Match ratings v Harrogate 😬

[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!

[crazyfists]

Slocombe - 4 - First two goals could have done alot better.

Brindley - 5 - Was average.

Lacey - 5 - Worst I've seen him play for Notts.

Turner - 3 - Rubbish, Rawlinson should have been playing anyway.

Bagan - 4 - Didn't stop a cross all game, didn't get forward well.

O'brien - 5 - Forgot he was playing.

Doyle - 5 - Looked his age.

Rose - 6 - Was ok today but on the ball is tripe, always has been though.

Roberts - 6 - Good goal and another effort, trying too hard though to do it all himself.

Wootton - 7 - Held the ball up really well and brought others in.

Dennis - 5 - Didn't do much.

Thomas - 6 - Full of running but yet again missed a really good chance, needs 10 shots to score a goal.

Enzio - 5 - Fizzled out and for a sub that's a good effort.

Kelly-Evans - n/a

Ardley - 5 - Says he worked on a game plan all week and players didn't follow through, I believe him although does he carry some of the blame for that? Not sure. Should never have played Turner though over Rawlinson.

The season - 7 - From where we started, a playoff final and maybe cup final isn't too bad. Next season though promotion is a minimum.

[Elite_Pie]

Decided I wouldn't bother with these because it's too painful, but now there's a topic here goes:

Slocombe 6 - no saves of note, but couldn't be faulted for their goals.
Brindley 5 - started slowly, and didn't speed up much.
Lacey 6 - nothing too bad, but only average.
Turner 5 - looked off the pace from the start.
Bagan 6 - a bit mixed, but a promising kid who will play above this level.
Roberts 6.5 -anonymous for large parts, but showed his quality with the goal and the shot that nearly got us level.
Rose 6.5* - competed well and played some of our best forward passes.
Doyle 6 - always available but his passing was generally poor.
O'Brien 5 - not often Jim has an off day, but today was one of them.
Wootton 6 - held the ball up well but no real goal threat.
Dennis 5 - one effort first half, but that was it.

Enzio 5.5 - started well but faded with the rest of the team.
Thomas 6 - looked livelier than Dennis when he came on.
Kelly-Evans 6 - did as much as could be expected in his short time on the pitch.



Really disappointing. We started half asleep, and only woke up for 15 minutes after half time. The best team definitely won, so congratulations to Harrogate. On the positive side I think we have really good owners and the basis of a good squad at this level if we can retain most of the players. The doubt I have is whether we have the right manager in place to make the most of the squad.

[sidders]

What's the * for? And why are you much more generous than any other pundit on this player?

[optipez]

Couldn't face doing this earlier, there's losing and just not turning up.

Slocombe 6. Wouldn't blame him for the goals but don't think he was overly commanding either.

Brindley 5. Not great going forwards and left his man for their third which was lazy. At 2-1 we were in it. His lack of commitment cost us.

Bagan 5 Good player but watched the ball go over his head for the first, badly positioned, fair enough but he should have got across to the winger to make it hard for him. Did the same against Barnet but got away with it.

Lacey 6.5 Best of the defence on a collectively bad day.

Turner 4.5 Harsh mark for a player who obviously cares. Just really slow in thought and movement, poor for two goals.

Roberts 7. Scored a great goal and our main threat going forwards.

Doyle 5.5 Didn't play badly but didn't influence us either. Whole midfield was slow, sat deep and apart from 15 mins second half we lost out on the loose balls.

Rose 6.5 Played to his standard, best of the midfield.

O'Brien 5. From MOTM last week to anonymous this. Rotten day for a player who wants to be involved in everything.

Dennis 6. No real service not much he could do about it.

Wootton 7. MOTM Held the ball up, very strong, played others in. Again not much service.

Subs
Enzio 5.5 Didn't do a great deal
Thomas 6.5 Thought he did well, got into the game and made Harrogate work.
DKE 5.5 Not on long enough to make a difference.

Ardley. 5.5 Hard to mark really, we were woeful but the same team were professional, composed and threatening last week so you can't argue too far with selection and his subs did improve us second half.

All round bad day, just like Bradford all those years ago. Think it's ***** that we keep the best of what we have but refresh the midfield and strengthen all over if we can. We went down after the Bradford game, Fylde did the same this year after losing last year's playoffs so it's ***** that we get the close season right.
Things are always fraught for Notts, we don't seem to do steady building but for once I hope that's what happens moving into next season. From last July I'd have snapped your hand off for a Wembley final so I suppose we've been relatively successful, just doesn't feel like it tonight.

[BigFatPie]

Slocombe 6 Seemed as bewildered as everyone else at the unfolding clown car crash in front of him.

Brindley 5 if they used to call Ray Wilkins ‘the crab’ for his sideways passing, I’m not sure what to call this bloke. What animal always goes backwards? Had a great chance for a cross or a shot at 2-1 and f00ked that up as well.

Bagan 5 Looks 15, played like it as well. Needlessly gave away the free kick for the 2nd goal.

Lacey 6 Pick of a bad bunch in defence. Was probably wondering what competition the bloke next to him won where the prize was to play in a playoff final.

Turner 3 I keep being told what a good player he is. All I see is decent but conference standard forwards taking the piss out of him. Time to retire.

Doyle 5 There are formations against Harrogate where having a 39 year old in midfield would be a good idea. A 4-4-2 with Rose and O’Brien isn’t one of them.

Rose 6 He didn’t actually have too bad a game. He just didn’t do any one thing all that well. As always.

O’Brien 5 He should be a great player at this level, but for a someone who comes across as a ‘leader of men’ he disappears an awful lot when we’re struggling.

Dennis 4 Did nothing, but non-existent service.

Wootton 4 If we’d have gone up, he’d have been fairly highly up on my ‘not good enough for the league’ list. Nothing stuck today, and a poor touch.

Roberts 7 Came out of the traps firing in the second half and a great free kick. Seemed to take the ‘Geordie Messi’ stuff a bit too literally after that, and wanted to take the entire town of Harrogate on all on his own.

Thomas 6 Gave more energy than Dennis and could have been in if it wasn’t for the most cynical foul you’ll ever see. Would have missed anyway though.

Enzio 5 Started the second half well but faded.

Ardley 5 Lovely bloke and a great representative of the club. But if he knew exactly how Harrogate were going to play, told the players how they’d play , prepared for how’d they play, but for whatever reason they couldn’t put it into action, that’s a big worry. I haven’t got much faith he’ll get us up next season.

Dunno if people have much interest in player ratings for a game we all watched, but at least I’ve I’ve found writing them a bit cathartic!

[Elite_Pie]

What's the * for? And why are you much more generous than any other pundit on this player?

Is that to me? If it is, the '*' denotes man of the match (it's an old Sunday paper thing).

From what I can see all of us marked him as a 6 or 6.5, so I don't see the generosity thing.

[DaveSmithRules]

Good on you all for bothering. It's painful even typing their names out after today. I think Cal Roberts was the only player on our side to come out of that with any real credit today. I just hope we manage to hold onto him next season. He will be moving up the divisions soon enough with or without us.

[Mark_Ross]

Hmmm.....

I think the defending was uniformly poor - 4/10 - but it wasn't helped by our anonymous midfield and that we appeared to be tactically naive.

We seemed to be lethargic in midfield & they were first to every loose ball, apart from a few minutes at the start of the second half when they looked suddenly spooked by Notts goal. Harrogate soon regained their composure and the game reverted to its previous pattern.

I'd give the rest 5/10 except for Roberts who at least looked like he cared - 6.5

[Woodypie]

What's all this if we hang on to Roberts? Kenny Dalglish he is not. If he wants to rebuild a career after failing at Newcastle, he needs to get his head down for a couple of years and work hard. We were poor all over. Rose put in a shift. Roberts showed some guile.