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torq2u wrote:First time I have seen Showunmi, last night. Can't help thinking how little he contributed - seemed slow, reluctant to challenge and missed 80+% in the air, clumsy footwork and poor passing, one shot in the vague direction of the goal. Though he did help out well in defence. Polite applause when he was subbed, then I saw him heading to the dressing room shaking his head. I can't see him scoring if he stays till next Christmas. Is it me?

Stockley showed more willingness and urgency when he came on, and contributed to / made the winner for Yeoman.

The key to the match was playing deep, controlling the midfield and stopping the ball reaching their forwards. The threat from Nardiello was nil and minimal from Platt (OK with the obvious exception!)

COYY. Onwards and upwards.

Shomunmi is a presence and did a good job wearing the Bury players down. He's obviously carrying an injury and still was one of our quickest players by the way he left the pitch area and then came back and supported the player a good pro.

ferrarilover wrote:The tackle by the Bury bloke on 50s in that video is appalling. A clear stamp right in front of the ref too. Lucky not to have either broken an ankle or been sent off.
Didn't notice Manse refusing to celebrate last night, bit odd but understand why he did it.
Highlights don't really represent the game. It looks as though they were all over us and should have scored long before they did. No sense that we had about 80% possession and all the play.
Matt.

Fair comment about possession although 80% is a tad over the top I reckon. But that video clip shows the sum total of our THREE efforts on goal - the two goals (both well taken) and a weak shot by Mansell that even their keeper managed to hold on to. It just isn't enough, especially when you take into account the chances set up by Cameron and Goodwin. Oh - I forgot. FOUR efforts - Benyon nicking the ball off the keeper and the ball headed off the line. Still not enough.

stefano wrote: It's Mr Knill to you Hector ... and I think you will find that that is a classic case of cherry picking games to suit your own argument

Ha ! Er, um Stefano - the words 'pot' 'kettle' and 'black' come to mind !! But I like your style. You're good at winding us up, especially Hector !

We were more effective than that, Tomo. We made a few decent "three quarter chances". We got a lot of crosses into the box. They didn't give a sense of the flow of the game. We nullified their threat completely. The nature of the video does suggest that they were pressing hard for a goal before they scored. We should have scored seconds after they equalised with a Downes header. They didn't show the five or six incidents of penalty area pinball which, as usual, didn't bloody fall for us. There was no sense that we were, in fact, pouring forward in waves and that they were restricted to hammering aimless balls up field in the hope that it didn't come straight back.
We did much more than enough to win the match comfortably last night. If we had Reuben Reid, we'd have been 3-0 up at half time. That's all we're missing, one decent striker to turn all that excellent possession (in terms of both quality and quantity) into goals.

Matt.

ferrarilover wrote:We were more effective than that, Tomo. We made a few decent "three quarter chances". We got a lot of crosses into the box. They didn't give a sense of the flow of the game. We nullified their threat completely. The nature of the video does suggest that they were pressing hard for a goal before they scored. We should have scored seconds after they equalised with a Downes header. They didn't show the five or six incidents of penalty area pinball which, as usual, didn't bloody fall for us. There was no sense that we were, in fact, pouring forward in waves and that they were restricted to hammering aimless balls up field in the hope that it didn't come straight back.
We did much more than enough to win the match comfortably last night. If we had Reuben Reid, we'd have been 3-0 up at half time. That's all we're missing, one decent striker to turn all that excellent possession (in terms of both quality and quantity) into goals.
Matt.

Yes - if we had a reasonable striker who could have got into double figures, we would be well clear of relegation worries and last night's game would have been wrapped up by half time. My frustration is that we're soooo predictable. We get crosses into the box but they are mostly high looping crosses which are meat and drink to most defenders. Tonge's cross for Mansell's goal was low and behind the defence, allowing Manse to nip in. Both Cameron and Goodwin put in good crosses but on the whole it was the high stuff. Same with corners - just lob it in and predictably a defender's head wins the ball. We need a bit more variety ...... including the ball staying on the floor more often.

tomogull wrote: Yes

From tiny accorns, Tomogull, from tiny accorns....

diamondgirl wrote: From tiny accorns, Tomogull, from tiny accorns....

If you were a politician Diamondgirl, it would be green shoots !! Come to think of it ..... I wonder if Matt Green is still in Birmingham's first team squad ? Green shoots ..... see ?? Ha, h ...... Anyway, tiny acorns - at least we are showing some passion and determination now which was sadly lacking under Mr Knill. The fans can see this effort which is resulting in MUCH better support from the terraces ..... and maybe even from Bristow's Bench !

tomogull wrote: Ha ! Er, um Stefano - the words 'pot' 'kettle' and 'black' come to mind !! But I like your style. You're good at winding us up, especially Hector !

:~D I'm sorry tomogull .... I honestly didn't mean to wind anybody else up!

Your reading of the crosses is the same as mine. I don't know where you stand (or sit), but from where I am on the Pop, the best cross of the night came from Goodwin, with the score at 1-1. He played it low and hard across the face of goal, at an angle just wide of the far post. I was right behind it and it was both perfect and begging for someone to have made a simple far post run to touch it in. The defenders couldn't play it, for fear of an OG, the keeper couldn't risk it because it was going at an uncertain angle for him and the finish would have been achingly simple. Predictably, of course, we haven't got a FL standard striker among our bunch of muppets, so they were all stood with thumb up arse waiting for a much less effective looper to the corner of the box.
One bloody striker, that's all we need. SO frustrating!

Matt.

ferrarilover wrote:O'Connor is injured. We've tried playing Craig wide and it doesn't work. The way Chaps has been playing, he's no more effective than Stevens. Danny had a good game last night. He still suffers with being a bit one dimensional, but he's equally as likely as anyone to win a free kick or to create a chance.

I know it's bee in bonnet with some, but judged on present form, both Rice and Danny are good enough for this division.

Matt.

Danny has had reasonable games but last night he struggled to get past his man and yes it's a queen bee.

ferrarilover wrote:Your reading of the crosses is the same as mine. I don't know where you stand (or sit), but from where I am on the Pop, the best cross of the night came from Goodwin, with the score at 1-1. He played it low and hard across the face of goal, at an angle just wide of the far post. I was right behind it and it was both perfect and begging for someone to have made a simple far post run to touch it in. The defenders couldn't play it, for fear of an OG, the keeper couldn't risk it because it was going at an uncertain angle for him and the finish would have been achingly simple. Predictably, of course, we haven't got a FL standard striker among our bunch of muppets, so they were all stood with thumb up arse waiting for a much less effective looper to the corner of the box.
One bloody striker, that's all we need. SO frustrating!

Matt.

Hope they remembered to wash their hands after the game,

Yes - I know the cross you're referring to. It needed someone to gamble which good strikers do. Last night, I thought Yeoman's goal was a fairly straightforward tap-in but watching the video clip, he reacted very quickly - quicker than two Bury defenders. Well done, Ash. For all of Benyon's hard work, I don't think he would have reacted as quick as that if he'd still been on the pitch.

tomogull wrote: If you were a politician Diamondgirl, it would be green shoots !! Come to think of it ..... I wonder if Matt Green is still in Birmingham's first team squad ? Green shoots ..... see ?? Ha, h ...... Anyway, tiny acorns - at least we are showing some passion and determination now which was sadly lacking under Mr Knill. The fans can see this effort which is resulting in MUCH better support from the terraces ..... and maybe even from Bristow's Bench !

Ha ha Tomo. Very funny.

Seriously though, I do think that passion and commitment have been our problem this season. We had it in abundance against Rochdale and look what happened. Not sure if you went to Cheltenham, but as "well" as we played, there was no commitment or passion, we just seemed, as I saw it,to be going through the motions. Again, last night, there was a determination and,that word again, passion, in their play. Personally I believe that Benners has a lot to do with that. Not the greatest player but he runs and commits non stop. I think his attitude galvanises the rest of the team to follow his example.
Keep it up and we give ourselves a chance. COYY

You mean the same passion that Mansell offers, and has offered all season, but has been ridiculed about as that is the "only" thing he offers?

Give me a load of passionate, heart on their sleeve, die for the club players any day of the week over show boaters and one hit wonders.

Yeah, passion alone may not win matches, but it gees players up, galvanises them and gives a feeling of one-ness (for want of a much better term) within the team, rather than 11 strangers who look like they've never seen each other before.

That's why Hargreaves is also still on many Torquay fans pedestals - he was passionate, loved playing for us and pushed the team on when all seemed lost.
I will also always remember him at the play off final, cup in hand, screaming out "this is for you" to all of us delirious Torquay fans in the ground.

Yep, give me passion any day.

We want passion, not running about as if your trousers are ablaze.

Manse's trouble is that he's got nothing but passion. You've got to add at least a modicum of talent into the mix. I imagine you're deeply passionate about Torquay, ask yourself why you're not in the starting lineup.

Matt.