Goater so far...

[palexander]

Well impressed with Goater. His link play is excellent, dropping off the front and trying to be a platform to build from.

Not quite working against the spritely youngsters of Southampton, but I can see this being very sucessful in League 2.

Lovely bit of play towards the end where he came short, controlled and played a very clever reverse pass to Petts before getting into the box. Petts looked up and picked Goat out who produced a brilliant fingertip save from Smith.

Looks like we are gonna lose this, but the performance of Goater and Smith is more than pleasing me with more important league games coming up...

 

[Alex]

goater was a class act all night

 

[Andy_S]

Goater just seemed to have that extra bit of quality tonight. We actually won some balls in the air up front which must be a first in a long time.

Am I alone in thinking that Smith was truly anonymous though? It was like playing with 10 at times because he was so off the pace it was untrue. Perhaps a game like that came just too soon for him.

Thought Hunt had a pretty good game as well, especially considering he was up against a player in Dyer who looks to have a massive future. Good job the didn't have Walcott out there as well though.

Barrett was better than he has been, Prior was pretty good but Petts gave us absolute zilch going forward and Wilson had a bit of an off game as well.

Biggest plus points, erm, err, The Blue Belles and the streakers.

 

[shooter mcgavin]

Quote[/b] (Andy_S @ Aug. 22 2005,23:11)]Goater just seemed to have that extra bit of quality tonight. We actually won some balls in the air up front which must be a first in a long time.

Am I alone in thinking that Smith was truly anonymous though? It was like playing with 10 at times because he was so off the pace it was untrue. Perhaps a game like that came just too soon for him.

Thought Hunt had a pretty good game as well, especially considering he was up against a player in Dyer who looks to have a massive future. Good job the didn't have Walcott out there as well though.

Barrett was better than he has been, Prior was pretty good but Petts gave us absolute zilch going forward and Wilson had a bit of an off game as well.

Biggest plus points, erm, err, The Blue Belles and the streakers.

Couldn't agree more with your assessment of Goater or Smith.

I was so excited that Jay was going to start, especially after an amazing 20 mins up at Walsall. Aside from the first 15 though, where Jay got involved and passed the ball well, he was virtually non existent. I think he must be some ay off full fitness still, as he showed at Walsall that against a tiring team, he could do the business. A few more cameos from the bench would be best I reckon, until he is fully fit.

As for Goater, he was exceptional tonight. His link up play was superb and had Wayne Gray or Freddy been anywhere near him as he went up for a number of headers that he won against an international class centre half (Hajto used to be captain of Poland iirc), then I think we would have created a few more chances. We'll have to see how well he does now with an impending suspension for Freddy, but I'm confident that he'll cause defences in League 1 a lot of bother!!

Gav

p.s. Hunt was good tonight too - should have been first choice from the start of the season rather than giving the spot to Juppy on potentially sentimental reasons.

 

[Guest]

Thought Goater played well today, unlucky not to score in the first half and showed that little bit of class at times. Easily our best forward this evening, Gray looked well short of his recent form and Eastwood was anonymous.

Good to see he lasted the 90 as well, hope he can deal with the bank holiday weeked fixtures though...

 

[Southampton Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (pboreham @ Aug. 22 2005,20:56)]Well impressed with Goater. His link play is excellent, dropping off the front and trying to be a platform to build from.

Not quite working against the spritely youngsters of Southampton, but I can see this being very sucessful in League 2.

And how do you think it might work in League 1, which might be a little more relevant?

But I do agree, Goater showed a lot of class tonight and certainly showed a lot of potential to do well in the league. I was also impressed with his willingness and ability when coming back to defend. He really got stuck in and earned his money tonight!

 

[palexander]

Quote[/b] (Southampton Shrimper @ Aug. 23 2005,01:14)]

Quote[/b] (pboreham @ Aug. 22 2005,20:56)]Well impressed with Goater. His link play is excellent, dropping off the front and trying to be a platform to build from.

Not quite working against the spritely youngsters of Southampton, but I can see this being very sucessful in League 2.

And how do you think it might work in League 1, which might be a little more relevant?

But I do agree, Goater showed a lot of class tonight and certainly showed a lot of potential to do well in the league. I was also impressed with his willingness and ability when coming back to defend. He really got stuck in and earned his money tonight!

 

[shrimper magic]

Quote[/b] (shooter mcgavin @ Aug. 22 2005,23:51)]

Quote[/b] (Andy_S @ Aug. 22 2005,23:11)]Goater just seemed to have that extra bit of quality tonight. We actually won some balls in the air up front which must be a first in a long time.

Am I alone in thinking that Smith was truly anonymous though? It was like playing with 10 at times because he was so off the pace it was untrue. Perhaps a game like that came just too soon for him.

Thought Hunt had a pretty good game as well, especially considering he was up against a player in Dyer who looks to have a massive future. Good job the didn't have Walcott out there as well though.

Barrett was better than he has been, Prior was pretty good but Petts gave us absolute zilch going forward and Wilson had a bit of an off game as well.

Biggest plus points, erm, err, The Blue Belles and the streakers.

Couldn't agree more with your assessment of Goater or Smith.

I was so excited that Jay was going to start, especially after an amazing 20 mins up at Walsall. Aside from the first 15 though, where Jay got involved and passed the ball well, he was virtually non existent. I think he must be some ay off full fitness still, as he showed at Walsall that against a tiring team, he could do the business. A few more cameos from the bench would be best I reckon, until he is fully fit.

As for Goater, he was exceptional tonight. His link up play was superb and had Wayne Gray or Freddy been anywhere near him as he went up for a number of headers that he won against an international class centre half (Hajto used to be captain of Poland iirc), then I think we would have created a few more chances. We'll have to see how well he does now with an impending suspension for Freddy, but I'm confident that he'll cause defences in League 1 a lot of bother!!

Gav

p.s. Hunt was good tonight too - should have been first choice from the start of the season rather than giving the spot to Juppy on potentially sentimental reasons.

Have to agree that smith looked way of the pace last night which is unsurprising seeing as the long lay off he's had, was impressed with Petts , Hunt and Maher and also Wayne whom ran himself into the ground again but the thing that worried me most was the amount of headers our back four lost.

Last season we were solid at the back and didn't look troubled at corners but we looked very shakey last night, from open play and from corners

Also still haven't made my mind up on Cole yet as he certainly has the ability to beat his man but his final ball is poor at times.

All in all a decent work out and the score flattered them slighty but they deserved the win.

 

[canveyshrimper]

I thought Goater was starting to blow a bit early in the second half but he seemed to get a second wind and kept going to the end.

Sadly I have to agree that Jay Smith was off the pace, but he is coming back from two bad injuries, and we do know he is a class act.

Not pointing any blame at any one player but we have now conceded 6 goals at home in 3 matches, 5 of which have been defensive errors.

 

[shrimper magic]

Exactly... i know we are up against better opposition but it still doesn't excuse the fact that we are giving away sloppy goals at the moment.

Some people will argue that Daryll should have done better on the first two goals but i feel that he was left totally exposed by two bits of poor defending. Firstly with the free header from the corner and secondly the follow up from his save should of been put out of the stadium if anyone had reacted quickly enough ( i think it was Petts that was the closest player to Daryll which is very worrying, bearing in mind he is our 'winger' ).

 

[keefmoon]

I thought Goater was pretty shagged in the 2nd half tbh. He showed some nice touches throughout the game, but IMO he never really threatened to score with the ball at his feet. His interplay was good, but we really need 2 strikers that can take the ball and put defenders on the back foot. Something which he has proved he can do before. I'm not criticising him. Just didn't think he was exceptional last night.
Sadly Jay was off the pace, which was shown up by Bentley when he came on, who battled and ran with the ball a lot harder. Tough competition in the centre there in a few weeks.
As for the score, I didn't think it flattered them at all. They hurried us off the ball all the time, forced us into playing nothing balls, and won headers in attack and at the back (I think we won 2 headers in their box all night). We weren't bad, we were just outplayed, and you can't argue with that.
Nathan Dyer was class.

 

[The General]

Quote[/b] (Andy_S @ Aug. 22 2005,23:11)]Goater just seemed to have that extra bit of quality tonight. We actually won some balls in the air up front which must be a first in a long time.

Am I alone in thinking that Smith was truly anonymous though? It was like playing with 10 at times because he was so off the pace it was untrue. Perhaps a game like that came just too soon for him.

Thought Hunt had a pretty good game as well, especially considering he was up against a player in Dyer who looks to have a massive future. Good job the didn't have Walcott out there as well though.

Barrett was better than he has been, Prior was pretty good but Petts gave us absolute zilch going forward and Wilson had a bit of an off game as well.

Biggest plus points, erm, err, The Blue Belles and the streakers.

You make it sound like your suprised, Andy ...