We were dreadful in the first half, centre backs aside. We needed to get the ball down and pass to feet because of the wind but kept dinking it up, heading it around, and hanging goal kicks in the air. Unable to spread the play, Stewart and Brady out wide weren’t seeing the ball.

We were lucky not to be behind at the break – how did McKenna make those two goal-line clearances? – and had the half gone on any longer we would have conceded.

Barmby obviously did his stuff at half time. We were smarter in the second half and stopped gifting Reading chances to attack.

Stewart didn’t look interested – perhaps he’d taken a knock – and was rightly taken off. Fryatt set up the goal nicely.

The law might be daft but I think it’s clear officials aren’t supposed to flag until an offside player touches the ball or impedes an opponent. Accept it and play to the whistle. Although, I doubt Ian Harte could track Brady if he’d wanted to – great set piece deliveries all day but he can’t run.

Very calm finish by Brady. I thought he was going to try rounding the keeper but he had the composure to get a shot away instead. The boy can make a decision after all!

Josh King looked both big and quick, a useful player to have in.

I suppose we were lucky Reading were missing their best players as they’d have punished us in the first half.

There were elements of poor defending in all of the first four goals. They didn’t come from periods of pressure on goal. Koren’s was a trademark strike though with only enough time left for Watford to kick off again and hear the final whistle. They didn’t kill quite enough time celebrating their two goals as it turned out.

Two red cards not shown merit discussion, probably by those who had a better view than I did. McLean got booked for a tackle in the North-East corner of the pitch. It looked like he took the ball, but if he’s gone in with two feet off the ground that’s irrelevant, it should be a red card. However, those in the East Stand will have seen better than I how he went into the tackle.

The other happened right in front of the dugouts when their midfielder took two kicks at Corry Evans. The ref took a while on the scene of the incident, though I’m not sure if it was Evans, the fourth official, or an assistant in his ear-piece he was consulting before restarting play without even talking to the instigator. Evans was then substituted. I don’t understand how that wasn’t violent conduct if the ref saw it.

Otherwise a pretty drab match full of mistakes. Both teams were repeatedly losing the ball, save for a few slick moves by City that generally broke down before getting near goal.

As for some individual performances, good for the strikers to both get a goal, hopefully they can kick on now. Basso was faultless. Brady remains as he was: superbly skillful but lacking end product, usually putting a low-risk shot wide or at the keeper. Developing Cameron Stewart for the long term would seem a better idea when he’s fit, and I hope Richard Garcia makes it back too. Adebola wasn’t much use when he came on as balls were played in front of him. Given that he can’t really run, that’s no good. We saw against Blackpool on the opening day what a useful link-up player he can be, but he needs the ball played direct.

Peter Gulacsi (5) – His kicking was poor. When it was accurate, it was aimed at the wrong target. Also came flapping at a cross that very nearly ended up in the net. Couldn’t have done anything about the goal.

Liam Rosenior (7) – Showed his willingness and ability to take players on – including one great disguised knock past his opponent – until taking a knock.

Joe Dudgeon (7) – Solid in the tackle, punched above his weight in the air, and a useful support to attacks down the left. Seems in tandem with Brady.

Jack Hobbs (6) – Made a good block to a shot, as he did many times last season.

James Chester (6)

Robert Koren (6) – Some intricate moments in the first half but quiet in the second, having switched to the left.

Robert Brady (8) – Terrorises his opponents, capable of beating his man in any situation, and has end product to go with it. His race down the right and low cross in front of goal was one of the match’s attacking highlights and his tackle at the start of the second half was a defensive highlight.

Paul McKenna (6) – Played a good through ball for Fryatt and got in a good position himself. Struggled to command the centre of the park though faced with Blackpool’s three in midfield.

Tom Cairney (7) – Started the match very well showing his great touch, linking up well with his fellow attackers, and of course having a great shot with the free kick. I hope there’s the patience for him to fulfil his potential, and this year we have other players to come in when the heat needs to come off him or when situations call for the jobs Cairney isn’t made for.

Matty Fryatt (6) – He’s getting in the right positions and gambling to get there, but his shooting let him down.

Dele Adebola (7) – Links up well with his teammates and gives them the opportunities. Has a better touch than most would expect and hopefully our players will continue to play to his feet instead of in the air.

Subs

Nick Barmby (6) – Unlucky with a couple of chances that just evaded him but he should have scored from the rebound to Fryatt’s blocked shot.

Jay Simpson (6) – Fashioned a chance for himself and curled a good shot just the wrong side of the post, but the one-on-one in stoppage time should be his bread and butter.

I was impressed by City’s style of play last night. We kept the ball down and played it around neatly. At times it was given away sloppily but this was the first game of the season and should only improve. Blackpool were the same.

When it had been worked forwards, we had the flair to try making something happen. Cairney showed his twinkle-toes a couple of times. Brady has a bag full of tricks. Rosenior and Dudgeon offer great support. Even McKenna was involved in two great chances, playing a great through ball for Fryatt and making a run from deep himself before going over on the edge of the box.

As for the front two, it’s a combination you can see getting goals. Adebola does a very useful job and hopefully shut up a few people who assumed he’s just there for the ball to hit his head: he’s got feet as well. He played a great pass to put through Fryatt, wrongly flagged offside, and also laid it off on the edge of the box whilst shielding defenders from Fryatt who couldn’t quite time his shot right.

Fryatt was frustrating but that showed he was in the game and gambling to make a chance for himself. That’s often going to result in going offside or moves breaking down, but it only needs to come off once to become a goal. Or at least it should. Fryatt was through on goal twice in the second half but both times didn’t show his usual ruthlessness. He doesn’t need to change what he’s doing, he just needs not to think and do what usually comes naturally.

Regarding the substitutes, Barmby should have done better with the rebound to one of those two Fryatt chances, but he was unlucky a couple of times that chances just evaded him. Simpson didn’t have long but shouldn’t have needed more than the one clear chance he did have, when his one-on-one in injury time found the South Stand seats instead of the back of the net. Early season rustiness maybe, but that lasted much too long last year. He might not get so much time to find his feet this season.

And it was ever thus that when you repeatedly fail to take your chances, the opposition takes theirs. Certainly no rustiness to Gary Taylor-Fletcher whose finish was perfect, the one moment of great technique in front of goal winning the game. He told the Sky Sports reporter after the game that he’d been the target of some nasty comments – although what anyone could think to come up with about the 19-year-old Gary Fletcher’s first five league appearances in 2001 is beyond me – and he was glad to retort with that goal. We could have no answer to that.

There was a lot about the performance to convince that we’re going in the right direction. However, this division has too many strong teams in it – Blackpool included – to afford many slip-ups. If we aspire to be in the top six, we’ll need to get in the race early on because the late charge we went on last season will be harder to do this time.

Macclesfield on Tuesday will be a good chance for Fryatt and Simpson to banish those misses from their memories and get their accounts open, so that if chances are harder to come by at Ipswich and Leeds, they’ll be ready to take them.

One hour and fifty-five minutes. That’s how long it took for me to be sick of football. At least cricket and tennis don’t leave you feeling sick. It wasn’t a pretty performance by Hull City, in fact some of it was downright awful, but I still left the KC wondering how the hell we managed to lose.

Line-up: Gulacsi; Rosenior, Dudgeon, Chester, Hobbs ©; Koren, Brady, McKenna, Cairney; Adebola, Fryatt.

After a breathless opening ten minutes, the game settled into a pattern. High on endeavour, low on quality. City looking more likely to threaten but Blackpool taking a stranglehold on the midfield and making their extra man count. We pressed them and they gave up possession easily. Grandin was awful, he was most guilty, but their full-back’s and Keith Southern looked like “Olly” had told them that anyone could pass like Charlie Adam and that they should give it a go. So we were given the ball time and time again. We kept giving it back. Nigel Pearson will be missing clumps of hair tomorrow, I’m sure. They kept coughing up possession and we just handed it back.

I didn’t agree with the midfield selection. This isn’t hindsight, I twittered before the game. In my opinion, it should have been Evans in the middle with McKenna. I can understand the thinking behind Cairney, he’s had a great pre-season and you’d think that at home, when you are playing two wide players, he’ll be the one to pick them out. It didn’t work out though. He showed flashes of brilliance but he’s not tough enough to stand up against guys like Southern and Ferguson. It was made worse by the fact that they had Grandin floating around and Phillips dropping deep. We were outnumbered. At the very least Evans should have been introduced at half time to match up to them. Brady and Koren were both seriously ineffective first half, one could have been sacrificed or even Adebola.

Chances were at a premium in the first half. Cairney smacked a free-kick against the post from a ridiculous distance after Adebola and found Koren beautifully and he’d been bundled over. It was an incredible hit from TC and deserved more luck. With half time approaching Hobbs gave them the ball and Taylor-Fletcher fed Phillips who cracked the outside of our post. Chances really were that sparse. Both defences were on top but there was a real lack of quality around the box too. Adebola had a decent first half with some decent lay-off’s and sensible passes. He met his match in the air against Ian Evatt.

Adebola only lasted a minute of the second half. He didn’t get up after an innocuous looking fall so I suspect he was struggling at half time. Blackpool had already had a golden chance by that point, strolling through our defence, whose heads were still in the dressing room, and Grandin would have gone in on goal if not for a wonderful tackle by Robbie Brady. They nearly scored a few minutes later from a nothing free-kick into the box that Gulacsi came out for and got nowhere near. Their header dropped wide of an empty goal. It wasn’t the only time he missed a cross which is worrying but not as frustrating as watching him boot the ball high into the air for the twin towers, Matty Fryatt and Nick Barmby, to try and win. He’s got a touch of the Guzan’s about him.

After that, we clawed our way back in and the game was defined by a mental ten minute period. From nowhere, McKenna slid the ball from midfield to Fryatt who broke their stupidly high line and raced in on goal. He hit the point where a shot was wise and kept going and going until Baptiste nicked the ball off his toe. Then Brady picked the ball up on half way and lit the after burners, his race with Crainey was like watching a donkey race in the Epsom Derby. He put a tremendous low cross in with his right foot but Nick Barmby, clever as ever, made the right run but found himself 6 inches short of connecting. McKenna was put through but knocked over on the edge of the box. Should’ve been a free-kick, even though he wasn’t reaching the ball. The contact was deliberate. Then Cairney skips past two in midfield and slides the ball through, Fryatt latches onto it again and hesitates again allowing Gilks to smother his shot. Fryatt then leaves their defence for dead and slides across goal but Koren is a foot or two short this time. Finally Brady gives Crainey and Southern the run around and slides across for Cairney whose shot is blocked at the near post. A breathless spell.

Football is so, so boring in its predictability. If you miss a load of chances, you know exactly what happens. They go up the other end, work a nice move, play the ball over the top and Gary Taylor-Fletcher lashes the ball into the top corner. Probably the only time in the game that Dudgeon didn’t have Taylor-Fletcher tucked up in his back pocket. We weren’t equalising. It wasn’t our night. Fryatt went through for a third time and let them get in a last ditch tackle. Then Simpson, on for McKenna, went clean through and spooned the ball into row G of the South Stand.

I know pre-season is meaningless but considering ours was flawless; I didn’t really want to believe it. It’s true though. There were times in the first half when we looked like strangers, not guys who’d played 4 games together in the past month and spent a bunch of time on the training ground. Fryatt was sharp and quick last week and cumbersome tonight. Jack Hobbs looked hurried on the ball and unsure without it. Robert Koren, who’d pulled the strings throughout the practice matches, was MIA tonight.

It took Robbie Brady a while to get into the game, some of his first half work was school playground stuff, but once he’d come to terms with it he lit up the place. His ability to pick a ball at speed was very impressive. Liam Rosenior got at them in the first half but rarely went forward after the break. He looked to be limping at one point, which could be connected. Dudgeon is a little diamond in the rough, positioning was mostly sound, wasn’t afraid to make decisions, for himself and others, and was booked for flying into a challenge. He handled Taylor-Fletcher’s aerial threat easily. He looked poor on his right side; I think I’d prefer him to play one-footed until he’s worked on it. Lessons from Daws please! Chester was sound defensively but tried playing passes that a) he’s not capable of and b) there was no need to make.

McKenna showed plenty of fight but was fighting one against three at times. Cairney showed that he’s capable of something out of the ordinary but not capable of the ordinary. The stuff you’ve got to do for 90 minutes if you want to play central midfield. I still think he’s a luxury. Some won’t agree, that’s their right, but I think if you want to play 4 attacking players and attacking wing backs, you build a solid base in midfield. Disappointed too in Fryatt and Simpson. Fryatt was the one player I was sure we could rely on and he was way below par. Simpson’s on the outside looking in. He’s got to take chances if he wants to start.

It will be interesting to see what happens in defence if Ayala signs this week. Nigel Pearson has just handed the captaincy to Jack Hobbs but I think he’s the weakest defender of the three. Still, it’s a nice problem to have.

Shall I finish on a positive? In 2010/11, we started the season with a nice comfortable home win over a decent Swansea side and then had a mare. In 2007/08, we started with a poor home defeat to Plymouth Argyle and got promoted.

boothferrytowembley.blogspot.com

I was quite pleased with yesterday’s performance (watching in the pub). We were poor in the first half and were hanging on for a point against Barnsley (18th last season, 17th this season) in the last 10 but there was nothing new rubbish:

Duke was at fault for a goal and looked wobbly with corners and that ‘could see if coming’ moment with Gerrard.
Dawson continued to struggle (he probably did foul with his flailing arm but I think offside was given anyway).
Kilbane is not a short-term nor long-term answer on the left wing.
We have no focal point to our attacks.
Bostock has no idea.
Devitt doesn’t look like a first choice player.

That’s all as we’ve come to expect, but there were no new aspects of crapness in our play, and there were some new plus points:

Whether it was the half time teamtalk or effectively going down to ten men, the players raised their performances in the second half.
We gave it everything to prevent a second Barnsley goal.
Rosenior looks a fantastic footballer.
Folan was involved and unlucky not to score.
Zayatte was strong and commanding in midfield.

How do we build on this? We need to show that second half spirit for the whole 90 minutes. We need to be switched on in defence throughout – no more early goals or sloppy goals from individual mistakes, crosses or corners.

Mannone must be worth a try in goal. McShane has looked better than Dawson this season, so moving him back to right-back when Ayala returns and putting Rosenior in Dawson’s place could be an improvement.

A big ask, but can Pearson get Garcia and Halmosi back to their former greatness on the wings in the Championship? It would significantly improve our attacking play if he can. He re-opened the door for Zayatte, will he do the same for Halmosi?

The one thing he doesn’t have at his disposal is the centre forward needed to lead the attack. Even if Folan does find form, that’s not his game. He may be over 6ft tall but he’s not good in the air or a link-up player, he’s somebody who wants to get on the end of through balls or pull-backs – like the rest of our forwards. The only one who might be able to do it is Vine, but not in the last 2 and a half years. I can see how the rest of our team may come together, but without the right man up top we’re going to continue to struggle.

The Tigers impressive start to the season at the KC Stadium continued with a victory over a beleaguered Derby County side. For all the well documented problems on the road, at home, City are a different team. There is an extra determination about the players, who show more adventure and certainly enjoy more luck. Derby aren’t a poor side but a team who look like we do every time we step onto someone else’s pitch.

Nigel Pearson made several changes again, most notably handing a recall to Jimmy Bullard. The manager’s comments to the local media suggested Jimmy might be involved at some point in the near future. He’s a shrewd one because as everyone grew to expect Jimmy to make the bench (including Nigel Clough I’d imagine), the manager put him on from the start. Bullard formed a midfield trio with Robert Koren and Tom Cairney which looked like it lacked bite. John Bostock played off Fagan and Simpson up front. At the back there were home debuts for Anthony Gerrard, who looks every bit the brute of a centre half we needed, and Daniel Ayala. McShane and Dawson lined up at full back and Duke was in goal (like we have any other choice).

City kicked towards the South Stand in the first half and started well. Jimmy Bullard received a good ovation before kick-off and each time he trotted across to take a corner, he got a bigger reception. He was barely involved in the opening minutes though, you would have been forgiven for thinking he was being deliberately ignored. His first touch was a headed challenge in midfield and shortly after he chased across to put in a tackle on the right wing. If he needed to prove anything, he was doing it. He was spared his first big “test” when a 50/50 challenge on the edge of their box became 80/20 in Jimmy’s favour as the referee took out Paul Green.

It was a decent half with both teams playing some good football in spells. City worked the ball well between their defence and midfield with Bostock and Cairney passing quickly and incisively. Derby got their full-backs forward and exploited the space it left when ours came out to meet them. They were most dangerous when Brayford came up from right back, drew Andy Dawson and slid the ball into the space for Paul Green who made the same run four times with great success because Tom Cairney never tracked him until it was too late. You’d think that after the first time, he’d be expecting it. Danger was avoided by the impressive Gerrard and Ayala who met everything that came in from open play. Chances from open play were rare but both sides forced plenty of corners and put balls into the box.

Tom Cairney volleyed just over the bar after a Bullard corner was headed clear. From their corners, Chris Barker had the beating of Ayala all night. That was the only black mark against our Spanish centre-half (the best one we’ve had since the magnificent Antonio Doncel). He couldn’t get near Barker who should have scored when he met a lopping corner 6 yards out and in the middle of the goal. He headed wide with Ayala trailing in his wake and Matt Duke super-glued to his goal line. At the other end, Ayala himself headed over from a few yards out. The pattern continued through out the half. Ayala looked to have tripped Bueno just inside the box but Bueno’s theatrical dive put doubt in the refs mind and nothing was given, while Shefki Kuqi, who is so poor that Swansea let him go out on loan despite having no other fit strikers, shot wide after escaping Gerrard for the only time in the half. At the other end, Jay Simpson dropped off their defenders, laid the ball off and then raced onto the return pass and through on goal. It was the first time we’ve really seen this side of his game. His left footed shot lacked power and Bywater saved comfortably. A couple of minutes later, we were in front. Bullard’s free-kick was headed out of the goalie’s hands by Barker. Fagan did well to retrieve the ball and set up Bostock for a low cross that found Ayala and Simpson alone in the 6 yard box. They had the time to have a 12 round boxing match to decide who was scoring. Despite Simpson’s weight advantage, Ayala has the extra reach and he (deservedly) pinched the goal at the near post. It was scrappy but 2 minutes before half time, it was most welcome. Derby had the better chances in the half but we’d had plenty of the ball and played some terrific stuff inside their half.

Only McShane stood out as being really poor, he’d spent the half trying to be an attacking full-back and proving why he isn’t. Our shape meant we were easy pickings out wide if we didn’t get across to support the full-back. We’d struggled to get Fagan and Simpson into the game because we still went long too often. That was inexcusable with 4 ball players around midfield. I felt that Derby would come at us in the second half and we would have space to exploit with our pace on the counter. That didn’t really happen though. Derby look like we do away from home, utterly devoid of any confidence and there is a lack of conviction in front of goal and a lack of communication in defence. That should have made the second half comfortable for City but our own lack of self-belief meant we looked nervy. The game became a bit of a midfield battle with both defences coping with through balls. Ayala showed a great ability to nick the ball in front of the striker while Gerrard showed he’ll head anything and he won’t be pushed about by anyone. As Derby started to enjoy the majority of possession, we needed to put a few tackles in and Paul McShane was just the guy to do so, winning 4 or 5 balls on the right to disrupt their momentum. It had to be done because we didn’t have anyone in front of the back 4 who even knew what a tackle was.

Gerrard made a terrific header underneath the crossbar from an in-swinging corner. He needed to as well because he’d gifted them the corner. He was pulled down in the box from one of our own corners but the referee wanted nothing to do with it. It must have been a foul. No-one called Gerrard has ever taken a dive. Derby introduced Kris Commons from the bench and even with his chunky frame, he ran rings around McShane. He should’ve equalised soon after. McShane charged into the centre circle to win a challenge but only presented the ball to Green who played a crisp pass into the substitute, Pringle. He exploited the space left by McShane and crossed for Commons to volley wide. That proved crucial. Jay Simpson was slid through in the penalty box but another tame effort was saved by the right boot of Bywater. Seconds later, Dawson’s deep cross found Simpson at the back post. This time he lashed in his shot and Bywater’s parry fell for Koren who dillied then dallied and then slid a shot beyond the wrong-footed Bywater. We saw the game out quite comfortably from there. Daniel Ayala won the KCFM man of the match award, the crowd was announced as 19,714 (to the delight of the 76 away fans) and 5 minutes stoppage time was announce, which would have been terrifying at 1-0. Garcia hit a weak shot from 20 yards, Bullard hit a dipping volley from 25 that didn’t quite dip enough and Shefki Kuqi completed 90 minutes with the aid of a ventilator.

It’s difficult to fathom how a team that is so limp away from home can be so strong at the KC. We haven’t conceded a goal since Darren Bent’s early strike for Sunderland. I make that 445 (regular) minutes of football. Ayala and Gerrard looked an excellent partnership. Very self assured, happy to take the football and confident of winning every challenge. The only worry was Ayala’s failure to get anywhere near barker from set pieces. This is the third partnership we’ve seen in 6 games, using 5 centre halves already. Hopefully these two have done enough to see that situation settle down now. Andy Dawson was exposed at left back by the team shape. McShane was erratic. He gave the ball away and found himself out of position too often but when we needed someone to get amongst them, he did so. Matt Duke didn’t cover himself in glory, failing to come and take looping corners that had his name all over them. Even if he’d come and punched, it would have eased the pressure. His short distribution was as good as ever.

The midfield selection was always a gamble. Focused more on keeping the ball than winning the ball and trusting that our back four could cope with Darby’s sporadic threat. Bullard was the pick of the midfield, as you’d suggest he should be. He was as calm on the ball as ever, constantly finding space and demanding the pass. I only counted one occasion when he gave the ball away. He played lots of simple passes that kept the game moving and several terrific through-the-eye-of-a-needle balls to get us in behind Robbie Savage. His set pieces were superb too. Cairney was a passenger at times, perhaps over shadowed by Bullard. He was too laid back, slow to see a good opening and slow to react to the movement of their players around him. His passes are frustratingly slow, the sort of ball you play at 4-0 up against opponents who have long given up. Too often Dawson over-lapped only to be fed a slow pass that caused him to turn back towards our goal. Robert Koren was decent but lacked a bit of spark. He works hard enough and keeps the game moving but doesn’t look dynamic enough around their box. Hopefully his first goal will give him a lift.

John Bostock gave his best performance since the opening day. He was lively and got into good spaces all over the front third. He tried a lot of ambitious passes that didn’t quite come off but show a good level of confidence. He didn’t waste possession by trying to shoot at every opportunity either, he played a simpler game that helped us generate a bit of momentum. Fagan was very quite, I can’t remember him kicking anyone. He played a part in the first goal but wasn’t involved a lot otherwise. His usual nuisance factor was missing. Jay Simpson had his best game for us. His touch looked more assured and he was a bit fitter and a bit stronger. He started to get in behind them and timed his runs beautifully. He was there to tap in the first if needed, he had two good chances and he made the third with a great movement at the far post. He just failed to put in Koren a few minutes before that when leading a good counter attack. He and Fagan have the makings of a decent partnership, if we can stop trying to hit the ball at them in the air.

It’s nice that Saturday is a home game, we like them. It’s nice that the opposition are Nottingham Forest, who we haven’t played competitively since before I was born. Hopefully we’ll see a more settled side and City can put two good performances together for the first time in a long, long while.

Ratings: Duke 6, McShane 5, Dawson 6, Gerrard 7, Ayala 8, Bullard 8, Cairney 6, Koren 7, Bostock 7 (Garcia), Fagan 6, Simpson 7 (Cullen).