Post Match v West Brom

[Ricey]

Not disapointed to lose, but disapointed by the lack of attacking threat.

Howard did ok but should if hit the target twice. I want to give Neilson a chance, but he's just not good enough. Hobbs has to take blame for the third goal, awful defending.

Still, between now and the end if the season they are all 'winnable'.

[caz05]

Why the hell is everyone being so negative. I'm guessing many of you didn't go to the game judging by your comments. (The first page in particular)

Before the first goal, we were holding our own, and were beaten by a wonder strike. The second yes they could have been prevented, but it was a spirited performance and we were beaten by the better side. I was shocked by some of the fans behaviour when Oakley got subbed and at the final whistle. To shout "willy puller" and to do the gesture to your captain is disgusting. He's lead the team and he's a role model, no matter how badly he plays, you should NEVER disrespect your captain in this way. At the final whistle, some bloke near us was telling the team to fook off. This guy should never have bother coming and made a complete tit of himself.

I for one am proud to watch my team week in week out, and not. Many people need to take a good look at themselves and think, "should I bother coming to any other games?" If your behaving like that then the answer is no.

It's still in our hands, We are one point in the playoffs, WE ARE STILL IN THE PLAYOFFS. It's not all over just yet. Keep the Faith.

That woman made me laugh, someone said to me she was Tamas's missus, who kicked off when he had a barmy with Wellens or Howard. The Mattock chants were excellent, infact our support today was pretty decent.

And abusing the captain and players will make them play better i am ashamed of some of our fans sometime

[marbelladave]

Some thoughts from the game for those not present.

First off the referee was a 'homer', not the worse example I have seen but bad enough.

For the first 10-15 minutes it was mostly long ball to Howard, who was doing a very decent job, holding play up, getting flick ons, the usual target man stuff. We varied it a bit with balls wide to Dyer and Waghorn, but mostly it was the Steve Howard show, and it wasn't half bad.

Strangely as the half went on we started playing the ball around in midfield trying, with some success, to match West Brom's passing game, the move that got Dyer in 1 on 1 with Carson was first class.

However such penetration from City was rare, there were few options for the midfield, Dyer was well marked, Howard immobile and Waghorn strangely muted. At this stage the difference was that the West Brom midfield had runners to hit, the City midfield did not.

The first goal was typical of several we have conceded this season, ball cleared out of the box to an opposition player who is given time to pick his spot. Great finish though.

The second goal was a killer, once again we seemed to to switch off with the ball pinging around our box, a scruffy goal but like the first, typical of many we have conceded this season

Second half started with energy and commitment, some decent attacks from City but once again it was banjo time for Howard, who by now could have had 2 or 3, this profligacy seemed to infect everyone, with several opportunities going begging.

The ref continued with his home bias, with Tamas in particular clattering city players with impunity, by the time he elbowed Howard he should have been at least on a yellow.

Gallagher, playing on the right looked great on the ball, but rarely in dangerous areas, switching to the left with the arrival of Adams he was he was up against Tamas who fouled him repeatedly, eventually getting a belated yellow for a hack from behind that should have sent him packing.

After the opening chances went begging, City continued to press forward but scoring opportunities dried up in the face of determined defending, what chances there were invariably ended up way over the bar. West Brom's third was a bit of of a joke, City were pressing well forward and our defense went missing, understandable in a way but it made the performance look worse than it was.

City were far from outclassed in general but West Brom scored 3 times and City never threatened the goal. What else can you say?

[calum_lcfc]

I beg of you Leicester fans believe please!! If not for the fact that you think were good enough for top 6 then believe cause Blackpool have a tough run in.

Come on City let's turn it around at QPR

[Guest]

And that posh-looking, handbag-swinging female WBA supporter that got sent off...

Posh?

The best chant was 'Mattock, sort her out' about that woman in the WBA end acting up. That was the only real highlight!

That whole episode was worth the entrance fee alone. Brilliant stuff.

I didn't think that WBA were 3-0 better than us. Anyone who says we aren't creative is talking out of their bottom. We had several great chances to score, but nobody had the bottle or whatever to convert them. Yes, we look toothless, but it's not for the want of trying.

The ref was a shocker. I don't place the blame on him, but seriously, if someone doesn't look at his performance and question it, then I despair.

[Ilkeston_Fox]

Why the hell is everyone being so negative. I'm guessing many of you didn't go to the game judging by your comments. (The first page in particular)

Before the first goal, we were holding our own, and were beaten by a wonder strike. The second yes they could have been prevented, but it was a spirited performance and we were beaten by the better side. I was shocked by some of the fans behaviour when Oakley got subbed and at the final whistle. To shout "willy puller" and to do the gesture to your captain is disgusting. He's lead the team and he's a role model, no matter how badly he plays, you should NEVER disrespect your captain in this way. At the final whistle, some bloke near us was telling the team to fook off. This guy should never have bother coming and made a complete tit of himself.

I for one am proud to watch my team week in week out, and not. Many people need to take a good look at themselves and think, "should I bother coming to any other games?" If your behaving like that then the answer is no.

It's still in our hands, We are one point in the playoffs, WE ARE STILL IN THE PLAYOFFS. It's not all over just yet. Keep the Faith.

That woman made me laugh, someone said to me she was Tamas's missus, who kicked off when he had a barmy with Wellens or Howard. The Mattock chants were excellent, infact our support today was pretty decent.

I was on row NN and I also heard a few boo's and 'willy puller' shouts aimed at Oakley. It's the same for McGivern, berating them will not make them play any better.

I was stood next to three blokes who must have come from the West Stand, stuffed dummies and no mistake. Didn't clap/cheer once. Our team needs support, not mime impressionists! Minus this, our support today was fantastic. For those that couldn't make it, what did it sound like on Sky? For those that went, top stuff!! Same again on Monday.

[Mee]

I agree LCFC_0012, booing does not cure anything. If we got behind him, which i can understand can be hard sometimes, but give him abit of confidence it may make his performance alot difference. (And i sit in west stand, i understand where the boo-boys who only go to the game for the fact that they may be on TV come from) I like West stand though, where i sit i get the atmosphere from the kop so its not too bad

[MC Prussian]

Posh?

That whole episode was worth the entrance fee alone. Brilliant stuff.

I didn't think that WBA were 3-0 better than us. Anyone who says we aren't creative is talking out of their bottom. We had several great chances to score, but nobody had the bottle or whatever to convert them. Yes, we look toothless, but it's not for the want of trying.

The ref was a shocker. I don't place the blame on him, but seriously, if someone doesn't look at his performance and question it, then I despair.

She looked nicely dressed-up for a football-match under these poor conditions, is what I mean.

But at the moment, we aren't creative. The lads are desperately trying to be creative, but fail tremendously, without anyone taking responsibility in midfield and pushing the game forward. Despair all around - which showed towards the end, when we were already 3-0 down. Numbers-wise, we probably had more chances than West Brom, but are unable to take them. And it always takes a really crap first half before our players can even be bothered to switch to first gear (and beyond). Derby, Cardiff, now West Brom. And Reading wasn't really any better.

[Daggers]

Posh?

He's from Switzerland.

[MC Prussian]

He's from Switzerland.

Any other interesting facts you'd like to share about tonight's game?

[Guest DavidJCW]

Well now that I've had time to sit back a little and sort of cool off from being totally and utterly dismayed at our performance, I can at least give a more thought out and less rash review.

Firstly, people who are still trying to be positive about everything... seriously, come on... things, it seems, are well and truly falling apart. I'm not one for normally being so negative and it wasn't long ago that I still harbored hopes of catching West Brom, however, after 4 straight defeats, some seriously poor performances and the fact that we're now just a point off falling out of the play-offs, HOW can you still be so positive? Yes, it's in our hands... but what fecking use is that when we can't score let alone win!

Today, we were playing the usual good passing game through the midfield but all too often we ended up giving it away with one sloppy pass or it ended up being utterly useless as there were no options in the final third. It's all well and good playing like Arsenal in the passing sense but if you've not got the end product and a back line as susceptible to counter attacks as ours was today then it's pointless.

All that said though, their first was very unlucky for us as it looked like it took a massive deflection of Morrison's back I think it was... the second was again unfortunate as it bounced off the back of one of our players heads to the West Brom player and the third... well... by that point it was over so I'm not surprised there was such a gap as we pushed for at least a consolation.

On the positive side from what I saw today, we are excellent at passing it around and retaining possession for the most part. Aside from that, I can't really think of anything else that was good... defensively we looked very shaky every time they went forward, up front... I'm not even going there as there was so little worth mentioning.

Very disappointing... VERY VERY disappointing. However, as I said in the other thread, we can lose this one and still make the play-offs if we sort it out for the final 5 games. It's just that 3-0 against a team that we so easily could have matched as they aren't THAT much better than us is just a tad annoying.

[colbo68]

Fucking pathetic.

What the fuck is going on?

Put it down to not being realistic, heightened expectations, the run off losses and poor form I don't know but i'm going back to being frustrated and wound up watching Leicester, 2 or 3 players going for the same ball, then 2 players clear to run onto a ball and they both leave it, the defence being in no mans land, for alot of the half I think we've had 1 or 2 players left in defence while the other track back half a minute later. Perhaps i'm being harsh, i'll but it down to frustration.

P.S - Despite being upset, angry, frustrated, e.t.c, Whether we finish the season (somehow) 6th or outside the playoffs we've had a great season, we've shocked ourselves and it says alot that we are this angry to be falling at the final hurdle, who honestly expected and thought we'd finish in the playoffs? Sorry for the pessimistic post already ruling us out of the playoffs with 5 games to go, but at this current moment in time I can only see it going one way.

P.P.S - I wanna join in following the "We won't lose 4 in a row" gang....We won't lose 5 in a row

I can understand the frustration because we have very much gone off the boil - however, we are (incredibly) still a point ahead of blackpool with a better run-in - I'm losing faith in Pearson a little - tactically he has been poor over recent games and the rot started when we let Cov sneak back in a few weeks ago.

QPR is a must win game - we need to stop this poor run before it becomes endemic.

Get some pace in the side.............................. drop fookin Oakley and get Dyer on one wing, Danny on the other and Nielsen out, cos he's the worst singing Pearson has made.

[colbo68]

I didn't think we were that bad, West Brom just had that extra quality in the final third. Howard had 2 big chances at start of 2nd half, one of them goes in who knows. Didn't understand Waghorn going off unless he was injured, lost any pace upfront. 2nd goal was killer, just before half time and too many players went for the first ball I think although not seen the replay. Dyer was threat, but maybe could have hit the target with his first half attempts.

QPR on Monday = Massive.

agree with everything you've said - the final third was where their class showed

[Guest]

But at the moment, we aren't creative.

If we aren't creative, why has Howard missed a hat-trick, Morrison blasted a couple of great opportunities over, King also guilty of missing the target when he should have done better, won a free kick in a dangerous position only for Gallagher to fail to test the keeper, etc.

We had chances. If that's not being creative, I don't know what is. What we lack is the ability to convert those chances into goals, and that is not a lack of creativity. I believe it's a lack of confidence.

[Anish]

If we aren't creative, why has Howard missed a hat-trick, Morrison blasted a couple of great opportunities over, King also guilty of missing the target when he should have done better, won a free kick in a dangerous position only for Gallagher to fail to test the keeper, etc.

We had chances. If that's not being creative, I don't know what is. What we lack is the ability to convert those chances into goals, and that is not a lack of creativity. I believe it's a lack of confidence.

I don't think we are creative enough - the first Howard chance came from a long throw which was badly defended, the second chance came from a long ball which was badly defended, Morrison's chance came because WBA couldn't clear their lines etc. We only created these chances by pressing them in defence, not by decent passing and moving, and we never had any width tonight to stretch WBA's defence.

All in all it was a disappointing and abject performance. I know it's still in our hands and we've overachieved this season, but in my opinion certain players (and possibly management) have got complacent and taken their foot off the gas. It's too easy to say we've had 3 hard away games and that we have 'winnable' games coming up. Don't you think QPR, Watford, Middlesbrough etc will be looking at our form of 4 defeats on the spin and thinking to themselves that they can beat us too? In this league anyone can beat anyone else and we can't afford to write off games against Cardiff and WBA as being automatic defeats.

We need to beat QPR on Monday now. Anything other than a win and we can almost kiss goodbye to the playoffs.

[Milans Foxes]

Right, I'll be honest and say I'm always a very optimistic person but am going to attempt to give a balanced view of the game having attended it in person.

First of all, credit to the fans today!! I don't think many teams across the country would be singing like we were towards the end and even after the game having just lost our 4th match in a row 3-0!! We put the Baggies fans to shame! Fair enough there were a few frustrated individuals showing their disgust but they were far in the minority.

So, the performance, in summary we didn't deserve to lose that game 3-0, whatever anyone says. To say we weren't creative to me is a load of rubbish! We were as if not more creative than them and they are known to be one of the most creative in the league! Weale only had one other key save to make as far as I can remember when Miller's shot took a deflection. We created enough chances to potentially have got something out of the game. Dyer blasted wide first half albeit on his weaker right foot and could maybe have done better when put through. Berner had a cracking headed chance very early on and I'm sure Howard had half a chance 1st half. We dominated them in possession for the first half hour, which is no mean feat at somewhere like the Hawthorns, Olsson hitting the post the only scare!

Two loose balls around the edge of the area later and we find ourselves 2-0 down, more down to the quality of their finishing than bad defending or goalkeeping. They have some quality players, Brunt, Dorrans (who has been verging on world class at points this season), Miller, Morrison (quality player) and Koren who are all capable of hitting a ball. Its not just Leicester that do not have this attacking power in the Championship, these sort of players would be the envy of any club in our division!!

So to the 2nd half, Howard (who had a great first half, holding the ball up and feeding the wingers very well) misses a great chance very early on! I think if he had just put his foot through the ball, it would have been 2-1! Then, not long after, it could potentially have been 2-2 had he fed Oakley having brought the ball down beautifully!! Then King unusually had a tame shot at goal before Morrison somehow blasted over. Then (maybe Wellens?) shot tamely when Adams was screaming for the ball in space! Fair enough, they had a couple of efforts on goal as well in the 2nd half but we WERE creating chances ourselves! Then we get hit by the sucker punch on the break, which was inevitable at that point in the game. Then Vaughan had a great chance as well before the end.

Other positives from the game was again Jack Hobbs and Bruno Berner (except for the back pass?). If, and its a BIG if we do get promoted this year, I can seriously see Hobbs getting in an England squad by this time next year, if not long after! Dyer was brilliant up until his injury and Vaughan looked up for it when he came on!

On the other hand, I don't think Oakley is good enough, Neilson isn't good enough going forward and Waghorn was quiet. I would bring in Spearing, Brown and Vaughan in for Monday!

So all in all, I don't think everything is as bad as people make out, we ARE creating chances and it wouldn't surprise me at all if we put 3 or 4 past a team during the next 3 games, all games I think we will get 3 points out of! You can't underestimate the difficulty of the last 4 games for any team, Reading being in great form, Derby regularly win at home, Cardiff away (where a lot of teams struggle) and then today (probably the best footballing side in the division).

So, onwards and upwards, lets just get behind the lads in the last 5 games of what, lets be honest, has been a superb season which has far exceeded any fan's expectations so far!!!

[RowlattsFox]

Just browing the West Brom forum and they seem to think the women that got chucked out was a Leicester fan

[lcfc81]

We'll be ok

In reality the only game in the last 4 we have been well beaten was against WBA

Reading: A last minute penalty

Derby: A freak OG.

Cardiff: A disallowed goal, an asualt on Vaughn and a resolute 10-15 minute defence by Cardiff.

While we've not picked up any points and that is alarming we have only really been outplayed once.

Our luck is due a change and lets hope its for the last 5 games of the seasons.

Keep the Faith.

[flanimal]

I expected us to lose, but 3-0 is not a fair result. We gave a good try, played OK, but our ability to create chances was poor. I'm not sure if that was because West Brom are too good, or if Leicester are poor. We never really seemed like scoring. West Brom, are the best attacking team in the league, so fair play to them.

Seriously though, the long ball has to stop, and some players need to just shoot, take responsibility and try and get a fooking goal!

[Mikey]

We got outclassed in the final third, simple as. Move on.

QPR is a massive game now.

[flanimal]

It's Ian Stringer's flipping fault. Ever since he said we were nailed on we went on this shitty form. I blame him and his cocky nonsense.

[Arkie Bennett]

The Baggies deserved the win, taking their chances while we did not. I don’t think we deserved to lose by three though, and I’m encouraged by some of our play. When a team scores a goal like the opener there’s not much you can do about it. We’ve been in that position a few times this season, going behind to unstoppable goals, and it's an uphill struggle. The second and third arose from defensive lapses. Was not impressed with Tamas, who is clearly prepared for life in the Premiership with his theatricals and elbowing. He knew exactly what he was doing when he elbowed Steve Howard, and I was disgusted that the Sky commentators defended him. The officials were inconsistent as always; we were given a free kick for handball (definitely ball to hand) near the corner in the first half, yet the same linesman (who looked no older than 14) rightly turned down a penalty for a similar handball in the City box in the second half. I'm doubtful that the free kick that led to the second was actually a foul. I don't understand how Tamas was not dismissed. It was an entertaining match, but the result was never in doubt after the second went in. I’d have willingly taken a draw before the kick off, as I think the Baggies are the best team in the Championship.

I think we can scrape into the play-offs. After being in the mix for so long it will be disappointing if we don't. We are in that small group that is the best of the rest but still a long way behind Newcastle and West Brom. We are even further behind the lower Premiership teams. As much as I'd love to see us win at Wembley and gain promotion, I dread going up and being totally outclassed. Very few of our squad are genuine Premiership quality.

[Milans Foxes]

Having just watched the extended highlights on sky, we should have scored at least 2 or 3. Dyer had 3 good chances 1st half, one hitting the side netting when he should have gone far post. And Berner had the early header. How Howard hasn't hit the target with his first one I don't know!! Should have layed Oakley off for his 2nd. Morrison, King and Adams could all easily have scored and then Vaughan at the end! Whoever said we didn't make any chances can go home!

Just watch us put 3 or 4 past QPR on Monday! We'll be fine, I can assure you all!!

[dandannieldanok]

One thing is for sure, I personally miss Matty Fryatt.

[Finchy]

One thing is for sure, I personally miss Matty Fryatt.