Match report

Fortune returning to West Brom won't help their plight either

Having now seen the highlights of the Donny game, I am a little disappointed that Schmeichel didn't stop either of their goals. He has led us to expect better.

Hmm, well he has gained us plenty of points this season, so I'm not going to expect great saves every single game.

The first one; I think it is really difficult when a ball is headed down between your legs from that range, perhaps being uber critical, maybe he could have reacted quicker.

Second; it doesn't look as impressive from that angle, but that shot was right in the corner and completely unexpected. I don't think Kasper could be blamed at all.

If you are disappointed with Schmeichel's input for the goals, you must be furious with players such as Gallagher for their contribution!

You are right of course, KTF, if it were not for Kaspar S we'd be several places lower in the table. I guess it isn't fair to expect miracle saves every game. I bet he was kicking himself afterwards, though.

On highlights alone it is much harder to rate the performances of outfield players. Certainly the radio commentary didn't suggest that Gallagher was pulling up any trees - nor anyone else, really. Poor old Youngy is finding it hard to stay chipper.

Good report, Gloria. I'll even forgive you the bad language on a family blog.

The worrying thing for me, is that Gallagher was clearly partly to blame for both goals; poor defensive challenge on the first and woeful closing down on the second. Yet, Pearson seems to be suggesting that because he puts a good ball in the box on a regular basis (really!?), he may keep his place irrelevant of defensive weaknesses in his game.

It sometimes really is like playing with 10 men when we are on the defensive with Gallagher in the team (surely we have Beckford to play the role of someone who doesn't put in a tackle!?)

KTF - I think Pearson's right when he talks about Gallagher's delivery as the best available. I think it's pretty good. What we don't have is:
- Enough bodies in the box.
- Enough people gambling when in the box.
- Enough people challenging for the crosses.
- Crosses coming in early enough.

The actual flight of the ball into the box isn't the issue with Gallagher - it's the timing of it. However with players like Koncheskey and Dyer the flight itself is often dreadful.

Is it as simple as the fact that we are just not getting enough crosses in from the byline, which are much harder to defend against that the flighty crosses from the corners of the box?

I'd just like to see a corner, every now and then, absolutely smacked in to the middle of the area. Even if the accuracy isn't there and the ball doesn't get past the first man, they are much more difficult to deal with.

I don't understand why we don't have a runner from the edge of the area who attacks the penalty spot either. Surely this is standard practice??

Its the best available Dunge, it just isn't very consistent. I think its a mix of poor delivery and us being useless in the air. I think its a major reason why we arent in the top 6 when you look at how many goals from set pieces we score compared to others

I agree with that. However I think the main concern about our crossing is from open play - we never seem to get the right ball in at the right time.