Moore 4/10 – Harsh mark it maybe but he looked edgy all game. The penalty he got a hand to but in overall play he did not command and seemed rooted to his line. He nearly let one threw his hands 2nd half that could have made it 2-0. Took an age to kick it out too. Noticeable we would not kick it back to him in the same way we do with Henderson who gives us that option of playing it at him even at pace sometimes. Realised how good our current number one is when you see the hesitant Moore but cannot have been helped with the mess in front of him.
Freeman 4/10 – He actually put two excellent crosses in that led to half chances other wise his mark may be lower. Outside of this he was languid, slow and lazy. He looked disinterested and 2nd to the ball a lot. He was sloppy with the ball and got skinned quite a few times too. On that performance Baldock will remain with the shirt for a long time yet. Looked like he could not be arsed most of the game and his attitude summed up the day.
Bryan 3/10 – Shocking performance. I was looking forward to seeing him and what he could do. He looked like he had never played football in his life never mind not having played for us before! I am being serious! His passing, control and awareness were shocking bad. Some are saying the experienced pros could have helped him but he could not even do the basics. Mistimed headers, wild slices, passes out of play and losing the physical battle too. Technically he looked really poor and just wanted rid of it after a woeful opening. Did win us one free kick with a bumbling run. 2nd half he improved a bit – he could not get much worse. One of the poorer debuts I have ever seen at the Lane and looks miles off even being a league footballer let alone Championship ready.
Johnson 3.5/10 – The left side was awful today. We had no play of note down there at all with poor touches, the ball bouncing away and when they attacked, we looked all over the place. He is a player I want to do well but I would worry if Stevens got an injury/suspended now Lafferty has been allowed to move on – as I would be more comfortable with the Posh loan man playing. His touch is really poor and often leads to a tackle and another who took an age to get it out of his feet and move it and needs so many touches to even execute a cross. He looks bereft of confidence but I wanted him at least to try and run his man or use his pace but he did not even do that.
Stearman 3/10 – A lot have been saying he has been unfortunate not to play more and he may have been rusty but he was awful today. Slow and sloppy to react to the long ball; he was terrible twice letting his man get away even before the clumsy penalty which he was lucky to stay on the field. After this he never recovered. The ball kept getting stuck under his foot and the front lad for them ran him ragged all day. One to forget. He is normally quite steady but seen as one of the experienced pros today you would have expected much more. He was all over the place today.
Cranie 4.5/10 – Maybe our best defender and that is saying something. He did not quite make as many errors as the rest! He too was panicky on the ball and slow to deal with danger. Gave away some daft free kicks and was slow to sense danger. He took too long to move it on when he had it.
Coutts 4/10 – Really disappointing. On and off the ball he was slow. Looks so far off the pace it is untrue. He took forever to even execute a slow backwards or square pass. Cannot recall any moments of real quality and he did not carry the ball all game and just seemed to want to play it nice and simple. He got booked for being late on his man and a few other times got outmuscled also. He looks a long way from being ready but did not help everyone else was so bad. Not sure we can afford to carry him though and the odd 10-15-minute cameo when we are leading and need to keep the ball as about the best, we may get this season. He is nowhere near ready being a regular for a top end Championship side. Maybe he will be after a summer of work but he has a way to go. He seems no closer now than he was when he came into the team back in October and that is a concern.
Lundstram 4/10 – Sort of game you would think he may boss. He may get on the ball and dictate but he played it safe with no urgency. Did not pass it forwards much at all and the two midfield lads showed no drive or urgency all game. It was all slow and backwards/sideways and just allowed them to get men back. He lacks any kind of pace or running ability and his main play seems to be just to get it and pass it 5 yards to the side. Not sure he will ever be more than a League One player sadly and like with Lafferty, Lavery, Carruthers etc, we may have moved on from this sort of player. How poor were Coutts and Lundstram – I would be looking at some insurance in midfield for Duffy and Norwood in the form of a signing. That may seem a snap reaction but they were so slow and off the pace. I felt the midfield offered the defence no protection and created nothing at all today.
Dowell 5.5/10 – He was maybe our best player and he hardly convinced. A few neat flicks and wafts but not much came off. He at least tried to get on the ball and move it on a few times. Was supposed to be playing in the Duffy role but ended up wider and did not give us an outlet we needed. He took too much time to move things on and allowed them to get back. Need to see more of him as at least he showed one or two neat touches.
Clarke 3.5/10 – Not given anything really in terms of balls to his feet or even many crosses of note but laughable lack of effort really despite this. He barely got his shirt dirty. Did not pull his man about, did not move off the ball, was behind his man and looked disinterested completely. The service was poor but even when a few decent ones came in 2nd half he was behind his man or on his heels. His touch was awful as it just kept bouncing off him. When he had it he has no awareness of where the other players are and goes the wrong way or plays a heavy pass. He has had a really poor season and I do believe if anyone did come in for him (rumours of Swansea the other day) we would move him on. He had that spell last year and ironically could have got 4 or 5 million pounds for him if Villa’s interest was to be believed. That seems a long time ago. He has to do much better than that.
Washington 4/10 – Like Clarke not sure he moved about enough or was much of a nuisance factor. I will say the ball came in too slow and we did not given him much service. He at least showed two moments; one run off the ball first half that he nearly got in and then a flick and run 2nd half. Outside of this he was poor and not sure he showed that much more than Clarke really.
Subs –
Duffy – At least tried to get on the ball but he was often crowded out and not sure we created too much from him but by this stage we were getting very desperate. I did expect more from him but even he ran into blind alleys.
Sharp -As above. He had one half chance where he miskicked wide and one other low shot but the slow pattern of play and the lack of urgency meant it was hard for him to come in and immediately alter things.
Basham – Came on and gave it away twice and miskicked in the corner. Then overplayed one at the other end. Fitted right in!
Wilder 4/10 – His team selection I agreed with but they were awful. Individually and collectively. He can’t be blamed totally for that but the lack of appetite and readiness for the game; the coaching staff have to take some responsibility too. He made changes (I would have left the eleven out there and let them suffer to be honest and try and turn it round themselves – they got us in the mess) but did not really alter anything. He has less games now but more worrying realises what a poor and weak squad we have and if we have any injuries/loss of form; we literally have nothing underneath the starting eleven at all. Not one player really made a case for even being given a longer opportunity off the bench let alone starting.
Referee – Fine. Got the penalty right and the two yellows were correct. He had a big ball when a poor tackle from them could have been a red but I think he got it right. They did timewaste but he played 5 minutes and to be honest he should have blown up a lot earlier and put us out of our misery!
Crowd – Nearly 10,000. Over 9,000 will want to forget that game very quickly. Most have never seen United lose to a non-league team. They have now! I was too young to be at Altrincham with the other 10,000 Blades that seem to have gone there when we lost in the early 80’s! Barnet’s fans were excellent. They sang from start to finish and got behind the team really well. They must have had a great day and deserved the win. Our fans were quite reserved and the smattering of boos at half and full time could have been a long louder and longer but Wilder had rightly got himself a lot of credit.