Sheffield Wednesday vs Geordies - OMDT - Pre-season friendly

[Groundhopping Owl]

I was impressed with hutch, loovens and nuhiu tonight, thought the rest were a bit average. Would like to see a bit more of Contout, maybe against Barnsley on Saturday. I've still not seen anything from Kelhar to suggest he's Nyan good at this level but I get the feeling we'll sign him anyway to make up the numbers. Madine's good if he gets the ball directly to his feet but otherwise he doesn't look interested enough to me. Was disappointed with the Newcastle goal, if Kirkland had committed to coming off his line it would have been a save, but he charged off to begin with, hesitated and left himself in no man's land. Would have liked to see us give Westwood a try at the start of the season but looks like he'll be injured.

[Groundhopping Owl]

To be honest even though it was Newcastle reserve team. Two of their players cost them five million each who were playing. which is more than our entire 1st 11 combined.

Loovens went off we conceded.

Tiote looked good for them tonight but other than that I didn't rate them that much, their defending before half time was chaotic to say the least. That Obertan from man u is bloody rapid.

[areNOTwhatTHEYseem]

Yes he definitely needs service. That's what he was lacking tonight. I reckon if Lee would have played, Madine would have scored. He made some great runs off the shoulders of defenders but rarely received it where he wanted. Fair play to him though, he kept doing it.

And there's some major potential with a Lee/Hutchinson midfield imo. Hutch is on a different level to the rest of our midfielders. As much as I'd prefer him at CB to Zayatte, I really don't want Gray to play him there as he'd be wasted. Ideal scenario is another partner for Loovens, and a fully fit Hutchinson bossing midfield.

I was really impressed with Hutchinson tonight: he shielded the defence brilliantly, put in some impeccable tackles and was always willing to receive the ball and get us moving again. He ran that midfield, which is no mean feat considering he was up against Tioté. The difference when he went off was huge.

I don't want to bash Giles Coke again, but the way the two players reacted to very similar situations tonight summed them up for me. On separate occasions, they had both made lung-busting runs through the middle to get forward and attack. When Coke didn't get the pass he was looking for, he threw his arms down by his sides and turned his back to the play for a moment before turning to berate Palmer. Strop over, he then jogged back in to position in the centre of the pitch. However, when Hutchinson didn't receive the ball, he immediately turned without saying a word and sprinted just as quickly in the opposite direction so that he wasn't out of position a second longer than he needed to be. No drama, no finger-pointing.

I really hope he can stay injury-free for us, as he has the potential to be a massive player for us for many years to come.

[Captain Sl-OWL-ly]

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[Guest Maxine]

I enjoyed the game tonight some good points but the highlight for me was when I was walking in Llera walked past me and smiled. Made my night that did.