Stockport Post Match

[Tevez]

Frustrating.

[Corky]

It could be a good point at the end of the season. It's encouraging that we've created so many chances away from home, and quite frustrating that we didn't score.

Anyway, if we can beat Tranmere and Cheltenham then 10 points from four matches would be a great start and something to build on.

[Asha]

I realised today, first hand, that Fox Travel is shit.

Taking the train to Colchester.

[bigneville]

Just got back from Stockport. Was a poor game on balance that we should of won with the chances we had toward the end, although we were very lucky when they hit the post first half that it landed near Henderson. No-where near enough width, which was the main problem...Gradel was almost irrelevant in this game.

Not enough crosses, King had a great chance and Oakley should of buried his chance but screwed it over.

The highlight of the day was during the warm up when an Oakley shot smashed me in the face.

I've just got back also.

I feel the point you've made wasn't down to lack of width. Gradel and Gilbert where very wide down the right hand side. But Stockport didn't let Gradel turn on the ball and run at them. Fair play to them, they had a plan for Gradel and it worked a treat for them.

It's a shame we didn't have the same width down the left side for the whole game, as when we got the ball to Dyer, he also looked a threat. But can't complain too much with Tunchev playing out of position.

I think we definetly missed Mattock today, need to attack down both sides, and then Stockport couldn't have just marked Gradel out of the game.

Gradel should expect more treatment like that week in week out.

[davieG]

Crap

Video

Crap

Attacks

If you have time to waste please feel free to waste it

[Father Ted]

Yeah, when they were all taking practice shots. Campbell took one and me mate just palmed it away from his face.

Then Oakley hammered one and there was me, third row from the front, looking round to see if I could spot any FTers and slam. No time to react.

Also, 3 clean sheets in a row.

3 games unbeaten.

[Daggers]

Any 0-0 in this league is a disappointment - and this one particularly so.

Why?

What makes this game any different to any other away match we'll face this season?

I thought we adapted to the style of play in a proactive fashion and finished the game considerably stronger than Stockport.

Alot of positives, but one big negative - Strikers.

Why?

Fryatt did well today and put himself about a lot - Howard was superb; his physical presence, his knock-ons and his passing was first class...not that any of the moaning twats noticed.

So, the only negative for me was Oakley & King who simply didn't convince me as a partnership and Oakley in particular appeared to be in the wrong place and half-hearted in his play.

...the only negative if you forget about the away support - nothing short of pathetic apart from a couple of pockets of noise which was lost to the air.

[Legend_in_blue]

Only going by what was said on the radio (damn fine commentary btw):

Positives:

Clean sheet.

Left back cover is not an issue - Tunchev is quality.

We made lots of chances.

We kept on looking to win the game rather than sit back.

Their goalkeeper was motm.

NP went with a 4-3-3 in the 2nd half.

We are 3rd.

Leeds lost at home 2-0.

Negatives:

In an ideal world, 2 points lost.

If we get promoted our home form is more important. We must adopt a winning mentality at home and get draws away from home.

I'm quite happy.

[davieG]

Only going by what was said on the radio (damn fine commentary btw):

Positives:

Clean sheet.

Left back cover is not an issue - Tunchev is quality.

We made lots of chances.

We kept on looking to win the game rather than sit back.

Their goalkeeper was motm.

NP went with a 4-3-3 in the 2nd half.

We are 3rd.

Leeds lost at home 2-0.

Negatives:

In an ideal world, 2 points lost.

If we get promoted our home form is more important. We must adopt a winning mentality at home and get draws away from home.

I'm quite happy.

Disagree completely about the LB he was adequate at best and put a damper on attacks down the left.

Not blaming Tunchev but we need someone else now!

Wasn't 433 Dickov was playing as a winger

[Father Ted]

If we get promoted our home form is more important. We must adopt a winning mentality at home and get draws away from home.

Well, if we were to win every home game we would be on 69 points which is play-off form.

Nick a couple of results and we're there.

For some reason I think that our home form will be very solid this year.

[Legend_in_blue]

Disagree completely about the LB he was adequate at best and put a damper on attacks down the left.

Not blaming Tunchev but we need someone else now!

Wasn't 433 Dickov was playing as a winger

Mmmmm...

Perhaps I should take the radio commentary with a pinch of salt.

That new bloke likes Tunchev. And when Dickov came on he says it's Howard through the middle, with Fryatt left and Dickov right.

[Rodders]

NP went with a 4-3-3 in the 2nd half.

It wasn't 4-3-3; Dickov was playing on the right side of midfield.

EDIT Too late. Davie G beat me to it.

[bigneville]

Only going by what was said on the radio (damn fine commentary btw):

Positives:

Clean sheet.

Left back cover is not an issue - Tunchev is quality.

We made lots of chances.

We kept on looking to win the game rather than sit back.

Their goalkeeper was motm.

NP went with a 4-3-3 in the 2nd half.

We are 3rd.

Leeds lost at home 2-0.

Negatives:

In an ideal world, 2 points lost.

If we get promoted our home form is more important. We must adopt a winning mentality at home and get draws away from home.

I'm quite happy.

Tunchev really struggled at left back. He is not the solution to the problem.

It was never 4-3-3, Dickov slotted in at right midfield.

[Asha]

Well, if we were to win every home game we would be on 69 points which is play-off form.

Nick a couple of results and we're there.

For some reason I think that our home form will be very solid this year.

True, but we're not going to win all 23.

I think we'll win more like 16/17 of them.

Leeds didn't think they'd lose to Oldham.

[Tommeh]

Reasonable day out.

We didn't play that well granted, but they set up to not loose as opposed to win and no doubt marked out key player Gradel out of the game. Stevie Howard I thought was great as was Hobbs at the back. We really should have nicked it last 20 but tbh it would have been harsh on Stockport, fryatt and Dyer (me Lloyd) guilty.

Shite atmosphere, with harsh stewards and no roof but still very enjoyable.

lloyd Dyer's song was the highlight as was driving through the derbyshire dales on the way home although I got taken apart by a ferrari!

Gotta love Jimmy Bullard our camraman too!! we saw him again on the way home, legend!

Cutting Maybes up on the Main Road out of Stockport was nice too

[Daggers]

Stevie Howard I thought was great

Shite atmosphere, with harsh stewards and no roof but still very enjoyable.

Howard was top notch today - I'm glad someone else noticed it

I thought the stewards were OK considering they had a job to do...until they gave up. We spent the whole of the second half standing at the back without any problem.

[colbo68]

Not our day I guess. Bad luck, sounded like an entertaining game. Working on finishing at the training ground this week me thinks.

Still, a point's a point.

Having just got back from the Stockport game, here are a few points:

1. Why do city fans insist on trying to make a hero out of a player before we really know how good they are? Having seen Max Gradel a lot this season, I think we need to see him a lot more before making a verdict on his ability. Today he was well off the pace, lacking in confidence and lost his rag a couple of times, which he is very prone to doing - lets see what we think of Max after half a season

2. Similar to last season, I cant see us scoring enough goals - we made plenty of chances in the second half today, but failed to stick them away - this could be our undoing over the course of the season

3. Steve Howard played better - held the ball up, flicked it on, BUT Howard himself is a centre forward and will not score enough goals - like last year, i think we look better as a passing side, built around pace, rather than a long-ball team - with Howard in the side, we consistently go for long-ball

4. Jack Hobbs looks superb - his aerial ability is excellent and he is composed on the ball - defensively we look very solid

5. Tunchev's passing today was woeful, and he does not look like a left back - I would have played him in the centre with Morrison on the left of defence

6. The faithful today were praising the side for a 'well won point' - I disagree, we played against a poor Stockport side and should have won comfortably - if only we could finish - Pearson was screaming at the players for much of the second half and knew the points were there for the taking today

We need to be careful this year of being too patient, making excuses etc as a lot of the fans did last year - that led to disaster - todays game was a fixture we should have won and quite comfortably - for me, the club needs a finisher because turning possession and chances into goals is the be all and end all. If we rely excessively on Howard and Fryatt to deliver I fear we may be disappointed

[davieG]

Howard was top notch today - I'm glad someone else noticed it

I thought the stewards were OK considering they had a job to do...until they gave up. We spent the whole of the second half standing at the back without any problem.

I thought the police presence was excessive, two mounted cops outside and how many did the have separating the LCFC fans down the left side from a virtually empty stand.

[Joe.]

We should have won this game, no doubts about that. We were certainly the better side over 90 minutes and we were totally dominant second half.

But it all came down to wasteful attacking opportunities. How we didn't score I don't know, with Oakley, Dyer, Fryatt all missing glorious chances to put us ahead. We just lacked the cutting edge required, and mixing this with bad luck we just didn't get the result we really wanted today.

But on the positive side of things, we didn't lose, it's still a point and we remain 3rd in the league which clearly means we're not exactly falling behind teams early. Plus the fact we created chances. Special mention to Steve Howard with his man of the match performance too.

[dandannieldanok]

Amazingly just got back after nightmare journey's both there and back. I can't believe we didn't win. The first half was crap, both sides just canceled each other out but in the second half we were all over them, we just couldn't quite get the ball in the back of the net. Although it is disappointing not to come back with 3 points which would have been deserved, a draw in our first away game is not to be shirked at, we've even moved up a place in the table........and Leeds losing

[Tommeh]

We should have won this game, no doubts about that. We were certainly the better side over 90 minutes and we were totally dominant second half.

But it all came down to wasteful attacking opportunities. How we didn't score I don't know, with Oakley, Dyer, Fryatt all missing glorious chances to put us ahead. We just lacked the cutting edge required, and mixing this with bad luck we just didn't get the result we really wanted today.

But on the positive side of things, we didn't lose, it's still a point and we remain 3rd in the league which clearly means we're not exactly falling behind teams early. Plus the fact we created chances. Special mention to Steve Howard with his man of the match performance too.

Only 3 points off the bottom 4 though mate, I think Pearson's had has time, spent his money and clearly the results are not there

[bigneville]

Only 3 points off the bottom 4 though mate, I think Pearson's had has time, spent his money and clearly the results are not there

Yeah isn't it about time we changed manager?

[Thracian]

Only going by what was said on the radio (damn fine commentary btw):

Positives:

Clean sheet.

Left back cover is not an issue - Tunchev is quality.

We made lots of chances.

We kept on looking to win the game rather than sit back.

Their goalkeeper was motm.

NP went with a 4-3-3 in the 2nd half.

We are 3rd.

Leeds lost at home 2-0.

Negatives:

In an ideal world, 2 points lost.

If we get promoted our home form is more important. We must adopt a winning mentality at home and get draws away from home.

I'm quite happy.

Whatever impression you got on the radio Tunchev is no left-back, their goalkeeper wasn't anywhere near man of the match cos his fingertip save from Fryatt was his only notable stop and if we're going to win promotion we'll need to win away as well as at home. The idea of win at home, draw away, is always flawed and, to be honest, I think Howard made just as much effort to win today as he has done at home.

The chances were there but either we simply didn't hit the target or we made life too easy for their goalkeeper. But pressure? Different League to last season so there's plenty of reason to be encouraged and plenty of hope for improvement. Especially if we start using Porter more, before we lose him too, like Sheehan.

[eye666]

We need to be careful this year of being too patient, making excuses etc as a lot of the fans did last year - that led to disaster - todays game was a fixture we should have won and quite comfortably - for me, the club needs a finisher because turning possession and chances into goals is the be all and end all. If we rely excessively on Howard and Fryatt to deliver I fear we may be disappointed

Agree. We should get rid of DJ as I don't think he's that good. Should flog him and get in a pacy guy who can finish.

[Milky]

Agree. We should get rid of DJ as I don't think he's that good. Should flog him and get in a pacy guy who can finish.

Yep, loads of those going cheap.