Just back

Well what a difference a 4-4-2 makes! Much more organised, much more threatening and much more cohesion. I really hope this is how we go now at home! Decent performance with room for improvement is how I would describe it but plenty of positives.

Macca 7/10-quiet game for him but when called upon he made a brilliant save when one on one

Mills-6/10 did some really good things, but then made some stupid mistakes also. Can do better but decent enough

Osborne-8/10 outstanding, composed, won everything in the air and has that bit of pace too. If we can keep him fit, we have a brilliant centre half

Clarke-7/10 much better , won everything in the air and organised well

Dixon-6/10 did get better as the game went on but needs to do better and doesn't fill me with confidence. Still looks off the pace IMO

Dembele-7/10-good performance, made things happen and assisted for the goal

Rose-7/10 strong, mobile, adds energy and scored the winner. However he sometimes dallies on the ball and this nearly cost us today! If he can cut this out he can be a big player for us!

Berrett-6/10 didn't do a lot really? Kept us ticking over I guess but no threat going forward, gave the ball away cheaply too allowing them to break. Surely Clements, osborne, jones are better options when available

Wooldford 6/10-looked rusty, but a fairly competent performance and
something to build on

Vernon-7-10 must be a nightmare to play against. Caused havoc. If only he could guarantee 10-15 a season he would be superb.

Hooper-7/10 decent, held up well at times, looks a threat when he has it at his feet. Hopefully he can get double figures

On a completely separate note I cannot wait to see Rose and J.Osborne in CM together.

What happened with their penalty that wasn't near the start? JT on Hullberside said it was a definite penalty and the refereee was only 5 yards away.

Quoted from wigworld

What happened with their penalty that wasn't near the start? JT on Hullberside said it was a definite penalty and the refereee was only 5 yards away.

Never a pen. Ball was won cleanly and their player made a meal of it. Rightly booked for simulation.

Quoted from UFindusMariner

On a completely separate note I cannot wait to see Rose and J.Osborne in CM together.

So we've won a game with a 442 with a sitting CM and you want to play 2 attacking CMs? You must play a lot of FIFA or Champ Manager!

If we're playing 442 with Mitch Rose in CM and Hooper plays like he did today then there won't be a place for Sam Jones let alone Jamey Osborne.

Compared to the last few games "better"...........selection, shape, cohesion, work rate, heart, communication, desire, tenacity, intention, passing, ideas, away fans (on 7 mins) and referee.

Still a massive work in progress but as per the above today was much better in every department  I reckon and despite the odd scary moment the lads deserved all 3 points.

Macca -  Good if not commanding, why he does not come for crosses but is brave enough to go down at a strikers feet

Mills - Good game defended really well, if only he could show some more composure going forward

Dixon - Best game for Town so far

Clarke - Looked more assured with a quicker partner and organised well

Osborne - Top class, quick, good communicator and reads the game well enough to get in front of players

Rose - Again best game for Town, man of the match IMHO

Berret - FFS

Dembelle - Great attitude and added some really good touches

Woolford - Million miles away from fitness but gave it a go.

Hooper - Looking better each week and if he gets a run he could catch fire

Vernon - One of his best game for Town

Subs - OK

Ref - Best of the season in the league home or away.

Also good to see some of the Slade signings that the experts on social media said where crap before they kicked a ball or after a coupe of games do better.

Like I say still a work in progress as you would expect. Crewe gave us a lot of space especially when the game opened up in the 2nd half and if the side was further on it's journey we may/should have got another to close the game out. Additionally the focus needs to be about getting the ball on the ground which to be fair they did do better today but at times went long when players close by where available.

So "better" day at the office, well done Town!

UTM!!

P.S. - If someone can tell me what James Berret brings to the side I would really appreciate it as I can't see he adds any value whatsoever based upon today, when everyone's available we have "better".  

  
  

Your being very harsh on Berrett there. Almost picking him out for the sake of it. He had a good game today as they all did

Incredibly harsh. Can't really think of a bad performer today for Town. I've been trying to keep a log of the worst player to see who gets the blame the most as decided by the just back threads and today is the only one where I can't see a name nominated. In fact if anything it's gone against the trend today!

I am doing one for the MOTM too before I get accused of being negative!

Berrett is looking the part this season. He was excellent today.

We were so much better than I've seen us at any point this season today, we looked compact and very difficult to break down defensively and very quick and energetic going forward.

McKeown - excellent, made one really good one on one save and another where he rushed the player and pushed him away from goal. Caught crosses and set plays well. Didn't have any other saves to make.

Mills - probably our weakest player, he looked very vulnerable to me. He played their man in at one point in the second half and their winger beat him a couple of times. He looked good going forward often and made a couple of good tackles. He would have been our best player for the last couple of games, which shows our improvement today.

Clarke - best game for us by a country mile, very dominant in the air and didn't get beaten on the floor. He organised his defence better as well I thought.

Osborne - my MOM, made a couple of really good last ditch challenges and was completely no nonsense. He's unbelievably strong and much more athletic than our other centre halves. Didn't try to play fancy football but played simple passes and booted it when necessary.

Dixon- again by far his best game. Very good defensively, as I like full backs to be. He made some really good challenges and tracked a couple of good runs and stopped them before they caused problems. Not particularly athletic but can certainly deliver a cross.

Dembele - not his best game, looked very quick and exciting and can beat men easily but his final ball (except the goal) was generally lacking. Certainly a very exciting player and I'm sure he'll develop as he's only ever played about 6 professional games.

Rose - again the best game he's had for us. A good shout for MOM. Unbelievably energetic and fit, he won an awful lot of tackles and he's worked out he's an athlete not a football and played accordingly, so he didn't play fancy passes but played simple and a couple over the top as their centre halves were very very slow and Hooper easily did them for pure pace a couple of times.

Berrett - standard Berrett game for me. Which is not a bad thing. He was very tidy, kept in shape very, won a lot of headers for a lot of midfielder and was always available to take the ball from wingers, centre halves or the strikers.

Woolford - understandably rusty, showed some neat touches and ran at his full back on a couple of occasions, he has undoubted quality and I'm certain a run of games will only help him.

Hooper - another contender for MOM, ran their centre halves raggid and just before we scored he had one of them on the floor with no idea what to do. Strikes me as very much a confidence player and that wonder goal gave him a lot of that.

Vernon - showed that we badly missed. By far the cleverist striker we have, he makes space for others and holds the ball up well. A good comeback game In my opinion.

The subs did what they had to do, except that awful attempted ball over the top by DJ at the death.