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Good assessment from Prozac although I would of picked Smith MOM, thought he ran the show and hardly put a foot wrong. Even though we kept a clean sheet I thought the defence were a little shaky at times and marking sometimes poor on crosses to which they could of scored on a couple of occassions. In saying all that I'm sure we'd all of settled for that performance and result a couple of days ago. Much more optimistic about staying up :)

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Well after saying I would never go again if this appointment were true because of corney not lj i thought support the guy things cant be any worse.

 

I decided to go in the sponsors lounge and I must say I was pleasantly suprised when just gone 7pm lee johnson walked in and gave a 5 minute talk on his thoughts for the match and how he wants us to play.

 

Basically said it's not about going out trying not to lose our last lot of games but going out trying to win them.

 

Said he has been impressed with the lads work rate in training and will play baxter in the "hole" as its best position and its all about creating chances.

 

This guy wants to improve everything at the club even the music before kick off! Nice of him to talk to us before such a big game and he is super keen to crack on and win back the fans for the club.

So you didn't hand your season ticket to SC then?
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It does make me laugh how people watching the same game can rate players so differently.

 

Bouzanis - 7: Crucial early save. The last thing the team, the fans and LJ needed was to be 1-0 down to cannon fodder so early in the game

 

Brown - 6: Everyone on here seems to have raved about his performance last night but I wasn't overly impressed. He looks nervy when on the ball most of the time and always wants a 2nd touch (sometimes even a 3rd) before releasing it. Thankfully, he has the pace to get himself out of trouble as his positioning is suspect.

 

Tarky - 7: Similar to M'voto, in that he always seems to give the impression that he's about to make a blunder at any given moment, but I thought he was very good last night. I thought he dealt with Howard's overly physical approach very well. He just needs to be a little calmer on the ball and look for the simple pass rather than a panicky hoof now and again.

 

M'voto - 8: Animal. A good battle with Howard, to which Howard got the better out of him for the first 10 to 15 minutes of the game, but other than that he was dominant all game. Superb header to extend our lead to 2-0 and I couldn't believe how high he jumped when trying to get on to Grounds cross-goal header.

 

Grounds - 8: Another assured performance. Seemed very vocal tonight and I don't think that's a coincidence after LJ's comments on Monday. Certainly our most composed defender and always looks to make something out of his clearances, rather than aimless hoofs.

 

Smith - 9: If it wasn't for Baxter's starring role in all 3 goals, this guy would be my MOM. Controlled the tempo of the game. Always looking to receive the ball whether he was in a tight area or not. Occasional through balls which we've not seen for a long time. A good player to watch and although it's only 1 game, it would be good to see him here as long as possible. Dean who?

 

Wes - 7: Steady performance. Couple of surging runs forward as Smith stayed back and got stuck in on regular occasion into what seemed a stocky looking Hartlepool midfield.

 

Croft - 7: Just like LJ hinted at, a 60 minute role of 110% effort. Didn't stop running all game and helped Brown out often. Couple of decent crosses and a shame he couldn't finally get that goal he's so obviously desperate for when he had that 1on1.

 

Simpson - 7: A very good goal from Baxter's pearler of a cross. Won some key aerial battles which got us possession up the pithc but he still gives the ball away too easily, too often IMO. I lost count of the number of 5-10 yard passes which went no where near our players.

 

Baxter - 9: More evidence of why this fella isn't a CM. Two outstanding crosses for the goals, one with either peg, and a brilliant goal with his left. Constantly on the move and linked Midfield to Attack very well. MOM

 

Barnard - 8: Didn't stop running the channels all night. Always playing on the shoulder and he was almost through on goal in the 1st minute from Smith's attempted through ball. Linked well with Baxter.

 

Overall, a very good performance. Let's not get too carried away though, yeah? Hartlepool are absolutely dire, especially in defence. It was nice to see us not be cut open last night, and that all their chances were pretty much a result of set pieces or long balls. If we can improve on defending set pieces (that being said, we wont be facing someone like Steve Howard every week) then that should limit the amount of chances the opposition have.

 

On to Shrewsbury!

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It does make me laugh how people watching the same game can rate players so differently. Me 2!

 

 

Brown - 5: Everyone on here seems to have raved about his performance last night but I wasn't overly impressed. He looks nervy when on the ball most of the time and always wants a 2nd touch (sometimes even a 3rd) before releasing it. Thankfully, he has the pace to get himself out of trouble as his positioning is suspect. As well as that more than once last night we lost possesion because he wouldnt over lap - croft came of his line at one point in the second half and raced forward took the full back with him and left acres of room for Brown to bomb onto and get something into the box where was brown - the half way line - he had miles of room to go into and i just dont understand why he wont take the gamble as especially in this case as there was little risk.

 

 

Simpson - 6 - Though Simspon was awful going forward did win a bit in the air but didnt dominate and his passing was awful and he held the ball far to long at time. Right place right time for the goal, worked hard to defend on the plus side.

 

 

Overall, a very good performance. Let's not get too carried away though, yeah? Hartlepool are absolutely dire, especially in defence. It was nice to see us not be cut open last night, and that all

 

Agree with most things... just my 2 cents

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Great performance last night ,

Only little thing that puzzled me was the Obita sub ,

 

Given that we were 3 up and have our own player Montano coming back from injury i would have thought giving him the last 20 minutes better than a loanee who is probably going back ???

 

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Prozac told us LJ said:

I keep stats on every player, Jonathon Grounds I know well, the lads a leader but it seems to have been driven from him. This will change and quickly, he’s better than this level and we have to get him back there. I want snappier play, I want communication and I want winners out there.

 

Grounds took on the role of leader last night, being very vociferous in communication with his colleagues, in addition to playing by example.

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Thoughts on brown tonight sly out of interest? I thought he looked much improved tonight.

 

Credit where it's due; a heck of a lot better last night.

iMO he's still very much the weak link though, and he has an extremely annoying habit of stopping and turning back; for then either a backpass to the kepper or to the CB; when there's another 5,10 + yards to move into forwards.

Needs to massively work on his forward work; and in particular his delivery for crosses.

 

As I say though, credit where its due - improvement performance from what else i've seen

(I'll resist the temptation to say its not hard to improve on precious performances as they were dog-:censored:e.........ah; :censored: - said it anyway)

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Prozac told us LJ said:

Jonathon Grounds I know well, the lads a leader but it seems to have been driven from him"

Thats a very interesting comment from LJ. I have a mate who is a Yeovil fan and he said that when Grounds was there he was very vocal and like a leader..........which makes me wonder what the hell PD did to him that made him not. Despite what the players have said in the past, I dont think the dressing atmosphere under Dickov was very good at all.

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Credit where it's due; a heck of a lot better last night.

iMO he's still very much the weak link though, and he has an extremely annoying habit of stopping and turning back; for then either a backpass to the kepper or to the CB; when there's another 5,10 + yards to move into forwards.

Needs to massively work on his forward work; and in particular his delivery for crosses.

 

As I say though, credit where its due - improvement performance from what else i've seen

(I'll resist the temptation to say its not hard to improve on precious performances as they were dog-:censored:e.........ah; :censored: - said it anyway)

 

I think he was pretty good last night but we did play a few too many backpasses, particularly in the second half. I think we got a little narrow and became congested in the middle and were smothering ourselves, then when it broke down or we went back to our defence we didn't have many options, particularly from full back positions. One of LJs comments was about creating opportunities from mismatches and I think the wide players did this well, particularly Simpson's diagonal runs into the middle, but at times this also left our full backs exposed. That said, Jonathan Grounds wasn't troubled by this which highlights the difference in quality of the full backs, but I was a lot happier with Brown's performance last night.

 

A great performance though, if not a little surreal - enjoyable and comfortable

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Cliché #1 - you can only beat what's in front of you.

 

Cliché #2 - it's now in our hands.

 

Kyle - good on you for giving it a chance, that counts more than anything said on here.

 

 

You never know I might manage to drag myself back to BP by the end of the season... :goggle:

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Couldnt make the game last night but caught some of the updates on RadioManc. Sounded really positive, said we played some great football and we were far superior.

 

Interesting point though,

 

Steve eyre was doing the commentary on the feature game (Bury) but said he had a few texts off his collegue Tony Carss who was at the oldham game doing a bit of work for Huddersfield (he's a coach of the Huddersfield accademy) who sent him "a few derogatory text messages about how Hartlepool were playing".

 

So.. who's off to hudds in the summer then?

Edited by Gaz_Oafc
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It does make me laugh how people watching the same game can rate players so differently.

 

Brown - 6: Everyone on here seems to have raved about his performance last night but I wasn't overly impressed. He looks nervy when on the ball most of the time and always wants a 2nd touch (sometimes even a 3rd) before releasing it. Thankfully, he has the pace to get himself out of trouble as his positioning is suspect.

 

 

I'm firmly with you on this point mate. He's getting better granted but I still can't help but see him as our weak link at the minute, for exactly the reasons you've outlined above.

 

Having said that, former Citeh full back Terry Phelan made a very good career out of being utterly dog:censored: but having the pace to get himself out of trouble more often than not.

 

I'm sure young Connor will come good but he is FAR from being as good as some on here make out....yet.

Edited by Break The Silence
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