Cheltenham Town - Home - Player Ratings
First off, credit to the manager for dropping his favourites (Liddle & Hope), it must've been tough for him - but they were the weakest links last week - so fair play.
Also, I'm not getting overly carried away today, despite the win - Cheltenham were an awful side. However, you can only beat what's put in front of you, even if you never really get out of second gear.
Bonham - 6 - Not tested at all. Did everything you might expect well in and around the box, no flapping this week and looked comfortable. Got down well to Cheltenham's only meaningful effort on target - but it's a save you'd have expected any professional keeper to make. Loses a mark for an afternoon of appalling distribution. Here's a hint for you Jack - we play in blue shirts, try aiming your kicks towards them.
Miller - 7 - Defensively solid and took his goal well. Also a great assist for Harry Pell's classy finish.
Grainger - 7 - Some decent moments and crosses, but some comedy moments with that hexagonal left boot he wears.
Ellis - 8 - Performances like this make it even more inexplicable why he was loaned out for half of last season. He's no Baresi - but you need some of that aggression, determination and fight in your back four at this level. Top class in the air and unlucky to be booked for the best tackle of the afternoon
Parkes - 9* - The glue holding our back four together. He's almost singlehandedly transformed our back four from a pack of drooling schoolboys into something that looks professional and competent. His reading of the game was a class apart today and he was continually two steps ahead of anything Cheltenham could muster. Hopefully he can continue to perform to this standard...
Jones - 7 - It was a really tough afternoon for our two central midfielders with the formation we were playing, outnumbered and physically dwarfed - but they both help provide a solid defensive unit (along with our central defenders). Still not back to his influential best - but a good test for his fitness, and he'll get better as the season goes on (I suspect).
Joyce - 7 - As above really, worked really well in tandem with Jones, Parkes and Ellis to give us the platform from which to win the game.
Lambe - 8 - Fantastic first half, some really intelligent movement and a brilliantly taken goal, even spotted working back in midfield and putting a tackle or two in. Faded a touch in the second half but still well involved. At times he looks frustratingly lightweight and seems reluctant to take his man on (you can do it Reggie!), but should be flying in terms of confidence now...
Adams - 7 - Some great touches, not involved as much as I would've liked but always a threat.
Bennett - 6.5 - I've been impressed with him the two games I've seen him in now, but I think he needs to step up to the standard a little. He battled well, made some great runs, won a few headers and created lots of space for others in the box and dovetailed well with Miller without ever setting the world on fire. Some of his distribution wasn't the greatest and I think his performance was a little too honest.
What I mean by that is that you can't let yourself be the victim as a centre-forward, you're going to get little tugs, elbows, arms in your face and general cheating against you when you're a threat and big unit - that's football and you need to expect it. However, you've got to give as good as you get - nobody is going to do you any favours. So for me, Bennett needs to add a little ruthless nastiness to his game - not so it consumes him like a Diego Costa or a Steve Livingstone, but to be calculated and clever about it.
Miller - 7 - Dropped off his man, made decent runs and worked well for the team.
Subs
Devitt - 6 - Busy, worked hard.
Hope - 6 - Looked like he wanted to play football this afternoon, but still no end product.
Liddle - 6 - Decent, solid.
