Toon 1 Bradford 2.

Very disappointing. We should have had a hatful but they managed to score twice from 3 attempts. Karelse was at fault for their first - he should have caught it but thought it was going wide so left it. So of course it hit the post and bounced in! :-( All our shots that hit the post bounced out. He did make up for it slightly by making an excellent save with his feet.

First sighting since ?? of Marcelino. Mostly crap. Good at winning the ball in the air then giving it to the opposition. Made one excellent tackle when their player would have been clean through but that was it.

Lua Lua was great to watch - obviously enjoys entertaining the crowd with his fancy footwork but he needs to learn to pass the ball instead of trying to dance it past the entire opposition.

Shola Amoebi scored our goal. I like this lad's attitude - he's not afraid to get stuck in.

An entertaining but frustrating game. We had so many shots on goal I lost count but the ball just would not go in. Among the 700 odd punters were Bobby and Mick Wadsworth (who nipped down to the dug-out a few times), Nobby Solano and Keiron Dyer.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

Answers

On this performance is Ameobi ready to partner Shearer/take over from Shearer?

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

It's very doubtful that Amoebi's ready for the PL. However, other than AS & CC he's the only striker we have with any physical presence at all, so we may have to blood him.

In the few times we've seen him, nothing seems to faze him and he is aggresive. I could see him supporting AS; however, it would be incredibly difficult to consider playing him up front on his own, say at the @rse on Saturday.

BTW, someone on another thread (De Builder?) suggested playing Speed in a Sheringham role, supporting the main striker - I kinda like that idea. Worth a try IMO.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

It wasn't me that suggested Speed in the withdrawn striker's role but it might be worth a try. He'd probably be better up there than Dyer as he'll give a presence in the air.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

The more I think about GS playing in the Sheringham role, the more I like it. He'd effectively be playing in an advanced m/f role, which wouldn't weaken the m/f too much, and he'd find it easier to make his aerial presence felt in the opposition penalty area - ie. he wouldn't have as far to run and would be up there more often in open play.

While Shery is much more of a natural finisher than GS, he couldn't really be any worse than any of the other options we're facing, and if it wasn't working he could easily switch with YKD in mid-game.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

It would be an interesting experiment, but I'm not convinced Speed would read the attacking game as well as Sheringham does. Speed scores his fair share, normally by arriving late in the box. But because he's never been an outright forward, he might not have that instinct. Let's not forget that Sheringham was a pretty good striker in his day...

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

Hmmm. Nobby and YKD both attending the reserves. Do we think that their trip to the pub on Sunday after the Liverpool game broke a curfew before the Wednesday match? "You two are going to watch the reserves on Monday, and if you do it again you'll be playing for them, permanently!"

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

Could well have been a punishment in a way. But did the reserves play that badly? :0)

Maybe we will see inspired performaces from these two on Saturday.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

GS = Sheringham, you must be mad. The reason why sheringham does so well is for precisely the same reason beardo did well, wit and footballing brain. Speed is no where near it. I'd like to see someone with some skills in a withdrawn position, maybe Nob if available. Itwill all depend on whether we can compete in Midfield and keep the ball on the deck, if we can't then it's big lad and flick on time from some hurried clearance......

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

The reserves had a good game. More entertaining than some of the first team performances we've seen lately.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

Thanks for your compassionate and supportive assessment of my wild suggestion, TM - made, I should add, in desperation of us ever having a no-compromise strike partner for AS - after all, it is only 3 full years now since Sir Les was sold.

It's almost as crazy a suggestion as playing Solano in that position! ;-{)

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000