This season, I've decided to post my thoughts the following morning in an effort to be a bit more balanced, so here we go:
Firstly, a bit of humble pie for me to eat: those avid followers of the board will know I am a big Bartley critic (I feel he is a liability and will cost us points), but yesterday he was brilliant: his best game for us, I reckon. So fair play. Actually, I thought the team really stood up yesterday and put in a great shift that deserved 3 points, only to be robbed by VAR and moments of ineptitude from Johnstone and Kanu.
Things to build on:
Robinson up top - I, and a few others, have been calling for Robinson to start up front from last season. He is clearly a far greater threat than our other options and his movement and finishing may surprise a few defences this season.
Diangana and Pereira - these two are pure class and will create chances against most teams. They are our two best players, in my opinion, and it is crucial they stay fit and get on the ball as much as possible.
Belief - I could be wrong, but the players appear to have a great team spirit which can only be a good thing in what looks to be a hugely tricky season ahead; whether that lasts is unknown but it was good to see some smiles last night and hopefully we can play well in the upcoming fixtures.
Areas of concern:
The goalkeeper - look, I'm not saying Johnstone isn't a good goalkeeper, he clearly is to be in the position he finds himself in. However, he is a goalkeeper who does not inspire confidence despite the defence needing someone behind them they can trust to help them out by claiming balls into the box. Personally, I felt their 1st wasn't as unsaveable as the commentators were making out, while their 3rd came from a corner he should have avoided by simply catching the ball instead of punching it woefully into the box.
VAR - I've always been a big proponent of technology, but the problem is it's still run by biased *****. Their 3rd goal was a handball. Simple as that. I don't care about this nonsense about when it happened. He controlled it with his arm - handball. We were robbed of 2 points, points the lads thoroughly deserved.
Kanu - everytime I see this fraud in our kit, a part of me dies. Apart from winning one foul, he was abominable. From giving the ball away with awful first touches, not closing down their players in possession, to that joke of a clearance for their 3rd goal, he once again flattered to deceive. The fact we are paying him such sizeable wages is heart-breaking and I look forward to the day he isn't our player.
Do I think we'll stay up? Not without further investment. But at least I was proud of the performance again. We took it to a team with a far greater budget and were unlucky not to win. On to the next one ay.