Official Matchday Thread Vs West Brom.

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

Good showing. Passed the ball well, defended well and looked solid, scored from a set piece and looked dangerous from them. Was impressed with O'Brien. Looks like a lot of defenders will really struggle against his pace this season. If he can get his crossing up to a good standard he's going to be a hell of a player. Berlin I thought did well. For his size he looked composed at times and held the ball up quite nicely. Wasn't afraid to challenge. Made a few decent runs. Just a shame that I think he tried a bit too hard hence why he made himself look stupid when he missed the ball completely.

[Batch]

Lucas was commanding and made a couple of good saves. Totally missed a cross good and proper mind.

Amankwha normal self. Mostly good with a couple of dodgy passes/getting caught.

Morrison was largely OK. Dodgy back header nearly let in Cox

Greer was Greer. Dominant and faultless.

Frenchy (never get his name right) did OK at left back. Quite strong on the ball. Will be interesting to see Cuthbert challenge when fit.

Timlin and Douglas both did fine. Good breakup play and some neat passes as you'd expect in a friendly.

O'Brien is lightening. Didn't get many crosses in as already said.

Macca had his normal preseason game. Looked quality in the most and put in some good corners.

Berlin is awesome. A great mix of physical presence and  comedy genius. The air kick was good, but the (what looked like) kicking his own head whilst trying an overhead kick was sublime. In between he tried hard and showed some good touches, but I have doubts over his quality.

Paynter picked up where he left off last season and had a good game. Needs help up top though.

JPM missed a sitter drilling the ball into the ground while unmarked from a cross to the back post.

Macklin - I don't now why, he was just OK, but I think he's going to come good at some point.

Marshall had a few neat touches when he came on without being that threatening.

All in all we had the majority of the possession and created the most and the better of the chances. There were one or two moments when I thought West Brom looked dangerous on the break, exposing our defence, but you'd expect a bit more from them.

Then again this is pre-season. We all know pre-season is not an indicator of anything at all.
------

Cox had a total and utter lack of service and started to look frustrated towards the end, he was dropping deep.

[reeves4england]

Lucas did well. The back four were pretty solid, although Amankwaah was probably the weak link. Mind you, if Cuthbert is any good it won't matter. The midfield did well today. Douglas bossed the centre of the park and we got good balls out to the wings. Macca did ok, O'Brien was lightning quick but needs to find an end product. Marshall and McGovern didn't have a lot of time on the pitch but did ok. Paynter played well too, but I think we need somebody better than this Berlin guy to partner him if I'm honest.

[jonny72]

Frenchy (never get his name right) did OK at left back. Quite strong on the ball. Will be interesting to see Cuthbert challenge when fit.

No it won't - Cuthbert is a right back and "Frenchy" a left back.

[Batch]

Pah, details. He or Amankwha could play there.

[glos_robin]

Happy with that, without getting carried away. Apart from the obvious striker problem the squad has abit of depth and variety and you can see why Wilson bought in each player.

Starting at the back.

Lucas dealt with everything and as I said about the Luton game how good is it to have a keeper that shouts at the defence constantly for 90 minutes, he had the loudest gob in the ground by a long way.

Both Centre backs were solid and relatively untroubled apart from once when Morrison tried to play a cocky backwards header that went horribly wrong and put Cox clean through who missed although to be fair Lucas closed him down very quickly.

Amankwaah was OK he has a habit of losing his man but generally is OK.


Lescinal seems to be getting better and better, he's a very good athlete, strong in the air and seemingly is very good at defending he never lets a player get away from him and even if they do he's soon back on their case, could be a bit of a find by Wilson if he continues to progress.

I say that's pretty much gonna be the back 5 we start with and apart from maybe Cuthbert slotting in at right back that should do pretty well for us.

Middle of the park Timlin and Douglas were relatively quiet but efficient and worked well together.

O'Brien had a slow start as you would expect this early on, but after he got to stretch his legs for the first time that got him going and had their fullback in all sorts of problems pace wise.

McNamee was the usual really, definately worth playing at home, away may be different and I wish they would give up on the 'clever' short corners. Everytime we did a proper corner we caused them problems, the couldn't mark Greer for shit.

Paynter worked hard but didn't really have any chances. Linked up well though and kept the ball flowing which is what he seems to do best.

Berlin ......well maybe I being too kind but there's potentially something there, he's a bit raw but he has the basic ingredients. When he wasn't trying to hard and kept it simple his link up play was actually pretty good and he made some good runs and is suprisingly good in the air. He just seemed to try too hard at times and snatch at shots and do stupid things like try and shoot from the half way line. It must be hard being on trial though  I wouldn't much fancy it.

All in all a pretty good game, Cox was quiet......had a couple of chances but I hope for his sake he hits the ground running and doesn't lose confidence.  Little things like kicking the ball around on his own during the warm-up seem to suggest that he hasn't really settled in yet either,

[jonny72]

Pah, details. He or Amankwha could play there.

Must admit I'm a bit confused as to why Wilson wants another full back when we've got Lescinel and Kennedy on the left and Cuthbert and Amankwaah on the right, when they've said they wanted to cut down on the squad.

If they've got money to burn they should push the boat out on a couple of strikers instead.

[Barry Scott]

I thought Berlin played as well as could be expected. He held the ball up well, was nicely composed and strong under pressure and showed some nice touches imo. I've notice a load of people critising O'Brien's end product, which i find puzzling. When he crossed, which he did with both feet (like Macca and like Marshall) they were bloody good, but that's what makes forums interesting, everyone sees a different game.

The Olé Footbal at the end was ace and during that period Marshall, along with JPM, Manky and Macklin looked amazing with their one touch Malpas sexy football.

[reeves4england]

The Olé Footbal at the end was ace and during that period Marshall, along with JPM, Manky and Macklin looked amazing with their one touch Malpas sexy football.

I enjoyed that - was very entertaining. We could rip some League 1 sides to shreds like that.

[westcountry]

Enjoyed watching a good Swindon performance tonight. Things are looking good I think and hopefully a few more signings to come including a good striker.

Can't see us conceding many this season back 4 looks decent!

O'brian rapid down the wing and macca had a good game too.

Glad coxy missed that chance aswell

[Barry Scott]

I enjoyed that - was very entertaining. We could rip some League 1 sides to shreds like that.

Unfortunately it's something which seems to happen very rarely during games when pressure and what not is involved. Which is a shame, because you're right. If we did that in League one, we'd absolutely destroy the league and piss all over it.

[reeves4england]

Unfortunately it's something which seems to happen very rarely during games when pressure and what not is involved. Which is a shame, because you're right. If we did that in League one, we'd absolutely destroy the league and piss all over it.

Yeh, players do tend to be more careful in competitive games. And it should be said that the quick passing wouldn't have been necessary if West Brom hadn't been hassling and chasing every ball down in that corner of the pitch.

[magicroundabout]

dissagree with Glos Robin on Douglas and Timlin. I thought they were solid tonight. Linked up extremely well and was always there for a pass back and to tidy up the lose ball from the fowards. Very impressed with that pairing.

Paynter worked his socj off and Umbongo i thought did well. Trying too hard at times but maybe there is something there?

All in all was a good run out. Should have had a pound on the goal as i called it before the corner was taken.

[ibelieveinmrreeves]

Cheers for all this btw guys, I couldn't make it tonight but it's always useful to read everyone else's thoughts and opinions.

Even if some of them are complete shite . Looking forward to seeing the new boys in action.

[westcountry]

dissagree with Batch on Douglas and Timlin. I thought they were solid tonight. Linked up extremely well and was always there for a pass back and to tidy up the lose ball from the fowards. Very impressed with that pairing.

Paynter worked his socj off and Umbongo i thought did well. Trying too hard at times but maybe there is something there?

All in all was a good run out. Should have had a pound on the goal as i called it before the corner was taken.

I think yes there might be something there for umbongo, give him time and things will turn out well. But even If he is signed up, we need another decent striker