Brighton Away post match 2-0

[StriderHiryu]

17 hours ago, Donut said:

 

 

We ARE moving in the right direction. We become a fluid almost 343 with the ball, this is something very unique to me watching us. Simpson was playing so high at times, ive really not seen that in many games. So it gives me optimism with new full backs, they will become a big strength of our team. Diabate was a good find. This gives me good optimism that Macia and Puel have a good handle on what we need in the summer.

 

Brighton is a disappointing away trip too in my opinion. A nice ground, but a bizarre location and a very lukewarm atmosphere. Chicken nuggets at a football match? 8.50 for a pie and pint of lager? sheeeesh

 

Only quoting part of your post as it’s a long one, but just want to say top post! Appreciate the detail and thoughtfulness given away days are games not all of us can make. Cheers!

 

 

[Guest Col city fan]

2 minutes ago, RumbleFox said:

The funny thing is we are on our way to our second best finish in 20 years and our 3rd best in about 45 years.  Under O'Neill when we finished 8th I was buzzing.  Where did all the joy go?  X

It’s just expectation mate. Winning the league was a double edged sword.

Along with the sheer euphoria of ‘doing the impossible’ came with the expectation (among many) of us ‘being there or thereabouts’ all over again.

This was never going to happen and ESPECIALLY with the transfer window of the summer thereafter which was possibly one of the worst (vis a vis the opportunity we had to really strengthen) that we’d ever had. Slimani, Musa, and Mendy (not even featuring in France) was horrendous.

To be 8th, given all this, is a superb effort really, especially as we’ve changed manager twice since.

[Donut]

On 3/31/2018 at 16:19, NotTheMarketLeader said:

**** off.

 

It was a terrible performance; boring as ****; embarrassing to have won that. 

 

It’s a win but this manager is not for me; far too cautious.

 

Puel out ?

And yet, we could have easily won one of, if not both, of the Swansea and Bournemouth home games.

 

So when people say these things level themselves out, there is an example

 

I take the point that for 60 mins, we were not at our best, but i thought the last 30 was exactly the sort of pass and move football with zip that were all looking for, with the introduction of Diabate.

 

Can we not just give something different a chance though? Puel is trying to improve us as a side, he needs to bring in i would say definitely 3 players and that would be two forward minded wing backs, a number 10 that can play with his head up, and even possibly a central midfielder that is more mobile but technical. Im thinking a Wilshere, or Shelvey, a well rounded midfielder.

 

But lets give it a chance, its early days. Puel's football to me hasnt been dreadful. Lets not groan when a player has the ball wide and looks to pass the ball inside instead of sling it in the box. Lets not groan when a defender receives the ball and rather than put one into the channel, he passes it 10 yards to a team mate. Lets embrace that they are sticking to their principles and that they trust they can pass to a team mate.

 

I think there is evidence the players are buying into Puels ideas. Obviously its work in progress, but it wasnt "embarrasing" on saturday, it was a hard fought 2-0 win.

[waylander]

On 1 April 2018 at 06:41, Guest said:

The match thread makes for fantastic reading, barely a toy left in its pram. What a disappointment it must have been for some of the more vocal bedwetters to see us secure the result away from home against a reasonable team, despite being down to ten for the closing stages and without ever being at our best.

 

Were we particularly good? No. Did we do enough to win a tight game? Obviously yes. 

He he beautiful post made me chuckle ?

[katieakita]

Think for all the negatives about us grinding out a 2-0 away win, cannot be that sad, when Shakey left we were heavily linked with Big Sam now he has made a career of shithousing performances. If we had got him we would have witnessed  one of the better performances of the season. We could also be looking forward to bringing in some over paid over the hill players SGE style 

[Gillies Apprentice]

I'm a bit surprised how negative a lot of the reviews are , particularly Rob Tanner's in The Mercury ,and thought we were deserved winners . The second goal was a bonus and an absolute treat for the away end who had feared the worst when the penalty was given .

A couple of points that I think should be emphasised ;- Brighton set up and played like an away side for most of the game ,our 53%  possession felt like much more and we were faced with 10 men behind the ball every time we had it , so breaking them down was extremely difficult , especially with Shinji looking very rusty and Mahrez being continually crowded out by sheer weight of numbers - the introduction of Diabete for us and March for them, opened the game up , but they only threw off the shackles when we scored.

They 'played' the inexperienced ref quite blatantly ,the yellows he was dishing out to us like confetti ,inhibited our engagement significantly and you could see the a penalty and a red coming . Even Danny Murphy on MOTD picked up the exaggerated dive by Duffy when Ndidi tackled him fairly ,repeating the process we had seen any times before. 

All in all  , whilst it wasn't pretty ,and bar from Kasper's brilliant penalty save ,could have been a loss ,it felt like we had deservedly nicked a tight game due to our all round quality and commitment - which shouldn't be underestimated. 

Any of us that doubted the squad's desire to secure seventh spot and ability to compete with the motivation of relegation threatened teams , can rest assured . 

   

[Countryfox]

4 minutes ago, Gillies Apprentice said:

I'm a bit surprised how negative a lot of the reviews are , particularly Rob Tanner's in The Mercury ,and thought we were deserved winners . The second goal was a bonus and an absolute treat for the away end who had feared the worst when the penalty was given .

A couple of points that I think should be emphasised ;- Brighton set up and played like an away side for most of the game ,our 53%  possession felt like much more and we were faced with 10 men behind the ball every time we had it , so breaking them down was extremely difficult , especially with Shinji looking very rusty and Mahrez being continually crowded out by sheer weight of numbers - the introduction of Diabete for us and March for them, opened the game up , but they only threw off the shackles when we scored.

They 'played' the inexperienced ref quite blatantly ,the yellows he was dishing out to us like confetti ,inhibited our engagement significantly and you could see the a penalty and a red coming . Even Danny Murphy on MOTD picked up the exaggerated dive by Duffy when Ndidi tackled him fairly ,repeating the process we had seen any times before. 

All in all  , whilst it wasn't pretty ,and bar from Kasper's brilliant penalty save ,could have been a loss ,it felt like we had deservedly nicked a tight game due to our all round quality and commitment - which shouldn't be underestimated. 

Any of us that doubted the squad's desire to secure seventh spot and ability to compete with the motivation of relegation threatened teams , can rest assured . 

   

Not so sure mate ..  for an hour we were poor and by then they had some very good chances ...  then a pen which lets be about right should have put them one up ..  we fought back and did indeed nick it ...  sometimes playing ugly and winning can define a season ...   but talking up 'the desire' and doing it on the pitch are two different things ...   soon we will be having our six pointer with Burnley and then we will see how strong that desire is ...    I'm optimistic (as usual) , not negative in the slightest, but lets be honest, eh ...   

[Babylon]

Not sure why it's a crime to say it was a bad watch and we were very under par when it was and we were. I'm not one to moan about performances particularly, but we were struggling to complete a pass first half, we were slow and laboured, the movement up top was almost non existent. 

 

The manager must have thought the same as he was livid on the touch line quite clearly. There are a lot of people who go over the top, as they have done about other performances recently that I didn't personally think were that bad, but the result flattered us here where previously the results probably flattered the opposition.

Edited 2 April 2018 by Babylon

[CosbehFox]

I don’t see how Brighton ‘deserved’ the victory any more than us. Created one chance from open play. From sixth minute we began to play with some zip. 

 

I hate watching us after after an international break because we simply play awful for the first 45. Most the players aren’t in training until late Thursday or Friday 

[CosbehFox]

Just to add; that’s Brighton fourth loss at home and the first non top six team to achieve that. 

[BenTheFox]

2 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Just to add; that’s Brighton fourth loss at home and the first non top six team to achieve that. 

They didn't play badly against the top teams at home either! 

[Fox92]

2 hours ago, RumbleFox said:

The funny thing is we are on our way to our second best finish in 20 years and our 3rd best in about 45 years.  Under O'Neill when we finished 8th I was buzzing.  Where did all the joy go?  X

I think winning the league ruined some people's expectations.

 

I'd take 8th finish all day long. It'd be nice to add another trophy next season (preferably FA Cup but have a good go in the League Cup too).

[Countryfox]

1 minute ago, Fox92 said:

It'd be nice to add another trophy next season (preferably FA Cup but have a good go in the League Cup too).

We got pretty darn close this season ...  I could smell the silver polish ...   

[BenTheFox]

5 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

I think winning the league ruined some people's expectations.

 

I'd take 8th finish all day long. It'd be nice to add another trophy next season (preferably FA Cup but have a good go in the League Cup too).

The only way I'd consider this season a disappointment is if we didn't finish in the top half and even still we've had a better season than I thought we'd have back in September/October time. 

Edited 2 April 2018 by BenTheFox

[BenTheFox]

Most of our fans would have taken 8th place at the start of the season. I think people are moaning because we're below Burnley and not Everton who have spent nearly £200 million this season. Think of it on the flipside! We're above Everton who have spent nearly £200 million this season. 

[UPinCarolina]

Diabate has to play more. That was a major takeaway for me. 

 

In addition, Ndidi has a tendency to make rash challenges - and I think he is beginning to get a bit of a reputation, which probably netted him his second yellow. 

[Fox92]

Just now, UPinCarolina said:

Diabate has to play more. That was a major takeaway for me. 

 

In addition, Ndidi has a tendency to make rash challenges - and I think he is beginning to get a bit of a reputation, which probably netted him his second yellow. 

His movement was brilliant. Albrighton slowed down every move all game. It was a good sub.

[KingsX]

6 minutes ago, UPinCarolina said:

In addition, Ndidi has a tendency to make rash challenges - and I think he is beginning to get a bit of a reputation, which probably netted him his second yellow. 

To this point, Wilf makes his living fishing the ball out with his quickness and Mister Fantastic legs.  He makes (and often wins) challenges other players couldn't.  Young as he is, I am confident he will improve his judgment -- and develop the rest of his game so he doesn't feel he has to be the best ball-winning machine in the Prem.

[An Away Move]

I never successfully record goals, but some weird sixth sense was with me on Saturday and managed to capture both of em! 

Lovely to get such a great view of our gorgeous fans celebrating too! 

 

 

[Stevosevic]

3 hours ago, RumbleFox said:

The funny thing is we are on our way to our second best finish in 20 years and our 3rd best in about 45 years.  Under O'Neill when we finished 8th I was buzzing.  Where did all the joy go?  X

This. 

 

Did people moan this much during the MON years?

[HighPeakFox]

1 hour ago, Stevosevic said:

This. 

 

Did people moan this much during the MON years?

The advent of social media has led to the opportunity for every opinion to be voiced, whether reasoned or the foul anger of the pub bore, the bully, or the lonely sad act. 

[Countryfox]

1 minute ago, HighPeakFox said:

The advent of social media has led to the opportunity for every opinion to be voiced, whether reasoned or the foul anger of the pub bore, the bully, or the lonely sad act. 

 

I bet you're the reasoned one Peaky ...   

[TJB-fox]

Big shout out to Gray. Only had one real opportunity to affect the game offensively and played the CORRECT ball in for Vardy to tap-in.

[Koke]

To be fair we are a bigger club now than we were in 1999. So naturally expectations are higher. Some of the moaners and OTT critics are still idiots. Granted things could be better but we have the best squad we've ever had + a decent manager + plenty of money. Things are great for Leicester City fans at the moment.

 

[Babylon]

1 hour ago, Stevosevic said:

This. 

 

Did people moan this much during the MON years?

Sadly, some did. They just didn't have the platform, some people near me used to do nothing but moan during the best of times under O'Neill. The football was "boring", players were "shit" etc etc... sounds familiar.