Preston v Palace - Reviews and Ratings

[EddieEdwards]

First minute, Preston put in a dangerous cross from the left. Heart sinks as the ball makes its way ominously towards Martin on the edge of the 6-yard box. But he gets a solid head to it and the danger is averted. Perhaps tonight will be different.

Second minute, another Preston move down the left, another cross. This one's less dangerous as it's too deep and all Martin has to do is put a little bit of pressure on the Preston player and he has no chance of keeping it in play. But the Preston player wins the ball against the odds, nods it back into the middle and it's 1-0. No, tonight will be no different.

Second goal maintained our 100% record of conceding from corners. Price, who had made an excellent fingertip save a little earlier when Sodje was clean through, was furious that the corner had been given as he was certain that the ball had gone over the line before he touched it, but the linesman saw it differently. Scramble, panic, several chances to clear, ball bundled into net.

Preston continued to dominate but we got one back against the run of play when Jonny Williams, making a very welcome return and playing wide left in the first half, crossed for Wilbraham to open his Palace account at the far post.

Dreams of a glorious comeback were shattered almost immediately as Preston restored their 2-goal lead. Monakana's goal seems to have been widely reported as a superb strike but it would have gone nowhere near that top corner if it hadn't taken a wicked deflection off of Ward as he tried to block the shot.

Zaha and Moritz were brought on at the start of the second half and we played with a bit more purpose, but the fact that we failed to create any convincing chances and conceded another against a side with 2 points from 9 in League One is a perfect illustration of where we are right now.

Defence was abysmal again, particularly Ward, who looked scared witless by their winger, and Martin, who doesn't win headers, has no strength in the challenge and just gets his feet tangled up when he needs to make a clearance. You have to laugh when you imagine the expression on Warnock's face if he ever had a centre-half like this in his team. Blake and Moxey were less calamitous as individuals but the defensive unit as a whole simply doesn't exist.

O'Keefe looked good towards the end of last season and it's been a shame to see him on the bench for most of this season, but he did little to stake a claim for a recall. Wright was captain for the night and he never gave up trying to rally the troops but his actual performance was less than inspirational.

Great to see Williams back and looking lively as ever, both with the ball and when trying to win it. We need him fully fit as soon as possible. De Silva had a couple of good moments but failed to make much of an impression. Appiah was disappointing after his good showing at Boro. Wilbraham took the goal well and worked hard, probably his best performance so far.

Zaha showed class as always but quickly got frustrated again, got booked for reacting to a challenge and had the home crowd booing his every touch and cheering every time his tricks didn't quite come off. Moved from the right to a more central position in the closing stages. Moritz looked very classy again, hope to see him starting games soon as he could give us some genuine creativity and goal threat. Garvan brought on for the tiring Williams but the game was long gone by then.

That clearly wasn't our strongest team and some may view the game as an irrelevance in the current situation, but again the biggest concern is the lack of any indication that we're moving towards getting the basics right. Defensive discipline, movement, confidence, a team that coheres and plays as a team - these things are nowhere to be seen. Perhaps yet more additions to the squad will help, but it's difficult to see how at the moment because there are just so many different things that are going wrong.

[jamie12]

Finally rolled back home at about 6.30 this morning.

Missed the first goal, the second was never in a million years a corner to them. Think everyone was just angered and switched off, Sodje had basically a free header. We got back into a bit from that point, started getting forward... Goal was well worked, class finish too.
Their 3rd goal was just a screamer from outside the box, and the 4th was an excellent curling finish, nothing could've been done.

How both sides remained with 11 players on the pitch is beyond me... Their number 3 is one Incredibley dirty bastard and Wilf lost it a bit towards the end again.
Also thought Moritz looked a really classy player.
Major improvement performance-wise from Brizzle, which in itself is a concern that we still got beat 4-1 by a very poor League One side.

[Kirby]

Cheers for the reviews.

I'll be very disappointed if Williams and Moritz don't both play a big part on Saturday.

[Feather]

Originally Posted by jamie12

How both sides remained with 11 players on the pitch is beyond me... Their number 3 is one Incredibley dirty bastard and Wilf lost it a bit towards the end again.

Blake could have gone as well for that lunge on the halfway line after he mis-controlled.

[cdm61]

Depressing report...but well articluated

[jamie12]

Originally Posted by Feather

Blake could have gone as well for that lunge on the halfway line after he mis-controlled.

No way could he send Blake off after he let their 3 off after pole axing Ward (I think)...

[The_Professor]

Big love for those who made the trip up, as ever. Must have felt like a thankless task last night!
I would vehemently disagree with those who might secretly be pleased or relieved that we got knocked out of the League Cup: winning is a habit that it would be nice to get the hang of sooner rather than later, no matter what the competition/opposition. I am nervous about saturday because looking at the fixtures that follow it, we could really do with some points on the board.

[tommydes]

Any player ratings?

[Feather]

Originally Posted by tommydes

Any player ratings?

For me EddieEdwards has got it spot on. My ratings:

Price - 6
Ward - 3
Moxey - 5
Darcy - 5
Martin -2
Wright - 4
O'Keefe - 4
Williams - 7
De Silva - 4
Appiah - 4
Wilbraham - 6

Subs:

Zaha - 6
Moritz - 7
Garvan - 5

[tommydes]

Thanks.

[bubbs11]

I think the quote, 'Ward is as good as if not better than Clyne', will go down in history alongside Neville Chamberlain's 'Peace for our time'.

[Panther]

Along with "some Saints fans reckon Martin is better than Fonte"!

[Il Padrino]

Originally Posted by bubbs11

I think the quote, 'Ward is as good as if not better than Clyne', will go down in history alongside Neville Chamberlain's 'Peace for our time'.

The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage - Hirohito, 1945

[Billyd]

Originally Posted by bubbs11

I think the quote, 'Ward is as good as if not better than Clyne', will go down in history alongside Neville Chamberlain's 'Peace for our time'.

Did someone actually say this?

[Ruskin Old Boy]

Thanks EE. The report should be required reading for those with their heads in the sand.

[Sceagle]

Originally Posted by Billyd

Did someone actually say this?

Dougie said it at the fans forum I think.

[Don't_care]

Martin is reminding me of Upson when he came on loan. Was meant to be class and turned out to be a useless pile of shit.

[JDawg]

Originally Posted by Panther

Along with "some Saints fans reckon Martin is better than Fonte"!

Then they can have him and we'll have Jose. I'ld do that trade in a heartbeat.

[CrystalOrient]

Originally Posted by Feather

For me EddieEdwards has got it spot on. My ratings:

Price - 6
Ward - 3
Moxey - 5
Darcy - 5
Martin -2
Wright - 4
O'Keefe - 4
Williams - 7
De Silva - 4
Appiah - 4
Wilbraham - 6

Subs:

Zaha - 6
Moritz - 7
Garvan - 5

Is that minus 2 for Martin...?!

[Nigelbrag]

Thanks Eddie, good comprehensive report. But oh boy it sounds like we have problems ahead as our reserves dont seem good enough to step up. Also even more disturbing is the replacements brought in Ward and Martin seem well short of what is expected.