My Thoughts and ratings

[Lewie - Holt Our Saviour 0]

Well a poor showing from the team we expect so much of tonight and I do not fear that we will break down and continue this poor form.Ruddy 6 - Some excellant saves and some other poor reflexes/saves from this keeper but couldn''t do much about 2/3 of the goals.R.Martin 5 - Decent in attacking but lacking at the back, as I feared I still don''t think he will cope at champ level.Nelson 5 - Good finish for his goal but positioning was poor tonight and yet again as I feared champ isn''t his level.Ward 6 - Some very good tackles tonight but at times his positioning was poor.Drury 6 - A decent performance for the number 3, seemed quite lively and solid at the back.Crofts 7 - Very good showing from this guy, he looks to be a good buy, well taken goal and some good passing/tackling. My MOTMFox 5 -  Didn''t see much of him tonight but when I did he did some ok passing and moving.Surman 6 - Good free kick and some good passing but not too much from this guy, I expect more in the future.Hoolahan 6 - Not sure why he was MOTM but did ok but not MOTM material, some good movement but passing/shooting was poor tonight.C.Martin 5 - Good dummy for the goal but didn''t do allot tonight, should improve as the season goes on with a bit of luck.Jackson 5 - Not allot tonight from him, seemed to be outpaced on a few occasions and outstrengthed/beaten in height (Although I can''t blame him tiny taylor is pretty well big).Subs:Holt 6 - Did well when he came in, wasn''t far from scoring at one point.McNamee 6 - Wasn''t really on for that long (same with Holt) and didn''t really get the ball, positioning wasn''t too good tonight although some blame may go on Chrissy.Overall 5 - Not a very good showing from the lads but we will improve garanteed I still think a top half finish is where we will fall.P.s: Someone Cursed the match making a topic 10 minutes in praising us up o.o

[Lewie - Holt Our Saviour 0]

[quote user="I am an Apple"]Well a poor showing from the team we expect so much of tonight and I do not fear that we will break down and continue this poor form.Ruddy 6 - Some excellant saves and some other poor reflexes/saves from this keeper but couldn''t do much about 2/3 of the goals.R.Martin 5 - Decent in attacking but lacking at the back, as I feared I still don''t think he will cope at champ level.Nelson 5 - Good finish for his goal but positioning was poor tonight and yet again as I feared champ isn''t his level.Ward 6 - Some very good tackles tonight but at times his positioning was poor.Drury 6 - A decent performance for the number 3, seemed quite lively and solid at the back.Crofts 7 - Very good showing from this guy, he looks to be a good buy, well taken goal and some good passing/tackling. My MOTMFox 5 -  Didn''t see much of him tonight but when I did he did some ok passing and moving.Surman 6 - Good free kick and some good passing but not too much from this guy, I expect more in the future.Hoolahan 6 - Not sure why he was MOTM but did ok but not MOTM material, some good movement but passing/shooting was poor tonight.C.Martin 5 - Good dummy for the goal but didn''t do allot tonight, should improve as the season goes on with a bit of luck.Jackson 5 - Not allot tonight from him, seemed to be outpaced on a few occasions and outstrengthed/beaten in height (Although I can''t blame him tiny taylor is pretty well big).Subs:Holt 6 - Did well when he came in, wasn''t far from scoring at one point.McNamee 6 - Wasn''t really on for that long (same with Holt) and didn''t really get the ball, positioning wasn''t too good tonight although some blame may go on Chrissy.Overall 5 - Not a very good showing from the lads but we will improve garanteed I still think a top half finish is where we will fall.P.s: Someone Cursed the match making a topic 10 minutes in praising us up o.o[/quote]Forgot to add:I feel our Defence isn''t strong enough for this league and that we should of brought a PROVEN champ striker, here''s my team for the next match:I feel as if S.Smith would do a better job out of position than R.Martin, this is if S.Smith is fit.                              RuddyS.Smith     E.Ward        J.Askou     A.Drury                             Fox           Crofts                      Surman                       Hoolahan                Holt            Jackson

[I am a Banana 0]

Fox was a 7 - was the most impressive of the new blood.

C MArtin was also a 7/8 as he was doing his and jacksons job tonight [y] looks much fitter this year.

Hoolahan was the MOTM he moved, he passed, he created chances but jackson isn''t clever enough to read his passes!

[First Wazzock 902]

[quote user="I am a Banana"]

Fox was a 7 - was the most impressive of the new blood.

C MArtin was also a 7/8 as he was doing his and jacksons job tonight [y] looks much fitter this year.

Hoolahan was the MOTM he moved, he passed, he created chances but jackson isn''t clever enough to read his passes!

[/quote]

Can''t agree with that Nana, did his usual not releasing the ball early enough and getting caught in possession.

MOTM for me Crofts by a mile

[Lewie - Holt Our Saviour 0]

[quote user="First Wazzock"][quote user="I am a Banana"]

Fox was a 7 - was the most impressive of the new blood.

C MArtin was also a 7/8 as he was doing his and jacksons job tonight [y] looks much fitter this year.

Hoolahan was the MOTM he moved, he passed, he created chances but jackson isn''t clever enough to read his passes!

[/quote]

Can''t agree with that Nana, did his usual not releasing the ball early enough and getting caught in possession.

MOTM for me Crofts by a mile

[/quote]Agreed, I didn''t really notice Fox so :P

[I am a Banana 0]

[quote user="First Wazzock"][quote user="I am a Banana"]

Fox was a 7 - was the most impressive of the new blood.

C MArtin was also a 7/8 as he was doing his and jacksons job tonight [y] looks much fitter this year.

Hoolahan was the MOTM he moved, he passed, he created chances but jackson isn''t clever enough to read his passes!

[/quote]

Can''t agree with that Nana, did his usual not releasing the ball early enough and getting caught in possession.

MOTM for me Crofts by a mile

[/quote]

sorry waz, but its a fact Hooly was the MOTM [:P]

I think crofts did well after his goal, but fox was the other stand out player for me [y]

[jimbo 0]

[quote user="I am a Banana"]

Fox was a 7 - was the most impressive of the new blood.

C MArtin was also a 7/8 as he was doing his and jacksons job tonight [y] looks much fitter this year.

Hoolahan was the MOTM he moved, he passed, he created chances but jackson isn''t clever enough to read his passes!

[/quote]IMO Fox was quiet (was happy passing it backwards and sideways) and was I was more impressed with crofts performance.C.Martin and Jackson didnt really get great service, apart from long balls hoofed up to them

[I am a Banana 0]

Fox did alot of covering for our weak looking defence, and tidied up nicely.

[Salford 0]

Was Fox even playing?

[I am a Banana 0]

Fox did alot of work which people do not realise, much like rusty did early last season. The mroe the season goes on the more people will see what he does and will continue to do.

[Old Shuck 183]

Holt and Martin? Yes.

Holt and Jackson? Yes.

Jackson and Martin? Hm, maybe not...

Tis'' early days, but I''d prefer either of the top 2 to the Martin/Jackson combo.

[McNamees attitude 0]

Ruddy 3

R.Martin 6

Ward 3

Nelson 6

Drury 5

Fox 5

Crofts 7

Surman 6

Hoolahan 7

Martin 5

Jackson 5

Holt 6

McNamee 5

I think with Doherty and Russell gone we are missing the spine of our team from last season. Either stick Declan Rudd in goal for Scunny away or get a keeper in on loan and bring in Askou for Ward and Korey Smith for Fox. Holt for Jackson as well.

[First Wazzock 902]

[quote user="I am a Banana"][quote user="First Wazzock"][quote user="I am a Banana"]

Fox was a 7 - was the most impressive of the new blood.

C MArtin was also a 7/8 as he was doing his and jacksons job tonight [y] looks much fitter this year.

Hoolahan was the MOTM he moved, he passed, he created chances but jackson isn''t clever enough to read his passes!

[/quote]

Can''t agree with that Nana, did his usual not releasing the ball early enough and getting caught in possession.

MOTM for me Crofts by a mile

[/quote]

 its a fact Hooly was the MOTM [/quote]

Maybe with the sponsors, but I bet you''ll find the majority on here will say Crofts.

[ryan1992 0]

[quote user="I am an Apple"][quote user="I am an Apple"]Well a poor showing from the team we expect so much of tonight and I do not fear that we will break down and continue this poor form.
Ruddy 6 - Some excellant saves and some other poor reflexes/saves from this keeper but couldn''t do much about 2/3 of the goals.
R.Martin 5 - Decent in attacking but lacking at the back, as I feared I still don''t think he will cope at champ level.
Nelson 5 - Good finish for his goal but positioning was poor tonight and yet again as I feared champ isn''t his level.
Ward 6 - Some very good tackles tonight but at times his positioning was poor.
Drury 6 - A decent performance for the number 3, seemed quite lively and solid at the back.
Crofts 7 - Very good showing from this guy, he looks to be a good buy, well taken goal and some good passing/tackling. My MOTM
Fox 5 -  Didn''t see much of him tonight but when I did he did some ok passing and moving.
Surman 6 - Good free kick and some good passing but not too much from this guy, I expect more in the future.
Hoolahan 6 - Not sure why he was MOTM but did ok but not MOTM material, some good movement but passing/shooting was poor tonight.
C.Martin 5 - Good dummy for the goal but didn''t do allot tonight, should improve as the season goes on with a bit of luck.
Jackson 5 - Not allot tonight from him, seemed to be outpaced on a few occasions and outstrengthed/beaten in height (Although I can''t blame him tiny taylor is pretty well big).

Subs:
Holt 6 - Did well when he came in, wasn''t far from scoring at one point.
McNamee 6 - Wasn''t really on for that long (same with Holt) and didn''t really get the ball, positioning wasn''t too good tonight although some blame may go on Chrissy.

Overall 5 - Not a very good showing from the lads but we will improve garanteed I still think a top half finish is where we will fall.
P.s: Someone Cursed the match making a topic 10 minutes in praising us up o.o
[/quote]
Forgot to add:
I feel our Defence isn''t strong enough for this league and that we should of brought a PROVEN champ striker, here''s my team for the next match:
I feel as if S.Smith would do a better job out of position than R.Martin, this is if S.Smith is fit.
                              Ruddy
S.Smith     E.Ward        J.Askou     A.Drury
                             Fox
           Crofts                      Surman
                       Hoolahan
               Holt            Jackson
[/quote]

I''d swap Ruddy for Rudd

S. Smith is an injured Left back

Ward was utter sh*te, and couldnt even kick the ball properly

[grantroederdisaster 0]

Ruddy - Nervous, but then again with the CB''s in front of him no surprise. Did make some well taken saves!

 

R Martin - Showed some good touches but his lack of pace makes things hard for him!

 

Nelson - Too slow for the Championship, will struggle unless against a slow frontline.

 

Ward - Dear oh dear. Slow, poor positioning and was all over the place when kicking the ball. We had a good indication of why he didn''t feature much at Coventry last season. Like I''ve said over and over again, the Doc was our best CB and those who kept on about cr ap he was hopefully had their eyes opened tonight. Got to improve or we have signed a duffer!

 

Drury - Done most things adequately but has never had pace and the lack of pace around him will not help!

 

Fox - Good passing and spent a lot of the game covering the floundering CB''s. Wasn''t helped by other team members struggling which meant he wasn''t able to get on the ball as much as he wanted to!

 

Surman - Got better in the 2nd half but struggled beforehand.

 

Crofts - One of our better players, particularly when we were struggling cause his tenacity was helping. Good movement, drive and great finish.

 

Hoolahan - Usual performance. Always looks like the most likely to light the fuse, but didn''t produce enough end product! 

 

Martin - Led the line wholeheartedly but at times lacked a little bit of quality and wasn'' t supported very well!

 

Jackson - Not a targetman and I''d imagine needs to play alonside one to be effective. Was not able to make the ball stick upfront!

 

SUBS - Holt - Made a big difference up front provided the missing link. Like last season we struggle without him.

 

Mcnamee - Done little of note when he came on!

 

Overall - We looked for much of the game a class below Watford who have been predicted as one of the weak teams. The pace of the side is worryingly slow. The CB''s don''t look good enough and 2 of the goals were down to them. They will leak goals particularly against teams with pace. We were forced into playing aimless balls for much of the game due to the above reasons. We showed particularly with Holt in the team that we will give teams problems when attacking but it looks like we''ll have to score plenty of goals cause we''ll leak them with the current CB''s 

 

Early days but need to improve!

[I am a Banana 0]

[quote user="Old Shuck"]

Holt and Martin? Yes.

Holt and Jackson? Yes.

Jackson and Martin? Hm, maybe not...

Tis'' early days, but I''d prefer either of the top 2 to the Martin/Jackson combo.

[/quote]

Both Martin and Jackson are players who like to play off a target man, thats why they just dont get on to well togeter .

[Clint 221]

Our midfield was terrible tonight and I thought Fox was the worst of a bad bunch.

Offered nothing going forward and didn''t get stuck in either.

How Korey Smith spent the whole game on the bench is beyond me.

[0 0]

*r matrin, drury, nelson not good enough for champ.

*midfield not strong enough, need smith in for fox.

*the strikers are crap unless partnering holt

[Lewie - Holt Our Saviour 0]

[quote user="marchisio"]*r matrin, drury, nelson not good enough for champ.

*midfield not strong enough, need smith in for fox.

*the strikers are crap unless partnering holt[/quote]Your joking right?

[grantroederdisaster 0]

[quote user="marchisio"]*r matrin, drury, nelson not good enough for champ.
*midfield not strong enough, need smith in for fox.
*the strikers are crap unless partnering holt[/quote]

 

R Martin and Drury done their jobs OK. Nelson I''d agree isn''t Championship. Ward was very poor and for you to highlight R Martin and Drury as being poor but yet don''t say owt about Ward is bizarre!

 

Midfield wasn''t strong enough tonight and we may benefit from Crofts or Smith playing in the role Fox played in but Fox did cover for the poor CB''s on more than one occasion and wasn''t as bad as you make out!

 

The last point you make about the strikers is overly harsh but mainly correct! 

[Bill 1,788]

Ward, hopefully he''ll come good but tonight he was lost. Out of position and not really interacting with Nelson at all. He''s been in this league so should now the pace required.Hoolahan had built up an understanding with Martin and Holt - that was not there tonight. So many of his passes were not astray but were just not to anybody.Much else has been covered above.Otherwise we were to slow. Too much of ''I''ve passed the ball so that''s my bit done''. Only in patches in the seond half did we get a sense of Watford were doing ie we are attacking so let''s all get stuck in. Time and time again a City player would have the ball with no support or anyone seemingly bothered.Most frustrating part of the game was watching City players waiting for the ball to come to them and seeing Watford getting their first. Hopefully this will be the wake up call, kick up the backside they need and a few will be ''rested''.Final thing was the ref. Yep some bad decisions but they usually even themselves out over the season. However early on I was thinking "at fartin'' last ". We have a free kick and the Watford player broke early and charged the ball - he was booked. Hooray I thought. The FA is going to crack down on this type of cheating, but no. Back we were to the usual style ie ball is heading to go out of play and when the attacker tries to go round the defender to get the ball he is checked by the defender. Clear obstruction, but somehow NEVER given.A few modifications like changing that would help. Likewise if a player is clearly wasting time then have the ref put his arm up to signal that the clock has ''stopped ticking'' until the timewasting stops. Again if 4 minutes have been added on the that should mean four minutes of play. Watched some game last season where 3 mins were added on and 105 seconds were wasted through an ''injury''. Pretty pointless adding on the minutes.Overall we got what we deserved, but I''m still fairly optimistic. Sort out the central defence. Get someone up front as a target man and remind the middle that they need to play as a cohesive group rather than as a volleyball team thinking that they each only have one role, one tackles, one passes sideways and one hits it forward, then all three stand back and watch Hooli beat four players (one being himself).

[0 0]

[quote user="grantroederdisaster"]

[quote user="marchisio"]*r matrin, drury, nelson not good enough for champ.*midfield not strong enough, need smith in for fox.*the strikers are crap unless partnering holt[/quote]

 

R Martin and Drury done their jobs OK. Nelson I''d agree isn''t Championship. Ward was very poor and for you to highlight R Martin and Drury as being poor but yet don''t say owt about Ward is bizarre!

 

Midfield wasn''t strong enough tonight and we may benefit from Crofts or Smith playing in the role Fox played in but Fox did cover for the poor CB''s on more than one occasion and wasn''t as bad as you make out!

 

The last point you make about the strikers is overly harsh but mainly correct! 

[/quote]i dont think its bizzare because ward has been a championship performer for many years whilst r martin is l1 standard  and drury hasnt been capable of playing in the championship for a couple of years now IMO.i think we desperately missed koreys energy in the middle, just looked lacklustre, watford easily had the run of us.