da spicy bet： Tuesday night’s penalty shootout win over Plymouth Argyle was unquestionably full of more negatives than positives for Eddie Howe and the fans.
da roleta： Ten changes from Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield – by all accounts a poor display in its own right – meant a chance for the second string players to put themselves into contention for a first team starting spot.
Charlie Austin was the only man to feature from the weekend, and it’s a good job he did or we could have been looking at an embarrassing second round exit at home to League Two opposition.
With practically no service throughout the hour he spent on the field, he stuck away the one chance he was presented with, and that represents encouraging signs for the rest of the season. He now has four in five games this year, on the back of a prolific pre-season, and you have to feel that his goals are the key to any chances we have of challenging the top six.
Eddie Howe must have been disappointed with the performances of the majority of players on the pitch on Tuesday. The two full backs, Danny Lafferty and Luke O’Neill looked ponderous on the ball and slightly off the pace.
I was looking forward to seeing Brian Stock in the midfield before the game, but he too was a disappointment and barely featured in a game which you would expect a player of his experience to have dominated. Alex MacDonald showed promise with his constant movement up front, but too often he squandered possession. I can’t help but feel he was too anxious to please; firstly because he is trying to break into the side and secondly because he was up against his old teammates from last season. Whatever the reason, it was a frustrating evening for him and he admitted as such on Twitter after the game.
The one player who did the most to make a strong case for inclusion in the first team was Marvin Bartley. He chased and harried in midfield and never let up, and the one quality ball into the box to produce the goal for Austin came from his boot.
Young Steven Hewitt also looked fairly assured; even if it may not come off all of the time you can see that he is making the right decisions and trying to do the right thing, and the fans will always appreciate that.
Ben Mee did what was required of him at centre half, and the manager and the fans know that he can play at Championship level after last season. Michael Duff, partnering him at the back, gave the ball away too often and I would be surprised if his one year contract is renewed next summer.
Brian Jensen had a quiet game before saving three out of five in the penalty shootout – unfortunately he didn’t save the penalty in normal time or we might all have been spared another half an hour – to again show what he can do when given a chance in the side.
But overall, there were worrying signs for the fans. The first eleven looks decent and should compete comfortably enough this year but based on Tuesday night’s showing, the second string are not up to the same standards by comparison. Kieran Trippier and Joseph Mills will not be worried by Lafferty or O’Neill, and neither will Dean Marney or Chris McCann by Stock.
I appreciate that these players have seen little competitive action, that they have played very little football together and obviously that the game going into extra time in just the second week of the season will not have helped matters. But in reality we were up against a decidedly ordinary opposition, and the players on show should really have had enough to run out comfortable winners by two or three goals.
The disjointed nature of the performance will have worried Howe. Should we suffer any serious injuries, it seems to me that these players would struggle to make much of an impact on the Championship. I hope that I am wrong and that it was just an early season blip for a rusty group of players. But if the finances allow, I would like to see the manager bring in a couple of new faces before the window shuts to improve the depth of our squad.
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