Turned a corner or papering over the cracks?

[Silk]

Although I am pleased we have three points added to our cause which unfortunately is one I fear of staving off relegation. A goal from a loan player many on here have been crying out is a waste of space, and want him to return to his parent club in the first minute has not convinced me we have turned a corner. Again we have been second best devoid of imagination, inspiration, and leadership..... Now this is gonna piss a few people off, but I support the Albion and will even if we go down or go bust..... Here is the curve ball, I would have happily seen us get beat last night if I knew Sami would be gone in the morning.....

Kick away, and give me as many thumbs down as you like.

It's what I think and I am sure I am not alone.

You're not alone, I thought the same thing. He has to go.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

I am not bothering to vote in your poll Bozza as i don't think either of your options are relevant, that was one hard game tonight and the lads put their all into the match. It wasn't pretty and on another day we could/would have lost, but we didn't. We rode our luck and got a result and i for one am proud of the effort the boys put in, their confidence is shot to pieces and it showed but they never gave up against this very hard working and physical Wigan team. We definitely need more strength and height in the middle and of course up front, but we can build on this result and maybe some of the Hyypia detractors can get behind his team and help them climb away from trouble by supporting them.

This. Completely this. Sami doesn't appear to have papered over the cracks in any of his comments and has only suggested that maybe it will give us some confidence on which to build. Very honest about the performance. We have and will play much better and lose. Given the way the other results went, it was crucial that we held on.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

The progress was we were not hamstrung by tactics. The problem is that we did not really know what we were supposed to be doing with the ball. We needed to control the tempo of the game but Wigan were the only team with control of the ball. Steps forward and a win. It's a start.

 

[OSRGull]

Guessing the 20 who voted turned a corner didn't go tonight as if it wasn't for the early goal then people would be slating the performance. Second half was painful to watch.

 

[wehatepalace]

Very poor again, yes a win is a win but if anyone thinks last night was the start of us climbing up the table then they are deluded and I include Bloom & Barber in that.
If Hyypia stays in charge we will be bottom three by Christmas.
We need a decent centre foward, a decent midfielder and a manager that can set a team up to win.
Oh and Burke out too.

 

[Ernest]

If we hadn't have scored last night then it would have been 0-0 and a worse game than Blackpool

 

[somerset]

Cracks.......no doubt.

 

[fire&skill]

I was close enough to the bench last night to hear the management team's orders to the pitch. They constantly call for faster play and for the team to push up when there's the chance of a break. The team don't seem to want to do it.

 

[Hastings gull]

We were, again, utterly awful. I don't think our defence is bad, nor are some of our forward players. But our midfield just did not compete with Wigan's and I think that is where some of our problems lie. We turned in another directionless, tactically inept and weak willed performance, and it was awful to watch. The manager has to go. There is no sign of things improving, had Wigan not been inept up front we'd have lost, they outplayed us for long periods.

It seemed as if the tactics were different tonight, but to be quite frank, I was not sure what they were. Wigan seemed to be quite high up with their defending, and I assume that the long balls to SB were in the hope that his pace would then catch them out -most of the balls were in the air, however, and there was no hope that he would get them. The second half was as dire as we have seen before at home and I don't think we ever troubled their keeper -let's be honest, we were lucky that they were so inept in front of goal -CW played well, but he did not need to be outstanding, as they hardly forced anything of note.
I take the comments that the result was vital and a win will breed confidence for Saturday, and this could well be true - but from last night and taking into account what we have regularly seen this season, I inevitably think that last night just papered over the quite alarming cracks. I appreciate that this is controversial, but a small part of me did think that if Wigan had equalised or even won, perhaps that might have hastened SH's departure and therefore been for the greater good. Of course, we could have turned the corner, but the evidence again was of a stuttering team and the win can only mean a lingering death for a manager who seemingly does not instil confidence.

 

[Stat Brother]

Two pretty poor teams- fair result last night would have been a draw.

How many games, this season, have we drawn when the fair result was an Albion win.

C'est la vie.

 

[Mackenzie]

Hopefully the win will install a bit more confidence in the team, which plays a massive part in sport. All those games without winning would have been weighing heavy on our players. Its only a small step, but its a small step in the right direction.

It might not yet be a corner turned, however it will have helped.

 

[Prince Monolulu]

I'm a glass half-full type of guy but that was worse than we played on Saturday. As the pundits would say, a win is a win and I will take that. Pretty standard fare overall though.

 

[OzMike]

Round the bend!
Onwards and upwards.
(I hope).

 

[Bold Seagull]

It seemed as if the tactics were different tonight, but to be quite frank, I was not sure what they were.

I was pleased that Sami is finally showing some tactical flexibility. I thought we were set up with a flat back four, 2 holding midfielders, 2 wide midfielders, 1 forward midfielder and a centre forward. It wasn't too far from where either Gus or Oscar would have set us up. We certainly looked a bit more solid at the back with greater numbers in and around the ball.

The only element I found really frustrating was when Walton had the ball, Bennett and Calderon push forward while Dunk and Greer go to the sides of the box to get the ball - it didn't work, and every time we kick it long we lost the ball. Calderon using his experience realised this and did drop to get it on occasions, but Joe Bennett didn't and we were very rarely able to play it out to feet. We've got to learn to do this as it's no good kicking it long with the height we have in midfield and up front. On saying that, Joe and Calde both looked far more comfortable with wingers in front of them.

Individual performances perhaps stopped us from looking better with these tactics than we did. Lua Lua possibly had his worse game in an Albion shirt for me, and I'd rather see Ince providing some muscle in midfield and we either sacrifice Tex or Gardner. Elliott Bennett looked a little rusty, but an incredibly encouraging performance for his first appearance back at the club.

I hope Sami sticks with the same tactics on Saturday. It was a brave move changing from what he has felt is the way to play this season, but it was the right one, and from my own point of view, I really feel we can get better from here now we're showing some tactical flexibility and simplifying our defending.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Whilst it is too early to say we turned the corner I am prepared to be more positive about last night's result than negative. The performance was secondary for me, it was all about WINNING. This is a team that is out of form and had forgotten how to win. For them to dig deep and ground out an ugly win in a poor game was an achievement for a team that has looked incapable of beating an egg lately.

Positives for me included, Walton's second composed performance, the more sensible shape of the team, the return of Elliot Bennet providing a spark, Gardner actually not being a waste of space for a change. Of course the performance was poor, especially in the second half, to echo LI's sentiment what else did you expect from a team that hasn't won in 12 games?

We have taken one small step on the way to recovery, let's see if we can build on this saturday with another win.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Well, good morning all.

Here we are, after scoring a really good (and early) goal, beating one of the teams near us in the league, and sprinting up the table on the back of it, another 2-0 win in the offing against Blackburn Rovers this weekend.............and yet there is gloom.

Oh, cheer up , brethren ( and sistren ). This is following the Albion, which is what I thought we were all about.

 

[jimbob5]

A massive test considering their confidence was probably still low, partly down to a bit of bad luck in previous games. Quite an awkward test as well because I suspect Wigan are hardly shrinking violets as they've shown over the last few seasons.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Whilst it is too early to say we turned the corner I am prepared to be more positive about last night's result than negative. The performance was secondary for me, it was all about WINNING. This is a team that is out of form and had forgotten how to win. For them to dig deep and ground out an ugly win in a poor game was an achievement for a team that has looked incapable of beating an egg lately.

Positives for me included, Walton's second composed performance, the more sensible shape of the team, the return of Elliot Bennet providing a spark, Gardner actually not being a waste of space for a change. Of course the performance was poor, especially in the second half, to echo LI's sentiment what else did you expect from a team that hasn't won in 12 games?

We have taken one small step on the way to recovery, let's see if we can build on this saturday with another win.

Seconded

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I feel massively more optimistic after the win.

It is crucial we build on it with another 3 points v Blackburn, rather than just slump back to recent normal service.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Better, we tried to win & did
Not tried not to lose as previously