Failed comeback covered huge cracks in performance

Game No 10


Opponents Oldham Home Lost 2-3


Team Performance                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Mark out of 10

Smith Was he really match fit,I think not as he got injured very easily and that affected his mobility and confidence and probably his ability to stop the first two goals which were terrible keeping.            3


Leadbitter Defensively just not good enough and shouldn't be in the squad on present form. Not capable enough defender to attack as well and third goal was a joke as twice should have done better       4
Lockyer     An OK game but need more organising from him as captain. We need to mark much better and cover each other better. problem is that we have no real competition for him.                           5.5
Sweeney Great headed equaliser and probably the best defender but went to sleep on the third goal and didn't put a challenge in. To be fair full backs are not helping either centre half                            6
Brown      Now is the time to give Bola a chance, Browner is slowing the game down too much and allowing his winger far too much space. Needs to learn to mark again.                                                 4.5


Moore Not as bad as people are making out and  I thought first half he was our best player putting in three good crosses and working hard but faded badly second half culminating in an awful miss.          5.5
O Clarke Wondered if he was actually playing first half and not much better second half. Seemed to struggle to either get involved or find our players when he did have the ball.                                        3
Sercombe Seems to be a better player when we are on top but struggled when expected to defend as well as attack. he seems lost in a midfield two and was better with Lines behind him                          5
Bodin Looked totally lost on the left and I wonder why DC messes with things that aren't broken. Great pass for Gaffney's goal but a quiet game by his standards.                                                             4

Harrison Tried hard but touch and shooting boots deserted him. Should have scored in first half with great chance but not at his best-surprised we never see a Gaffney/Harrison partnership                       5
Nichols Still no goals , will he come good ala Matty Taylor? Not helped by poor service as shows good touches but is in the team to score goals and I would give Telford a go now.                                      5


Subs:

Gaffney Came on and made an impact with a great goal well taken, trouble is he will soon lose interest if others in not so good form are selected ahead. DC works in strange ways!                                    6 MOM because no one else!
Lines  Made a difference as soon as he came on. Trouble is you can't really start 4-4-2 without a defensive midfielder unless your back four are pressing higher up the pitch.                                              6
Telford Not long enough to mark. Tried to run at people with little success but deserves to be given a fair chance.                                                                                                                              NOLE


Crowd It is OK for DC to praise the crowd and want their support from the start but it is difficult when the side sits back at home and allows even a bottom of the table side good possession and concede goals for fun           5.5
Ref Had a lot worse but decision at the end was a complete farce when he chickened out giving either an indirect free kick or even a penalty as I am convinced it would have hit his hand at some stage      5
Oldham Not a bottom of the table side but made to look a lot better than they are and paid far too much respect by DC. .





Team performance summed up Very poor other than about 15 minutes in the first half and the same time when we scored our two goals in the second half.


Defence summed up Anything good they do is ruined by rank poor defending at vital times. Goalkeeper didn't help and surely a full backs main task is to stop crosses getting into the box.Perhaps Ellis should be trained up to be a centre half!!


Midfield summed up Very poor up until when we scored. Looked far better when Lines came on but there is little competition for places in there.


Attack summed Up The service was so poor and why oh why do we have everybody back for corners when we are playing the bottom of the League?


Man of Match Given it to Gaffney but nobody really came out of this game with much credit.

Final Comment Absolutely dreading Saturday based on recent performances. Feel DCs "projects" have run their course and we should now be concentrating on our own performances and playing players who are on form. Our lack of good competition in all areas of the pitch is not helping and the overall lack of physical strength and pace in the squad is showing us up for what we are at the moment- a middle of the table-bottom half team. If we want top six then DC will need to get better at wheeling and dealing in January because I just can't see the quality needed in our squad to put in a challenge - in fact I would go as far as to say that we are 4 quality players short of that. UTG