Post by stevek192 on Apr 12, 2015 10:39:38 GMT
This was a game that IMO we should have won by a lot more goals because Southport were depleted by suspensions/injuries and it really showed. Too many poor decisions were made by us in the final third and we allowed a poor team far too much time on the ball. Too often the ball was then given away cheaply or headed away by the tallest player on the pitch who surely would have been given a much tougher game by a Blissett/Harrison combination. I really do worry when a Manager has a back four that generally hoof the ball away and then plays with two short forwards. Yes we have got away with it most games as we have with our failure to close down the opposition back four but I am not convinced that we will get away with it against Eastleigh or Forest Green Rovers. Only time will tell and I am really praying that we won't need to play against either of these teams again but that hope is starting to fade after Barnet's win yesterday and the awful performances of Kidderminster and Gateshead. If luck is with us then Akinde will be sent off next Saturday and Lee Hughes will roll back the years and give us a chance!! I have a feeling that we are more likely to come unstuck against Dover than Barnet against Kidders or Gateshead.
Puddy 6 Very safe hands on the rare occasions that Southport managed a shot and distribution was better than last few games.
Lockyer 6.Solid and is a very good defender but in truth offers nothing else whatsoever as regards creativity or passing a ball with any accuracy and because of this against a team like Southport IMO he was the wrong choice as they were a team who had very limited ability up front and Leadbitter would have brought Dawson into the game more and overall given us a lot more going forward.
Mc Chrystal 7 Exactly what's written on the tin. Solid in the air and reliable on the ground. Does the simple things very well. To be honest had very little to do as Southport were pretty poor up top but you can only play against what is put before you and the fact Southport created nothing must mean we defended pretty well.
Parkes. 7 Same as McCrystal in the air but sometimes thinks he is better than what he is and gets either caught in possession or passes the ball straight to the opposition
but to be fair to him it is not that often and on many occasions he brings the ball out and forward and catches the eye.
Brown 7.5 Good all round display. Always looking to get forward and can't recall his winger actually beating him once. Pleasing thing really was he made himself available but yesterday Monkhouse didn't always select to use him and that was a bonus.
Dawson 5 Didn't do a lot but to be fair to him he never received the ball early enough to have a bit of space into which to run. Too often it was received late meaning the defender was tight up to him but he still managed to produce a few very good moments with crosses of quality.One creating the second goal and another going low straight across with the only touch being from a Southport defender- should have been tucked away. He also had a great chance to score but in all honesty he does not look like he is a goalscoring winger and in the old days he would have hit the Tote end clock!! Some people don't seem to be able to get that a winger is generally inconsistent but you have to accept this for the occasions where they do set the game alight and this is particularly true if you are not getting quality service.
Lines.7 A bit like Marmite supporters either seem to like him or loathe him but in possession he oozes class and rarely gives the ball away. No his tackling is not the best and he's not going to run around all day long but at this level I don't believe there is a better runner with the ball and passer of it and we have missed that for the majority of this season.
Mansell.6.5 For every Lines you need a Mansell and although it wasn't Lee's best game yesterday he still got stuck in and done the simple things well and tidied up. he wins balls he shouldn't and does all the jobs that nobody likes doing well and still in my mind should be the Captain. I view him as the perfect professional and one that the young players like Ellis look up to. He leads whilst others just go about their jobs.
Monkhouse.7 Monkey for me is a class act with a football brain and shows true quality particularly where,like yesterday he doesn't always look to bring Brown in. When he moves inside he is always looking to create openings and can pick a pass. Like any player who does this some are going to come off and some are not. His cross back for the second goal had class written all over it.
Taylor 7 Didn't think he had a great game yesterday but did what he is there to do IMO which is score goals. I am the first one to mark him down when he doesn't score but has a good game otherwise so yesterday I have marked him on how he affected the game which was scoring with a good header. He did improve his general play after a slow start but a couple of good attacks broke down when he tried too often to dummy the ball. Would possibly have scored another if not for a professional shirt pull in the second half when clean through which should have resulted in a red card for the defender.
Harrison 8 Led the line well and scored a real peach of a goal after a slip by the defender. Unlucky not to score at least another in an all action first half display, again proving the doubters wrong who says he cannot start a game. To be fair how many times before the recent run has Ellis started? 3? How many would he have scored this season given the sort of run Taylor has been given? We will never know but he is certainly proving his worth now. Personally I would have kept Blissett in the team because IMO it is a shame that Clarke always tinkers and therefore no two strikers have really had the chance to build a partnership. IMO Ellis was very lucky not to receive a red card for his kick out and he was sensibly substituted straight after the incident. He must learn that one moment of stupidity could have resulted in him missing what could be the two most important matches we will play.
Blissett/Balanta Neither given long enough to mark which was a shame as we were really cruising this game.
DC 7 Again the result is all that counts but it really does worry me that he seems to always have to tinker with his selection and IMO because of that the team still lacks an understanding at times . Fortunately very few of the teams in this division are good enough to cause damage. I just hope that if we are in the Play Offs (which looks very likely now) he does not get found out because Eastleigh,Forest Green or even Woking are capable of taking advantage of us "allowing" them to have a lot of possession amd also not playing with a big man upfront when a large proportion of our clearances and build ups are in the air.
Southport.4 Well what can you say other than we were playing a depleted team who probably would not have scored if we were still there now? Should really have been put to the sword and dispatched on the end of a 5 or 6 nil drubbing because they probably were the worst team to play against us this season. The big man at the back won most aerial battles and I think we would have fared a lot better with the Harrison / Blissett partnership. It must really be frustrating to play well and then find yourself back on the bench and I am sure both Blissett and Leadbitter feel that way.
Ref.4. Early on in the game we were saying that he was one of the better referees but then he got worse and worse and worse to an almost comical level where he missed even the most obvious decisions. Ridiculous bookings of both Harrison and Blissett. Southports centre half can consider himself lucky to have stayed on the pitch when fouling the clean through Taylor and Ellis can be thankful when he kicked out-an obvious red. if there is one thing which this experience in the Conference has shown it is that there is a big gulf in the standard of refereeing with the reasonable ones being easily counted on one hand!!
So its on to the penultimate League game next weeks against opponents who will no doubt provide much stiffer opposition.Should we beat them? Of course we bloody should if Chester can put three goals past them. I just hope that we do try to get the ball down next week as I fear that they may be better at the hoof ball tactics than us if we go down that route. I would start with Blissett/ Harrison to try to compete up front and keep Dawson in to stretch the home defence. Leadbitter/Lockyer is a tougher decision but I would probably keep yesterdays defence. Harsh on Taylor but I really think Blissett will cause Dover more problems.
Can we win the title? Well we will need either Kidderminster or Gateshead to improve drastically on their performances yesterday. Personally I can see us missing out by the point.
Puddy 6 Very safe hands on the rare occasions that Southport managed a shot and distribution was better than last few games.
Lockyer 6.Solid and is a very good defender but in truth offers nothing else whatsoever as regards creativity or passing a ball with any accuracy and because of this against a team like Southport IMO he was the wrong choice as they were a team who had very limited ability up front and Leadbitter would have brought Dawson into the game more and overall given us a lot more going forward.
Mc Chrystal 7 Exactly what's written on the tin. Solid in the air and reliable on the ground. Does the simple things very well. To be honest had very little to do as Southport were pretty poor up top but you can only play against what is put before you and the fact Southport created nothing must mean we defended pretty well.
Parkes. 7 Same as McCrystal in the air but sometimes thinks he is better than what he is and gets either caught in possession or passes the ball straight to the opposition
but to be fair to him it is not that often and on many occasions he brings the ball out and forward and catches the eye.
Brown 7.5 Good all round display. Always looking to get forward and can't recall his winger actually beating him once. Pleasing thing really was he made himself available but yesterday Monkhouse didn't always select to use him and that was a bonus.
Dawson 5 Didn't do a lot but to be fair to him he never received the ball early enough to have a bit of space into which to run. Too often it was received late meaning the defender was tight up to him but he still managed to produce a few very good moments with crosses of quality.One creating the second goal and another going low straight across with the only touch being from a Southport defender- should have been tucked away. He also had a great chance to score but in all honesty he does not look like he is a goalscoring winger and in the old days he would have hit the Tote end clock!! Some people don't seem to be able to get that a winger is generally inconsistent but you have to accept this for the occasions where they do set the game alight and this is particularly true if you are not getting quality service.
Lines.7 A bit like Marmite supporters either seem to like him or loathe him but in possession he oozes class and rarely gives the ball away. No his tackling is not the best and he's not going to run around all day long but at this level I don't believe there is a better runner with the ball and passer of it and we have missed that for the majority of this season.
Mansell.6.5 For every Lines you need a Mansell and although it wasn't Lee's best game yesterday he still got stuck in and done the simple things well and tidied up. he wins balls he shouldn't and does all the jobs that nobody likes doing well and still in my mind should be the Captain. I view him as the perfect professional and one that the young players like Ellis look up to. He leads whilst others just go about their jobs.
Monkhouse.7 Monkey for me is a class act with a football brain and shows true quality particularly where,like yesterday he doesn't always look to bring Brown in. When he moves inside he is always looking to create openings and can pick a pass. Like any player who does this some are going to come off and some are not. His cross back for the second goal had class written all over it.
Taylor 7 Didn't think he had a great game yesterday but did what he is there to do IMO which is score goals. I am the first one to mark him down when he doesn't score but has a good game otherwise so yesterday I have marked him on how he affected the game which was scoring with a good header. He did improve his general play after a slow start but a couple of good attacks broke down when he tried too often to dummy the ball. Would possibly have scored another if not for a professional shirt pull in the second half when clean through which should have resulted in a red card for the defender.
Harrison 8 Led the line well and scored a real peach of a goal after a slip by the defender. Unlucky not to score at least another in an all action first half display, again proving the doubters wrong who says he cannot start a game. To be fair how many times before the recent run has Ellis started? 3? How many would he have scored this season given the sort of run Taylor has been given? We will never know but he is certainly proving his worth now. Personally I would have kept Blissett in the team because IMO it is a shame that Clarke always tinkers and therefore no two strikers have really had the chance to build a partnership. IMO Ellis was very lucky not to receive a red card for his kick out and he was sensibly substituted straight after the incident. He must learn that one moment of stupidity could have resulted in him missing what could be the two most important matches we will play.
Blissett/Balanta Neither given long enough to mark which was a shame as we were really cruising this game.
DC 7 Again the result is all that counts but it really does worry me that he seems to always have to tinker with his selection and IMO because of that the team still lacks an understanding at times . Fortunately very few of the teams in this division are good enough to cause damage. I just hope that if we are in the Play Offs (which looks very likely now) he does not get found out because Eastleigh,Forest Green or even Woking are capable of taking advantage of us "allowing" them to have a lot of possession amd also not playing with a big man upfront when a large proportion of our clearances and build ups are in the air.
Southport.4 Well what can you say other than we were playing a depleted team who probably would not have scored if we were still there now? Should really have been put to the sword and dispatched on the end of a 5 or 6 nil drubbing because they probably were the worst team to play against us this season. The big man at the back won most aerial battles and I think we would have fared a lot better with the Harrison / Blissett partnership. It must really be frustrating to play well and then find yourself back on the bench and I am sure both Blissett and Leadbitter feel that way.
Ref.4. Early on in the game we were saying that he was one of the better referees but then he got worse and worse and worse to an almost comical level where he missed even the most obvious decisions. Ridiculous bookings of both Harrison and Blissett. Southports centre half can consider himself lucky to have stayed on the pitch when fouling the clean through Taylor and Ellis can be thankful when he kicked out-an obvious red. if there is one thing which this experience in the Conference has shown it is that there is a big gulf in the standard of refereeing with the reasonable ones being easily counted on one hand!!
So its on to the penultimate League game next weeks against opponents who will no doubt provide much stiffer opposition.Should we beat them? Of course we bloody should if Chester can put three goals past them. I just hope that we do try to get the ball down next week as I fear that they may be better at the hoof ball tactics than us if we go down that route. I would start with Blissett/ Harrison to try to compete up front and keep Dawson in to stretch the home defence. Leadbitter/Lockyer is a tougher decision but I would probably keep yesterdays defence. Harsh on Taylor but I really think Blissett will cause Dover more problems.
Can we win the title? Well we will need either Kidderminster or Gateshead to improve drastically on their performances yesterday. Personally I can see us missing out by the point.
