My first away game for many years - think the last was the 3-0 win at MK under Brown - and, well, logically, my first visit to the Stadium of Light. Beautiful stadium and with 30,000 people behind their team it would be rude to be the party-poopers.
In all honesty my expectations have sunk so much that I was satisfied/relieved/whatever to leave the ground with only a 1-0 loss. It’s such a weird and sad feeling knowing that only in my heart do I believe we will stay up.
The game itself was a damp squid and I doubt any neutral would have been too excited. Nevertheless, some observations:
We, the fans, were so high up it was very interesting to follow the tactics, shapes and patterns of play. The jury is still out on the 3-5-2 system. It’s pretty much our only realistic option at the moment but it was obvious that we were going to be outnumbered and largely exposed in wide areas and it happened on many occasions, including their goal of course. Having said that, our central three in both defence and midfield looked very comfortable and possession-wise we certainly matched them. We appear to have found Dieng’s home and Hutchinson, other than the odd naive error, is made for this central midfield role; he was excellent.
Bishop: No chance with the goal, one decent save.
Back three: All good, Dieng particularly; good to see him coming out with the ball.
Ralph suffered a blow to the head early on and was brave enough to carry on; whether that was a good idea or not is another question. Elvis did ok, a bit erratic at times, not helped by the lack of support on his side. Actually had a great opportunity to score when a ball over the top caught Sunderland napping but he failed to control.
Alongside Hutch, Milligan was in and out of the game and Cox worked his backside off. Too deep to be an attacking threat though.
Attack: Goodship fluffed possibly our best chance and was largely anonymous, Hopper got some valuable minutes and did ok. We really missed Humphrys though.
Acquah, other than one notable back-heel that bamboozled the opposition, didn’t make much of an impact, and Hyam and Rush weren’t on for long enough to analyse.
The opposition: Clearly an off-day. Threatened to open us up on numerous occasions but made some bizarre decisions on the ball and crossing was poor.
The ref: One of Kettle’s more tolerable performances.
SC: He has one hell of a job to do. Good to see him active on the touch line.
Overall: Encouraging. Our possession was good throughout, perhaps overly cautious at times but rather that than aimless hoof ball. Having said that, we looked absolutely knackered by the end and unable to cause Sunderland any sort of problems. Our shape deteriorated as well and we had fewer options on the ball.
Really good to see we have a specialist fitness coach but we probably won’t see his influence for a few weeks yet.
In all honesty my expectations have sunk so much that I was satisfied/relieved/whatever to leave the ground with only a 1-0 loss. It’s such a weird and sad feeling knowing that only in my heart do I believe we will stay up.
The game itself was a damp squid and I doubt any neutral would have been too excited. Nevertheless, some observations:
We, the fans, were so high up it was very interesting to follow the tactics, shapes and patterns of play. The jury is still out on the 3-5-2 system. It’s pretty much our only realistic option at the moment but it was obvious that we were going to be outnumbered and largely exposed in wide areas and it happened on many occasions, including their goal of course. Having said that, our central three in both defence and midfield looked very comfortable and possession-wise we certainly matched them. We appear to have found Dieng’s home and Hutchinson, other than the odd naive error, is made for this central midfield role; he was excellent.
Bishop: No chance with the goal, one decent save.
Back three: All good, Dieng particularly; good to see him coming out with the ball.
Ralph suffered a blow to the head early on and was brave enough to carry on; whether that was a good idea or not is another question. Elvis did ok, a bit erratic at times, not helped by the lack of support on his side. Actually had a great opportunity to score when a ball over the top caught Sunderland napping but he failed to control.
Alongside Hutch, Milligan was in and out of the game and Cox worked his backside off. Too deep to be an attacking threat though.
Attack: Goodship fluffed possibly our best chance and was largely anonymous, Hopper got some valuable minutes and did ok. We really missed Humphrys though.
Acquah, other than one notable back-heel that bamboozled the opposition, didn’t make much of an impact, and Hyam and Rush weren’t on for long enough to analyse.
The opposition: Clearly an off-day. Threatened to open us up on numerous occasions but made some bizarre decisions on the ball and crossing was poor.
The ref: One of Kettle’s more tolerable performances.
SC: He has one hell of a job to do. Good to see him active on the touch line.
Overall: Encouraging. Our possession was good throughout, perhaps overly cautious at times but rather that than aimless hoof ball. Having said that, we looked absolutely knackered by the end and unable to cause Sunderland any sort of problems. Our shape deteriorated as well and we had fewer options on the ball.
Really good to see we have a specialist fitness coach but we probably won’t see his influence for a few weeks yet.