Match ratings v Gillingham (home)

[freemuzzy]

The worst home display of the season tonight, a deserved defeat. Gills very solid and well organised defensively throughout which when you gift them goals as well means it’s always going to be an uphill battle.

Probably not quite as bad as some reviews would suggest and it is still only our 3rd league defeat at ML this season, but hard to defend it and very few individual highlights.

Stone - 5 - Doesn’t convince as a #1 keeper. That said didn’t think he could do anything about the first two goals, the third was possibly the recurring issue of him not commanding the area but was definitely not solely down to him. And he made a couple of decent saves. But the fans’ mind is made-up on him, even the Family Stand were going for him tonight.

Warner - 5 - Ok, I guess, but all the hype from people who’d seen a couple of clips of him in Norwich under 21 games and demanding he go straight into our team looks a bit ridiculous now. Still enough there to work with but didn’t dominate defensively nor look overly comfortable coming forward on the ball.

Baldwin - 7* - Probably the one player we had who can say he did himself justice for the full 90 mins.

Cameron - 5 - Runs down the left were good, defending wasn’t. Burchnall has really caused us a headache by needlessly making him captain on arrival. If Chicksen was fit I’d be tempted to take him out the side, particularly if we’re moving to a back four, but a tricky one for a new, unproven manager to instantly drop the club captain.

Nemane - 5 - Don’t usually join in the criticisms of him but can’t recall a positive contribution today. Wasn’t tested as an orthodox RB for the last 20 but place in the side will surely go if we play the back four again. If Tobi/Randall are fit and not even making the bench currently, we/they have a problem.

Robertson - 6.5 - Thought he was pretty good, brave on the ball and worked hard off it. Still young so definitely high potential there, to be shining when the team is struggling is promising.

Bostock - 5 - Really been off it these past couple of months, a shadow of the player who started the season. Merited coming off, would be tempted to ‘rest’ him at Newport.

Jones - 6 - Effectively man marked for the first 30 but still got an assist and most of the chances we got came from him. Spent most of the match on the right again, where he switched off defensively for their 2nd goal. May be worth affording him the protection of a full back behind him as he really doesn’t have the defensive instincts to play wing back.

Crowley - 6 - Probably best player first half and another excellent goal, but faded and is another part of the collective problem as he offers next to nothing defensively.

McGoldrick - 5 - Can’t really remember a major contribution. Always works for the team but was clearly frustrated and didn’t really test them defensively.

Langstaff - 5 - Isn’t his job to be ‘in the game’ regularly but that said has looked massively off it the past few weeks, couple of half chances today he buries when he’s at his peak but their keeper barely needed to work to save them.

Austin - 5 - Work rate and endeavour but not a lot else unfortunately.

O’Brien - 5 - Same as Austin, but Robertson/Bostock is a bit samey in midfield so I wonder whether it’s worth starting him at Newport to offer something different.

[SouthLondonPie]

Absolute reactionary nonsense. Not every signing has been a good one (when has that ever been the case?) but even if we’re going to discount Langstaff (£50,000, arguably pound for pound one of the best signings in our recent history), Scott, Rodrigues etc and only focus on the ‘bad’ from this season - that still includes the signings of Crowley, McGoldrick and Jones, as well as Bostock 6 months prior. 1/10! Suspect Robertson will prove to be an excellent long term addition too and not many were knocking his door down when he couldn’t get a game at Fleetwood.

Why are you talking about Langstaff? I literally said for this season.

The fact that you’re using Didzy and Crowley as reasons for giving Montague credit.. wow. Yes, they’re good signings. What about the goalkeepers (plural)? What about the non-existent defence? What about the lack of another option with Palmer? What about Randall? What about Gosling? What about signing a player from Crewe’s bench who, whilst he could be good, isn’t anywhere near fitness? What about signing a striker who can’t even get to the country for weeks whilst we’re in the most crucial period of the season.

‘Absolute reactionary nonsense’ is a bit pathetic - you won’t be surprised to find Im not the only one very unimpressed with the recruitment this season.

[freemuzzy]

Why are you talking about Langstaff? I literally said for this season.

The fact that you’re using Didzy and Crowley as reasons for giving Montague credit.. wow. Yes, they’re good signings. What about the goalkeepers (plural)? What about the non-existent defence? What about the lack of another option with Palmer? What about Randall? What about Gosling? What about signing a player from Crewe’s bench who, whilst he could be good, isn’t anywhere near fitness? What about signing a striker who can’t even get to the country for weeks whilst we’re in the most crucial period of the season.

‘Absolute reactionary nonsense’ is a bit pathetic - you won’t be surprised to find Im not the only one very unimpressed with the recruitment this season.

I’m not overly impressed either - recruitment is always a risk and you’ll struggle to find any club where it’s perfect. The keeper situation is a mess, I actually think we’d have been better starting with Slocombe and Brooks again than to take the approach we have. Gosling was a low risk, necessary short term signing that didn’t pay off but we lost very little - who else was going to come in outside the window. Randall has been very disappointing. Way too early to tell with anyone signed in January.

My point is that it’s not 1/10 - that would signal that we’ve made no good signings, which clearly isn’t the case when we’ve spent pretty much the entire season in a higher position (7th or above) than our budget (10th) for the league. We’re not Wrexham where we’re exclusively signing proven players above this league.

If McGoldrick, Crowley and Jones are good signings, why does that not take the HoR to better than a 1/10? Why does he get all of the blame for the bad ones but none of the credit for the good?

[nw6pie]

Why are you talking about Langstaff? I literally said for this season.

The fact that you’re using Didzy and Crowley as reasons for giving Montague credit.. wow. Yes, they’re good signings. What about the goalkeepers (plural)? What about the non-existent defence? What about the lack of another option with Palmer? What about Randall? What about Gosling? What about signing a player from Crewe’s bench who, whilst he could be good, isn’t anywhere near fitness? What about signing a striker who can’t even get to the country for weeks whilst we’re in the most crucial period of the season.

‘Absolute reactionary nonsense’ is a bit pathetic - you won’t be surprised to find Im not the only one very unimpressed with the recruitment this season.

I’d forgotten all about the Crewe midfielder- why do we keep signing players who can’t make an immediate impact?

Tonight is as bad a performance as I can remember at home in quite a while - it’s not like Gillingham were any good, we just are a very easy team to play against if you’re physical, hard working and well organized.

For the first 10 minutes we looked back to our old selves, but afterward it was a bit of a horror show.

Stone - 4 - hasn’t inspired confidence all season, and the third goal tonight was a perfect example of him not dominating his six-yard box. There’s been a trend in recent years for outfield players to transition to goalkeepers quite late on as youngsters, and Stone’s another one of them. Oddly, though, he doesn’t even inspire with the ball at his feet. Time to give the loanee a try - otherwise what was the poin5 of signin* him?

Nemane - 4 - I was delighted when Aaron signed a new deal in the summer, but he’s been found out at this level. Not brave enough on the ball and his decision-making is nonexistent. To be fair, he’s often given the ball with his back to goal and is being asked to do things beyond his skill set. Needs a spell on the bench.

Jones - 6 - Our main threat, but completely wasted on the right. Keep him on the left, but we need to stop asking him to be a defender.

Warner - 4.5 - I’m sure he’ll go on to be a good player at a decent level, but he’s got very little experience of first-team football and it shows. I wonder if he’ll be more comfortable in a back four.

Baldwin - 6 - The pick of our defence, which isn’t saying much as we were a shambles defending corners and free kicks - the basics at this level, in other words.

Cameron - 4.5 - Had plenty of the ball, but didn’t do much with it. Feels like another non-league defender, struggling at this level.

Bostock 5 - Started well, but soon faded. When was the last time he assisted for a goal or created a chance/played a defence-splitting pass? Lacks the energy we need, but the booking was a joke from a joke referee.

Robertson - 6 - Scrapped well and at least he had a shot. Needs to improve his fitness levels so he can compete for 90 minutes, but at least he’s prepared to do the ugly stuff (unlike several of his teammates).

Crowley - 5.5 - Took his goal brilliantly, but disappeared after a bright start. One of those who doesn’t like to do the ugly stuff.

McGoldrick - 5 - No one can fault the guy’s commitment, but age seems to have caught up with Didzy. He’s dropping ridiculously deep to get the ball, but rarely doing anything with it. Where earlier in the season he was able to get away from players with a lovely nutmeg or turn, that’s not been the case in recent months. You’d also expect someone of his quality to bury that header in the second half. Another one who needs a spell on the bench.

Langstaff - 5 - not been at the races in recent weeks. Rarely involved and his link-up play hasn’t been good. Worse, he’s snatching at chances when he does get them - he should have buried that one in the second half, but it barely reached the keeper. We’re going to need a bigger bench.

Subs: Austin - 4 (but should be playing on the right) JOB - Not on long enough, but his most glaring contribution was to head the ball away from their goal when in a decent position.

Maynard - 4 - needs to start showing us why the Bros felt he was the right man for the job. Right now he seems to be stuck in the shadow of LW. The team was on the slide before he arrived, but 1 point out of 9 and (by my reckoning) 6 shots on target over those three games is a worrying start. He needs time, but I’d like to see him be his own man and change things up to reverse this current slump.

[the_anticlough]

Stone 4
Warner 4
Baldwin 5
Cameron 5
Nemane 4
Jones 7 MoM
Bostock 6
Robertson 6
Crowley 7
McGoldrick 4
Langstaff 4

Austin 4
JoB NA

[PedroTheFisherman66]

I think Stone might be Ok if he stopped wearing Lead Boots !!

[slack_pie]

Can't be arsed with ratings as it's already been covered here, but just a few thoughts:

Stone simply isn't good enough. It's harsh to say it, but it's true. He inspires zero confidence. Some keepers get the basics right but aren't amazing shot-stoppers, like Adam Collin. Others are great shot-stoppers but a bit erratic in other areas. Stone is a poor shot-stopper but also can't do the very basics, like command his area, communicate, and come for crosses.

Bostock looks pretty done and needs a rest.

Robertson looked good. Like a more on-it version of Bostock. I still think we need something a bit different alongside him - someone with a bit more energy and bite - in Palmer's absence.

Warner wasn't awful but wasn't great. He clearly isn't going to solve our defensive issues, which seem to run much deeper. If that's the case, why don't we play Macari and give him the experience he needs to improve? From what I've seen of him, Macari looks a decent defender.

Langstaff looked totally isolated last night, which isn't a good sign in a home match. We need to find a way to get him more involved - and to turn our ultimately pointless possession into chances.

We barely tested their keeper last night, and it was so easy for Gills to just keep their shape and let us run the clock down for them. They, on the other hand, defended excellently, and I thought that Ogie was fantastic. I would have loved us t sign a defender like that. And Hawkins up front just bullied our defence with ease.

At this point, it looks like we're relying on a Gambian bloke to rescue our season and provide something a bit different. And given the wait, he'd better be good and not another Morias or that January transfer window is looking rather poor.

[ThaiPie]

Stone - 4.5 - "Slow-motion" Stone

Warner- 5.5 Needs an organiser next to him, as does the rest of the team.

Baldwin- 6 Good performance, but opposition managers tell their team "loop the ball onto the penalty spot" causes mayhem.

Cameron - 5, Has found his level. Will be good with physical players around him.

Nemane - 6 . I see a good player and I think the fact he rarely gets subbed, and all managers pick him, shows he is one of our better players (feel free to disagree )

Jones - 7 Mr provider.

Robertson- 6.5 Getting better and starting to fulfill the MP role.

Bostock - 5.5 looking less mobile to me, but passing great.

Crowley - 6 Good goal and a threat.

Mcgoldrick-5 Needs resting, I hope some of the new signings can fill this role.

Langstaff - 4 When we play so predictably, it makes his job so difficult

Maynard - 6 . The team started well, but the players seemed to lose it defensively.

ThaiPie - 10 I managed to stay awake until 5.00AM watching the entertainment.

[LaxtonLad]

Stone - 4- Doesn't command his area. scared of coming for crosses. Not good enough

Warner- 4.5 made some good runs beyond nemane first half but was ignored. Found wanting marking the back post for first 2 goals

Baldwin- 6 Tried to drive us forward and defended pretty well but was outmuscled by the no12

Cameron -2 Rubbish

Nemane-4 Offered very little all game

Jones -6 Looked our most likely danger but playing on the right doesn't bring out his best

Robertson- 6 Played ok

Bostock - 5.5 Did ok

Crowley - 6 huffed and puffed. Great finish for the goal

Mcgoldrick-5 was in and out the game. Didn't affect the game in any way

Langstaff-4 missed a great chance near the end. Didn't get into the game at all

Subs
Austin-5 Unfortunately not going to do anything to change the game

O'brien not on long enough

Maynard-4 Didn't have an answer to Gillingham organization. Changed to 4-3-3 but was puzzling where he had players playing. Nemane right back , jones out on the right just doesn't work
Our possession for the first 10 minutes was brilliant, really intense and positive taking risks with some nice balls through the lines. Then Gillingham worked us out and changed shape and that was end of story. We had no answer and i'm afraid it's going to be a downhill slide unless our players get some fight inside them and battle instead of being bullied

We never do have an answer to when the enemy has us worked us out. Although during play it's the captains job to see what's happening when we start stuttering, it's the manager whose responsible if there is no "Plan B" to fall back on. We never had nor needed a back-up plan last year because of the standard of the other teams we played but that has started to show up this year.

I wonder if LW would have had a "Plan B" and if he was about to unleash it? I wonder too if he has a plan for Swansea - or is he a one-trick pony?

[OP67]

I think Stone might be Ok if he stopped wearing Lead Boots !!

I bet Port Vale couldn't believe it when we came in for him, their fans couldn't either. He must have one hell of an interview technique