maddog Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 For 10 minutes at Deepdale in the League Cup we played like Barca, quick 1 touch passing, superb attacking midfield play, great movement, and a cracking goal from Nicky Adams. Unfortunately we couldn't keep it up and Tunchev making a very rare mistake, allowed their equaliser and we ended up crashing out, Preston play tonight at home to Spurs, and fingers crossed will pick up some long term injuries to their key players We really do need a win, the performance against P'Boro was poor, the second half at Watford even worse, hopefully the players will have picked themselves up ready for this one, we are starting to lose ground quickly on the top 2, we don't want them to be completely out of reach too quickly, just incase. I think changes are a necessity for this one, i still believe Paul Gallagher should be tried up front with Fryatt, i think Howard has had a poor season so far, he hasn't scored a goal and has missed a few headers he should have buried, long ball won't work against these tall strong Championship defences and he should be dropped. This should hopefully encourage keeping the ball on the deck. I would also like to see Adams and N'Guessan both starting on the wings, but who knows what it will take for NP to at least try that out, with Oakley and Wellens in the centre if he's not injured. Putting non-wingers on the wings or having no wingers giving us no width seems foolish when we have Gradel, Dyer, N'guessan and Adams all at the club. And throw Tunchev in for good measure too. Preston are a HUGE bogey side for us, especially at home. It's 7 years since we beat them at the Walkers. Previous results at Walkers Stadium V Preston: Lost 1-0 07/08 Lost 1-0 06/07 Lost 2-1 05/06 Draw 1-1 04/05 Lost 3-2 AET Lg Cup 04/05 Won 2-1 02/03 (Promotion Season) Previous results at Deepdale: Lost 2-1 09/10 Lg Cup Draw 1-1 07/08 Won 1-0 06/07 Draw 0-0 05/06 Draw 1-1 04/05 Lost 2-0 02/03 So overall this decade we've only collected 10 points in 11 League games against Preston, and they've knocked us out the cup twice. Infact they could be our worst Championship oppenents. It's going to be a tight affair, as you can see from all the previous results, the biggest win for them was 2-0 and every other game has just been won by 1 goal, or ended in a low scoring draw. We must take advantage of this though, they will be going for it against high flyers Tottenham tonight thats for sure, while we will be resting so we really really should win this one. I think we will win by the odd goal this time 1-0, Fryatt saving us again :locked:
marbelladave Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Maddog Fantastically optimistic post, really cheered me up Looks pretty unlikely that Wellens will be fit, which for me is a bit of a dilemma as I would like to see us continue with the 3 man midfield that was so effective against Watford in the first half. Talking of fitness, I have no idea if the Tunch is ready for 90 minutes but we need him to play, desperately! Not least because Hobbs is a 100% better player when he does. I thought Gallagher had a decent first half on saturday but could do with playing a little further forward and closer to Fryatt. We could do with some pace upfront too, so N'Guessan would make up my front 3. Will not happen though, in Wellens absence NP will revert to our to our tried and tested (and failed?) 4-4-2.
marbelladave Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 MaddogFantastically optimistic post, really cheered me up As opposed to Bert and NSSL. :o
lou Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Cant see anything other than a loss.... no Wellens and a very good side who we have a crap record against. I'll be happy if we draw
marbelladave Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Hopeless optimism interspersed with fateful pessimism. Love it... :P
Jiggers the Fox Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 i fear the worst without wellens, and like maddogs pointed out they're not exactly our favourite team to play! would like to think we can come away with a hard earned draw though
Salieri Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Pah, past history means nowt. We'll give them a proper footballing lesson. 3-1.
ousefox Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Looking forward to this. Can see us getting a 1-0 win.
Heart-Shaped Fox Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Not normally too negative but I am very worried about this. They are a big physical team and I hope we can deal with that. They lost 5-1 today to Spurs so hopefully that will knock their confidence a bit.
maddog Posted 23 September 2009 Author Posted 23 September 2009 It's a shame Howard is slow, weak, and can't time the ball with his head because he could cause them serious problems given Crouch got a hat trick tonight.
Unit Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Hopefully low on confidence, shame their game didn't go to extra time to tire them out a bit. I'm thinking draw. It's a shame Howard is slow, weak, and can't time the ball with his head because he could cause them serious problems given Crouch got a hat trick tonight. Yeah howard's never scored an important header .... ....Leeds
Bert Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Me and NSSL are realists, that's why. Even when we managed to beat them at home, we were less than convincing, and that was in our promotion season 0f 02-03! We never ever play well against them at home, and Wellens will be a massive loss. No doubt they'll score from outside the area too, I can only remember 2 league goals they've scored here that were inside the box!
He's not bald Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 Me and NSSL are realists, that's why. Even when we managed to beat them at home, we were less than convincing, and that was in our promotion season 0f 02-03! We never ever play well against them at home, and Wellens will be a massive loss. No doubt they'll score from outside the area too, I can only remember 2 league goals they've scored here that were inside the box! No chance with this,our home record is going on Saturday 0-2
carterfox90 Posted 23 September 2009 Posted 23 September 2009 no wellens no win draw written all over it 1-1
Jiggers the Fox Posted 24 September 2009 Posted 24 September 2009 No chance with this,our home record is going on Saturday 0-2 along with Pearsons record of no saturday 3 o clock defeats!
Head Honcho Posted 24 September 2009 Posted 24 September 2009 I think we can just nick this one. Well done to NP for our early cup exit!
Head Honcho Posted 24 September 2009 Posted 24 September 2009 It's a shame Howard is slow, weak, and can't time the ball with his head because he could cause them serious problems given Crouch got a hat trick tonight. I'm pretty sure Billy Jones will be back for saturday and at 6' 3" they sorely missed cup tied Neill Collins in central defence last night. I do think that this game will be won and lost in midfield Paul Parry has one of the best engines in the league and will run for every ball and he can strike a ball too. I would like to see Gallagher and Fryatt start together on saturday though.
Thracian Posted 24 September 2009 Posted 24 September 2009 Fryatt to score six and City to lose 7-6. Actually I think we did have a 7-6 once against Charlton. But memory might be kidding me.
Muz Posted 24 September 2009 Posted 24 September 2009 Without Wellens we'll get over run. Im going 2-1 them. Ross Wallace is going to have Neilson's kilt down.
Webbo Posted 24 September 2009 Posted 24 September 2009 It's a shame Howard is slow, weak, and can't time the ball with his head because he could cause them serious problems given Crouch got a hat trick tonight. How do you time a header? Surely you've got to head the ball when it comes to you. You can't make the ball stop in the air until the other player is ready for the flick on.
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