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Collin - 6.5 - Deserves credit for a good save low from an Akinfenwa header. Otherwise little to do. Clearly under instruction - for some reason - to slowdown on goal kicks and with ball in hand, but it is incredibly frustrating. Didn’t even hurry when prompted by Crossley in injury time. I don’t remember him doing this late last season and early this so it’s coincided with the downturn in form.
Tootle - 6 - Strange choice as Sponsors MOTM, as was often beaten by Tyson’s raw pace. One good effort first half which forced a good save but crossing was poor.
Duffy - 8* - So frustrating. Delivers a performance like this, where he was exemplary in pretty much all aspects, then will throw in a 4/10 next week where he’ll probably give away a couple of goals. Generally did a great job on Akinfenwa.
Brisley - 7 - Fortunate to keep his place after Sunday but should stay in the side after a solid showing. Distribution was poor but that’s not what he’s in the side for.
Jones - 6 - Decent defensively and generally pinned back by CMS, so missing his usual influence going forward. Crossing was below-par when he did get in decent positions and set-pieces were poor.
Hawkridge- 7.5 - Having one of his best games of the campaign before being bafflingly subbed early on. Produced a number of good passes and crosses and his ball-in for Ameobi was one of the best of the season and deserved a goal. Linked well with Tootle and we lost out on this when he came off.
Hewitt - 6 - Standard performance; plenty of energy and work but struggled against the extra man and their experience in midfield.
Noble - 5 - Put himself about but had little impact and generally gave the ball away as quickly as he had it. Set-pieces poor. With three CM’s on the bench, was incredibly lucky to complete the 90.
Alessandra - 5.5 - Put a shift in defensively but little impact further forward and wasted a couple of good positions. Incredibly fortunate that it was Hawkridge and not him who made way for Grant. Has appeared in almost every game this season; it’s hard not to feel he’s been a disappointment.
Stead - 6 - Always gives everything and showed flashes of quality, but had no real chances. Will have made over 50 apps by the time the season ends; the simple fact is we’re expecting far too much of a man who’ll be 35 in a couple of weeks. Looked knackered in the final 15 mins.
Ameobi - 6 - Not his best game and should’ve scored with chance that hit the post, but occupied defenders and was denied two clear penalties. Like his strike partner, was knackered late-on - except he tired even earlier. Unlikely to be able to start Monday which presumably means the Alessandra/Stead partnership which has repeatedly failed.
Grant - 6 - Irrespective of the level, if you’ve got a skilful winger the first thing you have to do is give them the ball. We - again - failed to do that with Grant today. Will Monday be the game he’s finally given a run-out in his preferred central position behind the striker in a 4-4-1-1 system? Unfortunately I highly doubt it.
A few other observations:
Like many others I find Nolan’s repeated blame of officials to be extremely grating now. However, today he was right. The man in the middle decided early on this was going to be all about him and seemed to get all the big calls wrong; nine yellow cards for both teams is ludicrous and both of the fouls on Ameobi warranted penalties. The problem is Nolan’s made a rod for his own back by criticising officials when they’ve not been to blame; eg vs Mansfield, so fans are frustrated with talk of referees even when it’s warranted.
Nolan is also spiting himself with his lack of use of Jonathan Forte, who has won us points from the bench on several occasions earlier in the season - inc in the reverse game against Wycombe. To name a bench without a single recognised striker (I refuse to count Smith) was ludicrous and hurt us late-on when both Stead and Ameobi were both exhausted, hardly unsurprisingly. If he is adamant that Forte won’t play, why not use Saunders?!
Even with the limited bench, it was still disappointing not to see Husin or Walker on to replace Noble. If Walker’s not going to get a run-out when he’s on a massive high after his international success and when Noble’s having a poor game, he’s got no hope. A reminder also that last season’s POTS is another not even making the squad. It’ll be interesting to see if O’Connor comes in now he’s fit again; like Husin and to an extent Noble, I think he could struggle just watching the ball go over his head for 90 mins.
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Cracking post.....Collin wasting time is baffling, no strikers on the bench even though Forte scored v Wycombe earlier in the season, is plain weird....Hawk being subbed was silly when our aging twosome were struggling for oxygen....Nolo has decided to play Stead~Shola every game, for 90 minutes barring one of them having a heart attack and yet we keep dropping points....stubborn, and it is costing us......Duffers had a great game v The Beast
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Knowing Forte he was/is probably injured.
(ignoring the fact that I think he's sh*te anyway)
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ps....Post~match, Nolo launched straight into the officials.....he is clearly not listening, and starting to get a bad reputationOriginally Posted by tarquinbeech
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Yes, according to Nolo, because he does the housework after insistence from his wife!......for a manager that likes to applaud his players, he really knows how to kick Forte in the guts
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Not sure if you read that and misunderstood the context or actually watched him say it on MagpiePlayer as he was clearly taking the p*ss when he said it and literally said something along the lines of "we like to have a joke with Forts".
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In fairness to Nolan, kicking Forte in the guts would present an incredibly small target.
Can I put 'QED' after this without looking pretentious?
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I think you can only use QED after a statement that you have proved to be true ie "snobbers is a complete tool...qed" or "anyone booking a Caribbean holiday in September is a fool...qed"
You merely having an opinion about whether Forte has guts or not, is not really proof of anything....except of course that even monkeys can be trained to use a keyboard and post gibberish....qed
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He couldn't make it today his Mrs sent a note in to say he had to do the housework as they were having family over for Easter.
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Maybe not, but I bet Nolan would agree with my opinion more than yours.
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