Onwards and upwards

After more than a week of pneumonia, I'm back and will be back to full fitness in a couple of days and hopefully the writing will follow suit.

These last couple of games, and the days in between, have shown that sacking Big Sam maybe wasn't such a bad decision after all. Some claimed that having such an unproven manager might make it difficult to attract quality players. Some claimed that we were serious relegation contenders with Kean at the helm. Our current 7th position tells a different story.

Kean promised more attacking football and boy has he delivered. I am a fan of Big Sam's football and I think football is a man's sport. But I must admit we are looking more attractive now than before. With Olsson and Hoilett on the wings, Gamst and Dunn in midfield and a mixed front line, we are looking like a mean attacking force. The players are trying to exchange the long balls for short quick passes and they are adjusting to the new life slowly. This was easy to see against WBA where we lost too many balls because of sloppy passes.

The signings we have made so far are not flashy or big, but from what we saw last night, they are more than adequate. Although he didn't do anything incredible and was lucky not to concede a penalty, Jones ran his socks off, got stuck in and passed the ball well. The thing to remember is that he hasn't played regularly in several months. Roque Santa Cruz worked hard and was involved in several good things. He held up the ball well and set up a couple of good shots from Samba, Dunn and Olsson.

Player of the match could have gone to two players - Hoilett and Olsson. Both were immense! Olsson made several crucial tackles at the back and had a few good runs forward and was unlucky not to score on his long shot. Hoilett was a menace going forward with his blistering pace and good technique. He even helped out at the back. His goal wrapped up a great performance and he gets my vote for man of the match.


With only a week left of the window, I do have two wishes. The first on my list is Samba's new contract. He has shown time and again that he is invaluable to the team and we should do what ever we can to keep hold of him. Other than that, I would just like to see a creative midfielder coming in. It's not crucial and can easily wait till the summer window, but it would be nice to get an exciting talented player in.

Over and out - Onwards and upwards