Martin’s Musings from Peterborough: it’s a real positive to get the win

Martin O’Neill is satisfied, in the end, with a comfortable win at London Road and progress to the next round of the FA Cup. And in his post-match e-mail, the boss makes special mention of the blossoming talent of James McClean …

Dear Colin,

You maybe could have expected a little more from a Cup tie in the first half.

But having said that our fans are delighted, we’re in the hat for the next round and we won the game comfortably.

There was some decent play. Peterborough had most of the ball in the first half and that probably set the tone of the game in the opening period.

We were content to let them have it without causing them any real problems.

In the second half we decided to push up more, take some chances and close them down. We did that effectively, got the goals and won the game.

We all know Sebastian Larsson is a very capable free kick specialist. I could see the kick from my angle and it just eluded everyone as it went into the back of the net. I don’t think anybody got a touch on it.

He’s got a goal and that’s great for him and I think it settled us down a bit.

I thought James McClean was terrific. In the second half he was blindingly good and that’s great for him.

He’s played three consecutive games now and it looks as though he’s played much more.

It’s a real positive to get the win.

We didn’t want to come here and get beaten and find ourselves out of the competition. We’ve stretched it for another round, which is good news for us.

All the best,


Martin O’Neill

7 thoughts on “Martin’s Musings from Peterborough: it’s a real positive to get the win”

  1. What I think especially pleasing is we are getting results with no real established centre forward,what will we be capable of should we get one(or two)?
    It is a long time since we had 3 wins on the belt and it is hard not to get excited,but we will just have to take it game at a time

    We still need a left back though.

  2. What pleased me most about the Peterbro’ win was that I always felt we had an extra ‘gear’. Plus out keeper was never seriously troubled at all. And Peterborough are not a bad team. The gap between Prem and Championship team was clearly seen.
    Another positive thing is that McClean appears to be someone who can nick us a goal every now and then. I didn’t expect him to chip in here but have been surprised. MON must be telling him to get into the box. The position he was in for the header against Wigan was center forward. And he seems to have the energy to get back and help out defensively too. Catts played well again… its looking good. We may be forgiven for thinking that we can go to Chelsea and get something. I can’t wait for Wickham & Cambell to get a run.

  3. I was in the Mark Hughes camp too , how wrong was that . MON has been nothing short of excellent since he came . HIs tactics , man management , press handling , everything is so professional , and it translates to the team . Yesterday was a thoroughly professional performance . Cattermole was my man of the match , apart from a loate booking for a slightly mistimed tackle he won everything in the middle of the park

  4. What impresses me about this is O’Neill’s lack of bombast and acknowledgement that, yes, the team did what it had to do and not much else: “You maybe could have expected a little more from a Cup tie in the first half… Peterborough had most of the ball in the first half… We were content to let them have it… In the second half we decided to push up more, take some chances and close them down….”
    This is a man who’s figured what needs to be done and how most efficiently to do it. As Rob says, the players were tired and MON used them well. I like, too, his comment: “We’ve stretched it for another round.” No wild promises or predictions, just a modest statement of facts. He’ll take the Middlesbrough game when it comes.
    I like this man more and more. When Bruce was bounced, I was in the Mark Hughes camp as a replacement. I was wrong. Let QPR have Hughes.

  5. I feel our players were fatigued from all that Christmas/New Year stuff. And that they were willing to go ,only so far to get the result today.

    Strange, that comment “Get The Result”. As it seems as if our players, knew they would get the result. But they were not going to bust their guts to get it.

    A professional performance for sure. No one man stood out for me, Seb’s kicks and assists maybe made him Man Of The Match. But, we looked tired.

    Better to be tired against Peterborough (who played very well), than Man Utd or City.

    I was impressed by Both Teams today. Nowhere near as good a game to watch as the Manchester Derby, but a good game all round, for sure.

    I wish Peterborough a rise in future years. They have a good attitude. Way to go.

Comments are closed.

Next Post