Stratvillan Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Grealish did a good cross field pass for the second. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 From what I saw (which was off and on of the second half) Grealish looked skillful but didn't link up at all well with his teammates. O'Hare looked quite sharp in terms of runs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 24, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted October 24, 2017 Stats updated. A hat-trick of assists for Reading's 29 year old Romanian winger, Adrian Popa, stuck a spanner in the works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 Grealish really shouldn't be on the bench Sunday ahead of O Hare. Does not look anywhere near ready from what I saw yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post OutByEaster? Posted October 30, 2017 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted October 30, 2017 Well, that was simply marvellous. There's something fantastic about reserve team football - it's like a little club, somewhere in that huge distance between Sunday mornings watching your nephew and Sunday lunchtimes at the Sty. There's the atmosphere that you can just go and say hello to a player, or a coach in the stand, or the bloke next to you, even if he's in a Newcastle shirt. I got to say hello to Peter Beardsley and I can confirm he's a very nice man. And then there's the football. In the first half we were an absolute joy - from the moment Newcastle gave the ball away direct from the kick off and we almost scored, we looked unstoppable. We could have been three up before the end of the third minute. We scored four in that half and it could have been double that with no surprise - in fairness, a reasonable reflection of the first half would have been 8-2, because Newcastle attacked a fair bit to their credit. The key to this is two things - it's excellence and balance - the two holding midfielders, Lyden and Doyle-Hayes were faultless, they didn't put a foot wrong for the whole game - winning the ball, hustling, protecting the back four, recycling it to the talent - Lyden's positional excellence and Doyle-Hayes simple, elegant passing allowed what we had in front of them to do beautiful things. In a 4-2-3-1 you need a three that can play - Grealish, Lansbury and O'Hare were mesmerising - moving the ball, rotating positions, dribbles, flicks, pass-and-move, there was a bit of everything and a bit more besides. Our second goal was my favourite, a succession of one-two's in tight positions allowed Grealish to weave around three in midfield before he played a little scoop pass over the back line to O'Hara - it was a little behind him, so he stopped it, twisted onto his left foot and with the back four headed who knows where popped it into the net - one to savour. In front of those, young Harry McKirdy was a revelation - to play with those three you need a quick brain, the right runs, good movement and very quick feet - he showed that and a really impressive burst of pace. There's work to be done, he needs to master breaking an offside trap and his finishing needs work, but he was exceptional tonight - and what's more as the others were gradually substituted he continued to look a quality player. Balance - Bree and Clark willing and able to get forward, Lyden and Doyle-Hayes supporting, Grealish, O'Hare and Lansbury weaving spells and McKirdy buzzing away up front - round pegs, round holes and forty five minutes of joyful football. In the second half, the referee initially showed none of the spirit of reserve team football with a slightly harsh red card for a player who had nudged his man over for a penalty and was already four nil down - however, he did recover that spirit about five minutes later by ignoring what looked to be pretty much the same foul by the other centre half - by then, you couldn't really blame him. If there's a criticism, we sometimes looked a bit positionally suspect at the back, but frankly that would be picky in the extreme. Good to see Lansbury back; he'll be happy with his 45 minutes, you'll be happy he's had his hair cut. Properly. Another good 70 minutes for Grealish that he'll appreciate, a flash of player with a future up top and one in the holding role who's almost ready to go - but the pick of it would have to be O'Hare who, put simply, belongs in the team that plays at the weekends, not the one on Monday nights. Mr Delaney and Mr MacDonald - bravo - another excellent team in the making. 4 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted October 31, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted October 31, 2017 Hey @OutByEaster? What is McKirdy's playing style like? Who does he remind you of most in how he plays? I was chatting with SGC who sees him more of an attacking midfielder. He seems to have been banging them in for a while now in the reserves. I do remember McCleish (I know, I know) talking about Weimann when he couldn't stop scoring for the reserves. He basically said there comes a point when more reserve football is a waste of time and you just have to throw them into the 1st team to see if they sink or swim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted October 31, 2017 Moderator Share Posted October 31, 2017 1 hour ago, TheAuthority said: Hey @OutByEaster? What is McKirdy's playing style like? Who does he remind you of most in how he plays? I was chatting with SGC who sees him more of an attacking midfielder. He seems to have been banging them in for a while now in the reserves. I do remember McCleish (I know, I know) talking about Weimann when he couldn't stop scoring for the reserves. He basically said there comes a point when more reserve football is a waste of time and you just have to throw them into the 1st team to see if they sink or swim. For me, he wasn't as good a second striker as he is a poacher - he played on the shoulder of the last man last night, and used his movement and his pace and it's the best I've seen of him by a distance. In terms of who he's like, it's hard to say, he's a busy bee with good feet and stronger than his slight frame would have you think - size and strength will be his problem, he's not the youngest here, but he hasn't bulked up in the same way as for example O'Hare. I think there's a future for him up top in the right system at a reasonable level, potentially here depending on whether he has another development surge in him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I think McKirdy may be the next to come through. Looks good every time I have seen him. One of those players you think might have a little something special about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted November 6, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2017 Finally back to it. Stats updated 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted November 6, 2017 Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2017 The boys are away at Ipswich tonight and 1-0 down at the moment. We could do with a win to give us a bit of control over our group. It's weaker team for the cup games than the one we put out in the league - but Bedeau, Cox, Clarke and Corey-Taylor are all familiar enough names - and Viktor Johansson in goal too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted November 6, 2017 Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2017 1-1 at half time Harvey Knibbs with the goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted November 6, 2017 Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2017 2-1 defeat leaves us with work to do in the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Thanks OBE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted November 20, 2017 Moderator Share Posted November 20, 2017 A somewhat crafty late decision to move todays game to the afternoon and behind closed doors - I'd just worked out my journey plan to Keys Park. Anyways, we lost 3-0 to Blackburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Thanks again OBE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted November 26, 2017 Moderator Share Posted November 26, 2017 2-1 win today at Norwich - O'Hare and McKirdy with the goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 Thanks OBE, on a Sunday? How do you know that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villianusa Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 13 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said: Thanks OBE, on a Sunday? How do you know that? https://goo.gl/P5hQCc Quote Experienced defenders Russell Martin and Marcel Franke were unable to prevent Norwich City Under-23s losing 2-1 to Aston Villa at Carrow Road on Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 4 minutes ago, villianusa said: https://goo.gl/P5hQCc Thanks very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted November 27, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted November 27, 2017 17 hours ago, sir_gary_cahill said: Thanks OBE, on a Sunday? How do you know that? It's almost like some don't check our fixture list Anyhoo, I note it was a relatively changed first team. Sarkic back in goal. Borg in after missing 3 starts. Finnerty's 3rd start of the season. Cox's first start in 5. Blackett-Taylor rested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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