Player Ratings - Newport at home
When Curle first came to the club he stated he was aiming to change a culture where mediocrity was tolerated by our owners and failure was celebrated by our fans. Not only did he fail to do this, by the end of his time here he also bought into this philosophy. A lap of honour today, to celebrate what exactly?
Newport had technically inferior players to us all over the pitch, but despite this, we failed to beat them because they were better organised than we were. On countless occasions, at home, this season – it has been the same story. We can grind results out on the road, but when we’re asked to play proper football at home – we fail, it’s been the story of our season and it is nowhere near acceptable.
Bonham – 2 – Good riddance. Flapping at crosses, missing punches, scrambling desperately to cover shots. Flat footed and slow coming off his line, quick thinking by Ellis rescued him on a number of occasions. Might’ve also done better with the goal he conceded. Brentford are going to be in for a bit of a shock when we’ve told them he’s “Championship standard” and he comes back not having improved even slightly from the start of the season.
Liddle – 2 – Got forward quite well and used the ball neatly once or twice, but generally his use of the ball was poor. His effort at challenging for a header when he let Amond score was laughable however – and it shows he’s still a defensive liability.
Grainger – 4 – Never solid defensively but a well taken corner to create our goal. Some of his passing was typically squiffy and he’s still struggling to meet the pace of the game. Probably his last game for the club.
Ellis – 7* - Our best defender again, dominant in the air solid on the ground and a really imperious header for our goal (although Newport’s defence clearly had one foot already on the beach). Another performance which demonstrates beyond any doubt the poor judgement shown to let him go out on loan last season and earlier this one.
Hill – 6 – He’s had a good career as a player and the way he’s helped improve our defence since he arrived might give you suspicions he might be capable of improving our team as a whole if given overall control. Obviously, he’d need experienced help on his coaching team, but I’m sure we could do a lot worse. Anyway, a typically solid performance today – his influence will be difficult to replace.
Joyce – 4 – Busy, but chasing shadows again. He’s consistently getting out muscled and bustled in midfield these days. I’m not sure if he’s trying to do too much, Joyce is most effective when he keeps it really simple.
Jones – 5 – Possibly not as poor as in recent weeks, and was involved in some decent passing moves. Still not firing on all cylinders however and too easily bullied out of the game at important moments. Left too isolated centrally by both Joyce and Devitt so it’s difficult when you’re surrounded by three Newport players who are twice your size. Would he look a better player in a team which is more professionally organised? This remains to be seen...
Devitt – 2 – One absolute peach of a pass in the second half, where’s he been hiding this? The rest of his afternoon was poor. Sloppy passing, awful crossing, wasteful dead balls – you name it. There’s a player in Devitt, definitely, but his actual influence on the game was virtually nothing, again. Where’s the player who was responsible for all those assists for Morecambe and who is capable of lighting the pitch up with his skill?
Campbell-Ryce – 6 – For half an hour he was untouchable. Some of his passing and footwork were an absolute joy to watch. However, from the 35 minute mark he was blowing out of his hole and his legs had clearly gone, which was a shame as he was clearly the only player in our midfield with a brain. Maybe a more astute manager would hold him on the bench until the sixty minute mark and aim to throw him for the last third of the game – when his influence against tired legs may actually tell.
Bennett – 5 – Not his best afternoon, some sloppy touches and poor passing. Also less influential in the air although he never stopped running and fighting. I don’t think we created a single, decent, opportunity for him in the penalty area.
Nadesan – 6 – Impressive working back to help our static midfield, although being asked to chase lost causes again and play with his back to goal is not his game. We lacked the guile and awareness to get the ball to his feet down the channels or in the penalty area.
Subs:
Parkes – 4 – Didn’t improve the left side of our defence any or do anything remarkable with the football.
O’Sullivan – 1 – We’d have been better keeping an exhausted Campbell-Ryce on than wasting our time with O’Sullivan. Another player who won’t be missed and we should really have been giving one of our youth players an opportunity rather than futilely persisting with this.
Lambe – 1 – The game finished just over an hour ago and I struggled to remember the existence of Lambe. He’s a great player until around about October every season.
Thank heavens the season is finally over.
