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Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Sunderland 0 11:32 - Mar 12 with 1705 viewsAntti_Heinola

When your next two results could easily look something like: Played 2, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 2, Scored 0, Conceded 9, it's quite important to win the winnable game in front of you. Phew.

1. WINNING THE WINNABLES: And that has really been the key to our season. While we have a reputation among our fans that we do well against the top sides, but falter against the poorer ones, that's not been the case this season. Our record against the (few) teams below us in the league stands at: P12; W7; D5; L0. 26 of our 43 points taken against those poorer sides. Hopefully, that'll be enough (should be, surely, now) to keep us up. Very few of those wins have been particularly convincing, with five being by the odd goal and only once did we score more than two (the only time we've managed that all season - an incredible stat), but points are points and the team and the management deserve praise for winning when we needed to win.

Saturday was far from the 5-1 joyride we had against bottom club Rotherham a year or so ago - but then, Sunderland are better than Rotherham - and they're at least still fighting. It wasn't a great win, it wasn't stylish (apart from one or two moments, which we'll come to), it could even have gone the other way on another day. But we won. Three more points. And, buried in the midst of what was often some awful, boggy football, was a small green shoot of hope.

2. EZE.
(Brain: Don't say he's the messiah, don't say he's the messiah, don't say he's the messiah)
HE'S THE MESSIAH!
(Brain: Bravo. (slow hand clap)).

OK, he's not the messiah. But in a dull, if hard-working, season, if I want to get excited about something, I'll get excited about it. I pay my money just like the rest of you. And I haven't felt this excited about a player since Adel. There are, of course, caveats. Caveats everywhere. This is the start of his career. Anything could happen. Plenty of young players come in, shine brightly, then slowly drop down the leagues. At this stage, if you have the talent it's as much about hard work and desire as anything else, because without that you'll be playing National League football in five years time and telling everyone about that time you scored a goal in front of 10,000 people and it'll be your career highlight. I remember watching Leon Jeanne come on as a sub and perform an outrageous trick on the touchline to skip past a bewildered defender. I remember watching Ledesma score one of the most beautiful hat tricks I've ever seen against Carlisle. I've seen it all before, and so far, what Eze has done means nothing.

But. I am excited, I really am. Because he has star quality, there is no doubt about it. When I look back to our title winning side, one of the things that stands out for me is how comfortable we were in possession. And specifically what I mean is this - when any of Walker, Faurlin, Derry, Buzsaky, Faurlin, Smith, Helguson, Taarabt or Routledge (our best front six plus Buz, plus the right back) had the ball, the expectation was they would keep it. Even in a tight situation, you would back all of them to find a way out of it. Back in our League One days there were times when only Gallen was in that sort of class. The player you can relax about because when they get it they know how to look after it.

With the best will in the world, we don't have a surfeit of those at the moment. Not that we have bad players - with the exception of Smith, most are comfortable with the ball at their feet, but Eze is a bit different. I'm not sure he was caught in possession on Saturday. Any passes he made were crisp and quick. Her is strong. He has pace. Crucially, unlike a lot of our team, he moves the ball quickly, which was the key to his wonderful goal. He works hard tracking back and yet at times he does that thing that the very best often do - they stroll about, almost uninterested, but then suddenly they get it and they explode. Because they found space. He has great control. He can shoot. He's direct.

And look at that goal. A Sky report said that he was lucky because Smith mis-controlled it. Well, I agree, it wasn't great control, but the intention was certainly there. And it really misses the point. I think Eze tried the same thing twice on Tuesday - a swift arrow-like ball hard into the forward and then, crucially, *he continues his run*. Oh my God. He continues his run. He doesn't stand still. He moves, wanting the return ball, he actually runs past his striker. Halle-fkn-lujah. And then the finish. Calm, cool, precise. He made it look so easy. And the players looked delighted for him too. I shouldn't get excited, I know. So much can go wrong. But I think we've found one.

3. RED CARD: There's been a little suggestion that we have been a bit lucky with red cards against Bolton and Sunderland. my feeling is: that's not luck. I remember our season where we stayed in the Prem - 11/12. Nine. Nine red cards. Know why? Because when you're fighting and scrapping for every point, you take silly risks, you panic, you get too up for it, desperation sets in. It's f all to do with luck. Any team that goes down will likely have a worse disciplinary record than a successful side (although of course there are exceptions - Arsenal under Wenger years back, for example). Bolton's looked harsh at the time, but was entirely justified when watched back. And Sunderland's was both a terrible misjudgement and, crucially, caused in part by the running and presence of the willing (even if things didn't quite come off for him this week) Smyth. It's not luck that the keeper made such a terrible choice - Sunderland fans told us he was dodgy, and he is. Games are won by good players. If you have players who are not so good, you'll probably lose. Praise to Smyth, who was denied a simple tap in, but poor old Chris Coleman must be tearing his hair out.

4. SMITHIES and the BACK FOUR: And you can't blame Coleman for that. While Sunderland's keeper made a mistake that was extremely unhelpful for his team, Smithies made one and got away with it. In a game where he barely had to make a save, it was odd that he should make any kind of error, but, uncharacteristically, he did. Usually when I see him coming out for a cross, I think 'Keepers!' and relax. But this time he misjudged and we were almost punished - first by a header, and then by Lynch seemingly doing his best to nod it in rather than over or wide. Still, he doesn't make may ricks, so we can't complain.

Nice for him to collect another clean sheet too - particularly as we operated with four at the back. We've barely been able to keep a clean sheet all season with 3/5 at the back, so trying a 4 has been well worth it. Furlong looks happy. Bidwell looks delighted. Onuoha looks comfortable. And while it was a tough struggle for Robbo and Lynch against Fletcher, Sunderland only rarely looked like breaking us down. However, I fully expect a reversion to 3/5 (closer to a 5) for the next two games, against two rampant sides who must fancy upping their GD a bit against us. Not sure if that's the right decision or not.

5. SCOWEN: Still with the defence, really, but interesting to see some people on here saying he was out of sorts on Saturday. I wouldn't argue that perhaps his distribution wasn't great (although too often he received the ball between the two centre backs and had no realistic ball forward to play), but overall I actually thought he did well. Maybe it goes unnoticed now, but his covering is superb. He makes so many interceptions and key challenges - most notably a vital one on the dangerous Honeyman when he was threatening to score in the second half. And I thought he did that really well on Saturday. With four at the back, he is so important in his position, protecting the centre backs, but he gets over and covers the full backs too, as well as occasionally trying to get forward. Not saying he was brilliant or anything, but I think we'd be a much poorer side without him.

6. SUNDERLAND FANS: I thought it was a great turnout from the poor Sunderland fans at the back end of yet another god awful season. I know we have plenty to moan about, and it's a bit of a cliche, but sometimes it is worth reminding ourselves of the size of our club, and then look at Sunderland, Blackburn, Bolton, Birmingham and many others. Portsmouth! Financial mismanagement and profligacy with money is far from exclusive to us. That we're hanging in there, dull as it may be, while dialling back those costs, is remarkable in itself (while acknowledging that this mess was easily preventable in the first place). But it's interesting to look from the outside. I agreed with their fans that taking off Asoro seemed an odd decision, particularly after one mazy first half run that could've brought a goal. But was still surprised by the vociferous nature of their anger. And then I personally thought Ashley Fletcher, while clearly worth a fraction of the ludicrous £6.5m Boro paid for a player with just 13 senior starts to his name last summer, was a bit of a handful all game - certainly more effective, mobile and dangerous than Smith. But the Sunderland fans cheered his substitution to the rafters. It's often hard to get a grip on the experience of fans at other clubs. Some fans might have been baffled at our cheering off of Washington last week. Anyone who saw our game with Derby can only have been absolutely flabbergasted that Rowett would leave Kasey Palmer on the bench v Forest yesterday. Am I wrong? Was Fletcher that poor? I thought Lynch was barely keeping control of him. But then I haven't watched Fletcher every week.

Still, the point was: a great turn out and good support. They'll need that if they do go down. There's still hope, but the way in which Eze absolutely glided past the previously fierce Cattermole, a man now apparently settled into middle age, shorts hitched up to his armpits, slowly following the ball around without doing much, was not a good sign. If even your attack dogs lack bite, you're in trouble. Bradley Johnson may be a sad, niggly, parody of the footballer he was a few years ago, reduced now to endless fouling and constant kicking the ball away to stop free kicks rather than actually playing football, but at least he's still a horrible bastard. Cattermole didn't even look like he had that anymore.

Bare bones.

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Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Sunderland 0 on 18:17 - Mar 12 with 1433 viewsterryb

Thanks Antti.

I was going to post about our record against the sides below us this season, but you've saved me the bother! However, we have only won twice when playing the sides above us that are lower than the top six. This is where we need to imptove next season.

I really like the gracefullness of Eze. His composure & the way he glides past opponents have so far been a joy to watch.
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Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Sunderland 0 on 10:59 - Mar 13 with 1125 viewssimmo

Eze's languid style will split fans at some point. When playing well and winning it's a joy to see a number 10 'playing the game at his pace', but when losing he will be called lazy and people will kick off that he doesn't try hard enough.

Hopefully as he's a youth team graduate he will be afforded a bit more patience and allowed to express himself, as personally I love these kind of players that are composed and can stiffly ghost past ther opposition at will. Can't wait to see him play more

ask Beavis I get nothing Butthead

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Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Sunderland 0 on 11:14 - Mar 13 with 1103 viewsAntti_Heinola

Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Sunderland 0 on 10:59 - Mar 13 by simmo

Eze's languid style will split fans at some point. When playing well and winning it's a joy to see a number 10 'playing the game at his pace', but when losing he will be called lazy and people will kick off that he doesn't try hard enough.

Hopefully as he's a youth team graduate he will be afforded a bit more patience and allowed to express himself, as personally I love these kind of players that are composed and can stiffly ghost past ther opposition at will. Can't wait to see him play more


Bang on. I give it three games before someone says 'he's not as good as he thinks he is.'

Bare bones.

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Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Sunderland 0 on 15:05 - Mar 13 with 1006 viewsTacticalR

Thanks for your knee jerks.

1. WINNING THE WINNABLES. This has been a strength of Holloway's this season.

2. RED CARD. That's a good point that you make your own red cards. However, the fact is that in both home games (Bolton and Sunderland) we didn't score until after the red cards. We are a team that finds goals so hard to come by that we need all the help we can get from the opposition.

5. SCOWEN. I didn't really see too many problems with Scowen on Saturday. OK, one or two passes went astray, and there is always the risk that a bad pass across the back or in midfield can be intercepted and lead to a goal, but that didn't happen.

Air hostess clique

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Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Sunderland 0 on 16:37 - Mar 13 with 945 viewsAntti_Heinola

Antti's Six Knee Jerks: QPR 1 Sunderland 0 on 15:05 - Mar 13 by TacticalR

Thanks for your knee jerks.

1. WINNING THE WINNABLES. This has been a strength of Holloway's this season.

2. RED CARD. That's a good point that you make your own red cards. However, the fact is that in both home games (Bolton and Sunderland) we didn't score until after the red cards. We are a team that finds goals so hard to come by that we need all the help we can get from the opposition.

5. SCOWEN. I didn't really see too many problems with Scowen on Saturday. OK, one or two passes went astray, and there is always the risk that a bad pass across the back or in midfield can be intercepted and lead to a goal, but that didn't happen.


Wouldn't argue with any of that, Tactical, although, of course we *would* have scored without them going down to 10 men if Steele hadn't handballed it ;)

Bare bones.

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