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Watford 0, Posh 1 - Proud to be Posh again
Match report: TO be called the best manager at London Road this season is to be damned with very faint praise indeed. After all Jim Gannon only has Distracted Darren and Muddled Mark to beat.
But, if Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony fails to get Gannon to extend his stay at the club beyond the end of this season, it will rank as one of the most crushing disappointments in a campaign full of them.
After securing a first Championship away win of the season as well as back-to-back three-pointers and successive clean sheets for the first time, Gannon has now masterminded more wins in eight matches than his predecessors managed in 28 between them.
And masterminded is not an exaggeration. This win was achieved without any recognised central midfielders, with strikers who apparently can’t wait to leave the club and with a defence that was more accident-prone than Frank Spencer in the early part of the season.
Of course it is probably easier to manage a team with no hope than it is to manage one burdened with unrealistic expectations, but, since he arrived, Gannon has also lost the services of the club’s best two players.
Mourinho would find that a challenge and yet Gannon has devised systems that accommodate players playing out of position and he’s installed pride and confidence in a squad that has lacked both.
He’s helped turn Craig Morgan into a beast of a defender, he’s found a proper right-back, he’s found a position that might restore Charlie Lee to fans’ favouritism and he’s even turned Exodus Geohaghon into a cross between Claude Makele and Glenn Hoddle.
Gannon’s substitution of Aaron Mclean for Geohaghon in the previous match was greeted with gasps of horror on the terraces and the odd chuckle in the press box at a manager who appeared to have mislaid the plot.
But that’s the advantage of watching dvds of actual matches for entire afternoons over playing football computer games all night. Geohaghon arrived as a half-time substitute for Sergio Torres in this match, promptly won all his headers, broke up many attacks and played one raking 40-yard pass to Craig Mackail-Smith which had members of this week’s press corps stumbling for the right superlatives.
‘Awesome’ seemed appropriate as it did for the game’s only goal from Liam Dickinson, a man who probably needed to produce something special to justify wearing custard-coloured boots.
His opportunity arrived six minutes after the break when Watford keeper Scott Loach just beat marauding Posh full-back Mark Little to a through-ball on the edge of his area. Unfortunately for a keeper who had played pretty well, the ball found its way to Dickinson who promptly sent a first-time shot straight into the net from 25 yards.
And it was no more than Posh deserved. Loach had saved bravely from Mackail-Smith in the 12th minute and recovered quickly enough to beat out Dickinson’s follow-up strike. Mclean struck the base of a post from the edge of the penalty area on the stroke of half-time and Loach turned Dickinson’s late header from Geohaghon’s long throw onto the crossbar.
Posh were so dominant in the opening period, Watford were booed off at the interval. Their on-pitch announcer had just pipped Loach and tricky midfielder Tom Cleverley to their best-performer award for repeating the phrase ‘glory Hornet boys’ without smirking.
Inevitably the home side, who are now official relegation candidates, woke up after falling behind and exerted plenty of late pressure.
Danny Graham missed a golden opportunity to equalise almost immediately, but, despite some set-pieces in scary places, Posh held firm at the back.
Goalkeeper Joe Lewis was called into action just once when Adrian Mariappa’s deflected shot forced a reaction save. Morgan headed another shot from the same player clear with Lewis beaten and substitute Will Hoskins came close with a shot from distance.
But this was to be Gannon’s day. His positive selection and set-up would have impressed the watching MacAnthony – no bad thing 48 hours before talks about the manager’s future were due to start.
Player ratings
Peterborough United
JOE LEWIS 6
Not called into action very often, but he is oozing confidence
MARK LITTLE
9
Strong in the tackle, pacy and powerful when attacking, looks a quality recruit
SCOTT GRIFFITHS 6
Defended well, iffy day with his distribution and crossing, didn’t look match ?t
CRAIG MORGAN 8
Has been transformed into a top-class defender in recent weeks
GABY ZAKUANI 7
His no-nonsense style of defending was a real plus in a frantic finale
CHARLIE LEE 7
Played with great discipline in a midfield screening role that appears to suit him
SERGIO TORRES 5
Not a pitch for a man who likes to dribble, substituted at half-time
TOMMY ROWE 6
Popped up in some threatening positions
CRAIG MACKAIL-SMITH 7
Hassled defenders for 90 minutes and on a flatter surface would have wreaked havoc
LIAM DICKINSON 7
Can look ungainly, but a goal to grace to any stage
AARON MCLEAN 7
Put in a great shift and unlucky not to score
Subs:
Exodus Geohaghon: (for Torres, 46 mins)
Looks a better mid?elder than defender these days) 7
Josh Simpson: (for Griffiths, 75 mins)
Reuben Reid: (for Mclean, 84 mins)
Dominic Green: (not used)
Jamie Day: (not used)
Billy Crook: (not used)
James McKeown: (not used)
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Weather for Peterborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Roger LeChat
Monday, March 15, 2010 at 07:31 PMIs three on the bounce being greedy?
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