Observations: Hereford 0-0 Blues

Pre-season games are normally boring affairs, and todays game at Edgar Street didn’t differ from the norm. There were positives and negatives to be taken from the game though, and from my point of view here they are...

The Positives...
Chris Burke looks a great addition to the side at this level and a suitable replacement for Seb Larsson. His ability to take on players, which we didn’t see Larsson do too often, was welcomed by Blues fans today. He is already striking up a good partnership down the right with Stephen Carr and it looks promising on the right wing for this season.

Although we didn’t do much with it, the possession we obtained throughout the game was good. We seemed to hold onto the ball very well and managed to keep the ball on the floor for the majority which was enjoyable to say the least. As I have just mentioned, I was particularly impressed with the work of Burke and Carr, and I also thought Keith Fahey had a decent game in the middle too.

Off the field, the amount of Blues fans that turned out for the game today was great to see. 2,848 in attendance and I’d say a large chunk of that were Bluenoses. When the club are at a low like this it’s brilliant to see so many fans turn up – and make some noise throughout the game too.


The Negatives...
I’ve mentioned how much possession we had, yet we failed to do much with it. A few chances for Adam Rooney coupled with missed strikes from Michel and Burke summed up our game in terms of goal scoring opportunities. Hereford had the better chances and if they knew how to put them away they would have won the game.

With David Murphy having to play on the left wing – which he is actually comfortable with, it must be said – and Rooney and Akwasi Asante the only fit strikers, we must make at least one or two additions before the season commences on the 6th August. Although on paper the names of the squad stand out as a team who could potentially gain promotion, or come close, however the amount of players in the squad is a cause for concern, especially with the amount of games we already have to play this season – and that’s not even counting the Carling Cup or FA Cup games. Hopefully Chris Hughton makes some additions before the end of the summer transfer window at least

To Summarise...
Apart from the lack of goals, it was an enjoyable and extremely cheap day out in the Hereforshire sunshine. It was interesting to see new playes in action and Burke particularly impressed me, with Rooney also looking like he could do a job in the Championship this season.

Next up are two pre-season games against Oxford and Everton before our promotion campaign begins against Derby - for the latter two I will be on holiday and therefore will not be doing a post-match blog.