Back from the game - West Brom FA Cup

[AndyRFC]

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Harte, God how bad, eh? Our defence is APPALLING over the last 9 games!! Look at these conceded goals >>> 1-0-0-1-1-1-1-1-0

Only 3 cleans sheets and we've let in SIX goals. Terrrible, TERRIBLE!!


Six conceded in 9 games, 5 conceded in 8 when Harte played 1-0-0-1-1-1-1-0



And as for Elwood, we've only W4 D3 of his last seven games and conceded 0-0-1-1-1-1-0 while scoring ten. GET RID!

Harte is being carried. If Ishmael Miller had been any good we wouldnt been through to round 4.

[Ian Royal]

Could people avoid quoting snowball please, I'm trying to avoid his dribbling madness.

Many thanks.

[Snowball]

Could people avoid quoting snowball please, I'm trying to avoid his dribbling madness.

Many thanks.

"and you won't see me having a go at Snowball, I promise"

[Svlad Cjelli]

Could people avoid quoting snowball please, I'm trying to avoid his dribbling madness.

Many thanks.

Especially when he's trying to refute things that hardly anyone - apart from a very small minority of those with the most extreme views - is actually saying.

[NR_Royal]

My view of the game:

Federici 7- Barely tested, but nearly let in a shot which hit the bar
Cummings 8 - Great performance. He looked confident, quick, skillful and much better than a year ago. Nice to know we have a decent young fullback
Mills 7 - Solid enough, but still not very composed.
Pearce 8 - Second best player on the pitch. Won EVERY header, was very aware and calm. Fantastic.
Harte 5 - Good going forward, dangerous from FKs but constantly was beaten - I thought he gave a penalty. He was so oxf*rd slow.
Kebe 6 - Still doesn't look as good as he was before injury, but flashes of skill. Crosses were poor.
Leigertwood 7 - Big, physical presence. Played OK but his vision was poor, missed good runs from Kebe and Long. Also needs to stop taking players on, because he can't...
Karacan 6 - tbh, I didn't really notice him much, but he must have done alright.
McAnuff 7 - Sometimes looks like he's trying too hard, but put in a great cross and was our second best attacking threat.
Hunt 7 - Did well, but overshadowed by Long, didn't pose much of a threat apart from the odd header.
Long 9 - our biggest threat, by far MOTM. He was fantastic, making great runs, going for every ball and a tidy finish for his goal.

I think we need to look more across the field sometimes when we counter attack. Harte failed to recognise Kebe in acres of space time after time, which frustrated me.


BUT WE BEAT THEM AND WE'RE THROUGH!!!

[Ian Royal]

Could people avoid quoting snowball please, I'm trying to avoid his dribbling madness.

Many thanks.

Especially when he's trying to refute things that hardly anyone - apart from a very small minority of those with the most extreme views - is actually saying.

Yes, I find it quite annoying the way he tars everyone with the same brush and puts opinions he's made up into other people's mouths.

What was Long's goal like? one-on-one? fox in the box? header from a cross?

[RoyalBlue]

I'm sure the Harte incident was all down to McAnuff just like Harte's display last week was down to him.

Then I suggest that you get your eyes tested. McAnuff had absolutely nothing to do with Harte allowing himself to be turned completely inside out! With any luck the incident will be shown on the TV tonight and you will be able to see.

The guy is a defensive liability and once again today his deadball skills were not up to their reputed high standard (not to mention his laughable 'shot' when well positioned on the left side of their area in the second half).

Then I suggest you realise that I was being sarcastic.

You got me! Good catch! Missed it completely - I'm clearly mixing with Americans too much!

[Svlad Cjelli]

What was Long's goal like? one-on-one? fox in the box? header from a cross?

Hunt flicked it on with his head, Long ran onto it, went wide and slotted it past Myhill from just inside the box.

tbh I was convinced he'd taken it too wide to score from - he did really well, but I wasn't sure about Myhill's positioning to be beaten from that angle.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Ian Harte has been the weak link all season.

[Ian Royal]

What was Long's goal like? one-on-one? fox in the box? header from a cross?

Hunt flicked it on with his head, Long ran onto it, went wide and slotted it past Myhill from just inside the box.

tbh I was convinced he'd taken it too wide to score from - he did really well, but I wasn't sure about Myhill's positioning to be beaten from that angle.

Cheers Dirkers.. he's definitely found his scoring boots... and he's keeping it up well, almost over the number of games I was looking for him to show he'd found his form properly.

Although I'd actually say he's keeping it up so well he's making me even more worried about going on another long barren run... there's no way he can keep this up for too long surely... and I'm worried it's all or nothing with him.

[Snowball]

7 Feds
9 Cummings MoM, well done, the lad.
9 Pearce
9 Mills
8 Harte
7 Kebe
9 Elwood
8 Karacan
8 McAnuff
9 Long
7 Hunt (but great assist for the goal)



5 Church
6 HRK



So pleased for the young man Cummings, especially given the stick he received last season from our "informed" fans

Soooooo glad we didn't get rid of him. He's going to be a very, VERY good player as he matures. He gets a 9 today.

The "Donkey" (according to some) Elwood (9) was really excellent today, also. Did all his usual spoiling but made us tick
brilliantly. McAnuff-Harte-Elwood played some lovely stuff on that left wing.

9 for Long too. Shane is almost unplayable at the moment when the service is right.Play the ball the right side of him
(as per the goal) and there's little most defenders can do against his strength and pace except foul him. Once again he
gets a goal (the winning goal) AND gets a desperate defender sent off. Barring a catastrophic injury he will be an
Premiership player in the not-too-distant future. Imagine this boy with service from the best midfielders in the country.

Feds had one dithery moment but overall had little to do.


Mills and Pearce get better as a pair, and as individuals (both 8s) and they were up against big, tough strikers today.

Harte got away with a close one today, while defending, but going forward did very well playing little triangles with McAnuff
and A N Other (mostly Elwood).

McAnuff is another 8 for me, worked hard and looked dangerous. Karacan put in another good shift (8) and K-L is a good pairing.

Kebe is still not back to his best but was OK for 65 minutes. Almost disappeared in the last quarter.

Hunt? (7) Great assist for the goal and is helping Shane, very much the junior partner at the moment but (currently) important.
Faded though. The last 15 minutes our front two looked slow and weak compared to the first half.

5 for Church. Sorry, I like this guy but he looks totally "off" at the moment. He looks slow and not very interested.
I don't know what's changed, but he looks (temporarily, I presume) a poor player. He seems to lack drive and
energy, almost as if he's resigned himself to being 4th or 5th choice. Maybe he wants to leave.

I'm genuinely surprised as last year he got those 12 goals, and I expected him to push on.

HRK showed some energy, probably worth a 7 but not really on for long enough.

8 for Mr Mac, got the boys to press, but they seemed to go into their shells
in the last 20 minutes and let WBA play too much.

Thankfully they weren't very good on their day.

[Snowball]

Could people avoid quoting snowball please, I'm trying to avoid his dribbling madness.

Many thanks.

Especially when he's trying to refute things that hardly anyone - apart from a very small minority of those with the most extreme views - is actually saying.

Yes, I find it quite annoying the way he tars everyone with the same brush and puts opinions he's made up into other people's mouths.

What was Long's goal like? one-on-one? fox in the box? header from a cross?

"and you won't see me having a go at Snowball, I promise" (2)

[LoyalRoyalFan]

How can Harte get an 8?

[Snowball]

How can Harte get an 8?

IMO he played extremely well going forward, and in a trio with McAnuff and a-n-other (mostly Elwood)
they kept possession and opened up WBA time and time again. They also bought time.

All the players got an extra 1 because however poorly WBA played today we still were playing a Prem outfit.

[RoyalBlue]

How can Harte get an 8?

IMO he played extremely well going forward, and in a trio with McAnuff and a-n-other (mostly Elwood)
they kept possession and opened up WBA time and time again. They also bought time.

But he's meant to be a left back god's sake! His defending was again below the standard we require if we're serious about trying to get promoted.

McDermott had a slight dig at Cummings, who we agree had a great game defensively, because of the piece of attacking skill he showed in the first half 'but that's for wingers not right backs'. Given that, McDermott clearly views the defensive performance as paramount, so Harte's performance going forward should not be allowed to paper over his defensive weaknesses.

[Row Z Royal]

Would it be inappropriate to say that I always thought Cummings had enough about him to come good and that persistence was worth the effort? Not that one FA Cup game following a few decent league performances several months ago proves anything mind.

Like this you mean?

I think he's okay, but is lacking in confidence. Give him time to settle and he'll be fine. He's decent going forward, but only tentatively because he's not sure whether he's allowed or not, but is perfectly adequate on the back foot.

Yeah, pretty much exactly that, but without the effort in finding a quote.

I did chuckle that I said this three days before Cummings got mullered away at Peterborough.

[handbags_harris]

Decent performance today against a disinterested bunch of Throstles. McAnuff was excellent going forward, Kebe indifferent, Karacan and Leigertwood excellent, Leigertwood's best game for us so far I felt. Defensively sound apart from the first 10-15 where Miller latched onto two balls over the top and, quite frankly, should have done better with both of them.

Critical man of the moment Harte was decent I felt, although isolated for one of their Miller chances, obviously roasted for pace and probably should have gone for an early bath, but apart from that was very good.

Shaun Cummings, utter revelation. Exceedingly good down the right defensively, although I felt he should have moved to close down the man who hit the bar for them instead of standing off him by six yards.

Shane Long, excellent, if only he could always play like that. When off form his confidence gets shot to pieces, his touch get shots to pieces, his movement gets shot to pieces, his shooting gets shot to pieces but when on form we have a completely different player. Looks like we played Derby at the right time!!

Noel Hunt abysmal unfortunately, although unfortunate not to score with his header thanks to some fine goalkeeping by the perennially excellent Boaz Myhill.

[Winnershroyal]

Waitrose 1
Tescos 0

We pissed it, nuff said.

Thought the atmosphere was good, fair play to Y25, would have been dire if the fat bloke hadn't turned up though

Frankly embarrasing to be fair.

If some of the "fans" who vent their spleen on here actually turned up instead of whinging about where the money has gone it might improve, other than QPR, all the games I've seen the team have put a decent shift in. they deserve better than the 11000 today.

[Ian Royal]

I did chuckle that I said this three days before Cummings got mullered away at Peterborough.

To be fair, I don't think that game could be blamed so much on Cummings as on superbly awful tactics, formation, management and whole team performance.

Cummings had no chance with no support against more than one player down his flank.

[working class hero]

Anyone else finding Snowball even more tedious now he is trying to be 'witty' as well as analytical?

BTW you were criticising others for pontificating about keepers without being GK coaches, and justified your amateur CF days as allowing you to be an expert on Long's genius.
How can you also be a Harte expert - did you play LB at primary school?


I agree with a lot of what you say - but ffs try not to be such an earnestly boring, smug pundit....