Hello! The main thing today was that we didn't lose- and however slightly we extended the gap between us and 21st place. We've now got 5 games to go of what has been a truly dire season, and with the point today we're 8 Points clear, I'm definitely not taking our safety for granted until we're mathematically safe- but we're essentially 3 games clear of Relegation; and then when you factor in the opposition we're facing you have to believe it would take true levels of complete ineptness to screw it up now, mind you I wouldn't put it past us.
McCormacks goal today was exactly why I was perplexed we didn't have Smith in the Starting XI against Brentford. Smith does have his limitations but he adds a different dimension to the team, it was a great ball from Turner and Smith won it and McCormack didn't even really have to direct it- he basically just needed to let it hit him. I haven't seen the Charlton goal from any type of angle to have a say on the offside decision- Bettinelli going mental after the ball went in is as much of an indicator as I've had- even so it was such a soft goal to give away- and it came from poor closing down on the Right-Hand side and Gudmunsson had a lot of space with which to direct the shot.
Bettinelli had a relatively quiet game, his passing and ball control were the main things tested today- that said when he was called into action he was, and once again he couldn't have done anything for the goal.
I'm not a massive fan of Dan Burn, and I do still think he's a very limited player- with that in mind I thought he played well today. Tony Watt and Vetokele aren't the most potent of Championship Strikeforces, or the quickest which is why I'm going to be reserving judgement on Burn for a little while longer; but still credit where credit is due- he did well today. The partnership of Burn and Turner isn't a long-term solution however the attacks we're facing coming up (granted I'm not sure how Wigan will line-up under Caldwell) Burn and Turner are assured enough to see us through to the end of this run of 4 games at the very least. Hoogland annoyed the hell out of me today- he had a decent chance to make it 2-0 and then proceeded to look like he didn't know what a football was for some parts of the game, Hoogland is simply not a Right-Back- I honestly don't know what it'll take for Kit to realise it, granted he was almost picked by default today because of injuries but it just frustrates me when we're relying on Hoogland for width. Husband played alright today- he showed flashes of being a proper Left-Back in an offensive sense, but he's still found a bit wanting from a defensive standpoint; which I guess is why he was Loaned to us in the first place and wasn't starting for Boro.
Our starting midfield wasn't exactly exciting, Guthrie, Parker, Tunnicliffe and Kavanagh. Guthrie does show signs of being a good player, but then he balances it out with being caught on the ball and nearly gifting them a goal- I was happy we subbed him today because once again he was out on his feet by the 65-70 Minute mark. Parker had a pretty unremarkable game, which given the crowds response to him might not have been the case; but he is still a player we need in the team just because of his presence as much as anything else- and he is one of the only players in our team who's calm on the ball. Tunnicliffe's such a weird player, I don't mean personality wise- I just mean I honestly don't know what to think about him; I do see value in him unlike some people judging by forums etc. but he's a player who's consistently unremarkable, he's pretty much our new Dickson Etuhu. Kavanagh looked really shaky today, once again I was happy he was subbed off because he just didn't look comfortable on the ball.
McCormacks another player I don't know what to think about currently. He's looking so average at the moment, but with that in mind it is nice to have a Striker who does pop up with some goals while he's off form. McCormack definitely looked more dangerous today than he did on Friday- and he had a handful of chances two of which were Free-Kicks where he could have added to his goal tally. Smith is a player who needs someone to actually play with him- and for the large part of the game up until we made the subs his only contributions were knock downs because he was so limited in what he could do because of the way we were set up from an offensive standpoint.
The Subs Kit made we good, I can only assume Bryan wasn't fully fit- because in a midfield of Guthrie, Parker, Tunnicliffe and Kavanagh; Bryan is head and shoulders above everyone. Between Bryan and Kaca coming on we looked so much more of a threat- and while we didn't fully get the game back we were definitely the team threatening a lot more once both guys came on. So credit to Kit in that respect, I'm just hoping Kit brought Bryan on because he has common sense as opposed to bringing him on because we were singing for him pretty much from the start of the Second Half.
Any point at this stage of the season and the position we're in is a good point in my book. As I've already said the 8 Point Gap SHOULD now be enough of a cushion for us to be safe- but with Fulham you never know.
Thanks for reading as always, these games are coming thick and fast- and these'll be back in the build for the Wigan game which has gotten a lot more interesting (and worrying from a Fulham perspective) with the Malky Mackay sacking, so stay tuned for that- and we got the point to keep us warm until then- thanks again for reading, and have a fun rest of the week.
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