Back from the game - Preston

[The Prisoner]

Not strictly back - in the car on my phone round the corner!

We were as good, fluent and solid in the first half as we were disjointed, sloppy and hanging on in the second. It really was Alamo stuff at the end and we were really hanging on.

In the first half Preston hardly had a kick. We passed well and Gunar and Karacan ran the midfield. Whilst both goals were down to defensive errors Church and Kebe took their one on ones well. McAnuff and Kebe caused Preston real problems and it was no coincidence that they started to see more of the ball when McAnuff went off and we lost our shape.

The last 20 were awful and Federici won us the points with three or four outstanding saves. Let's not paper over the cracks - whilst we were excellent for the first 60 or so we did wilt under pressure and kept inviting trouble back on us by just hoofing back to them.

Definite signs of improvement tho, and the Kebe/McAnuff wing combo will yield goals.

Federici 9 - some outstanding saves, won us 2/3 points
Cummings 7 - did little wrong and linked well on the wing
Bertrand 7 - solid
ingi 8 - we look better with him there
O'Dea 8 - looks assured under pressure, but needs not to hoof
McAnuff 8 - we look like we actually have some goal threat with thus guy
Gunarsson 8 - everywhere!
Karacan 8 - didn't stop running
Howard 5 - a low point. Anonymous
Kebe 9 MOM- ran at people and scared the PNE defence. Took his goal very well. Our main source of threat tonight
Church 8 - ran all night, showed some intelligent touches, took his goal well

subs
Mills 6
Cisse 5
Rasiak 5

[bcubed]

Not strictly back - in the car on my phone round the corner!

We were as good, fluent and solid in the first half as we were disjointed, sloppy and hanging on in the second. It really was Alamo stuff at the end and we were really hanging on.

In the first half Preston hardly had a kick. We passed well and Gunar and Karacan ran the midfield. Whilst both goals were down to defensive errors Church and Kebe took their one on ones well. McAnuff and Kebe caused Preston real problems and it was no coincidence that they started to see more of the ball when McAnuff went off and we lost our shape.

The last 20 were awful and Federici won us the points with three or four outstanding saves. Let's not paper over the cracks - whilst we were excellent for the first 60 or so we did wilt under pressure and kept inviting trouble back on us by just hoofing back to them.

Definite signs of improvement tho, and the Kebe/McAnuff wing combo will yield goals.

Federici 9 - some outstanding saves, won us 2/3 points
Cummings 7 - did little wrong and linked well on the wing
Bertrand 7 - solid
O'Dea 8 - looks assured under pressure, but needs not to hoof
McAnuff 8 - we look like we actually have some goal threat with thus guy
Gunarsson 8 - everywhere!
Karacan 8 - didn't stop running
Howard 5 - a low point. Anonymous
Kebe 9 MOM- ran at people and scared the PNE defence. Took his goal very well. Our main source of threat tonight
Church 8 - ran all night, showed some intelligent touches, took his goal well

subs
Mills 6
Cisse 5
Rasiak 5

Most often used expression in recent weeks

[Trosser]

Not strictly back - in the car on my phone round the corner!

We were as good, fluent and solid in the first half as we were disjointed, sloppy and hanging on in the second. It really was Alamo stuff at the end and we were really hanging on.

In the first half Preston hardly had a kick. We passed well and Gunar and Karacan ran the midfield. Whilst both goals were down to defensive errors Church and Kebe took their one on ones well. McAnuff and Kebe caused Preston real problems and it was no coincidence that they started to see more of the ball when McAnuff went off and we lost our shape.

The last 20 were awful and Federici won us the points with three or four outstanding saves. Let's not paper over the cracks - whilst we were excellent for the first 60 or so we did wilt under pressure and kept inviting trouble back on us by just hoofing back to them.

Definite signs of improvement tho, and the Kebe/McAnuff wing combo will yield goals.

Federici 9 - some outstanding saves, won us 2/3 points
Cummings 7 - did little wrong and linked well on the wing
Bertrand 7 - solid
O'Dea 8 - looks assured under pressure, but needs not to hoof
McAnuff 8 - we look like we actually have some goal threat with thus guy
Gunarsson 8 - everywhere!
Karacan 8 - didn't stop running
Howard 5 - a low point. Anonymous
Kebe 9 MOM- ran at people and scared the PNE defence. Took his goal very well. Our main source of threat tonight
Church 8 - ran all night, showed some intelligent touches, took his goal well

subs
Mills 6
Cisse 5
Rasiak 5

This should be censored immediately so the Kebe-haters can sleep tonight

[The Prisoner]

Apols! Missed ingi on the original post! D'oh!!! Typing on phone not clever! Kebe was outstanding tonight - PNE supporting friend agreed he was MOM. One swallow doesn't make a summer I guess!!

[Royalwaster]

Apols! Missed ingi on the original post! D'oh!!! Typing on phone not clever! Kebe was outstanding tonight - PNE supporting friend agreed he was MOM. One swallow doesn't make a summer I guess!!

But I thought Kebe wasn't a footballer?

[Ian Royal]

Not strictly back - in the car on my phone round the corner!

We were as good, fluent and solid in the first half as we were disjointed, sloppy and hanging on in the second. It really was Alamo stuff at the end and we were really hanging on.

In the first half Preston hardly had a kick. We passed well and Gunar and Karacan ran the midfield. Whilst both goals were down to defensive errors Church and Kebe took their one on ones well. McAnuff and Kebe caused Preston real problems and it was no coincidence that they started to see more of the ball when McAnuff went off and we lost our shape.

The last 20 were awful and Federici won us the points with three or four outstanding saves. Let's not paper over the cracks - whilst we were excellent for the first 60 or so we did wilt under pressure and kept inviting trouble back on us by just hoofing back to them.

Definite signs of improvement tho, and the Kebe/McAnuff wing combo will yield goals.

Federici 9 - some outstanding saves, won us 2/3 points
Cummings 7 - did little wrong and linked well on the wing
Bertrand 7 - solid
ingi 8 - we look better with him there
O'Dea 8 - looks assured under pressure, but needs not to hoof
McAnuff 8 - we look like we actually have some goal threat with thus guy
Gunarsson 8 - everywhere!
Karacan 8 - didn't stop running
Howard 5 - a low point. Anonymous
Kebe 9 MOM- ran at people and scared the PNE defence. Took his goal very well. Our main source of threat tonight
Church 8 - ran all night, showed some intelligent touches, took his goal well

subs
Mills 6
Cisse 5
Rasiak 5

Excellent job roving reporter!

Oh and Howard poor again!? Siggy back in for him only change please

[Terminal Boardom]

Not strictly back - in the car on my phone round the corner!

We were as good, fluent and solid in the first half as we were disjointed, sloppy and hanging on in the second. It really was Alamo stuff at the end and we were really hanging on.

In the first half Preston hardly had a kick. We passed well and Gunar and Karacan ran the midfield. Whilst both goals were down to defensive errors Church and Kebe took their one on ones well. McAnuff and Kebe caused Preston real problems and it was no coincidence that they started to see more of the ball when McAnuff went off and we lost our shape.

The last 20 were awful and Federici won us the points with three or four outstanding saves. Let's not paper over the cracks - whilst we were excellent for the first 60 or so we did wilt under pressure and kept inviting trouble back on us by just hoofing back to them.

Definite signs of improvement tho, and the Kebe/McAnuff wing combo will yield goals.

Federici 9 - some outstanding saves, won us 2/3 points
Cummings 7 - did little wrong and linked well on the wing
Bertrand 7 - solid
O'Dea 8 - looks assured under pressure, but needs not to hoof
McAnuff 8 - we look like we actually have some goal threat with thus guy
Gunarsson 8 - everywhere!
Karacan 8 - didn't stop running
Howard 5 - a low point. Anonymous
Kebe 9 MOM- ran at people and scared the PNE defence. Took his goal very well. Our main source of threat tonight
Church 8 - ran all night, showed some intelligent touches, took his goal well

subs
Mills 6
Cisse 5
Rasiak 5

This should be censored immediately so the Kebe-haters can sleep tonight

Kebe must have been "inspired" by my rant against him. I will sleep well tonight as we picked up 3 valuable points.

[Ian Royal]

The football gods punished me for my (not so)righteous indignation filled (one paragraph) rant about Rodgers. Now I'm offering up a little more support again watch us lose on saturday.

[adamh4608]

you all must have rockets as cars, to get you home that quick

[runrunrunrungilksey]

With all the fans who slate Kebe from the stands, its no wonder he plays better away from home!

[flintyboy73]

thought Reading did well in first half, feared PNE would repeat the Posh game in the second - luckily it didn't come to that, very tense last 20 mins. Really glad I went as feared a further increase in goal difference but 3 points were a very pleasant surprise.

[Pseud O'Nym]

you all must have rockets as cars, to get you home that quick

When commenting on a thread it is generally useful to actually read some of it.

[BarryWhiteRFC]

WE BEAT THE PRESTON SCUM!!!!!!!!!!! Brilliant night, loved giving the PNE fans abuse. On the pitch, first 60 mins, brilliant, then it all went to pieces, really when McAnuff went off (thought he was outstanding btw). If it wasn't for A. Fed, we'd have lost tonight. For this reason alone, he deserves Man Of The Match. However McAnuff and Kebe linked up brilliantly and together scared the s**t out of the Preston c***s.

[Gunny Fishcake]

Not home as staying up north tonight ....talk about game of two halves....we were awesome first half , the performance totally out of character for the season so far , second half we were battered but hanged on thanks to some outstanding saves froms Feds backed up by some fantastic defensive displays by O'Dea my man of the match and Ingimarsson , Gunarsson and all the lads who died for the shirt tonight , including , yes , Jimmy , Jimmy Kebe who indeed had a great game ......a great night and win

[Archie's penalty]

Well that was fun and nerve wracking at the same time.

First game of the season so I could see what you guys were blathering about.

Agree with most of the comments - it's early days but some promising partnerships developing. Karacan and Boris work well together and so do Ingi and O'Dea. Also happy with Kebe and Mcanuff.

Second half we dropped too deep and Rodgers was a bit too defensive bringing on Mills and Cisse and Rasiak was also the wrong choice. Would like to have seen Hunt/Long instead. And Afed was immense. Several of his saves were, and I don't like to use it often, world class.

So my marks:

Afed 9 - brilliant saves MOTM.
Cummings - ok 6
Bertrand - ok 6
Ingi 7
O'dea 7
Howard 6
Gunnar 8 - very good
Karacan 7 - loved his energy
Mcanuff 7
Kebe 7
Church 6

Subs;

Mills 5
Rasiak 5
Cisse 5.

Great night out. Shattered now though!

[Don Finch]

Together scared the s**t out of the Preston c***s.

Are they Barry White lyrics?
Thought we'd get hammered tonight so great result, Saturday should provide another stern test.

[FiNeRaIn]

Preston fans don;t rate us at all lol

http://www.pne-online.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44117

[juanpablo]

Quote:
Originally Posted by boeoz View Post
They were distinctly average in the first half I think, we were just totally shite.
Only stand out player was their right winger, but Nolan was just allowing him to play. He showed impressive pace and skill though, and his crosses looked very dangerous, there was just nobody on the end of them, fortunately for us.



some other plum
Remember Kebe from last year. He murdered us but we scagged a win. One can only imagine that some of the time he can't be arsed, otherwise he would have followed several of his teammates into the Prem.

90 mins next time please North End. You'll find things much easier that way.

[Mike Hunt]

Reading were very hard working and in the first half pressed us so much with their 5 man midfield that we couldn't play our football and had to just lump it forward. They weren't cultured but they did a good job and their tactics were spot on-the manager had clearly done his homework.

[prostak]

Back home after a few drinks, so memory fairly hazy at this point. First game I've seen since the Carling Cup against Barnsley, so I've not seen the full extent of the unravelling, but going purely on the relevant match reports on here and elsewhere tonight seemed like a great improvement. The fight and determination not to throw away another lead was really encouraging to see, even if the football played in the second half wasn't - it may be galling to see us behave like massive underdogs when we all have very recent memories of us bossing this league, but it got the result and that clearly did wonders for the players' confidence.

Not really into your Smash Hits marks out of 10, but standout individual performances-
Kebe - as others have said, one of the two contenders for our MoM. Spent the first 5 or 10 minutes looking a little isolated, but really was outstanding for most of today. Used his pace effectively and displayed anticipation and positional understanding I'd not associated with him before. I really hope this isn't just his 1 game in 5 and he can finally silence his doubters.
Federici - Still not quite there with his handling, but it would feel grossly unfair to criticize him too much - made a series of game-winning saves including a stand-out dive to tip a dangerous, dipping shot over.
Howard - First time I've seen him in a Reading shirt, not too keen on repeating this experience. I'd love to see some OPTA stats for him, perhaps he's one of those utterly anonymous players who nonetheless runs the game... Like a Netto Xabi Alonso.

General points at random-
- I think it would be a mistake to view this as a new dawn just yet, bearing in mind the main reason we were 2 goals up was defensive laxness and a botched offside trap.
- I cannot accept that was a penalty, and the awarding of it led to further PNE players falling like rotten elm branches in vain attempts to get another.
- Whichever prick of a Preston defender was repeatedly throwing the ball at Cumming's midriff as the game drew to an end is astonishingly lucky not to have received a yellow, especially given Howard's late card.
- The barmaids of central Lancashire remain as charming as ever.