Player Ratings vs Wimbledon

[LeftPeg_Pie]

Bass - 7 - Excellent save in the first half. Very good short distribution throughout. Should have come for the cross that Harbottle headed in.

Macari - 6.5 - Did what Macari does. Competent. Got forward well but not used enough.

Platt - 7 - Back to his consistent and strong self. Bugiel caused a few issues, but good overall.

Bedeau - 7 - Again, did what Bedeau does. Has been an excellent signing.

Jones - 6 - Got doubled up on but too often picked the wrong option when he had the ball. Another 90 in the legs; we will need him next weekend.

Palmer - 6.5 - Did Matt Palmer things. Tidy, covered well. Should be banned from all four corner quadrants across the country for life.

Abbott - 8 - MOTM - Great energy, got stuck in well and looked to drive us on. It?s been a pleasure young man.

Austin - 6 - Held up an end but was cooked by 60.

Grant - 6 - A weird evening. Did not really do too much, but could have scored four goals; definitely should have scored two. Weird.

McGoldrick - 7.5 - Immense work rate. Did not always fall for him, but always looked to create. Always the heart of our best stuff.

Jatta - 6.5 - Again, worked hard. Should have put Harbottle and the ball in after Grants second chance. Contentious red.

Jarvis - Must start on Saturday and just keep giving him the ball.

McDonald - Did a Cruyff deep in his own held to get out of trouble; you will do for me son.

Traore - MASSIVE afternoon for him next Saturday if Jatta and McGoldrick are out.

[KCNotts]

Bass 7 - one great save, but not a lot else to do.
Macari 6 - didn't get involved too much
Platt 7 - solid but Bugiel bullied him for the goal.
Bedeau 7 - rarely troubled
Jones 6 - tried hard but nothing came off apart from the shot that hit the post.
Austin 5 - anonymous.
Abbott 7 - good but a few silly fouls.
Palmer 5 - Reeves gave him a lesson today.
Grant 5.5 - weird. Did very little but managed to get in goal scoring positions 4 times and missed some sitters.
Didzy 8 - best player on the pitch. Too good for us.
Jatta - 5 contributed very little of note and then got sent off for a daft challenge.

Jarvis 6 - should have started.
Mcdonald 6

[IPieWithMyLittleEye]

Bass 6 Not coming for that looping cross was a howler. Shades of the Port Vale goal. A weakness in his game he needs to work on. Otherwise good.

Macari 7 Notts are a better team going forward with him in the side, he works hard up and down the right and never shirks a tackle. But against taller sides his lack of height for a CB is a problem, particularly as the rest of the Notts team can't compensate.

Platt 8 was MotM for me. Looked like the dominant defender he's been all season.

Bedeau 7 Hard working, industrious and strong in the tackle. A performance we're used to seeing.

Jones 5 Again poor. Took the wrong option time after time, ignored Macari too many times on his lung busting overlaps and is far too quick to turn on team mates these days. When he swapped out with Palmer for set piece delivery they were poor too. He's obviously not at his best and is frustrated, but arguing with team mates isn't the way to change that.

Abbott 7 full of energy and brave under some heavy Wimbledon tackling. Kept probing and trying to be the creative force from midfield, but realistically that isn't his game.

Palmer 6.5 kept the midfield ticking over and leads from the front with his energy. Neat and tidy and keeps Notts ticking over but lack of cutting edge a real problem for this side.

Grant 5 worked hard and never hid, did the defensive side of the game well but he's in the team for end product and sadly there was none of that. Had to score at least once too.

Austin 6.5 his energy and teamwork was obvious, but understandably ran out of legs. But like the rest of the midfield, lacking in end product.

McGoldrick 6 Lots of energy and tried plenty but wasn't his night. Should have had an assist for Grant though

Jatta 5 he just isn't the right fit for this iteration of Notts is he? He needs service in behind or round the corner and the profile of midfielder behind him isn't giving him that.

Subs
Jarvis 7 looked dangerous when he came on, has to start next week.
Traore 5 didn't get an opportunity to show. With Jatta out should start in the second leg. Will need to show more than he has so far if Notts are to turn this around
Macdonald 6 I don't dislike him as a player and he's great in the air. Only having a left foot and being asked to play on the right is a problem though

[IPieWithMyLittleEye]

Platt 7 - solid but Bugiel bullied him for the goal.

That's a harsh assessment of Platts role in the goal. He's being held, a blatant foul. The officials have to help him out there. The lad in midfield has a clear run at the ball after Jatta has let him run off him and Bass has all the time in the world to come and claim that.

[ThaiPie]

Pretty much agree with the OP's ratings. I would give Grant 7.5. All his shots were on target and his overall performance was good. He'll know himself he needs to convert more often.
Have to say Wimbledon's defending was some of the best I've seen in recent years. However, they were wasting time from the beginning and pulling shirts throughout. If the free kick had been given when the Wimbledon player was stealing Jatta's shirt, the foul would have never occurred.

[i961pie]

Pretty much agree with the OP's ratings. I would give Grant 7.5. All his shots were on target and his overall performance was good. He'll know himself he needs to convert more often.
Have to say Wimbledon's defending was some of the best I've seen in recent years. However, they were wasting time from the beginning and pulling shirts throughout. If the free kick had been given when the Wimbledon player was stealing Jatta's shirt, the foul would have never occurred.

How can you give Grant 7.5 is beyond me, his only contribution to the game was to miss numerous chances?

[drillerpie]

Bass - 6: Amazing save from the header, calm and collected, didn't come for the cross that lost us the game. Very unlike him, he probably thought Platt would attack it but he was being pinned by a straight arm full of shirt by their big centre forward. Split second decisions, maybe 6 is harsh considering the quality of his save.

Macari - 6: A little bit ragged at times but got forward well. Fine.

Platt - 6.5: Generally good performance apart from the above, but don't know really what he could've done if the officials aren't giving that. Maybe go down clutching his face before the header comes in?

Bedeau - 6.5: Got beat for their first half header I think but generally good also. Looks like our de facto captain the way he runs to get involved in stuff and stick up for our players.

Abbott - 7: Beating heart of the midfield.

Palmer - 6: Resting heartbeat of the midfield. Lovely cutback for Grant in the 1st half though.

Jones - 6.5: A little bit closer to final form Jodi. I personally don't mind players shouting at teammates, it means they're trying to sort stuff out in real time.

Austin - 6: Solid but didn't offer much going forward.

Grant - 6: A quintessential Grant performance. Intelligent runs exquisitely timed, good technique, lack of conviction, ended up not affecting the game (at least in a positve way). Actually unlucky with the first effort, he did very well to get that shot away with power and accuracy. Second and third chances he has got to bury them.

McGoldrick - 6.5: Seemed to be playing deeper early on almost in the Crowley role, used the ball well, some moments of quality. Hope he's OK but don't think he will be.

Jatta - 5: Oh, Jatta. I said last week I wanted to see him get angry, and boy what a time to unveil his Joey Barton on coke and roids tribute act. Obviously was very unlucky with the red, he's a goal down in a play off and is being blatantly fouled while trying to get to a loose ball that is easily his. By the time he stops being fouled it's become a 50/50 and he goes flying in to win it. I actually enjoyed his rampage afterwards. I hope the message to him from Notts is not 'never get angry again' but 'channel that feeling for 90 mins every game'. Ran offside for no reason when put through, and apparently lost his man for their goal although I didn't pick that up.

Subs: all fine, would've probably had Jarvis on earlier as I think it was a game for him, I do get why Maynard didn't start him as you don't want to start a two-legged playoff with someone who is a defensive loose cannon.

[maddogslater]

How can you give Grant 7.5 is beyond me, his only contribution to the game was to miss numerous chances?

That's what I kinda thought at the game but watching the highlights all were on target and that save for his perfect shot was out of this world, 7 for me

[drillerpie]

Continued as I can't edit.

Ref - 4: Bold choice of ref considering he had taken a match between these two teams in March and let Wimbledon get away with a lot. I said at the beginning he looked to be giving more niggly fouls this time, don't know if that was wishful thinking on my part but he let Wimbledon's physicality creep in.

The handball should be a pen. That's why players put their arms behind their back. He made his silhouette bigger by folding it up outside his chest and stopped the ball with his hand.

The other penalty shouts looked half decent but I couldn't be sure from the replays. The big incidents are obviously fould on Platt and foul on Jatta and I can't for the life of me fathom why he doesn't blow for a free kick for either of them. Refereeing is a hard job but he has probably changed the outcome of the tie from what it should be - never a good situation for a ref.


Notts' attitude to refereeing decisions / aggro in general - 2:

We are so meek it's painful to watch. We have been the clean cut, fair-play-award-winning poster boys since the bros came in and while I applaud the sentiment, it hasn't brought us anything apart from getting badly treated by refs and streetwise opponents.

Leaving aside the fact that Wimbledon have dominated us phsycially over the last 120 minutes and starting with Jatta looking like a sheepish labrador standing next to an empty packet of biscuits after his tackle. Why?

If Jatta has that level of venom in him when he loses his ****, why isn't he playing on the edge every week? While he's suspended lock him in a room with a DVD of Wimbledon's sub centre forward and tell him that's how a physically imposing centre forward can influence a game even without scoring.

Then Palmer is walking alongside and talking to the ref but only Bedeau comes flying in to remonstrate. Why?

Then Jatta loses his head and from memory only their keeper was trying to shepherd him off. Why? Either we get him off safely and there's a good chance of getting it rescinded, or back him up on his rampage and start some aggro. Maybe we get a fine - so what? Maybe we get some more cards, so what? We're probably going to lose anyway. "Take someone with you Alassana!" said no Notts player ever, because we just don't think like that. Can we bring Derry back as a specialist dark arts consultant? It would be better value for money than the set piece coach.

Who's backing Jatta up while their players run in to have a go at him? Nobody. Why?

Nobody is digging out the guy on the ground who wasn't touched and is feigning injury and just got our guy sent off. Why? It would get the crowd going and give us a hate figure and put more pressure on the ref if he commits a foul.

Why do opposition players think it's OK to bully us AND get our players sent off with no fear of repercussions. They're 90 minutes from Wembley, they should be somewhat worried about being on the end of a bad tackle, but they're not. Why? Because nobody from our side is going to put a heavy tackle in and set boundaries. Maybe Abbott. Maybe Robertson. But nobody else.

Apologies for the rant but I'm fed up of seeing us get our dinner money taken and not doing anything apart from complaining afterwards.

[ThaiPie]

How can you give Grant 7.5 is beyond me, his only contribution to the game was to miss numerous chances?

It's OK to disagree! Grant's movement was excellent including getting into four scoring opportunities which were all on target. He was also getting a foot in, closing players down and making some good passes. Technically he is one of the better Notts players and I understand why Notts swopped home for Nemane, who I also liked.