Disappointing. It's not gone our way today. Scrappy Birmingham, incompetent officials, and an inability to get ahold of the game. The Unbeaten streak comes to an end.
100 year Valley anniversary game so something a bit special. Could have predicted this type of result as it usually seems to happen with this type of "occasion" game.
Wasnt getting too carried away with our great start, wont get too despondent after our first defeat.
Well the unbeaten run had to end sometime , a bit of lost momentum over the international break and the loss of Taylor all added up . Still to be in 2nd place after 7 games is still a good thing!
Shit game all around. Might as well have sat down on the pitch during their goal, made it far too easy there for a team who were no better than us on the day. Bowyer must have had some choice words for the referee to be sent off. Utter useless officiating but an utter useless team today as well. Would Taylor have changed all of that today? Probably not. Leko frustrates me beyond reason with all his trickery. Stop over-complicating every touch lad.... Frustrating, but we go again
We were sluggish and they suffocated the threat out of us... experienced Championship side... should have had at least one red by the end and that level of shithousery backed by the officials makes me want to burn down the shed where they keep all their training equipment... utter wan***s
1. Birmingham are a mid table side that might get beat by the more technically gifted sides but they won't be outfought by many in this division. They played ugly and won - that their bench got involved with the delay tactics is evidence of their gameplan.
2. The referee had no authority over the game whatsoever, culminating in Bowyer's red card at the end. Not only that but Birmingham were given goal kicks when it clearly came off their man last as well as some bizarre stoppages of play which allowed them to waste even more time than they already had.
3. Bowyer got the midfield selection wrong today. It wasn't the right game for Oztumer or Field in hindsight. We should have started with Williams and Pratley. Not sure Field is up to it when the going gets tough which isn't a good sign when you're being asked to shield the back four. Oztumer is a luxury player.
4. Leko a bit headless chicken but you still feel he'll make something happen while Hemed was disappointing. I'll put that down to a lack of sustained minutes and coming off a long international break.
For the positives, we looked much better when Aneke and Williams drove forward with intent. The back five were also again superb.
We were poor, no getting away from that, but we also just couldn’t catch a break all game and some of the ref’s decisions were a bit odd, to say the least.
Thought Chuks and Kayal brought nothing when they came on, although I was initially glad when Chuks replaced Field, as I thought Field was our weak link in midfield. Leko May be frustrating, but at least you felt something might happen when we sent the ball to him - he’d hold it up and get away from his man pretty much every time, to the extent that they started doubling up on him. Chuks lost the ball pretty much every time he got it. Kayal didn’t look like the football genius Brighton fans say he is, but it is only one game (actually, one third of a game) Hemed was just a bit meh.
Not sure Hemed is the answer. Both sides fairly equal, both goalies made some good saves. Leko dangerous but, like Fosu, doesn’t always know when to pass. Gallagher outstanding effort again. Solly starting to look tired but played some good stuff. Williams made a difference. We could have won that with a bit more luck...
So - not all bad with Millwall losing to Blackburn and Palace getting hammered..,
Two even teams . We didn’t create very much apart from a great strike from Solly which Camp did brilliantly to save . Oztuma and Hemed were way off the pace . We missed Taylor desperately which is a big problem. Pratley is a better player than Field but I suppose we are obligated to play our loan players .
We were out Addicked today, I thought their 7 was very good and surprised when he came off, we huffed and puffed but were just slightly off the pace and the game petered out with farcical officiating and what pundits call 'game management'
Can only presume it was over protesting for a corner we didnt get
Someone on the Birmingham bench kicked another ball on whilst their keeper had the match ball (& was time wasting with it. This delayed the game. Bowyer kicked it back to their bench, & complained to the 4th official.
The Birmingham manager got a yellow card, then the idiot referee followed it up with the red for Bowyer. Maybe he said something out of turn.
This incident should've added another 2 minutes or so to the added time, but the ref blew up after only going about 50 seconds over the initial 6 minute time added on period.
The referee, & all of the officials were unbelievably useless. Some of the things not given in the 2nd half were quite astonishing. At least one Birmingham player should have had a red.
Purrington is a v limited player, field was poor, hemed couldnt get to pace, leko is so frustrating, twice he choice to shoot when better options were on, thought Locks had a good game, Williams was good when he came on, Gallagher is a class act
Just not our day. Brum didn't play particularly well but we just weren't up to it from the beginning really and we let them grow into the game. Their goal when it came wasn't a surprise to me.
I thought the midfield was very weak until the Williams substitution. Oztumer was poor. We just didn't have any width so we weren't stretching them at all. Playing out from the back we just didn't have any options so it was all very static. Certainly no flair up to 60 minutes. Like I said, Williams made a difference as did Aneke when he came on but the damage had been done. Birmingham just played it out from the 80th minute. Wasted time and basically disrupted the game. You've got to give it to them. They knew what they were doing.
I thought Purrington was weak today. He just looked slow going forward. Solly I thought was, in general, off the pace. As I said Oztumer was weak and, for me, was a major reason why we had no cutting edge. Birmingham were big and physical. Maybe not the best game for Oztumer to start. And, we missed Taylor. What he gives us is that he makes himself available so makes it easier to create attack from defence. We really missed that today.
I thought Leko tried to create things but it was easy for Birmingham to wrap him up as they had nothing else to really worry about up top. We never tested their goalkeeper until after the Williams substitution as far as I can remember.
So, just not a good day. But, we're not going to win every game although a defeat a the Valley is hard to take. But, we deserved it. We just didn't play well.
Still being 2nd feels a bit strange as we were pretty poor today. And, I thought the ref was very poor.
It's a weird result from all of them for this to be our first loss of the season but it probably evens out from where we realistically will end up so can't complain too much still sitting in second.
Ultimately if Lyle Taylor is missing there's only so much you can do to replace him as he's about as integral to how we play as anyone.
Possibly the wrong game plan against one of the bigger, stronger teams in the Championship. When I saw the way they played I was surprised that Bowyer had started with Field, who hardly made a forward pass today, over the more physical Pratley. Perhaps it was also a game for Aneke to start with Leko being brought on later with fresh legs. I'm not sure whether Taylor would have made a difference today; in fact it's the sort of game he'd have got a red card! The officials just lost control in the second half and I still don't know why Bowyer got one.
Disappointing but our unbeaten record and our long good run at The Valley has gone.
Won't go to bed until I''ve heard what Bowyer has to say.
Frustrating game and what I expected to see this season. Birmingham had plenty of gamesmanship and Davis should have got second yellow for a foul on midfield. Would have preferred to see Pratley and Williams come on. Not the ideal game for Aneke despite once good cross looked to be playing out of position and done little to suggest he'll be a dangerous player. Mind you he was a gamble. Hemed showed no pace and not much end product. Still a very good start to the season.
Comments
Wasnt getting too carried away with our great start, wont get too despondent after our first defeat.
Neither team stood out in a game that was dominated in midfield
Frustrating as Birmingham pretty much did an us - Got the lead and protected it for all their bloody worth
We were sluggish and they suffocated the threat out of us... experienced Championship side... should have had at least one red by the end and that level of shithousery backed by the officials makes me want to burn down the shed where they keep all their training equipment... utter wan***s
Thought we played well at times though. Jonny made a big difference when he came on. The two Brighton lads disappointed; especially Hemed.
Can only presume it was over protesting for a corner we didnt get
Thought Chuks and Kayal brought nothing when they came on, although I was initially glad when Chuks replaced Field, as I thought Field was our weak link in midfield.
Leko May be frustrating, but at least you felt something might happen when we sent the ball to him - he’d hold it up and get away from his man pretty much every time, to the extent that they started doubling up on him. Chuks lost the ball pretty much every time he got it.
Kayal didn’t look like the football genius Brighton fans say he is, but it is only one game (actually, one third of a game) Hemed was just a bit meh.
Oh well. Seriously peed off, but on to next week.
Thought we are good for a point. Referee was a joke.
So - not all bad with Millwall losing to Blackburn and Palace getting hammered..,
Oztuma and Hemed were way off the pace . We missed Taylor desperately which is a big problem.
Pratley is a better player than Field but I suppose we are obligated to play our loan players .
Thoroughly frustrating all in all, onto Wigan
The Birmingham manager got a yellow card, then the idiot referee followed it up with the red for Bowyer.
Maybe he said something out of turn.
This incident should've added another 2 minutes or so to the added time, but the ref blew up after only going about 50 seconds over the initial 6 minute time added on period.
The referee, & all of the officials were unbelievably useless. Some of the things not given in the 2nd half were quite astonishing. At least one Birmingham player should have had a red.
I thought the midfield was very weak until the Williams substitution. Oztumer was poor. We just didn't have any width so we weren't stretching them at all. Playing out from the back we just didn't have any options so it was all very static. Certainly no flair up to 60 minutes. Like I said, Williams made a difference as did Aneke when he came on but the damage had been done. Birmingham just played it out from the 80th minute. Wasted time and basically disrupted the game. You've got to give it to them. They knew what they were doing.
I thought Purrington was weak today. He just looked slow going forward. Solly I thought was, in general, off the pace. As I said Oztumer was weak and, for me, was a major reason why we had no cutting edge. Birmingham were big and physical. Maybe not the best game for Oztumer to start. And, we missed Taylor. What he gives us is that he makes himself available so makes it easier to create attack from defence. We really missed that today.
I thought Leko tried to create things but it was easy for Birmingham to wrap him up as they had nothing else to really worry about up top. We never tested their goalkeeper until after the Williams substitution as far as I can remember.
So, just not a good day. But, we're not going to win every game although a defeat a the Valley is hard to take. But, we deserved it. We just didn't play well.
Still being 2nd feels a bit strange as we were pretty poor today. And, I thought the ref was very poor.
Onwards and upwards.
COYR!!
Ultimately if Lyle Taylor is missing there's only so much you can do to replace him as he's about as integral to how we play as anyone.