Often Partisan

Clean Sheets and Renewed Hope – Sheffield Wednesday Match Reflections

Here are my reflections on the match between Blues and Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrews.

An improved performance – but still room for improvement

It’s a strange one – I came out of the ground feeling much happier than I did on Saturday but Blues weren’t massively better. Sheffield Wednesday were nowhere near as good as Watford and consequently there wasn’t the threat to Jack Butland’s goal that there had been at the weekend. That being said, it was definitely an improvement – Mitch Hancox grew into the position at left back and Jonathan Spector brought drive and energy to pep up the midfield somewhat. Blues looked somewhat more threatening up front without being anywhere near as clinical as they needed to be and in the end a point was the right result.

However, it’s not the worst result for Blues, however much we needed a win. The clean sheet thing was a monkey on the back of the defenders and I have no doubt that to go ninety minutes without conceding will do wonders for their confidence not just in themselves but also in the defensive unit. It does mean we travel to London Road on Saturday probably needing three points more than ever but hopefully the team will have more belief that they can grind it out.

Jonathan Spector

It was the American’s first game in a Blues shirt in over a month and his first start since the defeat to Cardiff City on New Year’s day, yet he didn’t look at all rusty and I think the man of the match award that was announced post game was rightfully awarded to him. He has been accused of being lightweight in the past but today he was bullish, shrugging people off the ball and making driving runs into the opposition half with the ball, pushing the side on. He actually covered a lot of ground; covering for Caddis at right back when the on-loan full-back overlapped Chris Burke and then getting out wide himself to allow Chris Burke to cut infield. I suspect that Morgaro Gomis might find it harder to get back into the side with Spector on this kind of form.

Mitch Hancox

I’ve been a big proponent of the young left-back and I think he did a lot today to show why people like me have been calling for his inclusion in the eleven over Paul Robinson. He did find it tough at first but he grew into the position, making some important challenges – especially in the second half – and showing his crossing ability with a couple of centres from the left hand side that deserved better from the strikeforce. What really nailed it was the lung-buster of a run he made from deep inside his own half, going outside and round the full-back, getting to the byeline before putting in a cross that should have been buried by King or Zigic. It’s not the kind of thing that Robinson can do because of his age – and with someone like Wade Elliott wide left who isn’t a naturally wide player is needed to give width. Hopefully he’ll get a chance to play more and see if he can cement his place in the team.

Nikola Zigic

The big man had a bit of a curate’s egg of a game on what was his 100th appearance in a Blues shirt. He missed one easy chance (the sidefoot wide) and one not-so-easy chance (the header wide) to score which he probably could have done better with – which is bad for a striker. On the flip side he won headers, flicks and what-not to build attacks and in the first half especially was probably the most dangerous player at putting through killer balls for players to run on to. One that sticks in the mind was almost just a tackle; the defender had sold his team-mate short and Zig stuck out a long leg to intercept the ball. However, the Serb had had the brains to not just win the ball but with the same movement flick it behind the full back for King to run on to, forcing Chris Kirkland to committ himself and win what ended up nearly a 50-50 ball. It was a chance out of nothing and showed just how Zigic can turn a game with a moment of magic.

All in all, it was an enjoyable game – stretched, with chances – and it gave renewed reason to hope that things can be better. There is room for improvement – but one would hope that it is something that can be built upon and the needed improvement will come.

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94 Responses to “Clean Sheets and Renewed Hope – Sheffield Wednesday Match Reflections”

  • Oldbluenose says:

    I was about to log-off for the night, When I checked your website and caught this, !!.

    2, things initially caught my eye, First was that Hancox, had a stormer, !!. So pleased for the lad, [ and us of course, ], I was worried about his defensive abilities, but they sounded great, !!.

    The 2nd, was the return of Spector, Showing no ill effects from his lay-off, but instead,– bags of energy and thrust, !!.

    With Peterborough, winning tonight, They will have their tails-up come Saturday, but Watford apart, we tend to play well against ” form teams “,

  • Ali Duncan says:

    Awesome tackle by Mitch five minutes from time. A real Stuart Pearce of a tackle – full stretch, clean and hooking the ball to safety. Never took his eye off the ball. This lad is going to be a real star.

  • Mortonsblue says:

    Agreed Al a much better performance but we should have won it by half time with the chances we had. Spector had a good game and Reilly tried all game with no help from the useless Villa fan Attwell as he was constantly fouled. Zigic was excellent but clearly short of match sharpness and King was probably not quite ready to come back from his injury as he looked laboured all game. I don’t like Elliot wide left as he drifts out of position too often and is much better in the middle, Burke didn’t see enough of the ball an when he did the opposition (as they so often do now) doubled up on him reducing his effectiveness. Defensively we look shaky and fail to clear our lines quickly enough. Overall we sit on the ball too long and fail to get it forward quickly enough meaning Wednesday always managed to get behind the ball and defend higher up the pitch than they should be, probably why we didn’t win a single corner and thereby create set piece opportunities for Zigic and Davies, I bet Dave Jones was pleased with that. Bottom line is we should be beating teams below us if we are to have a prayer in staying up this season because I can’t see us beating many above us!

  • Ernie says:

    Lots of credit for Clark’s selection then, bringing back Spector, playing Hancox.
    You still want him sacked?

    • Staffordshire Blue Nose says:

      Ernie, ideally yes but we aren’t in an ideal world… The positives don’t out weigh the negatives becaues as LC says himself its a results industry and we didn’t get all 3 points.

  • andy says:

    As Dave Jones pointed out before the game, Blues are unpredictable, so roll on Peterborough and see what that brings us. That Stoke Keeper is pretty good i must say.

  • Dan B says:

    Much better showing tonight but as mentioned it was against a very inferior Sheff Weds side (in comparison to Watford) and for that reason I still have my concerns, whilst the midfield 2 was much much stronger in CM there was still a disconcerning lack of natural width on the left and of any creativity through the middle.
    Whilst I felt L.Cs team selection was much better for the start of the game I feel he missed a trick in not bringing a Redmond or Morrison on in the middle of the 2nd half, the game was only ever going to need one bit of quality to win it & I felt of the 2 benches Blues had by far the better creative options on the bench. This being said I can kind of understand L.Cs thinking, another home defeat would only have heightened the discontent towards him
    All in all and given Pboro’s result 2night I’d love to see a run down of bookies odds for the game, two completly unpredictable teams who are both in desperate need for the points, should be a barnstormer of a game – I just hope we come out with the right result

    • Staffordshire Blue Nose says:

      agree, why didn’t he bring on the game changers? Pleased we got a clean sheet but surely 20 mins from the end you bring on pacey attacking players if you want to win? Strange again from LC I thought. I also thoght Zigic had a half decent game.and put a shift in. A point is better than nothing but we shouldn’t be droping points against Wednesday at home.

  • BluenoseDownunder says:

    Interesting comments on Zigic, the soccernet report stated comments ‘Zigic failed to connect’ & ‘Zigic again failed to hit the target’. It will be interesting to see if others who saw the game share your views on his performance? It’s all ok to be the most dangerous player but he is there to score goals and only 6 goals from 21 games the stats speak for themselves …

    • Paul Carter want's shooting he says:

      I thought Zigic did the bare minimum, hardly a player wanting to prove a point. Missed a sitter too but anyone can do that. I wouldn’t have played him and he looked no real threat to me just huff and puff. Well dont to Lee though for drawing a line under it and playing him as I said I wouldn’t have done. It’s apparent why Zigic hasn’t started since 29th December, he is an impact player off the bench, giving us a different opyion late in the game. I thought our old warhorse Tiny Taylor played well against both King and Zigic.

      Well done to Lee for making the changes although weirdly we played better in the first half against Watford. Another disgusting turnout from our fans and dan you can delete that if you like, Pitiful.

      • BhamCityJulian says:

        Zigic and King use their brains more than any other players. You let the ball do the work.

        • Paul Carter want's shooting he says:

          Couldn’t be more wrong.

          Were you there last night?

          • Staffordshire Blue Nose says:

            I was and actually disagree about Zigic, he put a shift in and the tackle and pass to King was outstanding and a reason why we paid a kings ransom for him, I just wish he did that more. Its easy for us to say but LC should have changed things with 20/25 mins to go and get pace on the pitch but he see’s it differently. Paul you ought to forget about your crusade to get people into St Andrews because it won’t happen and all it does is gets peoples back up and not listen/read your comments, you talk sense sometimes but you dont help yourself..

          • Paul Carter want's shooting he says:

            1 tackle the reason why we pay a kings ransom for him? Yeah OK.

            He did the bare minimum when he should have been busting a gut to prove a point.

            And yes I will mention the pathetic crowd as it’s one of the reasons we’re in so much crap.

            Who do you think you are telling people what they can and cannot post?

      • Mortonsblue says:

        More drivel from the attendance policeman.

  • Scoobers says:

    Do those 21 include his two minutes coming on as a sub appearances?

  • Blue in Spain says:

    A draw and a clean sheet, doubt well get past 100 comments then!

  • northfield says:

    Yes Earnie I still want him sacked, a 0-0 home result against a side who are probably gonna get relegated does not fill me with hope, joy or optimism! I’m just waiting for Clarks next press conference because the man is funnier than chubby brown!

  • IanB says:

    At last LC picks a balanced side. Let’s not forget to praise young Callum Reilly.

    I am no fan of Zigic but I believe he would be more clinical in front if goal if he was starting every game.

  • Johnners says:

    Sounds like Clark got the team selection spot on. He tends to stick with selections that deliver the goods so with a clean sheet I’d be confident that Hancox will get another start on Saturday. If the target is to avoid the drop and with thirteen games still to go I remain confident that this squad and manager will do the job. That’s not to say that I am Clark’s biggest fan its just that it gets us through until the ownership situation is resolved. Until that dark cloud is lifted from the club it is hard to expect anything more than we are currently getting.

  • James Black says:

    I dont get to see games unless they are streamed and know that that means i don’t have the insight, just impressions which isn’t enough. But i will base my comment on when i was able to see more games. Now OK things may have changed, but what i recall was that even under previous managers, Zigic became a bit part player and bench warmer mainly due to endless missed chances and lumbering performances. He would pull out a half decent game again only to slip back. His 6ft 8 inches if he wasn’t winning some flick ons id be amazed. Through balls as Al described, well OK maybe. But the long and the short of it is that Zigic worked himself into being a bit part player and i rarely saw him have a good game. As a sub he was more effective. So OK as i said i cant see them often enough to truly say, but im still feeling that his goal ratio is appalling and winning a few flick ons is the least he should contribute. If we had another couple of strikers i doubt he would ever see a full match and be a constant on the bench. I know im going on the past and sticking my neck out to have my head chopped off saying that, but im suspecting his performances may be being overstated perhaps for political reasons. At the end of the day isn’t a striker supposed to score more than 10 goals a season.. But in truth i would love him to come good but scoring goals and not endlessly missing good chances which became his trademark would be when i say he is a player worth fighting for. However pulling him down isnt helpful but felt i had to say this when i keep reading comments about his goal ratio being low cuz his often on the bench. Well i beg to differ becuz it wasn’t Clark who made him a bench warmer, he did that himself long ago.due to wasted chances every time he pulled on the shirt. So just a little food for thought and i confess i didn’t see last nights game and admit im not qualified to truly judge his recent performances. Al seems to know his football so im taking his word for it, but that’s my reservation especially when Clark gets slagged for not always fielding him. I stand to be corrected but be nice to me.

    • Ed says:

      James, I fully agree with your comments. I remember seeing Zigic play in an international match just after we had signed him and I think before he had had a game for us. My thoughts at the time were, that he never broke a sweat and hardly looked an international, and I haven’t changed my view. I can not recall in any game I have seen him play, seeing him sprint for a ball or after an opponent. He hardly leaves the ground when challenging for a header and is beaten in the air more often than not. I can understand Clark’s frustration, I share it.

      • Paul Carter want's shooting he says:

        Hear hear Ed

        • Blueboy 88 says:

          Quote – Paul Carter 7th Feb 2013
          “On his game Ziggy is the best striker in this division”

          At least be consistent instead of just blowing with the wind……

        • Blueboy 88 says:

          The point is , its really not worth you writing any of your rants,
          because you’ll only change your mind , & then have to do a complete re-write less than two weeks later…

          Waste of your time,…..waste of ours…

          • Blue in Spain says:

            Why things move on, opinions change. I for one defended Zigic when people were saying he was overpaid, stealing money, should take a pay cut etc, as he only signed the contract Blues gave him, however I actually thought he was giving 100%, when I found he was taking the piss, my opinion of him changed.

          • James Black says:

            Blueboy 88 This abuse thing is getting boring now. Playing one upmanship with paul and Blue is just getting on my boobies. If you notice Paul and Blue are not angels sure, but ive noticed that most comments are in response to attacks from the little gang that is forming in the schollyard. Can we just try and be contructive and you conduct your school bullying on ur wife and keep it away from us.

    • Ali Duncan says:

      James – it depends on if he was bought as an out and out striker (who bangs in 25 a season) or a link up player used for his height to bring the ball down and lay off to bring others into play or maybe even both. You’d have to ask Eck.

      IMO a club like Blues spends 6 million on a striker to put the ball in the ol’ onion bag and your comment is fair that his ratio is poor (especially compared to his previous clubs and at international level) The question is why is that? Different league / different playing style / lack of quality / not having an effective strike partner etc etc – who knows?

      It is also fair to say that Zig has missed some chances that a £6 million striker should be murdering – Ipswich springs immediately to mind.

      However – how many points has Ziggy saved this season with late goals? Plenty so it is certainly the case that he has earned his place as a solid and effective squad player but I too have concerns over his whole Blues career as a starting number 9 or 10.

      However I did massively enjoy and was also suitably impressed the way (at the Emirates) he towered over the Arsenal centre back to head in Keith Fahey’s cross to open the scoring in his first season. And giving stick to the Arse fans was equally as enjoyable – even if we did lose in the end. I just wish we could see more of that Ziggy.

      KRO!

  • sutton apex says:

    thought we played with more passion and tempo – great to see reilly and hancox giving 110% and bringing energy and youth into the team. curtis davies and the defence looked solid against a big,physical wednesday team. finally lee clark picked a team i think most of us would have – ie dropped gomis,robinson, hall – PERHAPS HE READS OFTEN PARTISAN NOW !! KRO SOTV

  • chas says:

    Suton, he certainly doesnt get his ideas from his Coaching Team..:-)

  • blaneh says:

    Agree Al, with your analysis of Zigic/Spector/Hancox. Zigic put a big shift in and all be it for been a bit more clinical could of won us the game. Spector ran round all game which was good to see and Hancox did grow at left back.

    Although it was pleasing for us to get a clean sheet and a point (would of liked all three which i think on the chances we created we would of fully deserved) I still worry about us defensivly and i think we will need to score at least 2 on saturday if we want to get a point or all 3.

    The thing that bothered me the most about last night, was our crossing, its been awful pretty much all season, we seem to take half an age to get crosses into the box and by the time we do the opposition back 4 is always set to comfortably defend it. Burke for all his guile an trickery needs to start hitting earlier crosses, the only one he did, lead to ZIgic nearly getting onto the end of it in the first half. One massive possitive I did notice however, we actually left somone up the pitch when defending corners! which again nearly lead to Burke getting a break away from a clearance.

    All in all pleased with a point, its something to build on, but as you say, plenty of room for improvement,

  • James says:

    Pleased with a point last night and a much overdue clean sheet.

    Looking forward to Peterbrough on Sat; fancy 3 points despite their recent form.

    KRO

  • Bluenosesol says:

    The last 13 games is now all about staying up. We need to give ourselves more credit. We outplayed Wednesday, Ziggy missed a couple of sitters again and another good penalty shout turned away. Wednesday are on a good run and in the last few games have won away at Hull and Charlton, who won away last night at Leicester. Pretty good team selection last night, though a little surprised we didnt take King off earlier. Hancox had a blinder, Spector justified his man of the match award. Just need to be more ruthless when we carve out opportunities. Crowd was woeful, as was the lack of volume. It has become the norm for the away fans to out sing us and to then goad us by drowning out any attempts to strike up a song with their own chanting. We may have dropped to just 4 points from safety, but at the same time, due to poor form of the teams around us (Huddersfield, Millwall and Wolves for example) there are far more teams in the relegation mix, which increases our odds of survival. In my opinion, despite our failure to secure wins from winnable games, we are showing steady improvement against a back drop of struggling teams and we have every chance of avoiding the drop. KRO..

  • AR says:

    Let me say first of all that I think that Hancox has a decent chance of making the grade as a Championship player, but I cannot agree that he is the answer to our left-back position. Last night he was continually caught on the wrong side of his man & when he was on the right side, he didn’t stop his man crossing. The great tackle he made in the 2nd half was after he had again been caught out on the wrong side, and if he had mistimed it the result would have been disastrous. Having said that, I think he would be much better on the left-side of midfield where his defensive frailties would not be so exposed. Changing tack, Caddis isn’t the same player since his shoulder injury & likewise Hall (I know he wasn’t playing last night) has gone backwards since first playing for us; & Reilly, though young, was anonymous in the 2nd half as usual. I would have preferred to see Redmond start on the left last night with Elliott in Reilly’s place.

    • Staffordshire Blue Nose says:

      Did you ever see Ashley Cole first games for Aresnal?? Mitch looks like he could be Mark Dennis without the ugly side. Give him a break before you start slagiing him how old is he????? Shocking comment.

    • Ali Duncan says:

      AR – I agree, Mitch will become an established Championship player and possibly higher. At times his positioning was a little off but the kid hasn’t even racked up 10 first team games yet and when you consider that he was outstanding. Some of his tackling was the best I’ve seen this season and I’m loving having a pacey left back. Brum’s answer to Gareth Bale maybe ;) (if he is moved to midfield of course)

      He’ll be one whose progress we can all enjoy monitoring over the next few seasons. Delighted that he started over Robbo.

      • Bluenosesol says:

        I thought Hancox was brilliant. He did forage into forward support positions which as a young lad, I would expect he has been coached to do. When he goes forward it is up to the team to defend his position in case of counter attack. Teams with attacking full backs like Caddis and Hancox create a lot more chances. And yes he is learning but he has massive potential.

  • marky mark says:

    Positives clean sheet, one point gained more than some teams around us.

    Think Peterborough will be a tough game I’d take a point without wanting to sound negative.

    Could be wrong but don’t think our record is great at London road

  • DoctorD says:

    Interesting stat I have dug up — our last three 0-0 results were followed by us winning the next match. Roll on Peterborough?

  • The Flying Pig says:

    A great opening 20 from Blues last night; it was a shame we couldn’t capitalise with a goal which our play deserved.

    By the half-time break, my view of Mitch was that he was struggling to keep tabs on their winger and me and my mate both said we were not sure he’s ‘got it’. However, I thought he was much more assured in the second half and the comment about his long-busting run is spot on – perhaps he has got enough to make it at this level and he’s certainly worth a bit more time in the side. As a general comment, I think we are exposed when we play Caldwell and Robbo as neither has the pace and the opposition seek to play on this. Mitch may not be superquick but he’s a bit quicker than Robbo.
    One thing I would never doubt is Hancox’ whole-hearted commitment to the cause; the same goes for Reilly [and Robinson too] – they may be finding their feet but commitment is 100% and lovely to see. I thought Reilly did a decent job breaking up some of their play and if he can keep the passing simple then he’ll do alright at this level.

    Zig played like a man possessed in the first half – perhaps as good as I’ve seen him play at St Andrews this season [a point to prove?]. He lost his way in the 2nd, and Wednesday certainly came into it more and for me looked the more likely scorers.

    I thought Burke was poor last night; I take the point about the doubling up on him, but his delivery was awful, often not getting beyond the first defender. Elliott is not suited to that wide role, he’s a clever player but we lose the width when he plays and his tracking back was not the best last night. Redmond should have come on at the start of the second half as we needed to win the game.

    I think a draw was about right, but, for me, we would have shaded it on points.

    • Bluenosesol says:

      With 25 minutes to go, I said that Wednesday had thrown the towel in and we were playing in their half, I do concede that Wednesday grew stronger after they made a couple of good subs. In my mind, we did fade second half but Wednesday only began to play in our half for the last 20 minutes. Cant believe Jones comments that they deserved to win, doubt he would have made that comment to the Birmingham media!

    • Paul Carter - The Voice Of Reason says:

      Zig played like a man possessed in the first half – perhaps as good as I’ve seen him play at St Andrews this season

      Did you have a few beers before the game FP?

      • The Flying Pig says:

        I sure did; there wasn’t much of a queue at the bar in the George last night!!

        Maybe ‘man possessed’ was a little overstated, but all things are relative. He rarely looks to me like he cares too much and last night, in the first half, I thought he did look like he cared. Later on, Tiny started beating him to headers – never a good thing!!

        Sol – I get where you are coming from, I think Wednesday were always going to be happy with a point; however, they had a lot of pressure and I thought they kept the ball better than us in the 2nd – unfortunately, for me that is one of our worst traits just now, we keep giving the ball away.

    • Denis Thwaites says:

      Totally agree with your views FP on Hancox. I thought he looked unsure of his position and was rushing every clearance in the first half. Elliot and Caldwell seemed to be nursing him through the game. In the second 45 he was a totally different player and a bundle of energy.

      Burke was poor by his standards but kept plugging away.

      My concern is that in Spector and Reilly in central mid they have ball winning ability but tend to then give it away. Spector however worked his socks of for me and for a guy who had not played for a while showed a few others on how to roll your sleeves up and battle. We look predictable going forward and tactically last night had no Plan B

      King was a passenger (obviously unfit) Zigic as ever failed to win many headers and can’t hit a barn door but in truth i thought he linked up the play well in the first half.

      I thought Wednesday were going to nick a goal from a set piece but we dealt well with that threat. Can’t recollect that we had one corner?

      One thing that was noticeable again was the pitch was being over watered as usual and some players were struggling to kick it off the floor. Is the spray tap connected to the toilet flushing system!

  • blaneh says:

    Here are some intersting stats for you on our ‘main’ strikers this season:

    Zigic: 22 Apps, 6 Goals, 5 Assists, 1068 mins played.
    Thats a goal every 178mins and assist every 214mins.

    King: 27 Apps, 13 Goals, 5 Assists, 2113 mins played.
    Thats a goal every 163mins and assist every 427mins.

    Lovenkrands: 16 Apps, 2 Goals, 1 Assist, 775mins played.
    Thats a goal every 388mins and assist every 775mins.

    Rounded up the mins. Intresting to see based on this, that Zigic and King both roughly score 1 in every 2 games if they both played the full 90mins each match. (Basic assumption to make i know)

    Other boring stats for you, King and Zigic have started and played together for 75mins plus this season on 6 occasions. During that time up front together, from those 6 games we have Won: 2 Drawn: 2 Lost: 2. Scored 10 (6 of which by King 0 by Zigic with 3 Zigic assists & 1 king assist).

    I know these stats are kind of clutching at straws abit, but they are fact at the end of the day. I think if we are going to stay up, we need Zigic and King playing together as much as possible for the remainder of the season.

    These stats are for League Apps only and are collated from the Birmingham City Football Club Website.

    • mark says:

      to be brutally honest mate both of these players should able to score 25 goals piece in this league.

      • blaneh says:

        Yeah I totally agree Mark, I for one thought that Lovenkrands aswell would be smashin in the goals this season… but as a striker, if you dont get the service, you can’t store the goals. I know King and Zigic have both been guilty of missing plenty of chances this season but I just hope that LC sticks witht this pairing for the rest of the campaign (where he can) as its the best that we have got.

  • skareggae72 says:

    Interesting stats,makes a nice change from the usual ‘filth’ comments & personal insults on here lately.
    So in a nutshell,Zigic sets em up & King knocks em in,looks good enough to me anyway(on paper),lets hope they can stay fit & show the effort the manager expects & we should avoid relegation,although i worry about a rejuvenated Peterborough.

  • Gianni says:

    does anyone else think that the possibility of the 2nd half fade is due to poor conditioning?

    King nor Zigic looked as if they were going to make the full 90, ironically the player who looked the fittest was Speccy, and he’s just come back from a lay off!

  • mark says:

    it shame we were not more clinical in the final third, having said that we kept a clean sheet. Again I will bring the argument back that Clark was right to drop Zigic on Saturday. This player beached the code three times, so on the final time Clark had no alternative to air his views with player whether you agree how he done it or not . Clark has won this battle. Well-done inclarkwetrust hopefully now Zigic has now got the message that he is not bigger than BCFC. CLARK has said he can still play a big part in keeping this team in this division.but to me he appears to lack match sharpness yesterday. Selection was spot on from Clark, maybe this 11 needs a bit of run so consistence can play a big part as well. giving credit where it due Mitch played really well hopefully more game time he get even better it was noted by another fan he yet to make 10 apps. Even if this 11 started now they would not have won on Saturday against watford, they were clearly better team . …kro agree with Paul on the attendance very poor showing.
    wed bought 2,000 well -done to them.. Glad the singing appears to be back.. from our fans..sorry it does make a difference…st.Andrew rocks

  • chas says:

    Mark, you dont know if he breached the code three times..You know as much as us..If he did do that , wht wasnt he fined ? Can you see Clark failing to inform everyone and his dog abotut a Fine ? I certainly cant.

    • Blue in Spain says:

      So you’re still calling Clark a liar, funny Zigic hasn’t denied he’s been warned 4 times?

      • Blueboy 88 says:

        Come on he is not calling Clark a liar…just asking a fair question..
        If Zigic is gulity as charged , why hasn’t the club fined him ?

        • Blue in Spain says:

          Why do you only pipe up to have a go at me or Paul haven’t you got an original thought in your head? If he doesn’t believe Clarks version of events what else is he calling him?

          • Blueboy88 says:

            No he’s is asking why the club has not fined Zigic if he is guilty of Clarks allegations.

            Doesn’t seem an unreasonable question to me.

            What’s your view ?

          • Blue in Spain says:

            My view If he was fined thats between him, the manager, and the club. And he wasn’t just questioning the fine, he was saying we don’t know if he breached the code three time? #blinkered

          • Staffordshire Blue Nose says:

            So why don’t we see the 2 weeks fine in our books….. Or even better, “Zigic hasn’t trained well agian so he has been fined and his fine goes to the B’ham Childrens Hospital”….. So 4 bad training sessions should mean fines, happen to people like George Best, Tevez etc so why is Zigic not getting fined for not trying????? Is it a conspicacy…… you tell me spanish idiot???? You know more than any of us sorry wrong you and Paul now more than any of us!!!!!! Blues fans don’t think so.

          • Blue in Spain says:

            Spanish Idiot, wow staffordshire blue you have lost it mate!

  • Retired&Weary says:

    Can’t decide who’s more inconsistent, Blues or OP. After the over the top rant at the weekend, OP seems to have reverted to being an optimist(ish). Let’s face it Wednesday are far from a Watford, so we should have expected 3 points, not be happy with a slightly better showing & 1 point. If the Stoke keeper hadn’t pulled off that save in the first half we would probably have lost. Sorry I felt even more concerned after last night.
    The changes did work to some extent; Spector was a big plus, Hancox, Reilly & Zigic okay. King prob shouldn’t have played. I think Redmond should have been used in the second half.
    I wonder whether Hancox should play left midfield while learning the game. Good left foot & pace. Would protect left back more.
    Going on to Paul’s favourite subject, hats off to Wednesday’s fans. Big turn out. They truly are a sleeping giant of a club, not comatose like Blues as someone once said.

  • mark says:

    in interview explained by Clark the matter was attempted 3 times in house by clark, he eventually had enough of Zigic attitude and went public. In Clark words the matter is now finished end of……unless Zigic wishes to carry it on. Clark was then man enough to put Zigic back the team after Sunday better training and after further discussions with the player obviously about his attitude. I believe no fine was given. Sorry if all you thought that Clark loss the dressing room are completely wrong. It is Zigic who ate humble pie..and management skills of Clark are inept do me favour. kro same banana skin with Keith people jumped on the band wagon saying him and Clark fell out simple not true.( compassionate leave). At the end of the day you want to keep calling Clark liar that up to you. I deal with facts……kro

    • Blue in Spain says:

      Mark, you’re wasting your breath, the anti Clark brigade will find fault no matter what he does. Funny when he says something, they bleat theres two sides to every argument, but they were quite happy to believe the rumours about his drinking, losing the dressing room, a bust up with Fahey etc!

    • chas says:

      Fair does Mark.believe what you want ..I am not really bothered one way or another The Arsenal match was a good game last night..Those Germans were very good.

  • Eric says:

    Paul Carter – go set up your own website anf find out thay noone is interested. Sadly u r an attention seeker but noone has respect as you are, too often, telling people they are wrong. Pure projection. KRO

    • Blue in Spain says:

      You’ll find Paul has quite a bit of support on this site, maybe he does harp on about attendance too much, and I don’t agree with him calling Villa the filth, but he’s more contructive than a lot of posters.

      • Staffordshire Blue Nose says:

        you’ll find he has the support of you…………………………………………………… All those dots mean full stop! if you didn’t understand!!!!! I’m really pleased you and Paul are happy with what is going on at our club….. And its not the fault of the manager but the fans….. Ask the question why Burke has been rubbish this year, Redmond is half the player he was last year, Davies and Caldwell can’t defend this year??? Do you think we would be in the position we are in if CH was still in charge? Be truthful because I know we wouldn’t be scrapping in the bottom half of the championship. We have a better keeper than last year the right back Caddis is as good as Carr (better than Ramage)we were also shipping goals when Murhpy (the best left back in the league….) so King and Zigic have played the same amount of games as last year….. So there is only two reasons why we are so bad….. 1, the manager and 2. central midfield (and by the way for half of last year Fahey was getting booed by 50% of Blues fans) so do the Maths and tell me why????????

        • Blue in Spain says:

          Where did any of us, Mark James Black, Paulme, actually say we are happy at what is going on, we don’t just hurl abuse at all and sundry. You have a go at Paul for questioning whether sone of you are Villa fans yet you have done the same to me. Hypocrite!

          • Blue in Spain says:

            Calm down dear, you might call me a spanish idiot again, or are you just unhappy that someone has a different opinion to you?

        • Blue in Spain says:

          and those names are some of the more reasoned posters on here, staffordshire blue, do you put yourself in that catagory, as you didn’t seem to read past the first part of my post!

    • James Black says:

      Eric, If paul started a website, Id join it, if you did, i wouldnt as i get enough moaners in my life and blame gamers so why would i join. Lets put it this way. Finding scapegoats is the shallow mans politics, understanding all aspects and taking everything into consideration before judgements is the thinking mans politics. Its too easy to blame blame blame. put it this way. If Carson hadnt been arrested then maybe, just maybe the only thing you could hate him for would be being Chinese which in reality is at the back of the negativity. They was being called names even when times was good i may be getting on but im not senil;e, i remember it well. blame gaming says a lot about you. I cant normally be bothered to reply to such as you but on this occasion you deserve it..

  • mark says:

    Sadly Eric you got my name wrong its in polite to call me Paul. My name is mark And your evidence is….Paul probably got his opinion why dont you ask him.cheers mate.

  • Wingman Blue says:

    Saw BBC Yorkshire Look North earlier. Said Wednesday managed to keep a clean sheet on their visit to Stans, and showed a clip of one of their corners. Portrayed as a Wednesday acheivement after their pretty dismal season. Also saw a Dave Jones quote in yesterday’s Yorkshire Post. He said he expected a pretty torrid time after the Watford debacle (he was there), how Blues had some pretty good players, clearly he didn’t expect to win and was preparing the fans for it.

    Guess he’s pretty satisfied with the result, but should we be?

  • Tony says:

    Oh dear just got back and topic unchanged, result was 0-0 at home to Watford Not good enough still the forore concerning the inept one continues.

  • Texas Pete says:

    With the players we have, the young ones the experienced and the international caps, we should be talking about playoffs not avoiding relegation. Our old strkers are the subject of injuries, substitution, misses not opportunities.and the team selection is like bingo. I long for winning or at least the battling work effort of the team under McGleish. That woultd have us out of the doldrums even if it was boring football. The ginger is available.

  • prewarblue says:

    Without naming any names or trying to offend anyone,,,,,has anbody noticed who hasnt been seen on Teamtalk recently,,,,,2 names spring to mind,,,,I will leave it up to you all to work out who I mean,,,,,then do as you were advised,,,,,if you dont like ,,,,dont read or respond,,,,you know it makes sense [ more so than Clark,s team selections ]


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