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A tad unfortunate overall today I felt, a good collective effort but the first goal was always going to be decisive and we just lacked that quality/final ball and ultimately lost to a better team.
Schofield - 6 - Brilliant save at 0-1 when the striker had already sat him down. Gave the defenders kittens by staying rooted to his line again, and there’s an argument he should’ve come for the corner which created the opener.
Tootle - 6.5 - Decent game, much improved on the last two. Never gave up and got forward at every opportunity.
Stubbs - 7* - Very good, strong in the air and a presence in both boxes. Clearly has potential to play higher and have a good career. The sort of loanee we should be looking to bring-in, rather than the ****e filler of youth products that’ll never make it at their parent clubs. Which brings me to...
Barclay - 4.5 - Anyone hammering Duffy should watch Barclay closely today. All aspects were lacking. What the hell was he doing for the second goal? Must’ve had a pass completion rate of 0% for the first half as he repeatedly booted it out of play unchallenged. Gets an extra point for his late consolation.
Milsom - 6 - Another solid game until he lost the plot late-on, wildly lashing the ball out of play when in a great position at 0-1. Delivery was badly lacking from there-on.
Rose - 7 - Broke up play, decent distribution, got about the pitch. If true he had a chest infection (apparently the reason he was taken off, despite being by far the best of the 3 CMS), it makes the performance even more impressive. Comfortably the best of the Jan signings.
Doyle - 6 - Decent first half with a few strong challenges. Faded a bit in the second. Assume it’s in his contract he plays 90 mins as has never come off (let alone been dropped), even though circumstances have dictated it. Seems to have lost a lot of the fighting qualities which made him so horrible to play against. Has a ‘last pay day’ feel to him. Usual non descript set-pieces; seems to have realised he can’t deliver a decent ball as the vast majority went short.
Mackail-Smith - 7 - Good shift. Was our biggest threat first half and never shirked defensive duties. Repeatedly did well to get himself into good positions but the final ball was lacking; often too near the keeper when he could’ve cut it back.
O’Brien - 5.5 - Is a good player but definitely not a #10. Why not pair him with Rose and play a genuine attacking midfielder there? Usual effort but no real impact; couple of decent passes and long rangers over the bar but clearly out of position.
Boldewijn - 5 - New scapegoat but not doing himself many favours. Looked to be lacking confidence so took the easy option to pass back rather than try to take the full back on. Our one player with genuine pace/threat but you wouldn’t know it currently.
Hemmings - 6 - Linked play well and gave the CBS more of a game than when Stead is in the equivalent role, but very isolated and faded in the second half when more support had arrived.
Stead - 6 - Always looks better coming from the bench. Came closest of anyone with a header he did well to get to.
Gomis - 6 - Couple of decent runs from the left wing. No real chance to have an impact.
Ardley - Really like him until he has to pick a team, then it becomes very hard to defend him. He has made a total mess of things. He got the right system today but crowbarring O’Brien into an attacking midfield role wasn’t the answer. Doyle clearly carries too much influence, you could see that from his post-match interview, and has done nothing to warrant the indulgence afforded to him. Bird and Brisley are better than Barclay. Why not blood Patching, Osborne etc - even as late subs? Again, there was no clear gameplan or style of play. There’s a long list of people responsible for this season - the owner being at the top - but, having taken over with us 22nd in November and been allowed to bring in 8 of his own players, Ardley has to take huge responsibility.
Last edited by freemuzzy; 19-04-2019 at 08:37 PM.
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A bit harsh perhaps, but I said before the game that Pierce Bird deserved a chance on merit, based on his performances when called in previously, and I still would have liked to see him picked ahead of Barclay. We need to be a bit more committed to developing our own young players rather someone else's.Originally Posted by freemuzzy
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For me Ardley is almost totally responsible. was 22nd when he came in and he has had the benefit of the transfer window
Any half decent manager would of steered us away from danger. Somebody posted his average points per a game is only worse by one manager fullarton. Ardley will go down as notts worst ever manager if relegated
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Not harsh at all, Barclay was sh1te. As for Schofield well, all I can assume is Fitz has bitten him.
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Notts county got it bad you don,t know how bad they got it ( National League)
Nolan got it easy and you do not know when you got it good ( last season )
would it be good to be in your shoes if only it was for just for one day. would it be good to be on your side the grass is greener over there, would it not be good for us to live without a care ,,
.
Last edited by SwalePie; 20-04-2019 at 10:27 AM. Reason: Corrected quote code for clarity
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Couldn't fault the players for effort yesterday, but it was clear that Franchise were the better team and we were living off scraps. When they attacked, they got four or five players in the box; when we attacked we were lucky to have two in there, so it was always going to be more difficult to score.
MOM for me was Rose, especially given his chest infection. Just hope this doesn't mean he's not going to be available against Crawley, because him and Stubbs are the first names on the team sheet for me.
Hemmings put a decent shift in, even though he was often isolated and is clearly struggling with a knee injury. Can't fault CMS for effort, either, but for such an experienced player his decision-making is lousy. If he'd been more decisive when he went through toward the end, we may have equalised instead of conceding the killer second goal 30 seconds later, for example.
At least he was involved, though, unlike Enzio, who looked completely bereft of energy and confidence. Was very disappointed to see him in the starting XI, because he should be on the bench after recent performances (pretty much since FGR, to be honest). The question now is whether to bench him against Crawley, or play him and hope the "returning ex-player" syndrome works in our favour.
What's amazing is that we've only taken 1 point out of 9 and still have a chance of saving ourselves. Can't see us getting anything at Swindon, so we've got to get 6 points in the next two games and hope Macclesfield and Yeovil continue losing. And If we do somehow stay up, this will have to be termed the "crappiest escape" - because there's been nothing great about our efforts pretty much all season.
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In the main OP ratings there or there abouts.
Effort there. But, big gulf in collective quality. This is partially down to lack of confidence. Enzio being a prime example. He’s still picked because there is belief he will come good and can change a game with a moment of quality, which he is capable of.
The formation, with O’Brien pushed forward, was selected to try to prevent MK playing out from the back. However, we didn’t push on as a unit.
Odds not in our favour, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we pull it off.
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[QUOTE=Davy500;39199787]Steady on Davy.
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Every team we play is the better side
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"Every team we play is the better side"
Exactly - but lots of people on this MB just don't (or refuse to) get it.
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