dropped back to cover and we could have pushed up on the right hand side a bit more. Leon Knight did not play very well. When he was wide on the left in the first 20 minutes he put some artful balls in and we could easily have had a goal in this period.
No chance to have a look our corners today. Should have two players capable of taking them.
My assessment:
Albion started with a flourish and for the first 20 minutes were clearly the better team, passing the ball and keeping possession.
After about ten minutes we put in a lot of crosses from the left and the two Leicester central defenders were really up and against it, but we did not get the run of the ball from the head-downs or else we could have got a goal.
Not forgetting the Kuipers and Cullip mix up which Leicester were not good enough to take advantage of, was that Connolly?
Then Albion could not keep it up and Leicester played reasonable then, never losing the ball for 20 minutes. But they never got around our full backs, never got through the middle and were left with long balls in, one of which Dublin got a clear header under pressure over Mayo? and he should have scored, but strikers miss one out two of these. Leicester were on top for this period.
Then Leicester tried to play the ball out of defence and started making mistakes, letting Adam Virgo in for a goal I have only seen the like from the Albion once before (Willie Irvine against Villa in 1971). A goal from open play, albeit taking advantage of a Leicester mistake.
Albion deserved to be in the lead because Adam Virgo was better than Dion Dublin.
In the second half, Leicester ran out of ideas and although the Albion midfield chased shadows at times, Albion were never really under serious threat in the second half. They never got down to the byeline and Kuipers saved well as is expected of him on just the one occasion.
Adam Virgo was lucky the referee did not stop the hand-ball but at least he did not his arm on the shoulders of his opponent when it would have been a foul and a penalty anyway.
When Leicester brought their subs on the game was up for them as they weren't as good and Gillespie suffered from his inability to kick with his left foot.
Butters and Cullip headed the ball out of defence much better than Leicester.
I think both manager's got their tactics right. Leicester were just plain not good enough players on the day, and I am not so sure they are really that much cop. They nearly overrun Albion's makeshift midfield at times (Currie and Nicolas did not seem to have the stamina) but then ran into a stonewall defence.
But if Dublin had scored, it could have been a different result. Not that Michel Kuipers really had much to do. He touched the ball so infrequently, I was bit worried be might let one of their innocuous shots slip.
Nothing wrong with the fitness of both teams either. Micky Adams still looks a competent manager, but not a brilliant one. Mark McGhee, is my kinda Manager.
Mark McGhee also played the way I would. A lot up the left hand side. Away from home, there is not point having two wingers. You can only play on one wing at a time. If we had Richard Carpenter in the team he could have dropped back to cover and we could have pushed up on the right hand side a bit more. Leon Knight did not play very well. When he was wide on the left in the first 20 minutes he put some artful balls in and we could easily have had a goal in this period.
No chance to have a look our corners today. Should have two players capable of taking them.
Last edited:
Drinking pints of whisky, Mike McGhee, Mike McGhee. 