The explanation for my absence is quite simply I've just been pretty busy with schoolwork and I dunno I've just been feeling a little creatively drained recently. Like I tried to write a match review for the Reading game but I wrote about 10 lines and just lost all creative drive. So I'm sorry about that, but hopefully I will be able to do reviews for the coming games as oh boy we have a lot in the next month or so, so that's the basic explanation, now onto my thoughts on Paul Lambert:
Reaction to Paul Lambert's appointment:
To be brutally honest, I don't have a whole lot to say on his appointment. Yes he's former Norwich, but honestly as long as he lifts the teams spirits, gets us some results, has a decent January transfer window and most importantly keeps us up - I don't care where he's come from. I already have my full thoughts on Paul Hurst and his failings in my last post so go read that if you want a overview of how I felt about Hurst's short lived rein over the club. But i'll back him to get us back on track as this guy has lots of experience in both the PL and Championship so he could be great guy to turn our fortunes round - just like McCarthy did back in 2012 when we were in a similar situation. On the other hand, you could say the guy has been on a downward spiral since he left Norwich - but as Steve McClaren at QPR has proved, you can come back from as big a failure as failing to get England to a major tournament despite losing 7-1 early in the season. So that's all I really have to say when it comes to Lambert. Now onto the mini-reviews.
vs Millwall (27/10/18) (0-3 LOSS)
Well this was always gonna be a funny old game. By this point Lambert wasn't in fully as manager, so we once again had Bryan Klug in charge for this game (it feel like yesterday he was last managing us at the end of last season) The team selection was actually kinda promising, going with a strong back 5 with Jackson and Sears being the 2 front men. But to put it simply, it was a crap game in the end. I was hoping the fact that Lambert would be watching the game, the players would have a drive to perform better but no it was just like Hurst. No drive, passion or commitment. Went down 1-0 in the first half like usual and conceded 2 more in the second half - once again showing that even with a back 5 we are awful at defending. It was easy for Millwall to score goals and it was easy for them to go on and win. After hearing this game go down live on the radio, all I was thinking was "good luck Lambert..."
vs Preston (3/11/18) (1-1 DRAW)
First official game with Lambert in charge and wow we actually didn't play badly. Team selection was almost exclusively experienced players like Sears, Chambers, Bialkowsi, Skuse, Knudsen and Downes. The real surprise was Jordan Roberts making his first appearance of the season, I think that was a surprise to everyone. Anyway we stated and it was almost like a new side I was seeing. We actually looked like we wanted to win a game, like our confidence had been restored and it was great to see. We created a decent amount of chances and as a whole we were really in control of the game with Preston having minimal chances. Eventually in the 45th minute we had a penalty and Sears took it away no problem - so far so good. Second half we continued to control the game but by the 70th minute we began to drop off slightly and we were once again punished for not taking our chances and Preston went ahead and scored a free kick. No more goals were scored, but it was a really positive performance. Every player seemed to want to play for us, and I have to give particular praise to Roberts - I mean what a performance from him! My only issues is simply we should've won. I mean Preston got their keeper sent off and had to play 15 minutes with a defender in goal, but we never really challenged to get that goal. But despite that, it was a good overall performance and I certainly cant say the same for the past few games.
vs Reading (10/11/18) (2-2 DRAW)
And here we have what could only be described as a relegation 6-pointer. This was basically a must-not lose game for us, as Reading have been struggling as well. The team remained unchanged, and wow the first 15 minutes were insane. We get straight out the blocks taking immediate control of the game and just like that we were 1-0 up after just 5 minutes via Gwion Edwards. The just 2 minutes later, Reading who had basically none of the ball the entire game had a chance and guess what they equalised with an admittedly great acrobatic goal. But just 4 mins later we were back in front once again from Freddie Sears - you can usually count on that guy. After that the game quietened down a bit but for the rest of the half and most of the second we were all over Reading and we were unlucky not to go even further ahead. But just like the Preston game we took the foot off the gas slightly, and well we were punished. They equalised in the 84th minute and while yes it was a great header, it just so not deserved. We were all over them but I guess this game shows that you don't have to dominate a football match to score goals. The game finished 2-2 and yes it was a good performance, but just like Preston we should have won and we deserved to win, but at least it wasn't a loss, that's the good thing.
So it's disappointing we got no wins but the team is looking better and despite the fact I don't have incredibly high hopes for Friday since we play West Brom a team who went ahead and destroyed Leeds 4-1, I think we will give it a real go and get a least a draw if we continue to play how we did against Preston and Reading. Hopefully I'll get a match review of that out by this weekend, and if I do I'll see you then. COYB!
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