Mixed reviews on Townsend then. No idea how the game went really just know the score. A shame not to get the win as it would've given us a 3 point gap above the 3 teams on 42 points (Reading, Milwall and Leicester) and made 2 points on Leeds and Cardiff. Not too confident about picking up anything from Forest on Saturday, but we do have a nack for pulling out performances in those sort of games. If we do want to make ourselves play-off contenders (which would be a remarkable acheivement) we have to stop dropping points at home. Just seen we have 3 home games in 10 days after Forest (Burnley, Preston and Bristol City). If we can pick up 6 or more points from that then we should go into March at least still in touch with the play-offs and be in for an entertaining last couple of months.
Really? Where were you sat? I must admit, I was sat in top right of Rookery and so could not really see much of the second half at all but he din't really seem impressive. The only thing I seem to remember him doing was wasting a free kick from out right hand side but I stand corrected if he looked good. Really could not see a thing second half but Townsend is a show pony. Great skill on him, dinking it over players, little flicks and made the first goal. It then stopped. He caused the equaliser by loosing it in the middle of the park and though people were moaning at Mariappa for not tacking Vaughan, I thought he delayed his shot and tucked it nicely away. Defence was a lot tighter from what I saw in first half, Mariappa distribution was a lot better but the full backs again failed to add to attack. Hodson was a lot more solid at full back, looked composed but the only slight critism, was that he gave the ball away moving forward at times (more game time will improve this) and Doyley was just Doyley, no left foot, cut back inside each time (solid in defence though). The lad from Villa looks sharp and finished well for the goal but at times, the front 2 played a bit far apart from each other with Graham having to be the ball winner tonight instead of Sordell from the long kicks. Again this is expected with a new partnership. The ref was absolute carp, along with one of the linos in my opinion which really did not add to the game spectacle, not allowing the game to flow at all, with too many decisions that seemed to go the wrong way, especially free kicks around the box for both teams. Overall, we probably nicked it slightly but not enough to gain the win.
It was Townsend, and he compounded it by not chasing player who nicked ball off him who slid it through to their striker to finish. He needs to learn that giving up like that aint the Watford way, he's not at Spuds now
It was..shame for the lad as he did really well for AW's goal but seemed to lose confidence after that..or probably just couldn't see the rest of the pitch/players like ours! Well taken finish though from a Prem striker. A poor game not helped by said fog and pitch plus Palace being pretty stubborn. Less said about the ref the better..I hate to blame officials usually but he was SO FUSSY!!!!!! Hopefully Cowie isn't out for long! A point more than we usually get against them and we cannot win them all!
If he was clever, he should have clipped the players legs and fouled him and took the booking. With the ref we had, he may have even got away with it.
Haha thanks! I seem to be on tip top prediction form as of late! Middle rookery, just slightly to the left, although the Palace chant "Where the **** is Speroni" probably says everything about the view :naughty:. He wasn't spectacular but didn't lose the ball from what I can remember (he possibly may have done on his first touch after coming on), played the simple pass and ran about a bit. Yeah that free kick was a mess, just sliced it across the floor. Looked good when he came on but I suppose we can only judge when we've seen a little more of him. I'm only comparing to Townsend really and I think that's a good evaluation of AT. He's just not strong enough, loses it almost every time he gets the ball unless he has acres of space to run in to. What I did like about him though is that, when he lost the ball, he didn't shy away. He kept coming inside to create the pass, kept taking people on and also tracked back well. Even though nothing really worked for him today, the desire is definitely there and I think the potential is too. Lansbury wasn't much better when he first came and remember how good he was when he left. I'm going to hold my judgement on him for a while. Vaughan's goal was brilliant end of, had a bit to do and was a great finish. The ref was a *******. Again, what you've said is right and the decision which really got me was when one of our players was taken down just outside their area, the defender got all man if truth be told, but the ref pointed to the ball saying "he got the ball". Nobody touched the ball after the 'tackle' and it trickled out of play, but the ref gives a goal kick! I don't know how it's possible that the defender apparently, according to the ref, got the ball yet the he still gives a goal kick. Remarkable..
Deeney was hardly on. Townsend was good at the start then they figured him out. Lost the ball multiple times
Can someone gather some stats on points earned this season WITH Cowie against points earnt WITHOUT him... Cheers
Both loanees started well but faded. Story of the match really. I remember there was some confusion over Wiemann's height. I don't think he knows himself because his jumps in the second half were so mis-timed. Townsend suffers from that same affliction as Sordell and Buckley - hangingontotheballtoolongthinkingyoucanbeateachopponenttwice-itis.
Strange old game. Townsend looked good going forward but if he got the ball anywhere but the final third then it was a danger moment. Weimann looked sharp and up for it. Drinkwater looked a bit nervy but never tried to hide. After having the novelty of a steady left back, now he has been taken away it highlights what a massive lack of balance we now suffer with. The sooner we get a new left back the better, as it will also mean that LD can go back to RB and Hodson to the bench. DG looked in cloud cuckoo land - the amount of times he held his hand up to apologise after the ball was played but he was strolling back and so was caught offiside, very out of sorts. The ref was just farking bizarre. The second half was a bit of a non event, not a great deal happened - so where did he get six minutes of stoppage time from?! Also as mentioned above when he didn't give the free kick as he pointed to say he got the ball - and then gave a goal kick. He was odd/crap and his linesmen equally so. Palare were pretty average but should stay up. They got exactly what they came for and did it well.
I must have missed something, Deeney was only on the pitch for 3 mins wasn't he? I know the fog was bad but I didn't he see him do much to warrant being criticised
It seems he has been made a scapegoat. Seriously how many times has he actually started a game up front? It does seem a little early for him to be getting all this stick. He is only young, has moved to a different area it is only natural it will take him time to settle in.
He had a shot at the end which he had every right to take but didn't connect properly, I assume it's that. He wouldn't be saying the same if it flew top corner now would he. If anything I'd have liked to see Big T on for Graham much earlier, we haven't actually seen what he's capable of up front yet! Edit: Well said Folkestone.
Sounds a bit like when Betty used to throw Shittu up front all the time, i assume Taylor is more effective though:biggrin:
Actually managed to get to this game, few comments: - The referee and the linesman the Rookery side were absolutely awful - picking on everything that was done, giving countless decisions the wrong way and the linesman never flagged until after he'd seen what the referee had given. - Comments on the loanees... Wiemann was decent, nothing special - scored a goal that was put on a plate for him by Townsend. Needs to control himself a bit better, got booked for dissent and kept having a go at the linesman/referee and although they were ****, he can't keep doing that Townsend was pretty bad - aside from a brilliant run to set up Wiemann, and being unselfish to cross to Wiemann instead of shoot, he seemed to try and take on everyone rather than pass the ball around, gave it away a lot - seems to be greedy, needs to adapt to the club's way of working Drinkwater I didn't think was too great at all. Seemed rather lightweight and just didn't make any impact whatsoever. Then, we criticised Mutch at the start of his loan... - Danny Graham and Will Buckley were quiet - neither of them seemed to add anything to the game, I was surprised Buckley stayed on the pitch for so long. - Generally, we were unlucky not to win. Taylor headed just wide late on (and should've had a penalty for shirt pulling in the same incident), Speroni made a few decent saves (Eustace's shot was one of them, I believe) and it was a mistake from Townsend (plus Mariappa seeming too weak to put a tackle in) which lead to them equalising. Other than that chance, they were almost no threat. We would've won this match on 8/10 days - mainly because Palace were bad rather than we were good - but were really held back by a useless referee whose only aim was to break the game up. His shot at near the end was abysmal, dragged it wide. For a £500k player, it was an awful effort.
Scapegoats? We've have one for every position!! Gilmartin - will apparently never make the grade after 3 games for us. Doyley - how on earth did we manage a superb unbeaten run with him in the team?? Jenkins - Criticised for... being on the pitch generally or not being good enough to start! Deeney - slagged off despite being played out of position in his short time spent with us!! For crying out loud, stop moaning about players shortcomings and get behind them for the teams sake. Anyway, thought tonights game was a missed opportunity as Palace were diabolical in the 1st-half. Despite being on top generally we didn't trouble their keeper enough though. 2nd-half disintegrated into what seemed to be lobbed balls up to the front two a lot of the time as we went the same way as Palace played in the 1st-half. Thought Eustace & McGinn played well together. McGinn has that ability of seeming to have time whenever he receives the ball and is neat and tidy. Hodson looks a bit sloppy but was an improvement on his play in the Brighton match. Hopefully regular games sees him getting better. The loaned players all offer something different to what we already have and hopefully Townsend will make us less predictable going forward. With just Buckley on a wing it sometimes looked if he couldn't beat a man then nobody would. With the two of them playing it should stretch opposition defences allowing the speedy Weimann, Sordell or Graham more room in the middle. Drinkwater looked pretty comfortable on the ball and able to run with it as well. Again, a good alternative to McGinn depending on who we're playing. The ref and his two mates were truly awful. One thing I haven't seen mentioned was the penalty/free-kick on the edge of the box he didn't give against Marriappa on Vaughan (I think) in the 1st-half when Aidy just seemed to drag him to the floor. As last man he should have been off as well so we got away with one there. And 6 minutes of stoppage time!?! Where the hell did that come from!??? Oh well, disappointed with a draw but at least it stopped the run of defeats so onwards and upwards (or levelling out to a comfy mid-table position). Last thing... the big flags in the Rookery! :sign15:
My key points from the game: How Mariappa put that header over, I'll never know. We had that chance and Tiny's header, that deserved to go in, but didn't. Palace didn't offer anything other than their goal, due to Townsend (which was the third time he got caught in possession). Townsend didn't offer anything other than our goal. Deeney should have come on sooner, when Weimann started to become anonymous at about 70 mins, especially if we are going to resort to play more long ball stuff than we usually do. Buckley is beginning to worry me, without support from Mutch, on the inside, and a half decent right back I'm worried he'll make less of an impact as the season continues. We need a left back! Hodson is too small, and lacks composure on the ball.
Crappy scrappy game in which we were the better side. Pitch is dreadful which played more of a part than the fog. I though Townsend was poor but he's here to learn and will get better. And why the **** do people boo? *******.
Hodson was poor but there was a lack of movement out wide and he was forced to long ball a few times which didn't make him look good. It has become extremely obvious recently that Doyley is not a left back but I thought he did ok. Officials were a joke, genuinely didn't have a f'kin clue what was going on half the time. And that f'kin song again! And another one they did about being London's number one or something was irritating as ****. Good support though I must say...
