Player Ratings - Mansfield at Home

When I dance they call me Macarena
And the boys they say que estoy buena
They all want me, they can't have me
So they all come and dance beside me
Move with me, chant with me
And if you’re good I'll take you home with me

When you strip away the blatant cheating and the inept refereeing this afternoon, again you’re left with a very winnable game and three points dropped.

We were clearly on top and dominant until we conceded the first goal, Thomas and McKirdy causing all sorts of trouble on the wings and we were bossing the midfield. Then we lose concentration on a cross, which both Iredale and Collin think is drifting too long and standing flat-footed and let Mansfield score.

I don’t blame the players for being confused about the random drop ball which led to the second goal. It looked for all the world like the referee was giving Mansfield enough space in midfield to pick their pass. But whatever, we have to be professional enough to deal with any situation and we switched off. Webster was a yard off his man, Knight-Percival hadn’t flicked his “on” switch and Collin went down in installments. 0-2 from a half where we played the better football.

Pressley’s substitutions in the second half again looked ill-considered and chaotic. It’s a pattern already, we seem to start the game with a well organised shape but our changes are random. McKirdy was only given ten minutes before being subbed for Sorenson – who struggled. Loft looked to be struggling and had very little influence all game, but McKirdy was the first to be subbed. With Olomola and Hope added to the mix our players looked confused over who should be playing where and our performance descended into fluster, bluster and farce.

It’s still early days for a lot of our players but this afternoon should be a valuable lesson to them. Not every team in Division Four is going to arrive at Brunton Park with their pants down, not every referee is going to be perfect – but despite this – you have to rise above it, keep your concentration and have enough courage and character to play the game you want to play.

Collin – 3 – Asleep for both goals, yes he’s made some good saves already this season but the goals he has conceded over the past two league games have been very disappointing. Also, his distribution is ponderous and he kicks long too much. We should take the captain’s armband back off him and make him fight for his place. I’d start with Gray for the next game.

Elliott – 6 – Probably the pick of the defenders today, some nice touches and use of the ball – generally solid and looked decent going forward.

Webster – 5 – Beaten too easily for the second goal, long, high balls like this should be his bread and butter.

Knight-Percival – 5 - On his heels for the second goal. Looks composed most of the time, but you can’t be daydreaming like at any time in defence.

Iredale – 5 – An improvement on Mellish? On this performance I’m not so sure. Extremely poor awareness for the first goal and lost possession on numerous occasions. Needs to raise his game considerably.

Jones – 6* – Busy and tidy, holding things together in the middle of the park. Generally used the ball well although fluffed his lines on a couple of occasions. Jones has been the heartbeat of the team so far this season.

Bridge – 6 - Some bright movement, good use of the ball and insightful dribbling. However, all too often ran the ball down blind alleys.

Scougall – 5 – Better than at Swindon, but still too small and lightweight to be effective in Division Four. I genuinely confused him with the mascot before kick-off, and when you compare him with the steroid fuelled hulks in Mansfield shirts it is almost cruel. Too “samey” with Jones and Bridge overall. When you play with a three in midfield you need more solidity and strength.

Thomas – 6 – Looked our brightest player in the first half but Mansfield closed him out of the game very well. We were unable to provide him with much of the ball when he was in space and could run at his full-back. Needs to shoot less and pass more.

Loft – 1 – I don’t remember Richie Bennett playing as ineffectively as this. He as schooled by the Mansfield defence all game (when they weren’t trying to get him sent off by pretending he’d used his elbows). When they realised how anonymous he was, they stopped bothering to cheat and just let him be. Looks way below league standard, needs to improve – and quickly. Remind me why we dropped Olomola?

McKirdy – 6 – Caused havoc all first half and Mansfield struggled to cope with him, yet after barely ten minutes of the second half – he’s no longer on the pitch. I’ve been extremely patient with Pressley and indeed – he’s done a lot of good over the summer – but what on Earth is this obsession in taking off McKirdy? “I have my pre-meditated game plan and I’m sticking to it”.

Subs:

Sorenson – I’m not writing him off, but this performance was utter garbage. He’s only been at the club five minutes, is it wise to throw him on and ask him to play 40 minutes on the left? I question Pressley’s sanity with this decision.

Olomola – Some neat touches, but I have no idea what position he was supposed to be playing, neither did he apparently

Hope – I wish we’d sold him frankly. He might as well have been doing the Macarena as trying to play football.

The team that scores the most goals wins. It’s that simple. We should have had a penalty first half and McKirdy skied a sitter over the bar. Apart from that, we created nowt. Neither did they though; our two gifts were, frankly, what changed the game - not suspect refereeing. That said, the ref today needs to be taken behind the cowshed and shot.

I thought that Sorensen was brought in as a predatory goalscorer, in which case why was he playing wide? Most of Jones’ passes were to defenders. Most of our defenders’ passes were to other defenders. Some of our passes were to Mansfield players. You don’t win games like that as it gives the opposition time to regroup. We rarely dragged their side out of shape and played through them. maybe I’m being over-critical because we don’t have the skill but having a decent squad on paper doesn't lead to points on the board. It’s up the coaching and management side to meld these individuals into a team, and we’re a long way from that at present.

I don’t see this as a relegation side, but based on what I’ve seen so far it’s a long way from a playoffs side too. Patience isn’t my strongpoint, but I’ll give them until the end of September to prove me wrong.