Poll: Man of the Match vs Birmingham...and your player ratings

[Kevan]

I think Hutch was MoM but he did get away with a few missed sliding tackles, which may have resulted in a yellow or a red card if he had connected.  Just a worry that he's still just playing with slightly too much risk in his challenges at times.

[Ash77]

Westwood 7

 

Hunt 7.5 best cross ive seen from us for at least this season, night and day from wigan fiasco

Loovens 7

Sasso 7

Fox 7 should easily retain his place, no rotation needed here

 

Wallace 6 good set piece for opener, standard quietish game after that, 

no crosses or shots of note.

Hutchinson 8 standard mom performance!

Bannan 7 good energy and passing as usual

Forestieri 5 not his best position, more a position to revert to a 4-3-3 if we need a goal.

not a natural tracker back so exposed fox, no left foot so predictable that will cut in too

and cross from deep on favoured foot like Wallace.

if winnall never scored he may have started up front next game but place under threat

now, would probably have terrorised their cb's too but we'll never know!

 

Rhodes 7 1 good chance, 1 goal, need to get more crosses in for him nearer byline

Winnall 7 worked hard, missed some chances and lacks pace, but

couldn't miss that perfect cross which may save his place for now.

 

all subs looked good 6-7's, reach's energy was missed a bit and good finish,

macca won possession twice, once leading to reach's goal so looks a solid

option down right and may supply the crosses if ever given a start, but its

looking a bit buckley for him so far with short sub stints, Wallace is clearly favoured.

 

match of 3 games.

first 10 mins we dominated then it was 70mins of them shading it hitting woodwork 3 times.

last 10 mins we dominated and hit them on break.

 

maybe cc is a lucky manager to get these results where the margins are often

closer than the scorelines suggest, we often somehow win when there's not

much in it.

 

still think we need to play like the first 10mins more often and get more crosses in tho.

would liked to have seen all 3 subs on earlier as they were looking like equalising.

defensively we look very solid, especially with fox in, much better than wigan fiasco

but need to keep improving to go up imo

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gparrish]

Westwood 7 Pretty comfortable, couldn't do anything about the shots that hit the woodwork

 

Hunt 7 Fantastic cross, like Fox was left exposed by the winger at times

Loovens 7

Sasso 7

Fox 7 Think we should give him a run now, looked good at the back and going forward.

 

Wallace 6 pretty quiet

Hutchinson 8

Bannan 7

Forestieri 6 See Wallace

 

Winnall 7 Pretty decent game, lacked a little of composure at times. Hopefully that will go after getting his first goal.

Rhodes 7 Does what you expect

[Lord Snooty]

10 hours ago, CrosbyKitchens said:

this is a dissertation not a match review.

 

 

That's why I usually just vote instead!

[Hawkeye]

Westwood 7 

 

Hunt 6 - still ropey at the back but the lad has learned to cross a ball. Absolute peach for winnalls goal.

Loovens 8 - big clumsy lurch looking lad, but he got in front of everything. Excellent leadership.

Sasso 7 - had a couple of wobbles but there's something about him that makes me think he could be a reyt player.

Fox 6 - wasn't bad, didn't get forward as much.

 

Fernando 8 - worked himself into the floor and made an utter pest of himself.

Hutch 8 - the irony is he's played better than that, but still dominant.

Bannan 8 - much more like the old BB, got everywhere and drove us on.

Wallace 8 - I actually thought he was the catalyst for us breaking Birmingham down, and he covered hunt every single time they broke.

 

Winnall 8 - absolute class display in supporting JR, ran them ragged and always looked like scoring

Rhodes 7 - just needs one chance and scores. He and Winnall never stopped moving, which made the difference 

 

 

[Groundhopping Owl]

Westwood 7 - commanded his nod well on a few occasions, made some cracking saves too

Hunt 7 - got forward well, played some very nice balls round the corner for Wallace and Rhodes, superb assist for the second goal, though was shredded by the winger they subbed on

Sasso 7 - he doesn't half charge around after the ball, which can be ok sometimes because he will win it on plenty of occasions, other times he'll get caught out

Loovens 7 - composed as usual 

Fox 7 - very solid, Brum were directing traffic down our right hand side because they knew they weren't getting anything past Fox

Wallace 8 - buzzed around trying to make things happen and worked extremely hard. Unsurprisingly looks a player brimming with confidence.

Hutchinson 7 - inch perfect tackling as always and knew when to drop in behind when Sasso went charging out

Bannan 7 - a quieter night but he worked his socks off

Forestieri 6 - tried to make things happen but his end product was always just marginally off, a bit unlucky 

Winnall 8 - very well taken goal and I liked some of his link up play both in the air and with both feet

Rhodes 8 - excellent, grabbed us the crucial early goal and looks very useful in the air, lots of effort and dangerous movement too

Reach 7 - was delighted he got a goal, fingers crossed that'll get him brimming with confidence 

McManaman 6

Abdi 7 - kept possession well in the closing stages

[Weshallovercome]

14 hours ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

I usually just vote. But have decided to join the rankings gamers!

 

 Westwood - 7-  He never really looked under too much pressure. I was pleased to see that we mixed things up and that now and again he was looking for the quick drop kick and not bowling the ball out to the defence everytime. Great catch from an insidious inswinging cross at 0-0 which really gives confidence to the back four.

 

Hunt -7-  I've always preffered palmer defensivly, and Hunt offensivly. Tonight he proved with that delicious cross what he is capable of when he is fully focused on the job in hand. Superb cross for the Winnall goal. Want to see more of that. But most of all I was impressed with his focus on his defensive work.

 

Fox- 6.5 - I really liked the look of the boy. I thought he was solid. Brings an urgency to the role at left back, and that's something that I like to see in defenders. Obviously only his second game and he's going to have to get used to the team, the style and the division but so far very good and hopefully more to come.

 

Loovens - 7 Thought he had a great game again.  I'll hold my hands up, with him playing with that injury last season I was concerned that he might be entering the final hurdle. But he had been superb this season. I loved the header when he just stood his ground with their big lad. It was all about strength and desire to get in front and win the header. Terrific. 

 

Sasso -6.5- There was the crazy moment when he ducked a header, but other than that I thought he looked really comfortable. For a lad who barely gets a kick he's come in and done an excellent job. Just shows that with a run of games lads can play themselves into form. 

 

Wallace -7.5-  An attacking player, but the way he got up and down showed that he can perform a job for the team when asked by the manager. I think anyone would agree he's a proper attacking player, but his tracking back was superb.  He has really got the bit between his teeth at the moment and has been one of the reasons that we have been picking up points during this tough spell. 

 

Bannan -7- Looked more like the old Bazza. Buzzing around with verve and energy. Little passes around the corner. Trying to get on more (which he can do when Hutch plays- anyone who thinks he's been playing deep off his own bat must be missing something)  I also thought he did really well with his battling tonight, Lets be honest he's a wee lad, and they had 3 big units in the middle there and he gave as good as he got.  The diamond formation that Birmingham played gave Bannan and Hutchinson so much work to do when Brum had possession of the ball that they had to be so focused and aware of making defensive angles because they could go man to man because of the simple maths of it showed great awareness and decscion making in when to close down, when to sit off and when to cut angles. Really pleased with the lad.

 

Hutchinson -7.5-  As above. The basic numerical disadvantage facing Hutch and Baz because of the two teams opposing systems meant this was always going to be a trying night when brum attacked. But Hutch was magnificent. It's actually getting to a stage where it's becoming expected of him to be awesome. Yes, he hit the post with that defensive header. But for me, great defending. That's sometimes a chance that has to be taken. Miss that ball and it's a knock in for some one anyway. Would have still been the right decision even if it had gone in. The tackling as always was glorious. But some of the big switch passes also showed just why this kid was such a hot prospect in his youth. 

 

Fernando -6.5- Not his greatest game and he did in the opening stages leave Fox 2v1 a couple of times. But this is one of our most attacking players. There is always that danger that it was going to happen. I have been one of those calling for his to play on the left. Though left of a front 3. Not left of a midfield four. Two quite, quite different roles. And not just in the positioning on the pitch but in the responsibilities and roles that come with those tactical nuances. He did look a bit grumpy when he came off.  But I've seen Hirsty call a manager a c*nt after being subbed. Players do hate coming off. There's no mountain to be made out of that molehill no matter how hard the press might try and push it and make nothing into 'a story'. Won lots of free kicks in dangerous areas and helped us hold the ball when we were under some pressure. 

 

Rhodes -7- The goal came as nothing of a surprise, as it won't to anyone else. The lads entire being is about scoring goals. What I did see though, and it's something I never saw when he played for Huddersfield was a terific work rate outside the box . There is a theory in football that you can let your best players off with doing the ugly jobs because of the other things they bring to the table. But it was so evident to see that despite the lads tremendous extraordinary goalscoring feats, he's no Bertie Big B0llocks. He's a team man, that was quite evident. And was great to see. 

 

Winnall -7.5- My man of the match.  As I have just said about Rhodes. Sometimes goalscorers in particular can fob off the defensive side of the game. The hard working side of the game. Not this lad. Oh yes, he's got a huge desire to get in the box, but his movement out of it was flawless in giving our defenders an out ball when we were under pressure.  Some of his link play with the midfield was really good especially at times with Bannan and Wallace. He could have had a couple more goals, but i won't be scalding him for that because he was in there getting on the end of chances. He had to overstretch for a couple, but I think that showed his desire to get on the end of things that sometimes he wasn't the favourite for.  

Finally, he was heading things out of our box. It might seem a small thing. And some might not have noticed but he was doing a lot of marking and defensive work when they had free kicks, throws in our last third.  He also wasn't afraid of getting his face in where the boots are. Not afraid of getting hurt, and my ,somewhat old fashioned book that uis a much undervalued quality in the modern footballer. 

 

Reach -7-  I have become tired of defending Reach over recent weeks. If people can't see that the boy has been asked to take up certain positions and have specific instructions in what to do when he has the ball then there's not point going over old ground. 

Tonight, with the team in a good position when he came on, Carlos clearly asked him to play a more attacking role than he usually does. And he showed, what many have suspected all along - that there is a good player in there with a  engine capable of running at people creating chances and scoring goals himself.  Well done that lad.

 

McManaman -7-  Is it right that I give him such a high score when he was only on ten minutes. Well, yes it is. Some of his link play was very good in that last ten. The little triangles we were playing and it was his interception (from taking up an excellent angled position before the attempted pass was cut out) that led to the last goal. 

 

Abdi - 6.5- Neat and tidy. Didn't give the ball away and was always available to receive. I'm glad to see him getting some minutes under his belt because he previous pedigree shows us that he has a real quality which he can exert at this level.  I'd still like to see him and Bannan ahead of Hutchinson in a three man midfield but it looks like that will remain a mere daydream for me. Still, as long as we're winning 3-0 every week I won't mind!

 

 

 

I know I shouldn't quote this because it's soooo long!

 

But it's the best summary of the game/players ever imho, well done m'lord.

[oh_weds_we_love_you]

Westwood : 7

Hunt : 7

Loovens : 7

Sasso : 7

Fox : 7

Wallace : 7

Hutchinson : 9

Bannan : 8

Forestieri : 7

Rhodes : 8

Winnall : 8

 

Solid team performance, worked hard, took our chances. Look a real unit now without being massively exciting. Happy with that!

[frastheowl]

 

Westwood - 7 - Didn't have to make a save of note. Good handling when needed. 

 

Hunt - 7 - Best display from him for a while. Obviously been instructed to cross the ball more often, which plays to his strengths

Loovens - 8 - Very assured, dealt with the physical threat of Juketwisz (sp.) very well.

Sasso - 7 - Dove in rashly early on, but from then on, looked very assured, strong and confident.

Fox - 8 - Best left back display of the season. Defended superbly, and offered a steady, supporting attacking outlet.

Hutchinson - 8 - Typical, industrious Hutchinson performance. Just wish he'd play 5-10 yards further up.

Bannan - 6 - Started off brilliantly, but the minute Birmingham took a foothold in the game, he was overrun. Defensively far too weak. Not helped by the fact, Hutchinson spends too much time playing in the back three. But this is the area where we need to sort out. I'd like to see Abdi play in there for me. Seems to bring a calmness to proceedings.

Wallace - 7 - Thought he played well yesterday, offered good protection to Hunt in the second half, always neat & tidy with the ball.

Forestieri - 7 - I prefer him playing wide left. Seems to find himself in better positions and more space. Didn't have the effect on the game like he did for much of last season in that position, but it definitely gives us more dynamic coming from the left.

 

Winnall - 7 - Looked sharp, worked hard, and took his goal very well. I do have concerns, that technically, he seems to be deficient to the rest of the squad. 

Rhodes - 8 - Far more to his game than just scoring goals. Exceptional link up play & intelligence. If we didn't know it already, we've got a real player on our hands here. 

[Dagmeister]

13 hours ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

You swine! You always manage to say concisely what takes me 10,000 words!

 

 In fairness I usually skirt by long posts Milord but make an exception for you and Dunsby.

[Mr. Chow]

Hutch for sure missed him chopping the others teams midfield plans up or just chopping their midfield players up in general 

[Ronio]

Voted for WInnall.  

 

Was outstanding last night.  

 

Hutchinson though, what a key player he has been for us this season. 

[Dutch McLovin]

On 11/02/2017 at 01:00, Holmowl said:

 

Bannan 5.5

 

Forestieri 7

 

Come on Dutch?

Yeah thought Bannan was poor myself and shocked Fessi got taken off. Just look at the difference Abdi makes when he's in the pitch everything moves forward ten yards.