Back from the game - Donnie

[Royal Rother]

It would be ludicrous to think we have somehow cracked it with a straight-forward win over a dispirited, injury-hit Doncaster team. There was still plenty to be anxious about; Leigertwood looks a shadow of the man desperate to win a long term contract - the Salako effect? - and I have to question whether Jay Tabb and Noel Hunt really ever contribute anything other than huff-and-puff. The finishing was powder-puff as usual, and Church - however good his all round game was - could only finish off a two yard tap in. Le Fondre put his header away well, but he was unmarked. A goalkeeping error/lucky ricochet and an unmarked header; we need to improve exponentially to be anything other than midtable fodder at best.

Surely Le Fondre has to get some credit for putting himself into a position where he was unmarked.

Steady on chaps. I'm not sure the planet can afford for 2 such negative forces to have any form of disagreement.

The Gods might just decide enough's enough.

[CayeneMatt]

Agree, not kissing Churchy's arse. He also had a tame effort from the edge of the box near the end. Actually got himself in a good position, neat Cruyff turn, and a piss poor shot.

[RoyalBlue]

It would be ludicrous to think we have somehow cracked it with a straight-forward win over a dispirited, injury-hit Doncaster team. There was still plenty to be anxious about; Leigertwood looks a shadow of the man desperate to win a long term contract - the Salako effect? - and I have to question whether Jay Tabb and Noel Hunt really ever contribute anything other than huff-and-puff. The finishing was powder-puff as usual, and Church - however good his all round game was - could only finish off a two yard tap in. Le Fondre put his header away well, but he was unmarked. A goalkeeping error/lucky ricochet and an unmarked header; we need to improve exponentially to be anything other than midtable fodder at best.

Surely Le Fondre has to get some credit for putting himself into a position where he was unmarked.

Steady on chaps. I'm not sure the planet can afford for 2 such negative forces to have any form of disagreement.

The Gods might just decide enough's enough.

Only negative against the one who seems to think he is God and whom some quite unbelievably treat as such!

[floyd__streete]

Church's miss when 1 on 1 in the first half was due more to the defenders tackle. Unbelievable block - think it was Friend but couldn't make him out from my seat.

The 2nd one? When he had a 5 yard start on the defender? That showed a diablocal lack of self-belief, which must surely be due to nasty people on the internet suggesting he is incapable, the poor sensitive soul. The first miss when clean through at an angle defied belief - at least make the keeper work, no, straight at him.

[Pseud O'Nym]

we need to improve exponentially to be anything other than midtable fodder at best.

Bloody hell, if Floyd's that positive we must have a good chance of an automatic place!

[manny96]

The 2nd one? When he had a 5 yard start on the defender? That showed a diablocal lack of self-belief, which must surely be due to nasty people on the internet suggesting he is incapable, the poor sensitive soul. The first miss when clean through at an angle defied belief - at least make the keeper work, no, straight at him.

The first was poor but happens. Just saw our beloved Shane miss a howler. 'greed the second he could've done better but it was still a quality tackle and running with the ball vs running without the ball is probably about 5 yards difference. I'll have to have another look with Manish.

Not talking about corners turned yet but needed the result and got it.

[PieEater]

I nearly went home after I saw Church starting, but I have to say he did a job. Not the MOTM performance others have raved about but a lot better than the shit he's showed us recently. Running the channels and hold up play was a lot better. But I have to wonder whether LeFondre would have done better with the two great chances Church missed. For the second particularly he was outpaced by the centre half.

My jury is still out about LeFondre, he made the first and took the second brilliantly, but he did little else all game. His all round game seems to be lacking, but he looks like the best finisher we have.

I thought Hunt had a good game, but my MOTM was Cummings. Our defence just looks so much better with some pace at back.

It was a bit worrying that we didn't really have a lot of good possession but we were always outnumbered in midfield with Donny's 4231. I was surprised to see Oster playing as part of the holding 2.

Overall though I'm really happy with the win and hope we can kick on from here at Coventry.

[Royal With Cheese]

My jury is still out about LeFondre,

Fcuk me, how many games has he played for us?

[robinsfriday]

I nearly went home after I saw Church starting

What a great supporter of the team you are, you must be proud.

My jury is still out about LeFondre, he made the first and took the second brilliantly, but he did little else all game.

Jury is still out after one a half games? Jesus Christ mate. And for the record, essentially Le Fondre won us the game with these two contributions. If that's all he does then that's just fine by me.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Much better all round, puts a little bit of confidence back into the team for the harder trip to Coventry next week.

[andrew1957]

Obviously delighted we won and just hoping that pre season is now over and normal service can be resumed.

However, although the team selection was ultimately justified, I was surprised to see Karacan and HRK excluded from the squad. To me HRK has been the stand out player so far this season. He looked a step above when he came on against Watford. Was he definitely injured - or dropped?

As for Karacan he always gives 100% every week and would always be one of the first names I put on any team sheet. I thought he was one of the brighter points in the debacle against Watford - whilst Leigertwood was awful that day.

I guess Brain told Leigertwood "perform of else" and it worked out but I do feel a tad sorry for Karacan - still I guess it will give him the incentive to try and win his place back. However, very glad Legs played better.

So pleased for Church. I have always liked him and seen his issues as a confidence problem. He could turn out to be a top class striker yet if he is given a run of games.

The new defence has to be the way forwards - Cummings and Mills will hopefully get better and better if they are given the chance. I would stick with them whatever now – even if they make a few awful mistakes - as young players are likely to do. Sadly for Harte and Griffin they will have to provide the back up going forwards in case of injury or suspensions.

Will be very interesting to see what team Brain puts out next time round. Will he stick or twist?

[rob the royal]

My jury is still out about LeFondre,

Fcuk me, how many games has he played for us?

Surely at this point all our proverbial juries should still be out???

After one and a half games I would have thought anyone whose made a decision on him already would be jumping the gun a bit... and would probably get slated on here for doing so!!!

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Church MOM. Led from the front, exactly what we needed after recent weeks. Senoiresque for his goal. Lucky Ricochet? Or putting himself in the mix where others wouldn't? Match winning performance, irrespective of the misses.

Legs back to his best? Bollox, he was rubbish. Again.

Cummings did OK, but hardly 'superb'. He does a job but still looks petrified whenever the ball comes near him.

Gorkks - Reminded me of Adie Williams. Class.

[Focher]

im afraid i was not at the game so im going to decline to comment here.

[brendywendy]

kebe - 5 (replaced by le fondre - 7)

didn't really get into the game before he was forced off injured. shame.

!

was brilliant imo,was everywhere, and full of running, tackled back,
showed real desire to take th egame by the scruff of the neck and impose himself.

[brendywendy]

well that was better werent it

defence much more solid, perhaps signs of a partnership in the centre, and some pace at FB. cummings was great, and so was mills, though let himself down a little second half. pearce had a good game, did what he does best well, no nonsense. Gorkss was superb again. a proper CB. a great purchase, and should probably be captain.

good to see tabb back, but unlucky for karacan, should probably have been mikele who missed out on form, but even he showed an improvement. Mcanuff and kebe till he went off worked very hard, and looked to create whenever they had the ball.

church was immense, from the first whistle, closed down everything, never stopped running, put in a number of superb crosses and his passing and dribbling looked good, held it up better than ive seen from him too.fluffed two shots, but deserved the goal, really pleased for him.
le fondre scored a peach of a header, and generally made a nuisance of himself.

brave changes from Mcdermott to bring in church and drop karacan.

on to cov. more improvement needed, but good start

[chilipepper91]

Church MOM. Led from the front, exactly what we needed after recent weeks. Senoiresque for his goal. Lucky Ricochet? Or putting himself in the mix where others wouldn't? Match winning performance, irrespective of the misses.

Legs back to his best? Bollox, he was rubbish. Again.

Cummings did OK, but hardly 'superb'. He does a job but still looks petrified whenever the ball comes near him.

Gorkks - Reminded me of Adie Williams. Class.

Agreed with all this, Leigertwood broke up play well but cannot pass the ball or play it along the floor. Too often, he just wanted to hoof the ball up field and let someone else deal with it. Cummings I thought looked assured on the ball, played some great passes and broke up play well whenever needed. He did look scared when the ball came to him, but always dealt with it well. I think Tabb had a good game too, quietly efficient and able to play his way out of trouble. Gorkss won everything in the air, 100% commitment from him. MOTM between Gorkss, Church and Cummings for me

[Friday's Legacy]

My jury is still out about LeFondre, he made the first and took the second brilliantly, but he did little else all game. His all round game seems to be lacking, but he looks like the best finisher we have.

then you will never be happy because that is adam le fondre. he is a jamie cureton, a kevin philips. he doesn't work hard or drop out wide, he is a fox in the box and making one and scoring one is a days shift for him. i thought he linked up with church very well yesterday and was delighted with both performances. v.good signing!

[PieEater]

My jury is still out about LeFondre, he made the first and took the second brilliantly, but he did little else all game. His all round game seems to be lacking, but he looks like the best finisher we have.

then you will never be happy because that is adam le fondre. he is a jamie cureton, a kevin philips. he doesn't work hard or drop out wide, he is a fox in the box and making one and scoring one is a days shift for him. i thought he linked up with church very well yesterday and was delighted with both performances. v.good signing!

Yes, but would you drop Hunt or Church to start him? That's what I meant about the jury being out, for me Church has earned himself another start and I'd rather have Hunt alongside him.

[Friday's Legacy]

My jury is still out about LeFondre, he made the first and took the second brilliantly, but he did little else all game. His all round game seems to be lacking, but he looks like the best finisher we have.

then you will never be happy because that is adam le fondre. he is a jamie cureton, a kevin philips. he doesn't work hard or drop out wide, he is a fox in the box and making one and scoring one is a days shift for him. i thought he linked up with church very well yesterday and was delighted with both performances. v.good signing!

Yes, but would you drop Hunt or Church to start him? That's what I meant about the jury being out, for me Church has earned himself another start and I'd rather have Hunt alongside him.

well he has more chance of scoring those goals if you start him than bring him on for 15 minutes. you only have to look at kevin philips for an example of that. you just have to find the right balance and we seemed to do that with church and le fondre. i like hunt but he's slow and easy to read, and still not 100% fit. his back is giving him a lot of trouble and he hurt it again yesterday. i'd be tempted to have hunt on the bench myself, but we'll see. it's nice to have a few difficult choices.