Good ratings from OP. I would probably score Bass down one and Johnson. Re - watched the goal and he turns like a super tanker trapped in ice. Also Jatta a mark off, yes he got a goal but I think I could have scored that tap in!. Tsaroulla and Grant passengers again and both huge disappointments. We desperately need Jones upto speed, Didzy back, Traore hitting form and fitness and Macari back ( bonus ). Also Austin on last couple of showings without him is underrated too. I now see that.
Two takeaways from this game are similar to many other games.
Matt Palmer - very important and capable deep lying midfielder who never lets us down in normal play, but he has no consistent quality on corners or other set pieces. We need to assign that job to someone else.
Conor Grant - anonymous yet again. Neil Warnock used to say Phil Turner did "the bread and butter work that often goes unnoticed", but Phil Turner was hardly anonymous. Surely we should be seeing more from Conor than he's showed in his Notts career so far? If he's not done a lot wrong, it's because he doesn't appear to have done much at all. Jim O'Brien sometimes used to get criticised for making mistakes, but that was because he was always wanting to be involved and trying to affect the game.
Macari back is a very timely bonus.
Until Saturday, I'd seen more positive than negative in Johnson's performances, but yesterday spooked me. And we shouldn't be rushing back to McDonald's left foot.
It's not only the defending, the first thing SM mentioned was Macari overloading on attack and I'm not sure Johnson or McDonald offer that. I only hope Macari is ready to find his best form and keep it.
He?s a ghost. He?s had quite a few clubs already and it?s easy to see why, and it?s hard to defend his performances. I wonder if he switched places with Abbott we may see more of his abilities because they sure don?t lie as a CAM or WB.
I feel a bit bad for him but we can?t be taking passengers, it?s hard enough as it is.
There?s nothing wrong with Palmer and Abbott sat in midfield they do plenty of harrying and nick the ball quite a lot. I think our weakness at the moment is the 10s and wingbacks, no one?s playing consistently well in those 4 positions other than Didzy when he?s available.