The Poolie Bunker

looking at the 2 teams i thought we would be in for a bit of a torrid time especially looking at the midfield we have put out but we are playing surprisingly well. some lovely football from the back and strikers looking nice and sharp. matty robson is playing very well and has put in 5 outstanding crosses. foley has done some nice things and some poor things and has probably been the only weak link so far. defence is doing very well. special praise for ALB so far who has commanded his box and pulled off one fantastic save to his left from dickov. quite entertaining so far!

EDIT: 2nd half we got tonked

but lets face it, any team who has 4 strikers with the quality of Howard, Dickov, Fryatt & DJ Campbell are always going to be a fooking big test for us. add the fact that we played with a 2nd string midfield and thats the reason we got beat. 3-0 flattered Leicester as they got 2 of their goals as we were piling forward looking for a way back in the match.

i for one won't lose any sleep over this, and i'm pretty sure DW won't either

Wee with Hammy might though, but with a bit of luck, he may just stick that pin in his eye,,,,,,,

i'm sure he is masturbating furiously at the thought of us getting beat and he can call for Wilsons head too.

only joking Tree

We are shit. Wilson out.

they did not deserve to win by 3 goals end of

They wiped the floor with us a bit in the second half I must agree. But in the first half we played some good football and were on top for long periods. Foley and Power were struggling - Foley needs to work on his first touch and Power found it hard to cope with the pace of the game I think. Not to worry though its only a piss-pot trophy anyway

i agree the best team won. we will leave it at that

The best team won I agree. But it was NOT a 3-0 defeat. Their 2nd goal was a foul by Howard which the referee failed to give. We had a blatant penalty not given and to be honest (well in my opinion) the referee suffered from big clubitis. He never give us anything where a decent ball may have hurt them. At one stage in the 2nd half he awarded us a free kick just outside the box and then proceeded to mark out the 10 yards by walking VIRTUALLY SIDEWAYS meaning the wall was no more than 6 yards away.

Leicester will win more than they lose but to say they deserved 3-0 tonight is simply wrong.

Agree entirely.
We were pushing forward in the later stages so it was no surprise to get caught on the break. A Leicester fan in the lounge afterwards admitted they were a litte flattered by the margin of the win, but there was no doubt they deserved it overall. He also said we were the best team to have played them so far. ( We seem to keep hearing that don't we!!)
One final point, I thought Matty Robson stood out for Pools. Shame we couldn't get anyone on the end of several superb crosses he put over. His link up play with Richie was excellent throughout.

agree completely. someone else on another thread slates robson whereas i would say (for his 1st half performance alone)he was prob MOM. Just goes to show how people see things differently doesnt it!

I also thought Matty Robson did well - Richie Barker should really have done better with a good supply of crosses from the left. Barker got some good flick-ons but did little else - I think it may be better if he was used from the bench as and when required throughout the season.

As stated previously the other two changes to the starting line-up, Foley and Power, both struggled against a decent side. Of the four changes made I would only consider keeping Matty Robson for the next game.

Leicester did this to Cheltenham on Saturday - really stepped on the gas after the interval.
I think the score wasn't a reflection of the game either - it should have been more!!!!
Their use of possession was far more clinical and incisive than ours- I'm sorry but apart from one chance in the 2nd half which should have brought a goal, our possession of the ball had nowhere near the impact theirs did.
That's how I saw it.