Player Ratings - Coventry at home

[Piglet_Phoenix]

Back to the same old garbage from the players and manager today then, predictably. Coventry weren’t anything special, but they were solid, did the simple things well and thoroughly deserved their win. We were far too predictable, the tactic of smashing the ball towards the penalty area as quickly as possible all game wasn’t working, yet we persisted with it – all afternoon. Once again Parkes was sleeping after half-time and his failure to come up to the pace of the game as quickly as the rest of the players cost us a goal – for the second match running. We can’t sustain this liability – he needs to go away and become fitter – when his fitness improves so will his concentration levels. Anyway, our performance levels across the board were nowhere near good enough, did we seriously test the Coventry keeper all second half? Frantic, long-ball, nonsense – our tactical approach sucked we were far too easy to defend against and deserved nothing from the afternoon – we should try and play actual football.

Bonham – 7 – Hopelessly exposed for the goal, no fault of his own. Some of distribution was still shocking but in terms of saves probably his best performance in a blue shirt. It wasn’t a good penalty, however it was excellent goalkeeping to get down smartly, get his body behind the ball and direct the rebound to safety.

Brown – 6 – Worked his wing very well, but still looks better as a genuine full-back in a regular back four. Not as influential in a five as he’s stil struggling to decide when to overlap and when to defend.

Grainger – 2 – An insult to the shirt. His use of the football was criminal (bar delivery from two decent corners in the first half) defensively he was completely AWOL and his booking was one of the most inept and ridiculous things I’ve ever witnessed in professional football.

Liddle – 5 – Too much of the old Liddle. Gets himself in reasonable defensive positions but then his pea size brain makes it pointless him even being on the pitch. Having Liddle in your defence is like trying to drink coffee out of a sieve.

Hill – 6 – Reasonable performance from Mr Average with some half decent defending. No influence on the idiots around him today but still our best central defender on the afternoon.

Parkes - 3 - Reasonably solid first half but his effort for the goal was lamentable and ultimately cost us (at least) two points. As a professional defender you have to on it for 90+ minutes you can't switch off at half time every match.

Jones – 7* - Some might say he didn’t deserve to be on the losing side, however in football you always get what you deserve. Another performance which wouldn’t have looked out of place in the division above, some excellent touches, passing and some fantastic defensive play. It’s a shame those around him in midfield were so weak today.

Devitt – 3 – Flattered to deceive. Looked like a winger masquerading as a midfielder again – far too lightweight to play centrally and needs to be less ambitious and more considered with his passing playing this role. He needs to be on the ball in the final third where he can actually be dangerous - not in his own half or on the halfway line. Learning how to tackle might also help.

Lambe – 3 – Lightweight and by sixty minutes – exhausted. Our fitness training needs to be seriously considered as too many of our players are behind the pace of the opposition too frequently. It’s the same problem as Devitt. When you play Lambe centrally he’s not influential as he’s too easily brushed off the ball. They’re wingers – play them wide.

Bennett – 3 – Won a few things in the air but needs to raise his game considerably. Had perhaps our best opportunity of the afternoon with a shot on the turn following a Grainger corner in the first half – but with better technique he could (and should) have found the corner of the net. He needs to improve his game with his back to goal – we don’t have the players with the ability to find his feet when he’s facing forward.

Hope – 2 – Playing against actual defenders means Hope is a waste of a shirt. The Coventry defence had Hope’s number right from the get go and he had minimal influence. Girlfriend? More like a punctured blow-up doll. He’d be a great player for a Conference level side, but tier four is looking too much for him.

Subs

O’Sullivan – 1 – We got worse when O’Sullivan came on, but when a player plays this badly what can you do? Do we really have no other creative options on the bench – how can Nabi possibly be any worse?

Miller – 1 – Huffed and puffed, but his all round game doesn’t warrant a start – and when Hallam Hope deserves the shirt more than you do, you should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.

Etuhu – 2 – I wish he’d properly punched the Coventry centre-forward, then I’d have a tiny bit of respect for him. Should’ve added some bite and steel to the midfield but managed to look more paperweight than a shagged out Reggie Lambe.

[griff]

Bennett stunk the place up today but there again so did O'Sullivan when he came on. I'm now certain that those two are far from being EFL2 standard. I'll never know why Etuhu was brought on because he brought nothing to the game. We played the possession game in the first half and were well in it at half time. What happened after that was that we kept on making mistakes; passing, shooting, running - and we weren't as good as them at falling over. Bad day at the office.

[sandpit]

Whether you agree with the ratings or not,i must say it is one of the most comprehensive out there,plenty of detail,gud eh.

[griff]

Agreed.