[Albion79]

Pleased for Shan more than anything.

Very sensible from him tonight, similar to Moores caretaker spell, he took it back to basics, as we have seen the issues facing whoever the new manager is will be trying to progress and move on from that.

We didnt play particularly well and the way Swansea played was exactly what we needed for a home game, they were very open and it allowed us to be clinical and show our quality in the one area we really have it, fortunately Brentford will probably play the same way so we should be able to pick them off too.

Johnstone made 4 or 5 great saves and Brunt played well first half especially and Swansea being very naive helped us to 3 goals and a clean sheet which was what we needed right now.

I did wonder if we would bother turning up tonight but after reading Bruntys comments i had a feeling we will hit a bit of form and try and get Shan the job permanent, potentially makes the players comfortable for a bit longer.

[costa blanca baggie]

Just trying to say that we have to practice passing.

I they can’t pass at this stage of their careers, then no amount of practice is going to help.

[TheJacko2000]

Solid professional performance against a flowery but ultimately toothless side, only let down by a couple of under performers (Livermore and Townsend).


Johnstone made 2 fantastic saves, the one in the 2nd half was Foster-esque.


Harper was back to his languid best, Gayle a pest (and far better down the middle), Hegazi a colossus in defence.


Man of the match though was Chris Brunt, with a goal and an assist, he got through a lot of dirty work and his calmness in possession is something we've missed for a few months.


I'll continue to be baffled by and shout down any of our fans who prefer players who treat a football like a hot potato to ones who love the ball at feet.


A very good night after some dark days.

[Fritzl Palace]

Solid professional performance against a flowery but ultimately toothless side, only let down by a couple of under performers (Livermore and Townsend).

Agree entirely on Livermore and Townsend, especially the latter who is frighteningly poor. Whoever scouted him should not be working in football.

[OldburyWBA]

Much better, Johnstone man of the match without a shadow of a doubt, kept us in it with 3 excellent saves.

Thought Brunt had his best game for us in the centre although he and the others got the runaround from Nathan Dyer first half who controlled the game in that half, surprised they moved him out wide second half. Still do not like him or rate him in the middle but I give credit where its due.

Townsend also his best game for us, got down the wing well at times and put a couple of decent balls over.

Only real disappointment was Murphy for me.

Lets see what the future holds, not getting carried away with one result !!

[mulliganstired]

I thought we were quite lucky, but maybe we were due one.  Still looked rather disjointed and it got worse as the game went on - much more spirited though, and Gayle through the middle means they can never switch off and have to keep 2 men back.  He must stay there.

I thought Townsend did ok, at least he looked like he wanted it.

[Droitwich Baggie]

I said to the missus after that penalty...The luck is with us tonight.

[Cardiaccarol]

I don’t think Swansea watched us on Saturday.

Don’t they know that if they close us down quickly and run at us we don’t know how to handle it

[The Black Pearl]

The worst penalty in the history of football?

[Mister AT]

Back to basics.

Let the opposition have the ball and played to our strengths.

Looked ropey at times but I put that down to our home form.

Hegazi, Townsend, Brunt and Johnstone the best picks.

Rodriguez put some good work in on the wing.

[TheJacko2000]

The worst penalty in the history of football?

Funniest definitely.

[Atomic]

I don't like 4-5-1 at home but I can understand it at this moment in time.

In truth we should've been 3-1 down at half time. We had five men in midfield yet Swansea still kept picking up balls in the pockets between defence and midfield and without Johnstone making a couple of magnificent saves we would've been chasing the game. As for the penalty now that was funny. 

Second half was better, they didn't look as dangerous and we started to create one or two chances.

Johnstone MOTM and Hegazi an absolute beast at the back.

Not the type of football I want to watch every week though and never in a million years was 3-0 a fair reflection. Swansea cannot defend set pieces.

[17GD]

A much more solid performance. We stopped messing around at the back and we closed the opposition down when their defence had the ball. That's all we asked for and look at the outcome.

Brunty played a superb game and SJ probably played his best ever. Some fantastic saves throughout and would be my motm.

Harper and Murphy look a little lazy and could do with someone telling them to wake up a bit.

Great to see a win and a clean sheet. Well played!

[Pureade1]

Pleasing result to end the terrible run at home.  Johnstone was superb whilst Hegazi showed why he is so important and imo our player of the season so far. Only concern for me is Murphy just seems to have no confidence or bottle which is something we havent got the time to put right this season.

[KN22]

It’s all been said I think. Sam was excellent, clear man of the match for me. Brunt and Hegazi great too. Murphy lacks bottle. Has way more skill than HRK but the latter at least doesn’t chicken out of challenges. The result gives a little much needed breathing space.

[graka]

Agree entirely on Livermore and Townsend, especially the latter who is frighteningly poor. Whoever scouted him should not be working in football.

Agree Townsend is not top 6 championship quality but in his defence had no natural left midfielder Infront of him helping out defensively and he put over several decent crosses.
Not as good as gibbs but gibbs isn't great defensively allows far too many crosses into the box from his side.

[GREGMT]

I am very pleased with 3 points.  I have to say I thought we were played off the park and 30% possession is poor. 

Livermore was abysmal.  I thought Townsend was decent actually.

Credit to Brunt for the goal, assist for the 2nd, a marvellous delivery 1st half which should’ve been 2-0 and all round dangerous set pieces.  In general play Brunt and Livermore is just too slow.  The midfield can’t get up and down the pitch effectively.  Harper has too much work on his hands. 

I fear for us at Brentford but we look a solid bet for the play offs.  As I predicted Villa will make it with possibly PNE.

[TheBrom]

I didn't think we actually played much different to when Darren Moore was in charge, we just managed to score more than the opponent at home for once, and let's be honest we could have been 3 or 4 down in the first half and they missed a penalty too.

Thought Hegazi and SJ were excellent and either are my man of the match. Both dug us out of danger multiple times.

Townsend looked good too, offered more going forward than Gibbs and was relatively solid at the back.

Brunt played some great balls and took some great free kicks, Livermore was busy and did the rough stuff, Harper had a good game and looked comfortable on the ball.

Thought our front 3 all game again didn't really work or offer much. Gayle badly needs a goal and we need to decide whether we continue playing one of the strikers on the wing. Still not sold on Murphy either who can't seem to cross a ball.

Thought Bartley was pretty solid after coming on and I note we stopped playing it out short from goal kicks and between the CBs, opting to go long after Dawson went off for extra precaution.

Glad to see Holgate who must be one of the smaller players on the pitch getting up to win a header for his goal.

Hope the injuries to Dawson and Holgate aren't major. Could do with Phillips back too IMO.

[Dan87uk]

The Good:
Johnstone had his best game in an Albion shirt this evening, more of the same please.

Hegazi showed just how much we miss him when he's out of the side

Brunt had a really good game and only faded in the last 20 mins or so when he tired.

Harper had a solid if not spectacular game but it's the baseline consistency you want for him to continue with to get minutes under his belt which will only help him in the long run. Get his contract extended.

Gayle was a pain in the backside for their defenders all night which allowed us the space wide for once (where it was; very sadly; wasted at times). Gayle must continue being played down the middle, it's where he is best.

The Bad:

Dawson and Holgate both going off injured is a major worry for our now bare bones back line with Gibbs also still out until after the international break.

Despite getting a poached goal towards the end, J-Rod spent most of the game on his A*** and/or ball watching, not sure why but his overall play just triggers me as he saunters around the pitch...

Murphy was genuinely awful this evening, bottled challenges, poor crosses (again), poor passing and just generally poor decisions. Think we actually looked much better when HRK came on (and I can assure you i'm wincing as I say that)


The Ugly (or Hilarious)
That penalty attempt - which will be on every blooper reel for decades to come on how not to take a penalty.

Livermore - Truly awful performance, turns like a HGV, looks like he's constantly running through treacle and struggles to pass it, Dyer and Grimes ghosted past him on several occasions as he just watched or casually trotted back into position where he'd then proceed to try and just act (unsuccessfully) as a stationary road block.

MOTM:
Toss up between Brunt (1 Goal, 1 Assist) or Johnstone (3 Good Saves to keep us in it) which I can assure you, at the start of the game I would not have expected those two names to be anywhere near the top of the MOTM list.

Still need more consistency from both but i'm sure this result and performance from Brunt has made Jacko's week 

[Nice1Cyrille]

Could have been a different outcome but for Johnstone making some great saves and of course the worst penalty attempt in history. Three points is what we needed but the performance still leaves a lot to improve upon.
Brunt was shockingly good in the 1st half and had a decent overall match. Harper was consistent and busy all night. Hegazi was a rock.
One thing I did see 2 or 3 times was Hegazi pointing to Townsend to show him where to be when Swansea attacked. I feel Townsend seems out of sorts at this level.
The more I see Murphy the less I rate him. Seems to make poor choices around the box and is lightweight on anything 50-50.
I think the score was unfair on Swansea but I'll take it after the last few games.

[baggieboyfred]

welcome 3 points but Johnstone and Heghazi men of the match say it all for baggies, we still hardly created anything in open play, a Gayle strike well saved and a header tipped over, but once again had to rely on the set pieces, the first by Brunt quite fortunate.
the quality of crosses from both Murphy and Holgate were once again poor, townend I thought played well going forward  , a bit iffy defensively, overall final ball was poor.
but as I say 3 points is 3 points and if we can avoid defeat at Brentford then I think we will be ok for play offs as once again , boro, derby and Bristol city shot themselves in the foot bringing several more sides into the equation, but  I must give credit to James Shan, the problems that Swansea were giving us in the first half , were largely snuffed out in the second half with subtle tactical changes, which is something that Big Dave very rarely was able to do

[SirTonyM]

Wasn’t at game and have read all the comments. Listening to the comments on Murphy sums up alot of my thoughts on the squad. People raving about how good our squad is but it seems to me a lot is reputation rather than form (or even proven performances for a while). Murphy was poor at Newcastle and they were happy to let us have him. Montero was on Swansea’s bench. There are plenty more examples in our squad but quite a few players haven’t shown their “ability” enough on a regular basis.

[17GD]

I didn't think we actually played much different to when Darren Moore was in charge, we just managed to score more than the opponent at home for once, and let's be honest we could have been 3 or 4 down in the first half and they missed a penalty too.

Thought Hegazi and SJ were excellent and either are my man of the match. Both dug us out of danger multiple times.

Townsend looked good too, offered more going forward than Gibbs and was relatively solid at the back.

Brunt played some great balls and took some great free kicks, Livermore was busy and did the rough stuff, Harper had a good game and looked comfortable on the ball.

Thought our front 3 all game again didn't really work or offer much. Gayle badly needs a goal and we need to decide whether we continue playing one of the strikers on the wing. Still not sold on Murphy either who can't seem to cross a ball.

Thought Bartley was pretty solid after coming on and I note we stopped playing it out short from goal kicks and between the CBs, opting to go long after Dawson went off for extra precaution.

Glad to see Holgate who must be one of the smaller players on the pitch getting up to win a header for his goal.

Hope the injuries to Dawson and Holgate aren't major. Could do with Phillips back too IMO.

I know it's about opinions, but I'm not sure how you got to this conclusion. We were quite literally the opposite in terms of play both in and out of possession. We didn't pass out from the back and we closed Swansea down in their own third. SJ seemed to have more confidence and the players seemed to have more of an idea of positions.

I agree Swansea posed a large threat, but that's football. SJ pulled off about 4 top saves, they missed a penalty and hit the post.

[Hull Baggie]

Had to miss the game due to work commitments, only watched the highlights on Quest so hard to form a true opinion on the game.

Looks like we struggled defensively at times, Sam Johnstone making some very good saves and some poor finishing by them, equally we created some good chances that kept Nordfeldt busy. No doubt we had some luck with Brunt's free kick and the penalty miss but the challenge on Gayle looked like a penalty to me so swings and roundabouts. I do wonder if Gayle will get another penalty decision this season?

Holgate and Rodriguez took their goals well and sometimes you need a bit of luck to help kick start things.

[darbolina]

We looked sluggish (as usual) last night but we were far more compact and defensively sound. Tactically, I thought we were much better and pressed them more in the second half. Our midfield is so slow that we're wide open on the break and Swansea could/ should of have a couple of goals at least in the first half. That penalty - wow!

It was good to see us be more direct and stop the faffing around at the back. Johnstone had a great game and the defence looked so much more assured without having to worry about tippy tappying it around the back for 10mins which they've always looked uncomfortable with. Murphy's delivery is pretty poor to be honest, he gets into space with his pace and power then just cannot deliver. Hopefully he'll get better with confidence (maybe more than that though.....)

At this stage of the season, just keep winning, that's all - doesn't matter how. Before I'm shot down for that, we just don't have a midfield that can pass and move like Swansea's last night who look a tidy team (Potter obviously a good coach) so we need to work with what we have this season and try to rebuild that midfield in the summer!!