Zola 'delighted' with first hour against Spurs (From Watford Observer)

Really? I thought we looked better when Iwelumo came on. A target man to aim for!

Well, since I am presently 5 000 miles away I didn't go yesterday but this seem to be at odds with the various comments after the match.....

HornetJJ wrote:
Really? I thought we looked better when Iwelumo came on. A target man to aim for!

pffft. DJ Campbell to sign this afternoon. The best signing of the summer & will fit the new style of play far better than a 'target man'. Especially one like Big Chris - you're as likely to score if you miss him as if you find him.

Campbell and Almunia likely to be big factors this season - I am hopeful that Almunia continues his shouty shouty organisation fo the defence and we have a back 4 terrified of their keeper for the right reasons, unlike last year when we misinterpreted Barcelona's winning formula by deploying a 'false No.1'

Is he Mad ??? They will get better as they get fitter ??? Garner wont score enough goals to count on one hand...Big Chris is there for comic value..Mark Yeats is USELESS !! Poor Sean Murrey cant do it all on his own. If Zola retains Garner then he is deluded and will be gone by xmas.

Have to say i was not impressed by ours or spurs performance. Even though it was only a pre season, the lack of cutting edge in the final third is worrying. Playing it around for the sake of it is pointless and boring. Yates was good, Iwelumo ok. We must improve quickly

I don't think we were passing it around for the sake of it. The object is to maintain possession and create an opening/chance if this doesn't come off the ball comes back and you build again whilst your opponents get frustrated at not having the ball. I agree about having no cutting edge. It would have been great to still have Marvin in Garners place also Abdi in for Yeates.

Crikey, the pre-season and testimonial games are played to get players match fit and to sharpen up,and already the "know s*d alls" are on here criticising Zola's every decision/opinion...w
ell, you have two choices; get behind Zola and the players or go up the M1 to scum town!... Just remember if the previous regime were still in control we probably wouldn't have a team to follow....COYH

Colin West's mullet wrote:

HornetJJ wrote: Really? I thought we looked better when Iwelumo came on. A target man to aim for!

pffft. DJ Campbell to sign this afternoon. The best signing of the summer & will fit the new style of play far better than a 'target man'. Especially one like Big Chris - you're as likely to score if you miss him as if you find him. Campbell and Almunia likely to be big factors this season - I am hopeful that Almunia continues his shouty shouty organisation fo the defence and we have a back 4 terrified of their keeper for the right reasons, unlike last year when we misinterpreted Barcelona's winning formula by deploying a 'false No.1'

dj campbell or federico macheda or both would be nice but premier clubs are chasing them too.

First things first, that probably is nothing like the shape of the team going forward. Secondly, it was a testamonial and it showed, thirdly we haven't played a competitive match and already people are decrying the tactics
Who called me impatient and fickle?
Lol

Agree LD, we need to wait for GFZ's team to emerge. At moment he can see the likes of Garner, Yeates, Forsyth etc as reasonable trainers, but after a couple of more games the loanees will be fit and GFZ will know what team he wants and what players he wants out on loan etc.
As for the team that played we kept the ball on the ground and found our man with a lot of passes and without Mariappa's favoured method of the hoof I thought we looked OK in many areas and Spurs were a good test and with a loan striker on the way we may well look sharp. new men need to be signed as loanees will have to be limited in terms of players on the pitch. I think the max number is five??

lutondown wrote:
First things first, that probably is nothing like the shape of the team going forward. Secondly, it was a testamonial and it showed, thirdly we haven't played a competitive match and already people are decrying the tactics
Who called me impatient and fickle?
Lol

Yes. Some sense.

It's amazing that some "supporters" are already moaning.
We have a change of management, a change of style, a new pitch, new owners, a totally different philosophy and a minimum of eight, mostly foreign, new players, plus there will inevitably be a few disgruntled players waiting to be shipped out.
If we are outside the bottom eight after ten games we will have done extremely well.
The new people appear to have saved our club from sinking into even deeper trouble so surely we should allow them a honeymoon period that extends beyond a few meaningless friendlies.

cliff46 wrote:
It's amazing that some "supporters" are already moaning.
We have a change of management, a change of style, a new pitch, new owners, a totally different philosophy and a minimum of eight, mostly foreign, new players, plus there will inevitably be a few disgruntled players waiting to be shipped out.
If we are outside the bottom eight after ten games we will have done extremely well.
The new people appear to have saved our club from sinking into even deeper trouble so surely we should allow them a honeymoon period that extends beyond a few meaningless friendlies.

Cliff, I was in the upper rous, hope me eating a pukka pie didn't upset you genteel folk too much!
Personally I liked the way defence and midfield were set up, a decent striker and we will be hard to beat. This was no more than a practice match, and for Christ sake it was Tottenhams first team in the main!
I think Alumunia looks to be a good signing!

lutondown wrote:

cliff46 wrote:
It's amazing that some "supporters" are already moaning.
We have a change of management, a change of style, a new pitch, new owners, a totally different philosophy and a minimum of eight, mostly foreign, new players, plus there will inevitably be a few disgruntled players waiting to be shipped out.
If we are outside the bottom eight after ten games we will have done extremely well.
The new people appear to have saved our club from sinking into even deeper trouble so surely we should allow them a honeymoon period that extends beyond a few meaningless friendlies.

Cliff, I was in the upper rous, hope me eating a pukka pie didn't upset you genteel folk too much!
Personally I liked the way defence and midfield were set up, a decent striker and we will be hard to beat. This was no more than a practice match, and for Christ sake it was Tottenhams first team in the main!
I think Alumunia looks to be a good signing!

Agree, great to actually hear the keeper for once. Shows the mark of a good keeper to pull off a great save after 75 minutes of not being involved, other than as an additional defender to pass back to occasionally.

Think it will develop further within the next few weeks as a few more striking options become available.

Abdi will replace Yeates if fit again next week and is a class above from what I witnessed at Borehamwood.

Think that Iwelumo, Jenkins will be the first to depart this week, followed by a few of the younger hopefuls on loan.

As you say we made Spurs look pretty ordinary at times, add that bit of creativity in the final third and it will come together.

lutondown wrote:
First things first, that probably is nothing like the shape of the team going forward. Secondly, it was a testamonial and it showed, thirdly we haven't played a competitive match and already people are decrying the tactics
Who called me impatient and fickle?
Lol

You fickle surely not! Interesting that some want to compare a Championship side with a Premiership side as a like for like, looking at the comments back, 1-0 against Tottenhams first team is not a bad return for a bunch of newbies playing together and obviously still not match fit, remember Tottenham have a new manager as well so the players needed to impress him also! I would only push one valid point, is Zola trying to much with Premiership style football now for a league that does not cope well with it? I know Swansea did it but they also had/have great players who can cope with the demands of play, we don't YET! I hope we are able to mix styles with a compromise that will suite what we do have and if so then I think we can definatley hold our own. Interesting also that Chris made a impact, when he is being touted to leave by Zola, guess we need to address the striker situation so we can play the way Zola want's soon.