Man of the match - Brentford (H)

[S36 OWL]

Fletcher for me ,but again , Big Dom was outstanding.

[Flat Owl]

 Went for Hutch...only him and Iorfa performed in both halves...

[nevthelodgemoorowl]

Dawson -   8 Confidence growing now.

Odubajo -  6 better but needs to remember to get his winger in his pocket.

Iorfa - 8

Lees - 6 stop spinning and passing you'll make your self dizzy

Fox - 7

Murphy - 6

 Hutchinson  9 MOM

Bannan - 6

Harris - 6

Fletcher - 8 

Nuhiu - 6

 

Rhodes - 7.5

Reach - 7.5

Luongo - 7

[brian joicey]

Finger hovered over the Iorfa button before going for fletcher 

[onlyonedavidhirst]

I thought Hutch and Iorfa were on the front foot all match and rushed Brentford. Brentford scored 7 last week, they were clearly confident and pass the ball well and these 2 broke them up. Fletch did well getting the goals, but I gave it to Hutch. I liked that he got forward a few times as well, showed a real passion to win today.

[nevthelodgemoorowl]

3 minutes ago, brian joicey said:

Finger hovered over the Iorfa button before going for fletcher 

Funny sort of game. I went for Hutch because without his first half performance we could have been dead and buried.

[Lawrie Madden]

First half there was only Iorfa, Fox and Hutch who came out with any sort of credit the rest could all have been subbed 

 

I've gone for Fletch for the goals and his sheer effort with Dom a very close 2nd 

[Ash77]

Dawson 6 

 

Odubajo 6 ok but just stood there for goal, stick him on post he can stand there instead!

Lees 6

Iorfa 8* standard 8/9, match saving blocks and tackles

Fox 6

 

Murphy 5 keep saying it he cant cross but as we've no pace up top could maybe play central to run off/past fletch

Hutchinson 7 better, knackered after 65 in a 2 

Bannan 6 quieter 

Harris 7 much better 2nd half, nice assist

 

Fletcher 8 strikers not in game 1st half but much better when nuhiu off, could have had 4 or 5 2nd half 

Nuhiu 4 fletch needs more mobility around him, yes 2 target men has worked ok vs 2 poor sides in boro and charlton but wasn't fooled thats the answer, we looked lg 1 dinosaurs 1st half. 

 

Monk 7 for key change made at ht to finally win a decent side, hopefully we've seen last of nuhiu with fletch despite the clamour and keep ignoring those iorfa at rb stragglers too

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Ash77

[bradowl]

Fletcher for me. 

 

Overmoon with win because at half time I couldn't see us turning it around. 

[oldishowl]

I would give it Hutch today.

Played them on his own first half and the ground he covered eventually told , and he was completely cream crackered 

[MA55 IVE]

Dawson - 7.5 Good distribution

 

Odubajo - 7.5 Played well and seems to be gaining confidence.

 

Iorfa - 8.5  Guys a unit and has a real burst of pace. His heading of the ball isn't the best however he makes up for this with unbelievable anticipation and acceleration.

 

Lees - 7.5 Captain steady.

 

Fox - 7.5  Didn't put a foot wrong and was very good defensively. Very happy for him as he has more than cemented his place at left back which I never thought I'd say.

 

Murphy - 6 Tried hard but wasn't his day.

 

Hutchinson - 9 This guy is unreal, his determination to win the ball back is insane and a pleasure to watch. Good range of passing and he seems fitter and faster this season. My man of the match 

 

Bannan - 6 Amazing how some people see games differently as a previous poster said he played well. I thought the opposite, quite negative with the ball and when he did pass forward tended to go to a Brentford man. Unusual off day for Bannan. 

 

Harris - 7. 5 Defensively superb, attacking always a threat and never stopped running. 

 

Fletcher - 9 Just pipped by Hutchinson for my MOM won some great headers, never let his head drop and is always a pain for the opposition.

 

Nuhiu - 5 I like him but he wasn't very good today.

 

Rhodes - 8 played very well when he came on and completely changed the dynamics of our team. Well done. Maybe when %100 a possible Fletch / Rhodes partnership?

 

Reach - 7 Positive substitution

 

Luongo - N/A

[torres]

Hutchison had a good game and I think maybe playing him for 70 minutes more often than not might benefit both him and the team as a whole 

 

I thought both Iorfa and Fletcher grew into the game along with Harris 

 

The rest worked hard enough but weren’t on it today 

[Guest LittleG]

Come on own up, who voted for Nuihu!

[Guest gizowl]

Hutch for me today, Dom was just what we have come to expect of him, terrific, what a signing that young man is, thanks SB. Fletch, Fox had good games, the rest 6 out of  10. Nuhui was below par but we all have bad days at the office. 

[the third man]

Think the two ball boys on the kop end deserve it for taking the mick out of the two Brentford players when the ran to get the balls when they went out

[HOOTIE AND THE SHIT TU]

I went for Fox because he was solid again

 

Iorfa, and Hutchinson ran him close

 

Fletcher took his goal well, and was much better second half than first

 

Other than these I'm struggling to think of anyone else who had a good game

 

We were awful first half, improved a bit second

 

But if I was a Brentford fan I'd be going home wondering how we didn't win that

 

Brentford's left back was the best player on the park by a mile, their right back looked decent too

 

Having said that, if I played against Murphy, I'd probably look good too

[frastheowl]

 

Dawson - 6 - Not sure he could do anything with the goal. It was a flat corner, which should've been cleared by one of our defenders. Other than that, he had another quiet game, and did everything you'd expect him to. 

 

Odubajo - 6 - He's got to be culpable for the goal. He just doesn't do enough to challenge Mbeumo. That said, I thought, on the whole, he defended well enough. Every defender was left out to dry in that 1st half, and they collective and individual defending ensured Brentford didn't create anything of note. 

 

Iorfa - 8 - Immense...again. To be honest, I'm getting tired saying the same thing, every week. He's just Rolls Royce. Strong and quick. He's a thoroughbred, and so important to us right now. 

 

Lees - 7 - Defensively, pretty much spot on. A little sloppy on the ball at times (when isn't he?!), and could've easily cost us a goal in the 1st half. But, like I said in Odubajo's comments...we won that game because of our ability to defend Brentford's constant supply into their very dangerous front three. 

 

Fox - 7 - As above really...defended really well. Final ball let him down at times, but linked up well with Harris as the match wore on. 

 

Hutchinson - 8 - Man of the Match - One Man Band in the midfield today...especially first half. Totally exposed by the rest of the side ahead of him, but pressed and tackled his way through Brentford's onslaught. Match winning performance. 

 

Bannan - 5 - Worst game of the season. In the 1st half, he was no higher than a 2...he was that bad. Both on and off the ball. Loose with his passing, and totally overrun by Brentford's highly technical midfield trio. Picked up somewhat in the 2nd half, and managed to at least get to grips with the game. Awful set pieces throughout as well. Bad day at the office, Bazza. 

 

Murphy - 5 - As impressive as he was last week when he came on, it didn't translate into any kind of performance today. Struggled up against the highly impressive Rico Henry. No change given whatsoever. 

 

Harris - 7 - Tough gig in the 1st half, struggled to make any impact. As the game went on, he got stronger, and much of our threat came down his left flank. Assist for Fletcher's winner.

 

Nuhiu - 5 - He just did not perform. Simple as that. Failed to link up or even hold up the ball to allow us to get a grip on the game. He wasn't the only one who performed poorly, but he could have no complaints getting dragged off. 

 

Fletcher - 8 - Went from zero to hero. He was as poor as Nuhiu, and could've easily been dragged off himself at half time. That said, he was superb in that 2nd half. Took his penalty and the winning goal well, and could've easily got another couple of goals on another day. It was a really efficient 2nd half striking performance. 

 

Rhodes - 6 - Had an effect on the game, even if he didn't make much of an impact individually. Obvious looked to stretch the game by trying to get in behind...but too often offside. Positive effect though, and hopefully a wee bit of confidence may creep into his play. 

 

Reach - 6 - Like Rhodes really. Seemed to improve things when he came on, without really having a great game himself. He does give us a bit more balance. 

 

Overall...

 

The old cliche...a game of two halves. We were utterly abject in that 1st half (defence and Hutchinson aside). No quality, no idea, no shape. Totally out played by a highly technical and sharp Brentford side. I said in the week, that if you allow Brentford to get the ball to their front three, you're in for a tough time. And in that 1st half, we didn't lay a glove on their midfield, Norgaard, the no. 6, had the freedom of Hillsborough, and as a result, Brentford's front three saw far too much of the game. It was a utterly unacceptable display.

 

Fair play to Monk. I would've switched to a three man midfield at HT, bringing Luongo on for Nuhiu, and looked to compete in the central areas and get into the game that way. But Monk remained positive and loyal to a 4-4-2, and the introduction of Rhodes had the impact he desired. But tactics aside, our attacking play could've not been worse than the 1st half, and although we'll play better this season...one thing this side has in abundance is guts and desire. That was the main catalyst for the turnaround. The lads dug deep, righted the wrongs of the 1st half and capitalised on Brentford failing to stamp their authority on the game when they had the chance. They are good qualities to have within a squad.

 

Also...I'm not sure how much he'd cost, but if we want to improve our full backs, Brentford's left back Rico Henry could be a really smart buy. Very effective going forward, and excellent defensively throughout (handball aside!). 

 

 

[doubleo]

 

Hutch was immense but I thought he was gone in the first 5 minutes with that tackle on the edge of the box.

Fletch was great, and 2 Goals, but I went for Fox. I think he’s going to be a solid 7 or 8 out of 10 player and end up being a crowd favourite. Just like Buxton, an iffy start to his time here but in the end reliable.

[SwellOwl]

Fletcher just over Iorfa.

 

Both players have been key to us this season.

[peacock1961]

Went for iorfa just ahead of Hutchison and fletcher. Harris not too bad and fox and Dawson OK. Bannan was shybo once again, I watched him closely today, he just marks space when they had the ball, leaving hutch with a massive headache. Awful and it needs calling out and it needs a change.