Turned a corner or papering over the cracks?

[Dick Knights Mumm]

If we hadn't have scored last night then it would have been 0-0 and a worse game than Blackpool

If we had scored two more goals in each game up to date we would be top of the table.

 

[Meade's Ball]

I am sure i have heard various people go on about how under pressure Dunk and Greer have been and therefore then they lunge in to commit acts of inept owngoalery or penalty-area slides, but for me for the first time last night they were really under pressure and did no such thing. Wigan have some quality players and their tactic of being right up on us, surrounding players with the ball in packs of 3, gave us little option but to clear at times and hope for the best. Also i imagine for all of Walton's early-on ball-usage out to J.Bennett, the intention was for him to get through the game at a steady level and not try to do anything too fancy, therefore having to take long goal kicks. There were times when we did break through their occupation and played some excellent stuff, creating better chances than them that if we've knocked in would have likely lessened their onslaught. It was a very tough game that we had to work incredibly hard to grab the points from. I don't imagine this guarantees future success, but some belief will come back to the players, and with Elliott there to pump fists and gee the boys around him up, i get the feeling that our better performances than last night against shitter opposition will start edging us toward clear safety.

 

[nwgull]

Grinding out the win - not to mention holding a lead for 94 minutes - will give the team a massive confidence boost.

8 games until what could be an interesting January window if FFP embargoes are implemented. Bolton and Brum would certainly be affected; it could save our season.

 

[martin tyler]

Tough one
The players have the monkey off their back as such and should now be able to play with a bit more freedom. The system looks better as well. However the middle of the park needs toughining up. We looked better with Ince playing in there. Someone like him or even Toko if he is still alive is a must as a better side that Wigan would have done more with their midfield dominance

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

not to mention holding a lead for 94 minutes

That is the worrying part about last nights performance and says it all to be honest.

 

[maltaseagull]

After a dream start and a good first half we were poor 2nd half. If we had taken any one of the good chances in the first half, I am sure the confidence would have gone right up and a real tonking would have happened. As it was were were struggling in the 2nd and looked very nervous.

 

[father_and_son]

I would sum up last night with....

"We've played better and lost."

So, I'll take the 3 points and the [temporary] place up the table, but am satisfied that the team will go into Saturday in a better frame of mind than had we drawn/lost last night. This is the nature of the game, especially in this league and I'm sure playing better and still losing has had a greater negative impact in previous weeks.

 

[Ernest]

The worrying thing is that Hyypia will TINKER on Saturday and change things and we will be back to square 1 if we lose against Blackburn

 

[Diablo]

We were lucky to get the points last night. Def not turned corner..with Bolton winning haven`t gained much in League position. Sadly unless something big happens we will be struggling to keep out of relegation battle. Not sure have even papered over the cracks.
Are we the team that passes backwards the most ?

 

[nwgull]

That is the worrying part about last nights performance and says it all to be honest.

Seriously? I'd rather the team had the confidence from holding the lead for so long than the frailty of a team that has conceded within 2 minutes of scoring the last two times that they've taken a lead.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I am sure i have heard various people go on about how under pressure Dunk and Greer have been and therefore then they lunge in to commit acts of inept owngoalery or penalty-area slides, but for me for the first time last night they were really under pressure and did no such thing. Wigan have some quality players and their tactic of being right up on us, surrounding players with the ball in packs of 3, gave us little option but to clear at times and hope for the best. Also i imagine for all of Walton's early-on ball-usage out to J.Bennett, the intention was for him to get through the game at a steady level and not try to do anything too fancy, therefore having to take long goal kicks. There were times when we did break through their occupation and played some excellent stuff, creating better chances than them that if we've knocked in would have likely lessened their onslaught. It was a very tough game that we had to work incredibly hard to grab the points from. I don't imagine this guarantees future success, but some belief will come back to the players, and with Elliott there to pump fists and gee the boys around him up, i get the feeling that our better performances than last night against shitter opposition will start edging us toward clear safety.

Quite agree MB. Although I am not so confident about the clear safety bit.

 

[jimbob5]

Though potentially the team could still struggle we're 11 points from a playoff position, we've only lost in the league by more than one goal once [how many other sides have done that], goal difference is nearly mid table and if you the equivalent games last season we'd have 16 points from the 13 teams we played, so for the other 3 games, say 5 points. Give or take an mmm penally decision and a bit of extra fortune the gap between this season and last isn't THAT great.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Seriously? I'd rather the team had the confidence from holding the lead for so long than the frailty of a team that has conceded within 2 minutes of scoring the last two times that they've taken a lead.

Seriously yes, I would prefer neither option and a team that is full of confidence and belief in a system that works.

 

[Eddiespearritt]

I'm an eternal optimist but it seems pretty obvious that we rode our luck last night - and we do deserve a bit of luck. In the second half we didn't close players down in dangerous positions, marking seemed to have been forgotten, Wigan were able to play pretty freely against us - and the old Poyet style of playing gently and carefully out from the back seems like ancient history. We can't string more than 4 passes together and they're all "hope for the best" passes. The next fixtures are pretty tough on paper - although we have got draws on the road from places where I didn't expect them - but I think the 50 points safety barrier is a massive ask with the way we are playing.

I'm happy with a win - but we can't kid ourselves that the club hasn't seriously lost its way - glad to see Bennett back - but Halford ? Are you serious ? I have real concerns that the club is blind to the awful acquisition process - ie: we are getting crap players - and someone must surely be evaluating people like Toko, O'Grady, Stockdale, and now Halford amongst others and thinking is this the Brighton level of operation and expectation ? We didn't need Al Absi with the promise of Walton (what a positive he was last night) and don't get me started on Agustien and some other relics still kicking around on our books.

 

[Mattywerewolf]

Anyone who went to the match and genuinely thinks we've turned the corner watched a completely different match to the one I just witnessed.

Paper. Cracks.

I was there. Ugly win, ugly performance, beautiful result. Clean sheet...No stupid mistakes.....With confidence from getting the 'no win in...' off our backs we can now move towards the performance. Hence i would say we have turned a corner, but still a long way to go to meet NSC expectations.

 

[Birdie Boy]

The worrying thing is that Hyypia will TINKER on Saturday and change things and we will be back to square 1 if we lose against Blackburn

Oh my god, you really are a numpty! On one hand you say we were shit and then you say you don't want him to tinker with the side, make your mind up!

Last night the first half was good, second half not so, they clung on for the win rather than pushing forward for the extra goal and stopping them attacking (this would have been my option). The side has to be TINKERED with this Saturday, INCE in, Gardner out, LUALUA bench, McCourt in, Forster-Caskey benched, Holla in, Walton stays.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

A much needed result, but IMO he's still not the right man, and the win merely papers over the cracks.

First half was OK - great start, and had Tex scored (when he probably should have) then we would probably gone on to win more comfortably.

I thought Wigan were OK - they clearly targeted Calde with McCLean, and to be fair to Hyypia he kept our full backs far deeper and let the wingers play their natural game (staying wide) Why it's taken so long for Hyypia to realise that Calde cannot play in the way Hyypia had wanted him too beggars belief.

Second half was poor - I think the whole ground could see we needed someone in front of the back four to protect them - I was convinced Wigan would score before we got Ince on.

Hyypia just sat in his chair - we needed to change something, yet it was Jones giving the instructions. I'm not saying we need someone ranting on the touchline, but he should at least be organising the team. He just looks disinterested.

I thought Baldock did OK, but was far too isolated - he's never going to win long high balls pumped up to him, so either we stop playing that way, or if we do, it's imperative that we get bodies closer to him for the second ball.

Maybe Hyypia got lucky last night - and to be fair he's had no luck so far this season (March, Stephens, Crofts, OGs etc.)

Says something when the home goalkeeper is our MOM

I liked the formation, but if you're only playing two central midfield players with Tex further forward, I don't think Gardner and JFC are the right combination.

Needs another win Saturday, and a far better performance.

I still think he'll be gone by Christmas - I really hope not - since if he was still in charge that would mean we'd moved up the table, but can't see it.

 

[Mattywerewolf]

Says something when the home goalkeeper is our MOM

.

Agree with virtually everything you said. The only point i'd make is that an interpretation from the quote above is that he had a lot to do. In fact he was fairly redundant (in that he had no really testing saves to make) but IMO he did what he did well and was incredibly mature for 18.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I am sure i have heard various people go on about how under pressure Dunk and Greer have been and therefore then they lunge in to commit acts of inept owngoalery or penalty-area slides, but for me for the first time last night they were really under pressure and did no such thing.

Last night Calde and Bennett both played as more traditional full backs so neither Dunk or Greer got pulled out wide, and as you've said looked more solid and less inclined to make a mistake because of that in my book.

 

[London Irish]

I have to say I like the fact we played very positively from the off and looked to win the game in the first half-hour, a contrast to the lot of the sterile conservatism I've watched at the Amex over the past 12 months. I felt we deserved a two goal lead during that time and people seem to have conveniently forgotten our very good work in that period, particularly the dangerous crosses put over by LuaLua.

We didn't play that positively in the second half but at the same time we didn't make the kind of mistakes we've made in recent games. The glass is very much half-full.

For those who wanted to get rid of Sami last night, I can see how the glass is half-empty but try and keep that negativity under control, it's not pretty.