Ratings vs Tranmere

[king canary 8,749]

Have not seen one of these yet so.....Forster- Excellent stop to keep it 0-0 and looked solid in general. Looking at the Tranmere keeper I dont think his kicking is that bad afterall! 7Semi- Not as bad as some make out, looked solid in the first half, lost his concentration later on as we have come to expect. 6Askou- Rock solid as usual 8Doc- Goal swayed MoM for him. 8Drury- Same unremarkable self, winger didnt get much out of him. 7Russell- Poor today I thought was too slow to move the ball on, so missed a couple of chances to get the full backs in down the line, played far too much through a congested middle. 5Smith- Lot of energy but dont really remember him doing much. 6Lappin- Great set piece delivery as per usual, bit reluctant to get forward and give us options down the left. 6Hoolahan- Not one of his best but always showed for the ball. Good assist and penalty. Shame he is soooo one footed. 7Holt- Worked hard, really poor service today and the weather meant he couldnt be used as a target man. 6Martin- Worked hard, always looking to run off the shoulder of the last defender, but suffered from poor service ala Holt. 6Ref was fussy about where and when FKs were taken but apart from that I thought the game flowed pretty well, took charge of things. 7Tranmere- Awful awful team, Michael Ricketts on his own upfront???? However they did look dangerous on the break and actually had the better chances.

[NCFC_Shaun 0]

I must have been watching a different game today. Thought Russell was superb in his holding role, and Smith was the best of the rest.

[king canary 8,749]

[quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]I must have been watching a different game today. Thought Russell was superb in his holding role, and Smith was the best of the rest.[/quote]I thought Russell was great at breaking up play etc but because the play was so short everythin went through him and his choice of passes was poor in my opinion. 5 was harsh looking back though.

[morty 0]

Smith was my man of the match, I thought Hollahoop was ineffective, due to Tranmere putting so many men behind the ball we needed him to take players on, which he rarely did.

Askou was outstanding, Russel worthy of mention too.

[Graham Humphrey 13]

Not a great game today, we didn''t play that well and Tranmere certainly looked a better team than their league position suggests. But again we managed to grind the result out, which we are getting good at doing, and there are plenty of times in the past when we would not have got anything from that game.I think we were very lucky to get that penalty but I won''t worry about that as too many have gone against us in the past in similar situations. But it was vital and after the second goal that killed them off. I''d give everybody a six other than Forster for one good and one sensational save, and Drury who was very solid and good going forward, they get seven and Drury gets my vote for man of the match.

[ricardo 8,033]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]Not a great game today, we didn''t play that well and Tranmere certainly looked a better team than their league position suggests. But again we managed to grind the result out, which we are getting good at doing, and there are plenty of times in the past when we would not have got anything from that game.

I think we were very lucky to get that penalty but I won''t worry about that as too many have gone against us in the past in similar situations. But it was vital and after the second goal that killed them off. I''d give everybody a six other than Forster for one good and one sensational save, and Drury who was very solid and good going forward, they get seven and Drury gets my vote for man of the match.
[/quote]

Gotta agree 100% with that Graham.

[Jacoljam 0]

I thought Russell had a good game.

[Jack Flash 17]

I thought Rusty was distinctly average today - several poor passes, behind our men, and lost a couple of 50/50 tackles which put us in trouble. Overall I thought Lappin was MOM, just ahead of Drury. Martin and Holt worked really hard, with little reward.  But it was a Win, and we seem to do that these days even when not on top form. Now, that''s a great sign!

[Canary Pirate 0]

Forster 9 ( what an unbelievable save ) arguably the player that won us the match

The rest  6

If we don''t get any pace in the side to enable us to change things when we are struggling, we are gonna come unstuck sooner rather than later

[Tookie140 0]

[quote user="morty"]Smith was my man of the match, I thought Hollahoop was ineffective, due to Tranmere putting so many men behind the ball we needed him to take players on, which he rarely did. Askou was outstanding, Russel worthy of mention too.[/quote]

Smith Motm? I thought he was awful today.

[FU MAN SHOE 0]

Smith''s effort was phenominal, just hope the guy can put a goal away soon. Martin for me was under par, whether it was lack of service I dont know but I think those 4 goals last week, may have got to his head a bit.

[Gingerpele 0]

Tookie? you did? he was the best player outfield today, maybe second, Hoolahan was good for spells.....whenever Smith made a mistake, he desperately chased it down, i think the only thing he lacks is real experiance, but he won''t have that for a season or two, he was really unlucky not to get one of his rockets in, and hopefully he will keep his head up...

Other than that i though both teams played really well, and thats why the game wasn''t that good, because other than on 5/6 occasions, every attack was stopped by wonderful defences....

I thought Holt was slightly under par, not bad, but didn''t seem to chase to the same extent as normal, Hoolahan like i said, was good in parts, but if he was wonderful for 90 minutes, he would be the best player in the world.....(seriously, if you think about it, who does play top draw the whole game, its impossible, the best you can do, is not make mistakes when they come, thats how you become consistent, every time you get the ball, you have to do your best, and hoolahan is the type of player, that does things sometimes, and the other times, it just doesn''t work...)

fairly average game, but decent performance all round...

(oh and the Away fans, i fealt sorry for them, i was moved closer to them, and there must have been 200 at the most, they tried to sing as much as possible, and support there team, and then they where let down by an idiot at the end, not really sure what happened, but it didn''t need to....)

[Yellow Hotrod 0]

Russell played pretty well today I thought. Semi gave away some awful balls and his man slipped past him in to dangerous positions once or twice. Lappin and Smith IMO were both pretty quiet. We tried to play everything through the middle and this did not work particularly well today, but we don''t really have an alternative system of playing. The only option I thought we had to change our style of play was to bring Cody on and give us a wee bit of pace which we didn''t have in the line up. Otherwise there''s not really any options we can bring off the bench to change things.Tranmere seemed like an ok team and had at least two good chances - one phenomenally saved by Forster and they hit the post another time. However, they''ve still scored only two away goals all season so that tells its own tale. We were lucky with the penalty but proficient in most areas and a little bit of quality told when it mattered so we just about deserved the win.

[GJP 79]

Great save from Forster that probably decided the game. Had that gone in then we could have been struggling as Tranmere caused problems on the break. He continues to do well in goal and hopefully we''ll be able to keep him past his loan.

Semmy did alright, considering his lack of football over recent weeks. But he''s always going to be criticised by some, no matter what. Looked like he was probably still carrying a knock as well.

Doc and Askou were pretty strong. They saw almost as much of the ball as Darel Russell.

Drury was very solid and got forward well. There or thereabouts for MOTM.

Korey... not his best performance. Didn''t always hold his position and his use of the poor was pretty poor in places. Gave it away cheaply quite often, probably something certain other players would have been more heavily criticised for.

I thought Russell played well, particularly first half. However, I thought he''d come in for some criticism and I think this is probably a case of people not being able to see the bigger picture. Yes he gave the ball away a couple of times and he did get caught on the ball but he didn''t ever get a lot of help. He saw a lot of the ball in the first half and there was never much on for him, the movement ahead of him and around him was very lacking.

Didn''t think Lappin or Hoolahan did a lot in the first half but both came on stronger in the second half, especially after we went 1-0 up.

Upfront it wasn''t a great day for Holt and Martin. I think today showed up why we could do with a little bit more pace available to us. Chris Martin can turn a defender but can''t get away from them. Didn''t get a lot of service but probably didn''t do enough with the ball when they did get it.

 

[king canary 8,749]

[quote user="GJP"]

I thought Russell played well, particularly first half. However, I thought he''d come in for some criticism and I think this is probably a case of people not being able to see the bigger picture. Yes he gave the ball away a couple of times and he did get caught on the ball but he didn''t ever get a lot of help. He saw a lot of the ball in the first half and there was never much on for him, the movement ahead of him and around him was very lacking.

 [/quote]

I agree that movement infront of him was at time lacking but I dont think its failing to see the bigger picture. I thought he was too slow ften to move the ball on, Otsemabor and Drury made some good runs but were never given the ball as Russell at times seemed to have tunnel vision and not notice those out wide.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="king canary"][quote user="GJP"]

I thought Russell played well, particularly first half. However, I thought he''d come in for some criticism and I think this is probably a case of people not being able to see the bigger picture. Yes he gave the ball away a couple of times and he did get caught on the ball but he didn''t ever get a lot of help. He saw a lot of the ball in the first half and there was never much on for him, the movement ahead of him and around him was very lacking.

 [/quote]

I agree that movement infront of him was at time lacking but I dont think its failing to see the bigger picture. I thought he was too slow ften to move the ball on, Otsemabor and Drury made some good runs but were never given the ball as Russell at times seemed to have tunnel vision and not notice those out wide.

[/quote]

Easier said than done though.

He was seeing more of the ball than anyone in the first half and obviously he does a lot of the phsyical work in our midfield and wins the ball a lot. And given the conditions and the lack of support of a lot of his colleagues (most of them seemed to be waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen) I felt a bit sorry for Darel. He put a lot of hard work in and I''ll forgive him a couple of sloppy passes etc given how much he was having to do.

 

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]Not a great game today, we didn''t play that well and Tranmere certainly looked a better team than their league position suggests. But again we managed to grind the result out, which we are getting good at doing, and there are plenty of times in the past when we would not have got anything from that game.I think we were very lucky to get that penalty but I won''t worry about that as too many have gone against us in the past in similar situations. But it was vital and after the second goal that killed them off. I''d give everybody a six other than Forster for one good and one sensational save, and Drury who was very solid and good going forward, they get seven and Drury gets my vote for man of the match.[/quote]Agree with this except that I would probably make Forster man of the match for that one moment of inspired brilliance which had half the upper Barclay giving him a standing ovation despite the save being at the River End.  Haven''t seen that for a while.I was worried at 0-0 that we would never break them down until I noticed the helium balloon drifting level with the upper tier of the Barclay end, about 40 yards in the air.  Quick Lambert, I thought.  Bring on Cureton and see if he can score a "Darren Bent" style goal.

[ZLF 334]

A game where we tactically lost the battle but gained 3 points with a debateable penalty.

After 5 mins it was clear that Tranmere were here for a point with a very deep 4-5-1 formation with miachel rickets v reminiscent of Hartson when he played for us - without the movement or quality of touch!

After 10 mins it was clear that we were having an off day and no joy in breaking them down.  By 20 mins we could have taken off Lappin, Russell and Ots as they were abysmal in keeping the ball.

We were too heavily out numbered in midfiled - the 3v5 left us with no space within  15 yards of the pen box and so every pass had to be pin point - our midfield were not up to that challenge.

People around me were screaming for width and pace.  I though that Drury and Ots gave us width - but ots in particular was not keep ing possession well enough.  As for pace - with so many bodies can anyone explain to me where that pace could be used????   The way to win was either concentrate on an aerial bombardment - we dont have the players for that,  use the space behind them with pace and the ball over the top - there was no space behind them,  to get wide and behind them - our passing and movement was not good enough to break through the 9 man defence or to get passers of the ball on the pitch and keep the ball. Hughes SHOULD have been introduced, probably for Russell who did not have much to do defensively and was wasting a lot of possession.  The lack of cutting edge today is a worry.

We were lucky with the pen - we did not look like scoring or breaking them down;  had it not gone in Tranmere would have again grown in confidence, defended deep and woudl have found a way through on the break.

Tranmere - far from awful - they saw their plan through andshould have gone in 2-0 up.  They soaked up the pressure and looked comfortable at the back. Forsters miracle save came because the sat deep and our players did not make an option for Doc,  who chose to take the ball forward and try a 1-2 with Russell who was less hungry than their midfielder - they broke fast and would have deserved their goal as they commitment was excellent.

Once we 1-0 up we were not going to lose - the space left as they came forward we did exploit - although I again think lambert should have changed the strtikers by introducing Macdonald to exploit the space that was finally available.   

Forster 8 - MOTM - far the busier keeper in a game where we had so much possession.  We should have been dead and buried by half time

Ots 5 If we cant find the cash for a new right back it will cost us points.  Avergae going forward - poor defending - particularly in the second half when smith bailed him out. 

Doc 7 Solid and building a good partnership with Askou.  Nicely finished goal well celebrated by the crowd with a genger pele rendition.

Askou 6 Played well,  but is anyone else worried about just how many aerial balls he misjudges?  I know wind was an excuse today but he mis times several basic headers every game to teh extent he actually misses the ball!!!

Drury 7 Back to his best - time his attacks well and earning the penalty.

Smith 6 Kept going but poor use of the ball - defensively poor today. 

Russell 5 NOt much of a holding role today but the number of really good chances Tranmere had confirms that he did not track their runners when we needed him. His use of the ball was not good enough on a day when that was his prime objective.

LAppin 5 Worked hard but his passing was woeful.  Quite off the pace today.

Hoolahan 7 Guilty again of over elaborating  - but mainly when we were alrady ahead.  Kept demanding the ball and generally used it well but was simply out numbered too often. 1 goal and 1 assist.

MArtin 6 Good first half - best striker with good movement (only player to offer us this) but faded in the second and should have made way for MacDonald.  Did the hard bit to round the keeper but fluffed it big time.  At least had a chance and the miss was when we were 2 up.

Holt 5 Nothng came off for him today and did not look like scoring.

[FilletTheFishWife . 0]

we were a one-trick pony yesterday in what was probably one of the dullest displays this season.

after 90 mins i was bored shitless of watching Askkou, Doc and Russell play triangles while Tranmere sat back and waited and waited and waited..until one of them lost the ball amidst the tedium.

it was nearly as frustrating as watching Hoolahan twist and turn ad infitum trying to get space on his left foot or getting knocked off the ball

or watching Lappin checking the ball back onto his right foot when a first-time left footed cross would have been more effective

Tranmere were there for the taking and we might rue not capitalising on it like huddersfield did to wycombe yesterday

with the top pack so tight goal-difference will probably determine the automatic and play-off positions

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="FilletTheFishWife ."]we were a one-trick pony yesterday in what was probably one of the dullest displays this season.

after 90 mins i was bored shitless of watching Askkou, Doc and Russell play triangles while Tranmere sat back and waited and waited and waited..until one of them lost the ball amidst the tedium.

it was nearly as frustrating as watching Hoolahan twist and turn ad infitum trying to get space on his left foot or getting knocked off the ball

or watching Lappin checking the ball back onto his right foot when a first-time left footed cross would have been more effective

Tranmere were there for the taking and we might rue not capitalising on it like huddersfield did to wycombe yesterday

with the top pack so tight goal-difference will probably determine the automatic and play-off positions[/quote]Did you go to the Walsall game?  That was diabolical and your write-up above sounds more like that game than the one yesterday.  Yesterday was a tough game in dreadful conditions.  I think they did quite well, to be honest.

[Yellow Wal 315]

Unfortunately I feel I would be able to put up with this tedium .......... as long as the results keep coming. This season is about one thing and one thing only ..... winning.

It''s a bonus if we can do it by entertaining!

[ron obvious 1,710]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

............People around me were screaming for width and pace.  I though that Drury and Ots gave us width - but ots in particular was not keep ing possession well enough.  As for pace - with so many bodies can anyone explain to me where that pace could be used????   The way to win was either concentrate on an aerial bombardment - we dont have the players for that,  use the space behind them with pace and the ball over the top - there was no space behind them,  to get wide and behind them - our passing and movement was not good enough to break through the 9 man defence or to get passers of the ball on the pitch and keep the ball. Hughes SHOULD have been introduced, probably for Russell who did not have much to do defensively and was wasting a lot of possession.  The lack of cutting edge today is a worry...........

.............Once we 1-0 up we were not going to lose - the space left as they came forward we did exploit - although I again think lambert should have changed the strikers by introducing Macdonald to exploit the space that was finally available. .............. 

[/quote]That''s one thing that does worry me about Lambert, he seems reluctant to try plan b) when plan a) just isn''t working; it''s not as if we don''t have some decent players on the bench. Hughes is a class player at this level. Before the goal, I was wondering if Curo should come on - when camped in the opposition''s half, he is the sort of player more likely to snatch a goal than Cody. However, once Tranmere had conceded & were forced to attack, then Cody is much more likely to exploit any gaps appearing at the back.Still, a win''s a win; so long as Lamberts keeps the results coming, nobody''s going to complain too much!

[ron obvious 1,710]

Oh, & I meant to add: having seen Doc''s ''tap in'' on''t telly, I was seriously impressed! I''ve seen a few multi- million rated Prem. forwards miss easier chances than that!

[GJP 79]

[quote user="ron obvious"]

Oh, & I meant to add: having seen Doc''s ''tap in'' on''t telly, I was seriously impressed! I''ve seen a few multi- million rated Prem. forwards miss easier chances than that!


[/quote]

The Doc is a decent player with the ball to be fair. Apart from the goal yesterday there was a clever little volleyed flick over his left shoulder back to Askou and also a nicely weighted ball down the line on the outside of his right foot. Then the other week he hit that beauty of a pass out to Holt (who failed to control) and setup Chris Martin superbly for the goal against Swindon.

He is just a lot lot better than many give him credit for.

[Yellow Hotrod 0]

A good sign from yesterday is that we''re mostly pretty unhappy yet we had a 2-0 win! It''s good, it shows how far we''ve come under Mr P. Lamborghini.