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Needless to say that following yesterdays performance against Port Vale, I didn’t leave the ground in quite such an upbeat mood as I did on Saturday. There was no question about which side wanted and deserved the win more and we quite simply didn’t turn up.
Funnily enough as I was walking out, a friend shouted at me saying not to even bother writing a report up on the game. But having arrived into work this morning with a whole flurry of texts/emails bombarding me with abuse, I feel I need to vent some frustration somewhere…!
This will be far more brief than usual as I have had an extremely early start this morning (4:45am) as I had to drive back to the island for work this morning.
For anyone interested, here is my take on the day.
We arrived at the ground around half past 5, and while waiting out the front a handful of the players walked past. Jamie Mackie was more than happy to stop for a chat, and I congratulated him on his goal on Saturday and said how impressed I was with the huge amount of ground he covered during the game. He laughed and said that he would always give 100% for the cause, and that he thought the fans were “amazing” on the day.
After making our way into the ground, I was quite surprised at Warnock’s team selection.
I was expecting to see Cerny given a start, but Kenny remained between the sticks.
In defence we had Orr at right back, Hall and Connolly in the centre and Borrowdale on the left. Our midfield consisted of Parker, Derry, Leigertwood and Hogan. Leon Clarke was handed his QPR debut alongside Jamie Mackie upfront.
On paper I thought that was quite a strong line-up, but I was slightly disappointed that some of the youth players weren’t given a run out.
Player Ratings –
Kenny – I think he was fairly fortunate not to have conceded a goal on Saturday, and in fairness he didn’t play well yesterday either. Just isn’t inspiring me with any confidence whatsoever at the moment, although he didn’t really have much of a chance with the first goal. This Saturday will be a big test for him. That might give us a fairer chance to judge him.
Orr – He did improve as the game went on, and was reasonably solid at the back. Put a couple of decent crosses into the box and got forward on occasion. Not a great game from him though.
Hall – Shocking. I think practically the whole fan base were left with raised eyebrows when he was selected as captain, and performances like yesterday were a reminder of exactly why many people feel so strongly on the matter. A complete liability at the back – slow, clumsy, morbidly out of position on a number of occasions… not to mention the constant “hoof” up field all night. Abysmal performance from him. Their striker tore him apart!
Connolly – Felt quite sorry for him to be honest, his performance deserved better than the 3 goals that we conceded. Always looking to play the ball out of midfield instead of just putting his toe through it ala Fitz Hall. Generally pretty steady at the back, and an astronomical improvement on his centre back partner.
Borrowdale – Made me appreciate just how refreshing it was to see Clint Hill play on Saturday. Borrowdale continues to keep backing off and leaves the winger/attacker absolute acres to run into. Poor.
Parker – Couldn’t really get him into the game last night. He showed a couple of brief flashes, but nothing too spectacular.
Derry – Didn’t follow up on his excellent performance on Saturday. Looked off the pace to me. Plenty of mis-placed passes, and didn’t really offer much.
Leigertwood – Probably the worst performance I have ever seen from him. I maintain that Leigertwood IS a very good player, but he had a shocker. Very very sloppy in possession, and think it must have been around 70 minutes or so until he managed to complete a pass. Very poor.
Ephraim – More like the Hogan of last season. Plenty of passing around etc, but didn’t give the Port Vale defence much to think about. Got frustrated as the game went on. Average.
Mackie – Stood out to me again last night. He should have scored with his chance in the second half, but his endeavour and work-rate was there for all to see. Even at 3-0 down he continued to chase lost causes. Shame the other players couldn’t replicate his effort.
Clarke – I decided that I would give him a chance to prove what he is capable of, but if yesterday was anything to go by I won’t be holding my breath that he will pull up any trees. He did miss a very good opportunity when through one on one, but it was his lazy attitude that I found most frustrating. For a “big” striker he didn’t offer much of an areal threat at all, and was bossed by the opposition defender for the full 45 minutes that we had to endure watching him plod round the pitch. Had Warnock not subbed him at half time, no doubt he would have been booed off the pitch.
Subs –
German – His goal was never over the line! Offered far more of a threat than Clarke though. Won a fair amount in the air and held the ball up well.
Rose – Looked very impressive. He has pace to burn, and he really did tear past those defenders. Caught my eye, worth watching out for.
Oastler – No time to really make an impact.
In summary of that ghastly display, I don’t think there is much points picking apart what went wrong. The simple fact is that we didn’t show up, and simply rolled over for Port Vale to walk all over us.
We had a little fight back towards the end, but it was too little too late.
I would have much rather see a load of youth/reserve team players given a run out, than watch first team players getting slated by fans for putting no effort in.
Personally I couldn’t care less about the Carling Cup, it means nothing to me. But the fans deserved far better than what we were served up yesterday.
Funnily enough as I was walking out, a friend shouted at me saying not to even bother writing a report up on the game. But having arrived into work this morning with a whole flurry of texts/emails bombarding me with abuse, I feel I need to vent some frustration somewhere…!
This will be far more brief than usual as I have had an extremely early start this morning (4:45am) as I had to drive back to the island for work this morning.
For anyone interested, here is my take on the day.
We arrived at the ground around half past 5, and while waiting out the front a handful of the players walked past. Jamie Mackie was more than happy to stop for a chat, and I congratulated him on his goal on Saturday and said how impressed I was with the huge amount of ground he covered during the game. He laughed and said that he would always give 100% for the cause, and that he thought the fans were “amazing” on the day.
After making our way into the ground, I was quite surprised at Warnock’s team selection.
I was expecting to see Cerny given a start, but Kenny remained between the sticks.
In defence we had Orr at right back, Hall and Connolly in the centre and Borrowdale on the left. Our midfield consisted of Parker, Derry, Leigertwood and Hogan. Leon Clarke was handed his QPR debut alongside Jamie Mackie upfront.
On paper I thought that was quite a strong line-up, but I was slightly disappointed that some of the youth players weren’t given a run out.
Player Ratings –
Kenny – I think he was fairly fortunate not to have conceded a goal on Saturday, and in fairness he didn’t play well yesterday either. Just isn’t inspiring me with any confidence whatsoever at the moment, although he didn’t really have much of a chance with the first goal. This Saturday will be a big test for him. That might give us a fairer chance to judge him.
Orr – He did improve as the game went on, and was reasonably solid at the back. Put a couple of decent crosses into the box and got forward on occasion. Not a great game from him though.
Hall – Shocking. I think practically the whole fan base were left with raised eyebrows when he was selected as captain, and performances like yesterday were a reminder of exactly why many people feel so strongly on the matter. A complete liability at the back – slow, clumsy, morbidly out of position on a number of occasions… not to mention the constant “hoof” up field all night. Abysmal performance from him. Their striker tore him apart!
Connolly – Felt quite sorry for him to be honest, his performance deserved better than the 3 goals that we conceded. Always looking to play the ball out of midfield instead of just putting his toe through it ala Fitz Hall. Generally pretty steady at the back, and an astronomical improvement on his centre back partner.
Borrowdale – Made me appreciate just how refreshing it was to see Clint Hill play on Saturday. Borrowdale continues to keep backing off and leaves the winger/attacker absolute acres to run into. Poor.
Parker – Couldn’t really get him into the game last night. He showed a couple of brief flashes, but nothing too spectacular.
Derry – Didn’t follow up on his excellent performance on Saturday. Looked off the pace to me. Plenty of mis-placed passes, and didn’t really offer much.
Leigertwood – Probably the worst performance I have ever seen from him. I maintain that Leigertwood IS a very good player, but he had a shocker. Very very sloppy in possession, and think it must have been around 70 minutes or so until he managed to complete a pass. Very poor.
Ephraim – More like the Hogan of last season. Plenty of passing around etc, but didn’t give the Port Vale defence much to think about. Got frustrated as the game went on. Average.
Mackie – Stood out to me again last night. He should have scored with his chance in the second half, but his endeavour and work-rate was there for all to see. Even at 3-0 down he continued to chase lost causes. Shame the other players couldn’t replicate his effort.
Clarke – I decided that I would give him a chance to prove what he is capable of, but if yesterday was anything to go by I won’t be holding my breath that he will pull up any trees. He did miss a very good opportunity when through one on one, but it was his lazy attitude that I found most frustrating. For a “big” striker he didn’t offer much of an areal threat at all, and was bossed by the opposition defender for the full 45 minutes that we had to endure watching him plod round the pitch. Had Warnock not subbed him at half time, no doubt he would have been booed off the pitch.
Subs –
German – His goal was never over the line! Offered far more of a threat than Clarke though. Won a fair amount in the air and held the ball up well.
Rose – Looked very impressive. He has pace to burn, and he really did tear past those defenders. Caught my eye, worth watching out for.
Oastler – No time to really make an impact.
In summary of that ghastly display, I don’t think there is much points picking apart what went wrong. The simple fact is that we didn’t show up, and simply rolled over for Port Vale to walk all over us.
We had a little fight back towards the end, but it was too little too late.
I would have much rather see a load of youth/reserve team players given a run out, than watch first team players getting slated by fans for putting no effort in.
Personally I couldn’t care less about the Carling Cup, it means nothing to me. But the fans deserved far better than what we were served up yesterday.
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