Post by stevek192 on Oct 27, 2019 6:47:18 GMT
In truth until the 70th minute this game was not much better than Tuesday night as our boring style of football results in a lot of one too many passes back that put us in more trouble than we were in to start with. Our strikers were totally isolated and were left for long periods just chasing around totally outnumbered with little hope of actually winning the ball back that was constantly given away with long pumps from the back. Two changes from Tuesday with Leahy rightfully preferred to Kelly and Smith favoured over Nichols and at last GC took the Captancy away from Ollie Clarke but still selected him despite continual poor performances. I will never support playing three defensive midfielders at home and it is unfortunate that our central defenders have now started making mistakes where previous to the last three games they have looked solid and very hard to beat.
Jaakkola 7.5 An excellent keeper who kept us in this game with some excellent stops and for me is our best keeper for a number of years-probably since Steve Phillips.
Davies 5 His poorest game this season and suddenly the last three matches our central defenders have looked in trouble and likely to concede goals which is not helpful when we are struggling to score .
Craig 5 Ironic that when he finally took up his rightful role as Captain he gave away the second goal with a very poor clearance and was subsequently replaced but in all honesty yesterday it could have been any of the centre halves who were not at their best.
Kilgour 4 Too many poor decisions and mistakes but he is worth persevering with because he hasn't done a lot wrong.
Rodman 6 Some exciting moments and some poor ones. He is well capable of getting 10 goals this season and brought us back into the game with a sharp finish from close in when I had actually given up hope of seeing us score .
Upson 6.5 Really good first half with two decent strikes that were about as close to a goal that we got and worked hard to try to get us moving. Faded in the second half and was replaced
Ogogo 8 MOM The best of the midfield and the team but the problem is that GC seems to feel that we need the three defensive midfielders in there no matter what- for me Clarke is just getting in the way of the other two and if we can add some creativity then we will see much more use being made of Ogogo's ability to win the ball. First half particularly he really fought for every ball.
Clarke 4 Better than Tuesday but only just and should not have started. Rightfully replaced as Captain but couldn't believe he was in the starting line up and did nothing really to make me think I was wrong in my opinion.
Leahy 4.5 the b est we have available for the position at the moment but for me there is too much negative passing backwards from him and haven't seen a lot of the quality crossing that he is supposed to have although he did improve as the game went on.
Smith 4 Ran and ran and ran but that was about it. Too lightweight for the "Coughlan plan" and we just didn't really look like scoring again and one of our problems is that he is honestly not much better than Nichols but some of that could be down to the awful service we provide our strikers with but in truth all our strikers except the much missed JCH struggle to strike a match!!
Adeboyejo 5.5 Poor service didn't help him but there is something there although I am not sure it is a goalscorer.
Subs: Sercombe 7 Made the difference as we suddenly got a grip in midfield and looked to go forward through the midfield rather than over it. If he was fit enough to come o9n then in my opinion he should have started over Ollie Clarke.
Little NOLE Strange substitution but didn't have long to get into the game.
Bennett NOLE At least he does have the ability to hold onto the ball and does not see it as a hot potato! I have the feeling that he has become totally disillusioned with things and it will probably be best when he moves on and IMO GC thinks so too.
Crowd 7 Got behind the team after an awful start and eventually had something to cheer about. Had the game had another ten minutes I have the feeling we would have come away with what probably would have been an undeserved three points against a Pompey side who I can see why they have struggled this season and have the feeling it was our performance again which made them look better than they actually are.
Ref 4 Too many wrong decisions though not sure about the penalty other than both teams seemed surprised by the decision but surely we should have had a penalty in the second half if not two.
Portsmouth 6.5 They have some good players but for me were probably the worst Pompey team I have seen in a few years and I think they must have wished until the last twenty minutes that they could play us every week!
GC- Not going to write him off as most of his signings have been good and he has suffered by having to try to offload poor players signed by DC and didn't really stand much chance of doing it but the quicker he gets out of the three defensive midfielders at home ,the better as it really is hard to watch at times and I am sure that had it not been for the two late goals it would have been meltdown on here last night.
I can't say I am really looking forward to Rochdale next week as it is not a happy hunting ground but it is a winnable game if we actually set out to win it. UTG
Jaakkola 7.5 An excellent keeper who kept us in this game with some excellent stops and for me is our best keeper for a number of years-probably since Steve Phillips.
Davies 5 His poorest game this season and suddenly the last three matches our central defenders have looked in trouble and likely to concede goals which is not helpful when we are struggling to score .
Craig 5 Ironic that when he finally took up his rightful role as Captain he gave away the second goal with a very poor clearance and was subsequently replaced but in all honesty yesterday it could have been any of the centre halves who were not at their best.
Kilgour 4 Too many poor decisions and mistakes but he is worth persevering with because he hasn't done a lot wrong.
Rodman 6 Some exciting moments and some poor ones. He is well capable of getting 10 goals this season and brought us back into the game with a sharp finish from close in when I had actually given up hope of seeing us score .
Upson 6.5 Really good first half with two decent strikes that were about as close to a goal that we got and worked hard to try to get us moving. Faded in the second half and was replaced
Ogogo 8 MOM The best of the midfield and the team but the problem is that GC seems to feel that we need the three defensive midfielders in there no matter what- for me Clarke is just getting in the way of the other two and if we can add some creativity then we will see much more use being made of Ogogo's ability to win the ball. First half particularly he really fought for every ball.
Clarke 4 Better than Tuesday but only just and should not have started. Rightfully replaced as Captain but couldn't believe he was in the starting line up and did nothing really to make me think I was wrong in my opinion.
Leahy 4.5 the b est we have available for the position at the moment but for me there is too much negative passing backwards from him and haven't seen a lot of the quality crossing that he is supposed to have although he did improve as the game went on.
Smith 4 Ran and ran and ran but that was about it. Too lightweight for the "Coughlan plan" and we just didn't really look like scoring again and one of our problems is that he is honestly not much better than Nichols but some of that could be down to the awful service we provide our strikers with but in truth all our strikers except the much missed JCH struggle to strike a match!!
Adeboyejo 5.5 Poor service didn't help him but there is something there although I am not sure it is a goalscorer.
Subs: Sercombe 7 Made the difference as we suddenly got a grip in midfield and looked to go forward through the midfield rather than over it. If he was fit enough to come o9n then in my opinion he should have started over Ollie Clarke.
Little NOLE Strange substitution but didn't have long to get into the game.
Bennett NOLE At least he does have the ability to hold onto the ball and does not see it as a hot potato! I have the feeling that he has become totally disillusioned with things and it will probably be best when he moves on and IMO GC thinks so too.
Crowd 7 Got behind the team after an awful start and eventually had something to cheer about. Had the game had another ten minutes I have the feeling we would have come away with what probably would have been an undeserved three points against a Pompey side who I can see why they have struggled this season and have the feeling it was our performance again which made them look better than they actually are.
Ref 4 Too many wrong decisions though not sure about the penalty other than both teams seemed surprised by the decision but surely we should have had a penalty in the second half if not two.
Portsmouth 6.5 They have some good players but for me were probably the worst Pompey team I have seen in a few years and I think they must have wished until the last twenty minutes that they could play us every week!
GC- Not going to write him off as most of his signings have been good and he has suffered by having to try to offload poor players signed by DC and didn't really stand much chance of doing it but the quicker he gets out of the three defensive midfielders at home ,the better as it really is hard to watch at times and I am sure that had it not been for the two late goals it would have been meltdown on here last night.
I can't say I am really looking forward to Rochdale next week as it is not a happy hunting ground but it is a winnable game if we actually set out to win it. UTG
