Half Term Report

[Paul 0]

We are just over halfway through the season and thought i would give my half term scores and verdict on the team:

Ruddy: 7 started off a bit shaky, couple of rickets, but is getting better week by week, needs to be a bit more commanding in his area.

R Martin: 9 the most improved and most consistent player in the team, chipped in with a couple of goals as well POTS front runner so far

L Barnett: 8 best signing so far this season built a good partnership with Ward only indiscretion was the red card and ball throwing against Pompey

E Ward: 8 Formed a good partnership with Barnett and has settled in well

A Drury: 6 great when he''s in the team, if he stays injury free we have an excellent back 4

Crofts: 8 he''s here he''s there he''s fucking everywhere, nuff said, been immense in midfield Russell who?

Smith: 7 Consistent as ever, needs to chip in with a few more goals, still learning tho

Lappin: 7 Mr I can and will play anywhere, consummate professional deserve new contract and best crosser of the ball we have.

Hoolahan: 8 was a bit off the boil at the start of season and was rightly dropped, last 2 months tho been on fire and glad he has signed a new deal. Also his work rate has been excellent as has his tackling and defending.

C Martin: 5 to be fair has been shit so far, doesn’t look interested (maybe his court case is on his mind) only scored 4 league goals and looks fat and lazy, would be worried if Lambert brings in another out and out striker

Holt: 8 Started slowly was injured and had no pre season but has now proved his critics wrong works his arse off and scored 3 against the scum

The Rest:

Nelson: 6 when he’s played done a good job when needed and has proved people wrong that he can play at this level.

Fox: 7 good signing comfortable on the ball does the Croft role well when needed.

McNamee: 4 utter shite when he starts a game cant cross a bridge, not a championship player, might do something if he comes on last 10 mins of a game but that’s all, very poor man’s Hoolahan.

Jacskon: 5 has bags of pace and scored some good goals needs more time on the pitch and deserve to start more than Martin.

Surman: 6 when he is fit you can see what a class act he is if it was on performances only would have been a 7 or 8, need him back fit.

Askou, Whitbread, Smith, Oli, Gill, Wilbraham and OTJ haven’t played enough for a rating.

Special mention to Lansbury who I hope we keep as he could be the key to making the chances to score that could see us promoted.

OTBC!!

[city till i die 0]

haha

martin 5, you clearly watch a different game to me, his touches and build up play have been as good as any.

[Paul 0]

[quote user="city till i die"]haha

martin 5, you clearly watch a different game to me, his touches and build up play have been as good as any.[/quote]

you need to take them blinkers off mate, doesnt do any off that and has been piss poor this season has 4 goals and 2 assists in the league in 17 starts and 8 subs, stands around looking for his next sandwich.

[Chunky Norwich 0]

Ruddy 6 - Can make the occasional great save but still can look very ropey. To quote an unquotable Chris Rock sketch, he''s supposed to make the occasional great save though.

R Martin 8 - Certainly agree with the Most Improved Player tag. Many games he can provide the most attacking intent of any in a yellow shirt. Linked with Blackburn

Drury 6 - Injury-disrupted season thus far

Gill n/a - Must be off soon. Only contribution of note this season was a throw-in at Millwall

Nelson 6.5 - Sturdy and reliable

Whitbread n/a - I don''t care how good anyone says a player is, if they''re in the treatment room for most of the season then they don''t actually bring anything to the team. Want him to do well and since returning a couple of games ago, has look solid. Hard to give him a score though

Crofts 9 - Brilliant signing. Even over Holt he seems to be the player we miss the most from our starting XI

Hughes n/a - see Gill minus the throw-in

Holt 3/8 - Started off bang out of form but luckily for him, and even better for us, has shown this to be just the blip it was and gone back to being our talisman. Looks like he''s been playing in the Championship all his life at the moment. He''s not just a target man, his overall game is superb if a little, er, ''cute'' at times

Jackson 3 - Really hasn''t impressed me. Want him to do well to justify the £600k but I''ve rarely ever noticed him even on the pitch

Surman n/a - Too few games but has looked impressive from what I''ve seen and had a cracking pre-season. Can''t wait for him to return

Lansbury 7 - Good player. Would love an extension

Rudd - n/a

Hoolahoop 7 - Very inconsistent. Clearest indication that there IS a difference in class between League One and Championship defences. Can be good. Can be marked out of a game

Fox - 6.5. Tidy. Don''t really think he''s given as much of a chance to shine as he used to at Colchester

C Martin 6 - A bit like Hoolahoop. Dips in and out of form but the ability is always there

K Smith 7 - Come on again this year and certainly looks like a starting XI-er. As OP said, would be nice to see him add goal-scoring to his game

Lappin 6.5 - Jack of all trades. Master of none. Can look a bit lightweight. If the whole squad was fit, wouldn''t get in the XI

Barnett 8 - Almost never beaten in the air and wants to play for the club. Great signing who slotted in instantly. With a bit more luck, could be in double-figures for goals already; not sure if this is a compliment or not

Wilbraham n/a - 2 games; too early to tell

Ward 7 - Can be flakey at times but on the whole adds presence and assurance to the back line

Oli n/a - Would love to see him given more chances

McNamee 7 - Divides the fans but I like him. Must be remembered he''s a left-footed winger who''s normally introduced with 20 minutes to go on the right of a diamond formation. Even then it''s unarguable that he has changed games

Daley n/a - Still here?

S Smith 5 - I''ve barely seen him play

OTJ - See Hughes/Gill

[Gingerpele 0]

I don''t think its that fair to mark individuals...

The one point to all the Martin haters....Why is he in the team? Lambert is the manager, not us... He obviously sees his contribution to the team as important, otherwise why not play the pacey Jackson just incase the through ball opportunity arrives? Oh it must be because Martin DOES add something to the team...

Chunky Norwich gave Crofts a 9, more than R.Martin, Holt and Hoolahan? Why, yeah he runs around a lot, was very very very good at the start, but the last few games i don''t think he''s been as good. I think Holt has been more important, R.Martin more consistant.

Also Hoolahan, i think (not a rating as such) he is amazing..... The FA Cup game, he seemed to be doing everything, apart from when Macnamee was given the ball to ''cross'' He was running back and forth, trying to create chances. His effort/defending etc has improved so much this season, i think he is key

*Why have you given Lansbury a rating, but not Surman? Lansbury can''t have played much/any more than Surman?

Basically we have:

Ruddy, R.Martin, Drury, Barnett, Ward, Nelson, Lappin, Crofts, Fox, K.Smith, Hoolahan, Lansbury (to an extenet) Surman (same as Lansbury), Holt, and C.Martin who have all added key contributions to out current postion.... But we still have players like Whitbread, S.Smith, Macnamee, Jackson, Gill/OTJ (and Lansbury/Surman) who are still there to help out when needed.....

[Gingerpele 0]

[quote user="paulo79"][quote user="city till i die"]haha

martin 5, you clearly watch a different game to me, his touches and build up play have been as good as any.[/quote]

you need to take them blinkers off mate, doesnt do any off that and has been piss poor this season has 4 goals and 2 assists in the league in 17 starts and 8 subs, stands around looking for his next sandwich.[/quote]

Go and watch Chris Martin please.... And if you still don''t understand, go and talk to Lambert.......

[Chunky Norwich 0]

Football is all about opinion and there''d be no point in having a message board where people express views if it wasn''t, or if everyone had identical views. I enjoyed the OP''s post and it got me thinking about the season so far, rather than 100 posts slagging off Lambert or score predictions or Asda references. Sometimes it''s even nice to read points where someone does have a different take on things; although maybe not posts which sole intent is to pick fault for no discernible reason.

No-one has ''hated'' Martin. I said that he dips IN and out of form and that the ability is always there.

In my opinion, Crofts is our POTS so far and running around a lot is actually a fairly useful skill for a defensive midfielder as is the ability to tackle and win headers which he does in spades. Scoring late winners is merely a bonus. Out of interest, who would yours be? In my mind, Holt was playing massively out of form for the first couple of months and although I rate Russell Martin and would easily place him as runner-up, I think Crofts provides more to the team as a whole.

I can see your point about me rating Lansbury and not Surman; my only answer would be that I personally have seen more games with Lansbury in than I have Surman and feel I can rate Lansbury from what I''ve seen. Were I to rate Surman, I''d probably do so on hype and Neil Adams'' commentary

[Gingerpele 0]

Fair enough....

I would put R.Martin as my POTS so far, Crofts second and Hoolahan/Holt tied for 3rd...

there has been a lot of hype surrounding Surman, and i think if you''ve seen him, you can probably tell he does have a touch of class, but once he''s back, he needs to stay fit otherwise i think everyone will start to think he will never do anything (although Whitbread has started to prove some of us wrong....)

[Paul 0]

[quote]Go and watch Chris Martin please.... And if you still don''t understand, go and talk to Lambert.......[/quote]

I go to every home and game and a fair few away so have seen martin a lot and he is slow, lazy and has contributed nothing this season, I would love him to score 20 goals again this season but he wont and he found his level and league 1

[Gingerpele 0]

He isn''t lazy....... He isn''t slow. And he has contributed.

If he is what you say he is, why is he still in the team?