I found this post-match quote from Bow quite interesting: “You just have to try and think outside the box at times. Obviously the bigger the squad, the stronger the squad, the more beneficial it is to have them five subs. I think ours, the way we used them today, it worked.”
I was thinking almost the opposite. We have one of the smallest squads in the Championship and, overall, we have less quality than most. When we pick up injuries and suspensions there are fewer resources in reserve that we can call on and consequently, players play on with extreme fatigue and niggles that would usually be rested. I would argue that having the capability to use five subs gives us more opportunity to address that and that it helps us disproportionately more than those with better resources. And with Bow becoming much smarter at tactics and game management as he gains experience, it gives him much better in-game options too.
To everyone who wished me well... thank you. Mom passed 30 minutes after the match ended. Watching the thread and getting a crucial win was a great diversion from a long week.
Dad passed much the same, 6 years ago. I am glad we brought her home the last week, as no visitors are allowed in hospitals right now due to Covid. Her two brothers were also in town. It’s been quite a year.
Sorry to hear your sad news @NapaAddick , My condolences.
From watching the highlights Hull had a few chances early on. Our own chances were better and the important thing we took one of them and kept a clean sheet. This is a massive win for us, if we could get back to back wins by beating QPR we would be getting very close to the finishing line to safety.
Hull have been in free fall and I don't think are getting out of it. Middlesbro' looked decent against us but also now have problems at the back with Ayala going. Hudds are back in it as well. Our goal difference being better will help. A healthier situation than before the weekend for sure.
Great result, huge relief. Had we lost to Hull, we would truly in the mire. Not out of it by any means but yesterday's performance gives grounds for optimism. Pearce just the man to put his head in where it hurts to get the goal but I wish he would stop wrestling opposing attackers in the penalty area. He has given away at least one penalty this season doing that and was lucky the ref did not see him do that at least once yesterday. Can't afford to give away soft penalties. Moan over and time to concentrate on the good. Thought Cullen, Pratley, Hemed and Matthews were superb.
So sorry for your loss @NapaAddick it’s good to see you back on here and hopefully now football has restarted, it can provide you with an escape temporarily for a couple of hours each week.
I'm surprised how critical people are of Hull as I thought they played well, and were certainly better than us. I thought we just defended our box effectively to deny them clear cut chances. Virtually every other team in the Championship has better quality players than us, but Bowyer just gets us to lift our game and keep competitive in every match. He really is an extraordinary manager for when your back is against the wall, and his organisation, tactics and game management have come on leaps and bounds.
Quite well? We restricted them to long punts into the middle and one chance. We scored 1 and had 4 other chances. Possession means nothing if no end product.
I thought they were quite good at the back, but clueless in midfield and inadequate up front. Up there with the worst team we have played all season. Look relegation fodder.
Possession was only one of the stats they dominated. We played longball most of the game; they only resorted to it towards the end. We scored from a keeper error. What 4 chances did we have that troubled their keeper so?
We had the next two best chances after our goal. There was the great move that just needed a touch and the free header that Bonne should have scored from.
Cant remember if it was before the goal but you also had Oshilaja's run into the box that he should have shot from
Would even add Aneke's run into the box as being a better chance than anything that Hull created
Also the shot from McGeady in the first half tipped over by the keeper which led to the corner from which we scored.
Great win in a must win game. All the bottom teams are playing each other in this run in and we, arguably, have the toughest games left. Will make QPR, Reading and Wigan games huge for us I think. We could do with Luton and Hull fading quietly away but need one other to hit the buffers hard... Maybe that will be an Ayala less Boro?
I don't expect that many points more but our players will give everything and there will be odd results as clubs with nothing to play for and no crowd to motivate them start to simply run through the motions.
Probably unpopular but I am going to say it anyway. I can't see how anyone thinks McGeady had a good game today. He may have been better than previous performances but that doesn't take much. He wasted our first two set pieces when we needed to exert some pressure on Hull. Both pointless short balls from free kicks when a direct flighted ball from the whistle would have given us goal-mouth chances. He put one straight into the seats and lost possession with the other. He did manage a decent shot after pulling down Hemed's deep cross but I didn't see much else. A big disappointment since arriving. By contrast, I thought Oshilaja was ok today. left back isn't his best possession and Bowler got at him early on but he stuck at it. Much better second-half when he shut them out on that side (Bowler was subbed) and added more defensively. I agree with most that Hemed had a better game for us but he's never going to command a striker's shirt unless we have nothing better. Strikers have to score goals and he hasn't. Lyle Taylor would have managed a goal from the couple of good chances he had. I thought Hull were very poor and clearly missing Bowen and Grosicki. We shouldn't get carried away with this win because we are very much still in the mix and a couple of defeats will have us right back in trouble. We have three London derbies which I don't expect to give us much. The good news is that we play six middle-of-the-table sides in the last eight...
The squad stayed over in Hull last night - apart from Jason Pearce. His wife is due any day now so he stayed at home before driving up north with Chris & Sue Parkes coughing and spluttering all the way at 7am this morning and then scoring the winner.
Commitment from the skipper
Probably unpopular but I am going to say it anyway. I can't see how anyone thinks McGeady had a good game today. He may have been better than previous performances but that doesn't take much. He wasted our first two set pieces when we needed to exert some pressure on Hull. Both pointless short balls from free kicks when a direct flighted ball from the whistle would have given us goal-mouth chances. He put one straight into the seats and lost possession with the other. He did manage a decent shot after pulling down Hemed's deep cross but I didn't see much else. A big disappointment since arriving. By contrast, I thought Oshilaja was ok today. left back isn't his best possession and Bowler got at him early on but he stuck at it. Much better second-half when he shut them out on that side (Bowler was subbed) and added more defensively. I agree with most that Hemed had a better game for us but he's never going to command a striker's shirt unless we have nothing better. Strikers have to score goals and he hasn't. Lyle Taylor would have managed a goal from the couple of good chances he had. I thought Hull were very poor and clearly missing Bowen and Grosicki. We shouldn't get carried away with this win because we are very much still in the mix and a couple of defeats will have us right back in trouble. We have three London derbies which I don't expect to give us much. The good news is that we play six middle-of-the-table sides in the last eight...
I agree, thought he was poor tbh, not slating him but even as a player whose played at the level he has I'm sure he wouldn't have been pleased with his performance, you'd expect better decision making
Probably unpopular but I am going to say it anyway. I can't see how anyone thinks McGeady had a good game today. He may have been better than previous performances but that doesn't take much. He wasted our first two set pieces when we needed to exert some pressure on Hull. Both pointless short balls from free kicks when a direct flighted ball from the whistle would have given us goal-mouth chances. He put one straight into the seats and lost possession with the other. He did manage a decent shot after pulling down Hemed's deep cross but I didn't see much else. A big disappointment since arriving. By contrast, I thought Oshilaja was ok today. left back isn't his best possession and Bowler got at him early on but he stuck at it. Much better second-half when he shut them out on that side (Bowler was subbed) and added more defensively. I agree with most that Hemed had a better game for us but he's never going to command a striker's shirt unless we have nothing better. Strikers have to score goals and he hasn't. Lyle Taylor would have managed a goal from the couple of good chances he had. I thought Hull were very poor and clearly missing Bowen and Grosicki. We shouldn't get carried away with this win because we are very much still in the mix and a couple of defeats will have us right back in trouble. We have three London derbies which I don't expect to give us much. The good news is that we play six middle-of-the-table sides in the last eight...
I agree, thought he was poor tbh, not slating him but even as a player whose played at the level he has I'm sure he wouldn't have been pleased with his performance, you'd expect better decision making
Battling performance,scrappy,but job done. Sadly,this will be Josh Cullens last season for us,I wish this young man everything he hopes for in his career to come true,the effort he has put in over the last 2 seasons has been an inspiration ,and if we are to survive in this division,his efforts will have been pivotal.I hope clubs (West Ham included) are watching.
So Pratley needs to avoid getting another 5 bookings in 7 games? Uh-oh.
Lockyer is the bigger concern as a lot of his cards have been for silly things rather than bad / late tackles
Pratley is more experienced and knows when not to get himself booked
Plus I reckon we'll see Field starting in his place when we get to the midweek fixtures next week
I think you're right. I think we're going to see a huge amount of rotation as we get into it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some games where we change the shape just because we have to stick Lapslie at RWB because Matthews can't play another game and Oshi is being used for something else. It's going to be interesting; I wouldn't be shocked if Bowyer is looking at other teams' fixture lists and trying to work out when a team might play a rotated lesser line-up against us. That worked in our favour against Forest so it might be that he is gambling on teams choosing to play their hitters against promotion rivals rather than us.
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I was thinking almost the opposite. We have one of the smallest squads in the Championship and, overall, we have less quality than most. When we pick up injuries and suspensions there are fewer resources in reserve that we can call on and consequently, players play on with extreme fatigue and niggles that would usually be rested. I would argue that having the capability to use five subs gives us more opportunity to address that and that it helps us disproportionately more than those with better resources. And with Bow becoming much smarter at tactics and game management as he gains experience, it gives him much better in-game options too.
It'd mean Hull needing to win 4 of their last 8. Barnsley needing to win 5 of their last 8. i can't see that happening.
Still amazed by Wigan's turnaround, they were dead and buried. Now on a run of 6 wins and 3 draws from their last 10 games.
From watching the highlights Hull had a few chances early on. Our own chances were better and the important thing we took one of them and kept a clean sheet. This is a massive win for us, if we could get back to back wins by beating QPR we would be getting very close to the finishing line to safety.
Hull have been in free fall and I don't think are getting out of it. Middlesbro' looked decent against us but also now have problems at the back with Ayala going. Hudds are back in it as well. Our goal difference being better will help. A healthier situation than before the weekend for sure.
I don't expect that many points more but our players will give everything and there will be odd results as clubs with nothing to play for and no crowd to motivate them start to simply run through the motions.
Sadly,this will be Josh Cullens last season for us,I wish this young man everything he hopes for in his career to come true,the effort he has put in over the last 2 seasons has been an inspiration ,and if we are to survive in this division,his efforts will have been pivotal.I hope clubs (West Ham included) are watching.
Both him and Lockyer have to avoid getting another five bookings this season else its a three game ban
Pratley is more experienced and knows when not to get himself booked
Plus I reckon we'll see Field starting in his place when we get to the midweek fixtures next week