Player Ratings

[baggieal]

I think Furlong and Townsend have been great for us overall. Why do you think their form has dropped?

Townsend awful yesterday and Furlong been poor in a few games and his fault for a few goals. O’Shea been great though and Bartley was decent first half. Time for TGH to have an opportunity and if he does not excel no doubt he will be dropped!

I am sure Grant would admit he’s not a number 9 and not a fox in the box. Maybe he would welcome playing alongside a natural number 9!

We need wins even if ugly. One win in eight is very poor whichever way you look at it!

Hopefully we can kick on!

[SwedishBaggie]

Bartley epitomises a ”has been” who never ”was”…

Furlong, as I stated many times before, is saved by his (excellent) athleticism, ’cause he ain’t an excellent footballer (then again of course, he wouldn’t play for us if he was…).

Townsend is the personification of ”limited with flaws”. ”Over performed” the other season.

[BaggieBlood]

Here's what I think watching it on the box last night - Bring back Saturday 3pm Kick offs Grrrr

Button - 6 Had nothing really to do, only let in a pen. A bit unfortunate to give it away
TGH - 6.5 Did some things well but also gave the ball away a couple of times, is better than Furlong. I would stick with him at RB
Townsend - 4 Poor game, almost gave a 2nd goal away with a suicide header back to GK. His crossing & final ball has to improve.
Bartley - 6 Did okay I thought, but should have been more aware for their goal. I think he gets more stick than he deserves.
O'Shea - 7 Probably the pick of our defenders, missed a great chance just before HT. Like the way he carries the ball out of defence
Molumby - 8 I thought he played well, got around the pitch
Yokuslu - 6 Played their striker onside for the goal, otherwise would have been a 7
Swift - 7 Some decent passes, worked hard, put the cross in for the goal
Diangana - 4 Really poor I thought. Gave the ball away constantly, no end product
Wallace - 9 MOTM for me, constant quality crosses in and is a real attacking threat
Grant - 7 Worked hard, playing out of position but he put a shift in

Grant a 7?

Did he even touch the ball 7 times?

Grady wasn't a 4. He was marked by 2 players most of the night and still managed to set up Wallace with a chance that was nearly a goal. He didn't just dissappear and tried to his best to influence the game.

Other than swapping those ratings I generally agree with rest of the ratings other I would give Okay 7 as I think he had his best game since he cane back.

[Prando]

It’s all about opinions…my take as opposed to 123 is as follows…
Button 6 agree
TGH 5 (vs your 6.5) Disappointing 1st half with some petulance when beaten
Townsend 6 (vs your 4) I thought he threatened-albeit slow to move the ball sometimes and caught in possession
Bartley 4 (vs your 6) A decent start but deteriorated badly with dreadful positioning and the inevitable passing of blame) Essential substitution by Bruce
O’Shea 7 agree - ish
Molumby 8 agree - ish
Yoku 8 vs your 6
Swift 7 agree
Grady 6 (vs your 4) Final ball disappointing, but manage to threaten
Wallace 9 agree ish
Grant 7 agree ish

I guess we were both there 123 buddy, but interesting differences !

[baggieal]

Grant a 7?

Did he even touch the ball 7 times?

Grady wasn't a 4. He was marked by 2 players most of the night and still managed to set up Wallace with a chance that was nearly a goal. He didn't just dissappear and tried to his best to influence the game.

Other than swapping those ratings I generally agree with rest of the ratings other I would give Okay 7 as I think he had his best game since he cane back.

Would agree with that Blood! At times you wouldn’t have thought Grant was on the pitch as usual non existent. Thought Townsend was the worst player on the pitch! Bartley was OK to be fair and not the biggest fan. Do think TGH is a step up to Furlong who has been poor in a number of games.

Wallace was excellent and didn’t stop running. I would start Asante against Coventry as we can’t keep saying we are not converting chances every game!! The obvious reason is no recognised number 9!

[Albionic68]

Only skim read the thread but fk me anyone would think we played s hit. Despite some individual performances which were lacking we played some bloody good football and our team should have left the pitch as winners. Whatever anyone does don't bother looking at the match statistics or highlights.

[baggiematt]

Grant criticism is unfair in my mind. He scores at a decent rate but he’ll never be a great striker. We’re lucky to have him currently as no other player consistently scores!

Townsend and Furlong are the real weaknesses of the team. Both poor on the ball and neither are strong defensively. Modern full backs really should do both well or at the very least one of the two. I see them as the main reason Val failed as they played in such key positions for his tactic.

[WBA1955]

Memory and nostalgia are two different things. Willie Johnston was the darling of the crowd, but I remember Ray Wilson writing an article saying how frustrated he was playing behind Willie. He would overlap up the pitch to give Willie an outlet, but often had to run the length of the pitch after Willie tried to beat three players and lost the ball.
It's the times he beat three players that we remember.
I am going to be contentious and say that Diangana has the ability to be better than Willie. I am not saying he is better, or will be better, that's in his own hands, but he has the ability to be better.

[boingy]

Memory and nostalgia are two different things. Willie Johnston was the darling of the crowd, but I remember Ray Wilson writing an article saying how frustrated he was playing behind Willie. He would overlap up the pitch to give Willie an outlet, but often had to run the length of the pitch after Willie tried to beat three players and lost the ball.
It's the times he beat three players that we remember.
I am going to be contentious and say that Diangana has the ability to be better than Willie. I am not saying he is better, or will be better, that's in his own hands, but he has the ability to be better.

Willie was a fighter, talented and a tough Scot. Diangana is a feather of a man. I doubt his mentality will ever help him achieve what Willie did for us. He will never score a better goal than the one Willie scored v Blackpool in the cup either. I doubt anyone will to be fair.

[WBA123]

Grant criticism is unfair in my mind. He scores at a decent rate but he’ll never be a great striker. We’re lucky to have him currently as no other player consistently scores!

Townsend and Furlong are the real weaknesses of the team. Both poor on the ball and neither are strong defensively. Modern full backs really should do both well or at the very least one of the two. I see them as the main reason Val failed as they played in such key positions for his tactic.

I'd have to agree with this. Full backs have really cost us in recent history, I don't doubt their effort, I do doubt their quality.

Val's biggest problem was that in the final 3rd our final ball was always woeful, and much of that came from these two.