Match ratings vs Chesterfield

[CmonUSexyStylishPies]

Now I'm getting the idea of the type of football Nolan wants to play, I'm beginning to understand why he favours Hewitt. Elliott isn't a great footballer, but he's tall and physical in midfield and has a long throw into the box. He'll probably turn in loads of 6/10 performances which don't catch anybody's eye, but is probably doing exactly what the manager wants him to do.

We certainly have got some height in the side with Jones, Brisley, Yates added along with Hewitt, Ameobi, Stead and Duffy.

That said we put endless balls into the box early on with little impact, the set pieces from Jones and Allesandra were poor, hopefully Grant will provide better quality.

[SwalePie]

Think it's a fittnes/injury with Grant. He's obviously our best player so think he'd be the first name on the teamsheet if fit.

Apparently had a minor hamstring problem in the week and was being protected by Nolan by not starting.

[Elite_Pie]

Collin - 6.5 - Saved us a couple of times and looked solid. Moaning about his distribution is harsh, he did the right thing at the right time.
Tootle - 6 - Looked sound defensively, didn't get forward a lot.
Jones - 6 - Better defensively, forward play and set pieces were mixed.
Duffy - 6 - Did what he was there to do.
Brisley - 6 - Better than at Coventry, hopefully he can build on this.

Hawkridge - 6.5 - Worked hard, good involvement for a wide midfielder.
Allesandra - 6 - Some good bits, but anonymous at times.
Hewitt - 6 - Won plenty of challenges but needs to use the ball better when in space.
Yates - 6 - A bit indecisive at times but still promising.

Ameobi - 6 - Great touch, always offered a target.
Stead - 6 - Average performance, but did keep their defence occupied.

Subs:

Grant - 7* - Gave us the touch of class we needed. I've deducted a point for his silly booking. He was lucky to escape a yellow at Coventry for a petty kick at the keeper. Cut out the petulance Jorge, because we need you on the pitch.
Forte - 6 - Got into some good positions, but let down by his first touch.
Walker - 6 - Steady for the short time he was on.

To be honest that was a pretty unimpressive but very welcome 3 points. I thought the performance of the officials was bizarre, they seemed to get a lot wrong and if anything their incompetence worked in our favour for once. I didn't see the first Ugwu incident, but a bloke near me was adamant he had elbowed Hewitt off the ball. The lino took an age to raise his flag, so I don't know how much he actually saw even though he was only a few yards away. Him and the ref had a discussion, then Ugwu was shown yellow. If it was a deliberate elbow then either the lino saw it and should have told the ref it was a sending off offence, or he didn't see it and Ugwu escapes unpunished. It was either a straight red or play on. The red card he did issue just before the break looked harsh in the extreme. I don't see how it was classed as denying a goalscoring opportunity at all. Maybe he was making up for his earlier error. I also thought that Stead was pushed to the ground when he was one on one with the keeper, which would have been a penalty and red card. Also the ref issued yellow cards for fouls that were softer than some he let go. Hopefully replays can clear a few things up. I have to admit leaving the ground with the impression that neither team will be involved at the upper end of the table.

[crazyfists]

Collin - 6.5 - Not much to do

Tootle - 6.5 - Steady
Jones - 6.5 - Nervy early on but improved, poor set pieces though
Duffy - 6.5 - Solid
Brisley - 7 - Solid, what we've been missing

Hawkridge - 7.5 - Lively, some nice touches, covered plenty of ground
Allesandra - 6 - Quiet game, lost possession too often
Hewitt - 6.5 - Still not convinced, little impact going forwards
Yates - 7 - Some misplaced passes early on but plenty of good tackles and 50/50 wins, again what we've been missing

Ameobi - 6.5 - Usual handful
Stead - 6 - Still not convinced, should have scored when 1 on 1

Subs:

Grant - 8 - Class as ever, needs to start
Forte - 6 - Not strong enough
Walker - 6 - No impact - scoreboard said Lewis Walker for some reason?!

This. Need to start Grant as well. Still we won and think Brisley is a good addition.

[Frigiliana Pie 1]

For me, one encouraging aspect was a solid performance in the centre of defence by Duffy and Brisley. Their partnership will need time to improve and there will be tougher tests ahead, but hopefully we might eventually be able to say we've got the two no-nonsense central defenders we've been looking for since Edwards and Lee were together.

Grant was outstanding, Hawkridge did some good things and Yates had a promising home debut. The rest put in a decent effort. There are several areas where improvement is still needed, not least retaining possession. And of course we still need that extra striker to give us more penetration up front.

[freemuzzy]

I thought Yates had a good debut and is clearly a very promising prospect, but I don't understand why we need both him and Hewitt at home, particularly after they were reduced to 10 men. Both are excellent at pressing and breaking up play but neither is very good on the ball and we had zero craft to break them down until Grant came on.

Milsom is the only midfielder we have who is good with and without the ball and I can't for the life of me why he has suddenly gone from Player of the Season to 4th choice midfielder.

Similarly, one of Stead or Shola has to make way. The relentless, one-dimensional direct play really was painful to watch and just plays into Chesterfield's - and indeed most L2 teams - hands, where the centre backs are almost always big, strong and decent in the air.

That said, we did win and keep a clean sheet and I echo the thoughts of above about Brisley and Duffy; both very solid today. Duffy's outstanding block right at the start of the second half at 0-0 was a huge moment.

Collin - 6
Tootle - 6
Duffy - 7
Brisley - 7
Jones - 5, Dire set pieces and not the best defensively. I never thought I'd be calling for Carl Dickinson..

Hawkridge - 7
Yates - 7
Hewitt - 6
Alessandra - 5.5
Ameobi - 5
Stead - 5

Grant - 8
Forte - 7, must have been watching a different game to some above. Thought he was excellent.
Walker - 6

[tarquinbeech]

One of my lads was in the Kop.....here's his summary:

Ben Beech Good result but very lucky that they were average. The left back, Jones is very poor and uncomfortable on the ball, lots of hoofing which came to nothing and both strikers very slow - no real pace in the team. Grant definitely saved our bacon!

[slack_pie]

Collin 6 - did what was required of him
Tootle 6 - same as above
Jones 6 - ""
Duffy 6 - ""
Brisley 7 - good in the air, strong in the tackle
Hawkridge 7 - looks a good addition. Works hard and can cross it.
Yates 7 - good debut. Showed his inexperience at times but looks promising.
Allesandra 6 - quieter than Hawkridge
Stead 6 - got in a couple of good positions but couldn't finish. Looks tired.
Shola 7 - some great first touches. Excellent hold up play. Makes difficult things look easy.

Grant 8 - won the match for us with two great goals, plus as excellent through ball to put Forte through. Gives us an extra dimension.
Walker 6

[Carlton_Pie]

With 6 as a average....

Collin 6 - not a lot to do but decent save in 1st half. His kicking isn't great, regularly fails to pick out Ameobi by a good 15-20 yards.

Tootle 7 - solid in defence and good cross for the first goal

Jones 6 - doesn't look a natural defender, getting turned inside out too easily. Went on a few good runs. In a team that will need to keep clean sheets to win regularly, he may be liability

Duffy 7 - solid performance, fantastic hero bloke at 0-0 to prevent a certain goal

Brisley 7 -reminded me off Edwards in his prime, put his head on everything and a danger at set pieces too

Hawkridge 7 - Like the look of him. Never shirked a tackle and enough pace and trickery going forward.

Yates 7 - What a player this lad is gonna be and I can see why he is picked ahead of Milsom. Strong as an ox in the tackle and looks like a born winner. With a pacey striker he will provide plenty of assits

Hewitt 6- Quiet game from him but was solid and his throw ins are a threat. Harsh on Milsom to be left out for Hewitt but Hewitt fits in perfectly to Nolans way of playing. Tall, pacey, strong, covers the ground.

Allesandra 5 - never really got involved. Doesn't look a natural winner, would like to see him playing off Ameobi

Stead 4 - very poor from Jon. Had a few opportunities to get through but lacked the pace and strength to penetrate. Obvious where we need to recruit

Shola 6 - Was a nuisance as usual but never looked like scoring

Grant 9 - One player in the Notts side with quality. We can't rely on him all the time but the way Nolan sets us up suits Grant perfectly

Forte 7-looked lively playing off Ameobi

[TheProphet]

Collin - 5.5 - Not much to do, but atrocious kicking and severe reluctance to roll the ball out!

Tootle - 6.5 - Steady, no major issues.
Jones - 5.5 - Nervy early on but improved a little. Still the weak link in the back four. Get a fit Dicko in. Not a free kick taker!!!
Duffy - 6.5 - Solid game. Looks good partnering...
Brisley - 7 - Solid, what we've been missing

Hawkridge - 7.5 - Lively and wanting to be in the game as much as poss. Well played!
Allesandra - 6 - Quiet game, lost possession too often
Hewitt - 6 - Not convinced he is offering alot at all. Get Milsom back in please!
Yates - 7.5 - What we've been missing. Read the game well and put himself about a bit!
Ameobi - 6.5 - Usual game from him.
Stead - 6 - With him and Am up front we don't offer anything different and Stead looked the weaker of the pair today. Should have scored when 1 on 1

Subs:

Grant - 8 - Class as ever, needs to start every game if poss. The X factor we needed.
Forte - 6 - Not sure he is the answer tbh. We need a new marque signing striker imo.
Walker - 6 - Steady for the short time he was on.

I pretty much agree with all of this.
Whilst Collin made one good save, his distribution is poor. It is slow and when he does eventually kick he rarely finds either of the 6ft plus strikers we have on the field.

I was impressed with Yates, plenty of room for improvement but he got around the pitch well and was happy to get stuck in with some tasty tackles and distribute the ball well.

First time I've had chance to see Allesandra and I was disappointed, he was practically anonymous.