Match Ratings v Colchester

[the_anticlough]

Bass 7 - Strong game
Johnson 6 - Some might want to mark him lower, but I thought he recovered well from the mistakes
Platt 7 - Typically solid
McDonald 5 - Big drop off from the Vale game
Gordon 7 - No big argument with his sponsors MoM, he really is an excellent crosser of the ball
Abbott 8 - the real MoM
Palmer 6 - Fine, but should be striving to have more influence
Tsaroulla 5 - As poor as Gordon was good
Edwards 5 - Offers us so little
Grant 7 - Delighted for him, hopefully he can use the goal as a springboard
Jatta 5 - Too quiet
Subs
Whitaker 6 - Mixed bag
Traore 7 - Some good moments
Jarvis 7 - Looks good on the ball
Cundy 6 - Pulled it togther after his shaky start

[SmiffyPie]

Bass had nothing to do apart from tidy up some crap from the players in front of him!
Johnson was diabolical.
Platt not his best.
McDonald average.
Gordon some good crosses.
Abbott worked hard for little reward.
Palmer average.
Tsaroulla average.
Edwards weak.
Grant slow.
Jatta no service (again).
Subs: Not enough time in a stagnant game.

[LeftPeg_Pie]

Bass - 8 - Minus the odd long ball, he did everything brilliantly. Especially with the ball at his feet in the first half.

Johnson - 6 - Improved a lot throughout the game. Game for it throughout.

Platt - 6.5 - Defensively sound. Sloppy with the ball in the first half.

McDonald - 5.5 - Shaky. Not his usual assured self.

Gordon - 6.5 - Great cross for the goal. Wish he would back himself. Lots of ability. Lots of pace.

Palmer - 6.5 - Typical MP display. Needed someone in beside him to help us beat the press.

Abbott - 7.5 - Lots of George Abbott endeavour and energy. Infectious.

Tsaroulla - 6 - Got doubled up on quite often. Similar to Gordon; get the ball and go.

Edwards - 5 - I like him, but he isnt suited to playing that high. Would be better as a pivot.

Jatta - 6 - Starved of service. All round play, when it got near him, was good.

Grant - 6.5 - Found good spaces and looked lively.

Whittaker - Outmuscled far too often. The odd nice touch.

Jarvis - Looks tidy. Again, needs to get it and go at his defender.

Traore - Some nice touches but we never adapted to him coming on.

Cundy - Great booking. Improved after and was tidy on the ball.

[irish_pie]

Bass... 7..Decent saves first half when under pressure
McDonald...5... Some suicidal passing
Platt.... 6... best of the back line as usual, calm head when we were under pressure
Johnson...4.. Pretty bad, sloppy passing and almost cost us a few times first half, OG start of the second, did improve but couldn't of gotten worse
Tsaroulla... 4.. probably get murdered for this but thought he was pants, he can not cross the ball and defending is pure alien to him
Palmer...6..steady from Palmer, few sloppy balls but most of tje good stuff went through him
Abbott... 7.5.. my motm, amazing effort first half and kept going when other around him were wilting
Edwards...4... Sorry but if this is him back to full fitness we are in bother... games just simply pass him by
Gordon....5.5... Good cross for the goal, gave it a go but didn't do anything much in the second half
Grant... 6... got his goal, played well first half, faded second as usual
Jatta... 6... Constantly pulled around and fouled, little or no service but should of done better with his chance in the first half
Subs
Whittaker...5... Tired but didn't do a lot
Jarvis...6.. Gave it a go but was kicked and shoved off the ball constantly
Traore... 6.. gave us more options up top and put in a decent shift without threatening their goal
Cundy..5... Looks an accident waiting to happen, Yellow Card with his first touch, possibly have to pick him on Saturday now because of the mounting Injuries

That was not good... no answer to their press... toothless up front... we need to do something drastic to change our fortunes in Saturday

[Elite_Pie]

I'm amazed George Abbott didn't get MOM, he was head and shoulders above any other Notts player.

[maddogslater]

We have a new mat Gill 🦀 in Edwards

[BCnotts18]

Bass - 7.5 - The only thing between Notts and an absolutely pasting.

Johnson - 4 - Poor. Constantly beaten by their winger, gave the ball away constantly and looked away with the fairies at times.

Platt - 6 - As with all the back 3, his distribution from the back was terrible, but he was the best of a bad bunch.

McDonald - 5.5 - Similar to Platt but slightly worse. Hopefully his injury isn't too serious though as we have absolutely nothing behind the first 11 right now.

Tsaroulla - 6 - Looked to get forward but had no end product at all.

Gordon - 6 - Got the assist but did little else after that.

Abbott - 7 - Far too good for us and for league two.

Palmer - 6 - Sloppier than usual.

Edwards - 4 - Really poor. Looks like he's just walked out of the pub each time he plays. Just isn't good enough.

Grant - 5 - Scored a goal i could've put away, and then yet again, flattered to deceive, should be nowhere near the starting 11 for a team supposedly trying to get promoted.

Jatta - 5 - I can count his number of touches on two hands, just didn't have the service at all.

Jarvis - 6 - Attempted to make things happen. Also looked to pick up an injury.

Traore - 6 - Looked pretty sharp when he came on.

Cundy - 6 - Didn't do much of note, but the fact he could actually be starting on Saturday is terrifying as he's obviously so far from good enough.

Whitaker - 5.5 - Looked like he had his boots on the wrong feet when he came on.

[freemuzzy]

Wouldn’t massively disagree with the OP.

Bass - 7.5 - Calmer with the ball at his feet than most of the outfielders, and a few excellent saves first half.

Johnson - 5 - Got roasted by his direct opponent first half, no idea why they then took him off early in the second. Ok with the ball at his feet but really needs to improve as with McDonald the latest to be injured expect he’ll stay in the team.

Platt - 6 - A rare off day summarised the nervousness in the defence. Thankful they stopped attacking after they scored.

McDonald - 5 - Weirdly played better on the right than his natural side. Another who had an off-day; injury looked bad unfortunately.

Gordon - 7 - Brilliant cross for the goal. Without him we would’ve had no attacking threat. Who knew a proven RWB could be so effective playing on the right?

Palmer - 6.5 - Decent in open play, loses half a point for some woeful set pieces.

Abbott - 8* - Best player on and off the ball by a mile. Post denied him yet another worldie. Definitely an ‘enjoy him while you can’ player.

Tsaroulla - 5 - Like him but offered very little tonight.

Edwards - 5 - Is either not fully fit and/or not a no.10. Is being picked as an attacking midfielder for his work off the ball which summarises everything that is wrong with the approach currently.

Grant - 6 - Scored a goal and came close to another, but is ‘moments’ currently rather than really shining in a game, and like Edwards seems to be picked because he’ll press the opposition rather than because of what he’ll do with the ball.

Jatta - 6 - No service whatsoever and incredibly isolated.

Jarvis - 6.5 - Has something about him, surely has to start on Saturday either wide or inside behind Jatta.

Whitaker - 5 - Wasted good positions, including right at the death when he passed up the chance to shoot from the 18 yard line.

Traore - 6 - Some nice touches but like Jatta had no service.

Cundy - 5.5 - Disastrous start but thankfully they were happy with the point so didn’t target him defensively. One good tackle bailed Johnson out.

Overall, though any team would miss players of the quality of Jones and McGoldrick, surely the whole plan can’t just be to rely on individuals above the level to bail us out - otherwise there really is no hope if we somehow scramble up out of this very poor division with this manager. On the pitch today we still had a midfield pairing that must be amongst the best in the division, one of the top scorers and best goalkeepers in the league, two wing backs who were both promoted last season…surely enough to see off or at least offer more of a threat than we saw at home to Colchester.

No evidence of any real coaching in the attacking sense going on, just a hope that someone will do…something. We have a prolific, giant, quick striker - what was the plan to get service to him today? The mentality has to change to being more about how we can hurt the opposition from how we can stop them. Picking two number 10s for their off the ball work is ridiculously negative, but when a draw is held up as a good point post-match it?s not hard to spot the problem.

A more positive approach and big improvements needed at the weekend.

[jackal2]

Matt Palmer's a reliable player overall and and important part of the team, but we need to take him off set pieces. His dead ball deliveries are generally not very threatening and sometimes downright woeful. Ben Davies he certainly ain't.

[Robertomac]

Edwards is a shadow of his pre-injury self. He was terrible against Vale so was surprised to see him start tonight. He basically picked up where he left off. He surely can't start on Saturday after those two performances.