With Wiseman and Fagan in the side and Duffy off the bench, we looked more pacy then we often do, and in that sense, and physically and technically, we were a match for Preston. We showed equal team spirit and we worked as hard as they did. Unfortunately, we showed where we are lacking: brain power.
We really lack intelligence, which leads to breaking down of good moves or no chance of starting them in the first place! Examples? Boaz kicking the ball to no-one up front, Delaney letting the ball bounce for the goal, Parkin flicking on to no-one, Ellison in general, Rogers trying to take on wingers in our half, Green playing hasty through balls and Andrews playing pathetic, panicked toe prod passes to no-one.
We played some great stuff at times, but far too often we chose the wrong option. It's very frustrating to watch at times. On the whole, though, we did OK. In terms of chances, we were way ahead. There's no doubt that we have some talented players. Myhill, Cort, Rogers, Welsh and Fagan look very comfortable at this level. Parkin, Green, Wiseman and Duffy show signs that they will be fine. Delaney is still making stupid errors. Ellison just won't cut it, never, no way, not on your nelly.
Andrews is the funny one. He doesn't look capable of sitting in midfield and making tackles, like Welsh and Ashbee, and he doesn't look capable of running the game or making defence splitting passes, like our new summer signing! He just moves around the midfield (slowly) and varies between intelligent and stupid passes. His biggest quality is his desire to get on a set piece and look for a quick pass, but that aside, he's not showing anything.
Parkin was poor on the whole. He worked hard as usual, but not a lot came off passing-wise, in fact some of it was awful and he missed 2 great chances. He didn't move after 75 minutes. Yet again, Paynter should have replaced him, but PT chose to leave him on in case we got a set piece or something. Why bother having fresh legs on the bench?
Not a lot else to say. It was a nice game, not a lot of importance on it and not a great deal of urgency. The ref was rubbish, for both teams. He seemed to do eany-meany whenever a decision needed making.
Ratings: Bo 7, Wiseman 6, Rogers 7, Cort 7, Delaney 6, Green 6, Ellison 5 (Paynter), Andrews 6, Welsh 7, Parkin 6, Fagan 8 (Duffy).
Another season in Div 2 to look forward too. Well deserved too. We've struggled with injuries and experience and made stupid mistakes, but on the whole, every guy in the squad has shown a lot of bottle and spirit and worked incredibly hard to make sure we got enough points to keep moving this club forward. Staying in this division is a bigger achievement than either promotion. The manager has done very well to get the best out of players who, no offence meant, have been inferior than the opposition on many occasions and got the best out of them collectively. In Coles, Paynter, Parkin, Duffy, McPhee, Rogers and Welsh, he's made good signings that will serve this club for another season and far beyond. Lastly, the Chairman has continued to run the club well and support the manager in every decision. The wonderful City magazine, the strong season ticket and shirt sales and all the other activities and schemes show the club is in good hands. Thanks for a great season.
I won't be at Watford, I'm wimping out to earn brownie points by taking the wife and daughter away for the weekend!
See you all at Ferriby or Harrogate or Winterton or whichever local haven of football provides the first trip of pre-season.