Post by stevek192 on Jan 19, 2020 10:57:42 GMT
Well the performance was a definite improvement on the last game but that was not difficult, the fact is that we have forgotten how to win and more importantly how to defend. the three centre halves who under GC were defending superbly and more importantly covering each others and others errors are now being caught out far too easily and ruining whatever good work has preceded those mistakes. Lets not put all the blame on them though as the rest of the team are hardly performing to a reasonable level and our wing backs defending skills are even more concern especially Leahy yesterday as he was caught out on all three goals as he was badly caught out in the week on Coventry's second goal. Defensively both him and Rodman are very poor and unfortunately we have nobody else who can do any better as Little struggles to even get a level of fitness to reach the squad and THD is struggling to get anywhere near his obvious talent and add to this Michael Kelly is no better than Leahy.
Add to this JCH is struggling to reach previous heights and yesterday missed an absolute sitter early on that had it been taken might have restored some obvious loss of confidence that happens even to the best when the rot sets in of defeat after defeat. I will not blame the goalkeeper because it is not his fault that he is not anywhere near the standard of Annsi when it comes to shot stopping because in all honesty he has played reasonably well apart from his distribution which is too slow.and you can't just easily replace a keeper who IMO is the best in this division.
There were occasions yesterday when the midfield did produce some good football and unlike Coventry we did create some chances and should have scored at least two goals. Rotherham looked very ordinary in the first half and even at the end had only produced four shots on target but the trouble was that unlike us they are a team on form and took three of those chances whereas we couldn't buy a goal at the present time. I believe that we are now reflecting on the pitch the weak non existent leadership at the top of our club - we are a team going nowhere- the seas are getting stormy and there is not a captain in sight. I see no positives whatsoever at the present time with our club and this was summed up with Martyn Starnes interview yesterday which produced a lot more questions rather than answers. I always thought that Steve Hamer was the unfortunate person who had to face up and answer for the owners failures and that he did fairly regularly compared to Starnes who you rarely hear from and based on yesterday Thank God for that! If you haven't got anything to say then you are better off saying nothing and why he bothered turning up for the interview yesterday is anyones guess.
Anyway down to the markings and to be honest it is difficult to find too many positives overall because in the end it was another devastating defeat as two minutes in the second half saw us heading for a heavy defeat yet again and the only thankful thing was that it was in the second half and not earlier on because any confidence that had been built was cruelly drained in that short moment in time.
van Stappershoef 5 handled crosses pretty well and made no glaring errors. He is an average keeper better than your Adam Smiths, Will Puddys and Sam Slocombe but it is not easy to find a replacement for the best. His distribution could definitely be improved but without doubt the presence of Annsi has been missed and has had a big effect on the confidence of the defenders.
Menayese 3 poor lacking dominance
Craig 3 poor lacking dominance
Kilgour 3 poor lacking dominance
Rodman 5 better going forward than defending where it is clear that he is not a natural defender and shuts off too easily
Upson 5 An OK performance
Barrett 5 Some good moments and some bad ones. My early impressions are that he should be the central midfielder we build the team around rather than just covering a space . Without doubt he has ability and if the team can get a bit of confidence back he could be a real exciting prospect.
Sercombe 3 Went missing again
Leahy 1 awful defending on all three goals. Lacks pace and positional sense and was picked out by the opposition as a weakness and torn apart
Reilly 4 Tried hard but had little support and in all honesty he is not likely to produce the goals we need in the same way that Nichols won't and neither will the Barnsley loanee. We need a Brett Pitman who will take most chances when they come begging or we are in for a long struggle
Clarke-Harris 4 Looking very ordinary at the moment. Last season he would have come off with a hat trick. body language is displaying a player who wants to be away, performance is displaying anything but a 2 million pound striker more like a spoiled kid.
Subs: Clarke 5 OK and IMO should have started
Ginnelly 6 Another who should have started. Looks like he has some pace and ability.
Davies 5 Good to see him back and hope he is ready to start next game.
Crowd 5 The stadium was completely dead until they scored and then the roof came off
Ref 3 Was never going to allow the game to flow and became irritating pretty early on.
Rotherham 6 Nowhere near as good as Coventry but took their chances. If they are the best team in this division then it doesn't really say a lot for the strength of this division. Efficient but limited would be my description and we should have come back with a point.
Maher- 4 Not a Manager that's all I will say.
Where do we go from here? At the moment there seems to be only one way as we do have the look of a relegation threatened team and it is hard to see where the next point is going to come from. We should be ok as we only need three or four wins but there are no guarantees in football but my thoughts are that thankfully there is at least one other team other than Southend and Bolton who will struggle to overtake us but on present form it will be close.
What is particularly frustrating is that it would not take too much to change our fortunes and turn this season back around but I just can't see any ambition whatsoever at the moment and signing more youngsters will not turn the corner. We need a few more experienced players but most important a striker with a goalscoring record.
I am sorry I can't be more positive but at the moment we are a club who on and off the field are disjointed and totally lacking in leadership and belief.
For what its worth my team for next Saturday would be
Stappershoef or New Goalkeeper
Kilgour or Little Davies Craig Holmes-Dennis
Rodman Barratt/Upson Ollie Clarke Ginnelly
New Signing/ Nichols Clarke Harris
Add to this JCH is struggling to reach previous heights and yesterday missed an absolute sitter early on that had it been taken might have restored some obvious loss of confidence that happens even to the best when the rot sets in of defeat after defeat. I will not blame the goalkeeper because it is not his fault that he is not anywhere near the standard of Annsi when it comes to shot stopping because in all honesty he has played reasonably well apart from his distribution which is too slow.and you can't just easily replace a keeper who IMO is the best in this division.
There were occasions yesterday when the midfield did produce some good football and unlike Coventry we did create some chances and should have scored at least two goals. Rotherham looked very ordinary in the first half and even at the end had only produced four shots on target but the trouble was that unlike us they are a team on form and took three of those chances whereas we couldn't buy a goal at the present time. I believe that we are now reflecting on the pitch the weak non existent leadership at the top of our club - we are a team going nowhere- the seas are getting stormy and there is not a captain in sight. I see no positives whatsoever at the present time with our club and this was summed up with Martyn Starnes interview yesterday which produced a lot more questions rather than answers. I always thought that Steve Hamer was the unfortunate person who had to face up and answer for the owners failures and that he did fairly regularly compared to Starnes who you rarely hear from and based on yesterday Thank God for that! If you haven't got anything to say then you are better off saying nothing and why he bothered turning up for the interview yesterday is anyones guess.
Anyway down to the markings and to be honest it is difficult to find too many positives overall because in the end it was another devastating defeat as two minutes in the second half saw us heading for a heavy defeat yet again and the only thankful thing was that it was in the second half and not earlier on because any confidence that had been built was cruelly drained in that short moment in time.
van Stappershoef 5 handled crosses pretty well and made no glaring errors. He is an average keeper better than your Adam Smiths, Will Puddys and Sam Slocombe but it is not easy to find a replacement for the best. His distribution could definitely be improved but without doubt the presence of Annsi has been missed and has had a big effect on the confidence of the defenders.
Menayese 3 poor lacking dominance
Craig 3 poor lacking dominance
Kilgour 3 poor lacking dominance
Rodman 5 better going forward than defending where it is clear that he is not a natural defender and shuts off too easily
Upson 5 An OK performance
Barrett 5 Some good moments and some bad ones. My early impressions are that he should be the central midfielder we build the team around rather than just covering a space . Without doubt he has ability and if the team can get a bit of confidence back he could be a real exciting prospect.
Sercombe 3 Went missing again
Leahy 1 awful defending on all three goals. Lacks pace and positional sense and was picked out by the opposition as a weakness and torn apart
Reilly 4 Tried hard but had little support and in all honesty he is not likely to produce the goals we need in the same way that Nichols won't and neither will the Barnsley loanee. We need a Brett Pitman who will take most chances when they come begging or we are in for a long struggle
Clarke-Harris 4 Looking very ordinary at the moment. Last season he would have come off with a hat trick. body language is displaying a player who wants to be away, performance is displaying anything but a 2 million pound striker more like a spoiled kid.
Subs: Clarke 5 OK and IMO should have started
Ginnelly 6 Another who should have started. Looks like he has some pace and ability.
Davies 5 Good to see him back and hope he is ready to start next game.
Crowd 5 The stadium was completely dead until they scored and then the roof came off
Ref 3 Was never going to allow the game to flow and became irritating pretty early on.
Rotherham 6 Nowhere near as good as Coventry but took their chances. If they are the best team in this division then it doesn't really say a lot for the strength of this division. Efficient but limited would be my description and we should have come back with a point.
Maher- 4 Not a Manager that's all I will say.
Where do we go from here? At the moment there seems to be only one way as we do have the look of a relegation threatened team and it is hard to see where the next point is going to come from. We should be ok as we only need three or four wins but there are no guarantees in football but my thoughts are that thankfully there is at least one other team other than Southend and Bolton who will struggle to overtake us but on present form it will be close.
What is particularly frustrating is that it would not take too much to change our fortunes and turn this season back around but I just can't see any ambition whatsoever at the moment and signing more youngsters will not turn the corner. We need a few more experienced players but most important a striker with a goalscoring record.
I am sorry I can't be more positive but at the moment we are a club who on and off the field are disjointed and totally lacking in leadership and belief.
For what its worth my team for next Saturday would be
Stappershoef or New Goalkeeper
Kilgour or Little Davies Craig Holmes-Dennis
Rodman Barratt/Upson Ollie Clarke Ginnelly
New Signing/ Nichols Clarke Harris
