The result was all that mattered
Apr 14, 2019 9:44:37 GMT
Antonio Fargas, aghast, and 8 more like this
Post by stevek192 on Apr 14, 2019 9:44:37 GMT
OK it wasn't pretty yesterday but who expected it to be? You had one team who were playing pretty well their final card for the season with an abysmal away record and the other needing the three points badly to instil confidence going forward with an atrocious home record and a crowd that were as nervous as every players first touch! That said nobody can argue that it wasn't exciting and nail biting or that there was any lack of motivation or effort in the players. We tend to forget when supporting a team that there is pressure in every touch of the ball when things are not going well and once you make a bad mistake your confidence is hard to pick up. There is no doubt that every player out there gave 100% but it is twice as difficult when you do not have enough attacking players in the side and then go a goal down. I am not blaming the Manager because in truth he has done bloody well to get the amount of points we have on the board. whether or not we deserved to win yesterday who cares? The fact is we did and there have been many occasions this season where we have done more than enough to win and have lost. We can be thankful that GC has brought about the best away record I can remember in a long time which is just as well because of home results in general but he also did what DC just couldn't and that was to find a striker who knows where the net is.
Bonham 7 Back to form and maybe his jittery spell recently will enable us to actually sign him! Came for pretty well everything and dealt with it confidently and no chance with the goals other than I would in a way blame him for the second goal because his clearance should have gone out of play well into the opponents half instead of halfway in ours keeping us under pressure.
J. Clarke 5 Awful game from start to finish which is very unusual but allowed their wide players far too much room all game and was badly at fault for the second goal. Wholehearted but for me is a player who is well worth keeping as covers every defensive position but not good enough to be first choice in any of them.
Lockyer 6.5 Passing ability will always let him down but strong defensively which is what he is there for and unlucky not to score a goal. Too often he does not organise his fellow defenders and this is noticeable when opponents break quickly and are in acres of space- he is not and never will be a Captain on the pitch.
Craig 7 The best of the back four. marshalling well and winning most headers. Should be captain as he is the man who is barking out orders and trying hard to keep everyone organised and on their toes but it is tough when quite a few players are naïve when not in possession.
Holmes-Dennis 6 Caught far too often defensively but great going forward and has that extra bit of class on the ball. Great cross for the winner and shows so much quality on the ball. With a close seasons traing behind him I think next season we will see the best of him and he could well be Player of the year next year but would rather he was pipped by......Jonson Clarke-Harris!!
Upson 7 Stuck to his task well and got in a number of good challenges. As the holding midfielder he is the best we have with a disciplined approach which is why he is a mainstay of Coughlan's team. We really need to have a faster player alongside him as we really lack pace across the entire midfield and because of that we look pedestrian.
O. Clarke 7 Best game for weeks. Still looked lost in spells as did most of our midfield but a brilliant goal and some strong runs and much better passing in a strong performance. I really think that the midfield as a unit loses out because there is no balance between creativity and defensive qualities.
Ogogo 6 Battled for everything but too often was chasing shadows. He does have bite in his challenges and got forward well at times but we really need to find the best combination and definitely wouldn't want to watch a midfield trio of him, Upson and Ollie Clarke too often next season especially at home!
Sercombe 6.5 A very mixed 95 minutes as he struggled to impose himself first half but improved in the second. brought a good save from the keeper with a distance strike and a couple of good corners especially the one from which we scored the first goal.
Nichols 6 Unlucky to be substituted and I felt GC got that wrong. in the first half he held the ball up really well at times and showed a fair amount of skill. I would like to see him again next season when hopefully we will have more pace about us around him.
Clarke-Harris 9 mom Can't say any more superlatives about this man than a real " Roy of the Rovers" in every way. Has everything that you could want for your main striker. Body strength,the ability to beat a man and hold up the ball, thunderous shot ,eye for a goal...oh and he can head goals too!! Superman and the reason we will be staying up. The secret is now to hold on to him and get in 5 or 6 more quality players to make him want to stay and try to get this club in the Championship.
Subs: Sinclair 5.5 came on and gave his usual performance .
Rodman 5.5 showed a lot of neat touches and a bit of pace. We actually played our best football of the game when he came on and for about 15 minutes where we finally started to retain possession and pass the ball with confidence.
Jakubiak Nole Great run which created the winner so he did a good job and should have come on earlier.
Crowd 7 Kept with the team- just!! I am not sure that would have been the case had Clarke-Harris not equalised when he did. Doubt if many of the home support had much left in the way of nails at the end of the game. Quality wise it was lacking but nobody can say it wasn't exciting come the end.
Ref 5 Got most of the bookings right for our players however seemed reluctant to book the opposition and was hardly helped by his linemen who gave some atrocious decisions.
Bradford 6 How have they got themselves in this mess? Obviously by not playing with the same conviction as they showed yesterday on a more regular basis. Like our supporters they deserve a lot better.
GC- Well did he get it right or no? The result says he did and we must be happy with that. The lack of pace or balance in the side is not down to him- more down to the previous managers signings last summer and he has; I believe; got the best out of the players most weeks so if he does keep us up as seems likely now he has succeeded and deserves the chance to build a more exciting team. IMO most of the team are more than capable to be either in the team or squad players but just need the balance of five or six creative ,pacier players.
So we move on to an Easter period where IMO three points will see us safely in this division next season with two games to spare. Whether they will come Friday or Monday or even both I am not sure. In truth I expected that a win yesterday would see us six points outside the zone but other results whilst not being that bad has left us 5 points outside of it and that may even be enough but on saying that if we do now go down then it will be deserved! UTG
UTG
Bonham 7 Back to form and maybe his jittery spell recently will enable us to actually sign him! Came for pretty well everything and dealt with it confidently and no chance with the goals other than I would in a way blame him for the second goal because his clearance should have gone out of play well into the opponents half instead of halfway in ours keeping us under pressure.
J. Clarke 5 Awful game from start to finish which is very unusual but allowed their wide players far too much room all game and was badly at fault for the second goal. Wholehearted but for me is a player who is well worth keeping as covers every defensive position but not good enough to be first choice in any of them.
Lockyer 6.5 Passing ability will always let him down but strong defensively which is what he is there for and unlucky not to score a goal. Too often he does not organise his fellow defenders and this is noticeable when opponents break quickly and are in acres of space- he is not and never will be a Captain on the pitch.
Craig 7 The best of the back four. marshalling well and winning most headers. Should be captain as he is the man who is barking out orders and trying hard to keep everyone organised and on their toes but it is tough when quite a few players are naïve when not in possession.
Holmes-Dennis 6 Caught far too often defensively but great going forward and has that extra bit of class on the ball. Great cross for the winner and shows so much quality on the ball. With a close seasons traing behind him I think next season we will see the best of him and he could well be Player of the year next year but would rather he was pipped by......Jonson Clarke-Harris!!
Upson 7 Stuck to his task well and got in a number of good challenges. As the holding midfielder he is the best we have with a disciplined approach which is why he is a mainstay of Coughlan's team. We really need to have a faster player alongside him as we really lack pace across the entire midfield and because of that we look pedestrian.
O. Clarke 7 Best game for weeks. Still looked lost in spells as did most of our midfield but a brilliant goal and some strong runs and much better passing in a strong performance. I really think that the midfield as a unit loses out because there is no balance between creativity and defensive qualities.
Ogogo 6 Battled for everything but too often was chasing shadows. He does have bite in his challenges and got forward well at times but we really need to find the best combination and definitely wouldn't want to watch a midfield trio of him, Upson and Ollie Clarke too often next season especially at home!
Sercombe 6.5 A very mixed 95 minutes as he struggled to impose himself first half but improved in the second. brought a good save from the keeper with a distance strike and a couple of good corners especially the one from which we scored the first goal.
Nichols 6 Unlucky to be substituted and I felt GC got that wrong. in the first half he held the ball up really well at times and showed a fair amount of skill. I would like to see him again next season when hopefully we will have more pace about us around him.
Clarke-Harris 9 mom Can't say any more superlatives about this man than a real " Roy of the Rovers" in every way. Has everything that you could want for your main striker. Body strength,the ability to beat a man and hold up the ball, thunderous shot ,eye for a goal...oh and he can head goals too!! Superman and the reason we will be staying up. The secret is now to hold on to him and get in 5 or 6 more quality players to make him want to stay and try to get this club in the Championship.
Subs: Sinclair 5.5 came on and gave his usual performance .
Rodman 5.5 showed a lot of neat touches and a bit of pace. We actually played our best football of the game when he came on and for about 15 minutes where we finally started to retain possession and pass the ball with confidence.
Jakubiak Nole Great run which created the winner so he did a good job and should have come on earlier.
Crowd 7 Kept with the team- just!! I am not sure that would have been the case had Clarke-Harris not equalised when he did. Doubt if many of the home support had much left in the way of nails at the end of the game. Quality wise it was lacking but nobody can say it wasn't exciting come the end.
Ref 5 Got most of the bookings right for our players however seemed reluctant to book the opposition and was hardly helped by his linemen who gave some atrocious decisions.
Bradford 6 How have they got themselves in this mess? Obviously by not playing with the same conviction as they showed yesterday on a more regular basis. Like our supporters they deserve a lot better.
GC- Well did he get it right or no? The result says he did and we must be happy with that. The lack of pace or balance in the side is not down to him- more down to the previous managers signings last summer and he has; I believe; got the best out of the players most weeks so if he does keep us up as seems likely now he has succeeded and deserves the chance to build a more exciting team. IMO most of the team are more than capable to be either in the team or squad players but just need the balance of five or six creative ,pacier players.
So we move on to an Easter period where IMO three points will see us safely in this division next season with two games to spare. Whether they will come Friday or Monday or even both I am not sure. In truth I expected that a win yesterday would see us six points outside the zone but other results whilst not being that bad has left us 5 points outside of it and that may even be enough but on saying that if we do now go down then it will be deserved! UTG
UTG
