Player Ratings - Season 2017/18

[Piglet_Phoenix]

First team starts from the 37 full games I watched live this season, I'm not counting the additional 60 minutes I watched of the Grimsby game.

Average rating, then number of games and total score in brackets.

1, George – 6.5 (2/13)
2, Campbell-Ryce – 6.34 (3/19)
3, Adams – 5.73 (11/63)
4, Ellis – 5.72 (18/103)
5, Joyce – 5.6 (25/140)
6, Brown – 5.55 (22/122)
7, Nadesan – 5.44 (9/49)
8, S Miller – 5.33 (6/32)
9, Hill – 5.29 (31/164)
10, Twardek – 5.25 (4/21)
11, Parkes – 5.22 (27/141)
12, Jones – 5.21 (33/172)
13, Bennett – 5.02 (21/105.5)
14, T Miller – 4.91 (11/54)
15, Lambe – 4.61 (18/83)
16, Liddle – 4.25 (28/119)
17, Bonham – 4.2 (35/147)
18, Devitt – 4.04 (24/97)
19, Grainger – 3.89 (27/105)
20, Hope – 3.67 (21/77)
21, Cosgrove – 3.67 (3/11)
22, Etuhu – 2.6 (10/26)
23, Stockton – 2 (7/14)
24, O’Sullivan – 0 (1/0)

[Piglet_Phoenix]

Substitute appearances...

1, Adams – 6 (2/12)
2, Kennedy – 5.75 (4/23)
3, Nadesan – 5.5 (4/22)
4, Jones – 5 (3/15)
5, Joyce – 5 (2/10)
6, Liddle – 4.67 (3/14)
7, Devitt – 4.5 (8/36)
8, Parkes – 4 (2/8)
9, S Miller – 3.8 (10/38)
10, T Miller – 3.67 (3/11)
11, Etuhu – 3.5 (6/21)
12, Cosgrove – 3.5 (4/14)
13, Grainger – 3.5 (2/7)
14, Bennett – 3.44 (9/31)
15, Campbell-Ryce – 3.4 (5/17)
16, Hope – 3.22 (9/29)
17, Twardek – 3.2 (5/16)
18, O’Sullivan – 2.53 (15/38)
19, Rigg – 2.5 (2/5)
20, Lambe – 2.33 (6/14)
21, Stockton – 0.5 (2/1)

[Piglet_Phoenix]

Team of the season

GK, George

RB, Brown
LB, Parkes

CB, Ellis
CB, Hill

CM, Joyce
CM, Campbell-Ryce
AM, Adams
AM, Twardek

CF, S Miller
CF, Nadesan

The only player out of the top 11 still at the club - Tom Parkes...

[Piglet_Phoenix]

Safe to say it was a hugely disappointing season all in all.

Most of Curle's summer signings flopped - Bonham, Hope and Etuhu all achieving an unacceptably low standard of performance.

Then you have the appalling decision to replace Shaun Miller with Cole Stockton.

And also the decision to loan Ellis to Orient while keeping hold of Liddle, compounded by the decisions to leave Brown out of the team so we could find space for Liddle at right-back.

Safe to say, also, I'm not buying the hype around Devitt.

You can look at none of the top 11 players being still at the club in two ways. One way is to panic at the loss of our top performers (on paper), the other is to see this as an opportunity to replace them with better. I reckon any player scoring less than an average of 6/10 for their season should be embarrassed - and in truth I'm not sad to see any of them leave.

What is worrying, however, is the majority of players at the bottom end of the scale have been given lengthy and lucrative contracts by Curle.

We're stuck with the likes of Hope, Etuhu, Stockton, Liddle (we've offered Grainger a contract) - and yes, Devitt, for another season and for a new manager coming in to the club it will be like a millstone around their neck...

[griff]

Thanks for the work that you put into that Piglet, I won't argue with any of it. In fact, I've just had a similar conversation with Mrsgriff, pointing out that the new manager will have to bring in at least 10 new players just to start the season, but if he turns up and doesn't like the look of 5 of the current lot, he'll want to bring in 15. How will we afford that with a much reduced budget, and contract offers courtesy of Clibbens that anyone decent will scoff at? I'm currently very worried that we could be the next Stockport.

[Piglet_Phoenix]

It all depends on the managerial appointment, Griff.

A better manager should be able to get a higher level of performance from players such as Kennedy, Jones, Parkes and Devitt. Bennett was finding his feet for the second half of the season also, and with a full pre-season behind him might be useful.

Stockton literally could not be any worse, but Hope can be effective on the left wing and Etuhu was arguably finding his feet before he sustained the injury.

I also don't know about the quality of any of the younger players we've offered contracts to.

The defence is a huge concern, however. Before Hill's arrival they were looking relegation fodder last season - and we're stuck with Liddle - so it requires an almost complete rebuild. This is why it all hinges on the managerial appointment - it's a huge job and if they screw it up - due to the mess Curle has left the squad in - we'll be properly ducked.

At this moment in time I'd be more than happy safety next season - with an improvement in the home form. Reallistically, you aren't going to able to fix all of Curle's mistakes in 12 months, season 19/20 should be the aim.