Dazed Review – Luton at the KC

After the disaster at Burnley a much improved performance was required as more and more fans had started to lose patience with Parkinson despite the fact he has been in the job for a little over 3 months ?

Changes were needed to be made to shore up the defense and also to try and find that formula up front to give us the goals we need to start climbing away from the relegation zone to safety in what is becoming a very very tight league ?

And it was changes he made! Dawson was struggling with illness so Ricketts came in at left back; Coles started the game after an encouraging return against Burnley so he started in the middle alongside Turner with Mills reverting to his favored right back position ?

Perhaps the most surprising of the changes was Elliott being recalled into the side on the left hand side all be it due to Yeates missing training with injury ? Welsh also came in for Marney, who came off injured on Saturday although he had been misfiring for some time unluckily so ? and Also Forster came into the side with Bridges making way although some would say maybe he had dropped the wrong striker for this one ?

The game started positively for Hull with us looking bright and willing to play the ball along the floor more than in recent games and after about 10 minutes Parkin really should have made it one nil when he broke through on goal only for his pace to let him down and he ended up firing a weak shot on goal ? Elliott came close with a couple of free kicks and then Mills drove his way into the box only for his wonderful low shot to be saved off the line at the last gasp (although I was one of those in the south east corner end of the ground that thought it had gone in !), we were starting to look good in my opinion and this game you sensed was there for the taking ?

We had other chances and Elliott was starting to look a bit more like his former self having a few chances and not afraid to take the free kicks when needed, it was very refreshing seeing other people taking free kicks and it gave us good variety ? As the half wore on though Luton started getting a few chances and Vine should have scored really with the full goal to go for but instead ? he fell over!

Just before half time Parkin tried to claim a penalty but the Ref, who had been very whistle happy all night, decided it was a dive and booked Parkin for his troubles

Half Time – Hull City 0 – 0 Luton Town

Second half starts and I for one are quite confident we can do something with this game and get the three points we crave, our defense was looking solid and we were creating good chances ? then reality hit me as we seemed to all of a sudden revert back to hoofing the ball up at every opportunity and not looking like we were going to try and attack never mind get a goal ?although this only lasted about 15 minutes it seemed like a very long 15 minutes that`s for sure! we gradually regained our composure and started to try and play like we did in the first half and Coles went close from a corner before Parkin had his second glorious chance of the night and again he failed as he tried to be clever and chip it rather than hit it with venom ?

Fagan then got booked which means he would miss the next game and Parkinson duly put on his obvious replacement in France as he brought him on for Parkin and switched Fagan to a forward role ? and Fagan almost proved the change to be a successful one as he set up Welsh wonderfully only for his shot to drift wide ?

Luton then had a great chance to steal the game but failed to convert and then Mills seemed to want to run the show from there , he decided to take a free kick that we were awarded and his run up suggested it was only going in one direction ? his free kick was a belter which the keeper could not hold onto ? France somehow managed to miss from right in front of the goal but this did not stop us , Ricketts also decided now was the time to go all possessed on us and storm down the left flank skipping past players and even shoving one of them as they half heartedly tried a challenge ? we were raiding the goal like a WWII fighter unit and we all thought it had paid off as Elliott rocketed one into the top corner only for Bridges to be adjudged to have impeded the goalkeeper ? Just our luck eh ?

Elliott then came off to a good ovation (and rightly so in my opinion) and Delaney made a welcome return to the side as a makeshift forward as we tried to throw everything at the goal ? unfortunately it was not to be but a point is a point and we are now three unbeaten at home and with other results going our way we could easily come away from the bottom three if by some fluke we manage to do the business against a high flying Preston side ?

Full Time – Hull city 0 – 0 Luton Town

Anyway Player Ratings

Myhill – 6? Had nothing too much to do but his kicking seems to be getting worse not better!

Ricketts- 8? Very accomplished display at left back, I would prefer him over Dawson on the left at the minute ?

Turner – 6? Nothing special but solid enough, surely just filling in though as Delaney looks like he may be ready to come back ?

Coles – 8? How good is it to have this guy back! Thought he led the line well and looks like he and Mills are already on the same wavelength ?

Mills – 8? This guy should have the armband if you ask me ? another great display from Mills… Danny please stay!

Elliott – 7? Well done to the lad , gave a good account for himself on his return and lets hope he can carry on then I for one will hold my hands up and admit I was wrong ?

Welsh – 8? Dean who?? No seriously Welsh played great tonight, showed good attacking qualities, and would like to see him and Livermore together ?

Ashbee – 5? Not a great game by our captain, after the euphoria of him coming back you wonder long term can he cut it in this league ? Some passing was wayward and drifted out of the game a bit too much for my liking

Fagan – 6? Huffed and puffed and got booked, sounding like this every game eh? To be fair I thought he did ok when he went central but still naturally drifted out wide on the right even when playing as a striker ?

Forster – 7?Thought he did well, showed he had pace and he has some height as well as he seems to get up more than Parkin, would like the Bridges/Forster partnership to be tried again ?

Parkin – 5? Not a great game from the big lad, his lack of pace is being shown up and I think a lot of defenders are starting to know how to play against him ? would be better as an impact player off the bench if you ask me

Subs

Bridges – 7? Nice touches when he came on, we seemed to wake up when he did also ? would like to see him back in the XI on Saturday ?

France – 6? Did ok without being anything special ? missed a guilt edged chance late on though!

Delaney – 6? Not on long enough to really do much ?

Top Tiger? My opinion I think it was Coles ? thought he helped us shore up that defense and as long as we do not concede we will get at least a point eh? Great to have the classy defender back ?

Tigers Tail? Parkin I am afraid, the two chances that really required pace fell to him and he was shown wanting ?

Parky`s Performance – 7/10? Good subs at the right times to keep momentum going , made the changes to the team when needed and it showed with a better performance, could have done to bring on Bridges earlier though ?

Ref Watch – 4/10? Very whistle happy and wanted to make sure we all knew this was his game not the teams ? made you feel as if at one point he was going to pick up the ball and run home to mummy though ?

Crowd Watch – 7/10? Smaller crowd and they did get behind the team ? for those of you who say that does not help the team the proof was there for all to see that it does help and certainly does not hinder the team ?

where to from here?? Preston away and I do not see us getting much out of this, who knows though the way this league is we could get a result that could turn our season around!