Just back from the game...

wanted to be the first this season to say that! ;-)

Overall, unlucky to lose... but certain aspects of the game reminded me very much of last season.

FWIW, 4-5-1 worked a treat against a very very ordinary Leeds side. Once we went to 4-4-2 we started to look rather lost and devoid of ideas... and not to say rather knackered too.

Croft did OK, and quite obviously not up to speed with the fitness levels of the rest of the team. Perhaps he should wear the next size shirt up! Think he'll do OK for us, there were signs there, but he hasn't quite got the speed of your average Forrest Gump.

Etuhu and Robinson. When they can be bothered, both showed some good touches, but neither wants to get stuck in OR win the ball. A few supporters round me kept shouting "skin 'em" when Hucks got the ball. However Hucks hasn't really done that since the Championship season. Saffers had a quiet one, apart from one pop at goal that flashed just wide.

Defence pretty solid when they kept shape... Doc and Shacks looked solid on the centre. Drury put some good tackles in and led the line well. Collin still looks shakey, gets caught out of position and loses the ball quite easily.

Gallagher made a couple of good stops, but he doesn't seem to dominate/command his area like Greeno... seems rather slow to come off his line at times. This could cause us to give away a bucket load of silly goals this season if it isn't addressed.

Earnie, unlucky not to score at least one of the two where he rattled the woodwork. He does need someone to play off up front though... too often found himself stuck out wide.

Nice to see less of the hoof. One stage in the first half we strung together about 20 passes, only for Doc then to hoof it wide and into touch. But we do need to be a lot sharper. Very little movement off the ball, allowing us to give the ball away far too easily. There's been very little in our engine room since Holty left, and that I fear speaks volumes in itself.

Leeds very ordinary, won't do anything this season.

Ref made a couple of odd decisions, but generally let the game flow.

Unlucky today, but still must do significantly better in the next half dozen games, or we all know what's going to happen again.

Posted By: Jim Nasium, Aug 5, 19:53:17