Sat Aug 22, 2015 6:31 pm
A real pleasure to watch such a confident squad of players and long may that continue.
Can't disagree with any of what's already been said about those on the pitch - minimum of 7/10 from everyone, with the odd 8/10 from the likes of Demetriou, Chambers & Lalkovic.
For all Smith's criticisms in the past over his lack of 'game management' (rightly so in most cases, by the way), I thought he got things more or less spot-on today. There might have been a few groans from those behind me when Cook came on for Lalkovic, but it proved to be a great decision. Cook kept the ball well, ran it into the corner, and tracked back to support Taylor really well. Lalkovic doesn't like doing the latter, not least when he's shattered, so it was a sensible move. Similarly, bringing Morris on have them something different to think about, and we actually started to look more dangerous down that side despite also trying to hold a lead.
The team selection from the start was spot-on too. The quality of Forde's run for the first goal justified his selection by itself, and as Smith said after the game, Lalkovic loves matches with atmospheres like that. You can't argue with two assists from him.
It was a shame we couldn't manage a clean sheet given how quiet we kept Armstrong, but sometimes you just have to applaud goals like that. I don't think even the best in the world would have saved that one.
If I was to make one suggestion to Smith right now, it'd be to stay on the hunt for another couple of players. It'd be easy to stick with what we've got after such a good start, but I still think we're potentially dangerously light at centre half. Let's not forget, we'll be a much more attractive prospect to players looking for a new club and clubs looking to send players out on loan now we're sitting fairly pretty in second place.