Originally Posted by
TSANHO
Wow.
What happened there Notts? That performance was the reason I was more nervous for the game against Barnet rather than this game. We have been perennial late starters far too often this year and I half expected that against Barnet.....unfortunately it reared it’s frustrating head today and we were finally critically punished for it today.
Make no mistake, Harrogate were well worth their win today but we sure as hells helped make it easy for them. I’m trying to keep a little perspective after everything but I’m struggling to think of a worst first half display than that which we witnessed this afternoon. The players looked like they had lead boots on, or were wading through treacle. I don’t believe they weren’t fired up for the match but as professionals they have to be looking at that now and be feeling really embarrassed. Ok ok....Ratings!
Slocombe - Hard to blame him for any of the goals really when he was left totally exposed by some terrible defending. Not much else he could’ve done - 6
Brindley - At times looked really sluggish and slow paced but he did attempt to get forward. Looked out of sorts and partly at fault for the last goal - 5.5
Lacey - Best of the back four, which wasn’t a difficult feat actually, some decent interceptions but let down by those around him. Will we be able to keep him? - 6
Turner - Had an excellent game last week which is probably why he started today but boy, I doubt he’s had many worse games than that in his career. I feel bad for him as he has been colossal at times this year but today was bad, very bad...and I’m sure he’s hurting very much - 4
Bagan - Obviously has something, looks like a right foot isn’t one of them unfortunately. On the plus side he has some nice touches and good vision, on the downside I thought his positioning was pretty poor, and was against Barnet too. I doubt we’ll see him again - 5.5
Roberts - Desperately tried to make something happen, but you can’t do it all by yourself, which he will do well to remember. Great goal, nearly had two - 7.5
Doyle - Did ok. We can’t expect him to work in a midfield 4 like that and expect wonders from him. Maximum effort, just an off day like almost everyone else today - 6
Rose - I’ve been critical of him this year but thought actually did well today. He battled hard, plenty of energy and used the ball much better than he has done previously. Nothing spectacular unfortunately - 6.5
O’Brien - Badly exposed out wide and barely had a notable touch. My favourite player but wasn’t in the game at all today.....again, that formation and line up will never play to his greatest strengths - 5.5
Wootton - Probably my player of the season. Although we were utter garbage today almost everything stuck to his feet when played up to him and he linked what play we did make up very well - 7
Dennis - Badly let down by the formation and team selection. Never in the game and took off at half time - 5.5
Thomas - Got on the ball and went very direct and could’ve scored. I felt for about ten minutes we were going to get a second but alas we didn’t....and deservedly so. Still, a decent energetic and passionate performance - 6.5
Enzio - Tried to make something happen, once or twice I thought he was going to bend one into the corner but today wasn’t his or our day. As the second half unravelled we became more and more ragged and Enzio then struggled - 6
Kelly-Evans - Why being him on? Must be thinking he has a chance to oust Brindley for a starting spot next season. No chance to impress - 5
I understand why, after such a strong performance last week, but I’ve felt for a long time that a 4-3-3 formation suits our style and players so much better than the 4-4-2 does....but managing behind a computer screen is so much easier than real life!
So, another pretty depressing display and performance in a long list of such affairs but overall I feel much better for the future now (ok, not right at this moment in time) and I can’t criticise the players this year. Many times they have been up against it and managed to hold firm, and even come up out on top!
They, like us, will be hurting, but we can bounce back from this...who’d have it any other way anyway....we are Notts County after all!
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