Birmingham Player Ratings

[Whitechapel]

Bearing in mind I give 5/6 as an average rating. 10 is flawless, 0 is we'd have been better off with 10 men. I haven't seen the highlights yet so this is my initial reactions from the game.

Stockdale - 3.5 - Don't get me wrong, he has had a brilliant, brilliant season but he was poor yesterday. No idea what he was even attempting for their goal and his kicking was sporadic, including one which nearly cost us where he booted the ball in such a way that a Birmingham player got a touch on it and the rebound could have gone anywhere. Might round it up to 4 once I see his save in the second half again. From the away end it looked like it took a weird deflection or bounce that almost wrongfooted him.

Bruno - 8 - His normal brilliant self. Absolute rock at the back and some nice touches going forward.

Goldson - 9 - Again, an absolute rock at the back and nice to see him finally get on the scoresheet.

Dunk - 9 MOM - Same as Goldson, shades MOM due to being a more frequent goal threat and for his ability to carry the ball forward when we lacked direction at points.

Rosenior - 6 - Weakest of the back four. Thought his positioning for their goal was very suspect too. Was surprised to not see him pushed in to midfield towards the end with Bong coming on.

Kayal - 6 - A bit quieter than normal. Personally think he loses something in a 3 man midfield.

Stephens - 7 - Best of the midfield three. Broke up play well and kept things ticking over.

Sidwell 6 - Was mortified to see him start, but he did okay. Think some people will go a bit overboard because he performed better than expected when in reality he simply did the basics well.

Skalak 8 - He's a hard one to judge. I don't think he beat a man once all game, and he lacks a lot of the attributes you'd look for in a winger but he works his bollocks off, makes some clever runs and his delivery is second to none. Personal highlight was him chasing someone down and putting in a monster of a tackle in the 88th(ish) minute which got him a standing ovation from the Brighton fans.

LuaLua - 5 - Maybe it was an off day but it looked to me that he's lost a yard of pace to me. Should have been subbed a lot earlier than he was as he was having no impact last night.

Hemed - 8 - Unsung hero. Some brilliant hold-up play, some very nice flicks and touches and unlucky not to score a overhead kick.

Subs:-

Murphy - 6 - Unlucky not to score.
Wilson - 2 - Might be being a bit harsh but it's 2-1, 5 minutes to go and he's sauntering around looking uninterested. Then he missed a golden chance to make it 3-1. He just didn't look interested.

 

[West Upper Seagull]

Skalak from c.8 dead ball situations put in 6 quality set pieces which asked questions of the Birmingham back line.

He's not the most aesthetically pleasing winger i.e he struggles to beat full backs his dribbling is pretty poor. But when you have a delivery like his, you just need half a yard or a set piece.

Apart from the assists he put in a good shift and worked well with Bruno.

A spot on assessment of Skalak, David Beckham was never a dribbler either but that never held him back, he was outstanding at giving himself half a yard to deliver a killer cross - that's exactly what Skalak can do for us.

 

[Luke93]

Stockdale - 5
Bruno - 8
Goldson - 8.5
Dunk - 8.5 MOTM
Rosenior - 6
Skalak - 7.5
Kayal - 6.5
Stephens - 8
Sidwell - 7
LuaLua - 5.5
Hamed - 7.5

Subs
Wilson - 3
Murphy - 5

 

[dazzer6666]

A spot on assessment of Skalak, David Beckham was never a dribbler either but that never held him back, he was outstanding at giving himself half a yard to deliver a killer cross - that's exactly what Skalak can do for us.

Just watched the highlights on Player - that's exactly what he does. Huge weapon to have in the team, particularly with headers like Hemed and Dunk in the team - the Brum commentary made specific reference to the number of quality balls he was putting in. Hs running off the ball is good as well - good understanding with Bruno developing

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Stockdale 5
Bruno 8
Dunk 8
Goldson 8
Rosenior 7
Kayal 7
Stephens 8
Skalak 8 MoM with two superb assists
LuaLua 6
Sidwell 7
Hemed 7

Subs:
Murphy 7
Wilson 5

 

[nwgull]

A spot on assessment of Skalak, David Beckham was never a dribbler either but that never held him back, he was outstanding at giving himself half a yard to deliver a killer cross - that's exactly what Skalak can do for us.

Beckham is the perfect example of the style of Skalak's wing play. Nothing flair or spectacular, and he'll never beat a man, but brilliant delivery if he gets himself in space.

 

[ForestRowSeagull]

A spot on assessment of Skalak, David Beckham was never a dribbler either but that never held him back, he was outstanding at giving himself half a yard to deliver a killer cross - that's exactly what Skalak can do for us.

Similar to David Lopez in that respect. He's worth a starting place for his set pieces alone

 

[Seasidesage]

Stockdale 5 - Badly at fault for their goal and distribution not up to his usual high standards.
Bruno 8 - Excellent 1st half, defended well.
Rosenior - 6 Not great going forward and also struggled from the lack of help defending from Lua Lua
Dunk - 9 Excellent all night, won everything in the air and distribution also better than of late.
Goldson - 8 Rock plus the goal added up to another very promising nights work.
Stephens 8.5 Excellent and with Kayal dominated the midfield all night.
Kayal 8 fantastic 1st half faded a little as the game wore on but kept the ball
Lua Lua 5 - Poor, lazy and greedy at times. This is Lua Lua sometimes unplayable other times a liability. This game helped his cause not one jot
Skalak 8 - His delivery was excellent and once he gets up to the pace of English football we will have a good player there.
Sidwell 7 - Best game of this spell and thought he looked a better player for being deployed in the advanced role. I was very critical of the selection before hand. I was wrong.
Hemed 7.5 - Worked very hard but looks to be showing the strain of playing game in game out. Needs help.

Wilson 6 - I thought looked fresher than Sat and worked a lot harder. Unlucky when only a last ditch tackle stopped him going clear. Lacked composure on the break out from the corner though.
Murphy 6 - Helped to stem the flow of attacks down our left and had a couple of decent moments going forward.

 

[theboybilly]

Stockdale 5
Bruno 8
Dunk 8
Goldson 8
Rosenior 7
Skalak 8
Stephens 9
Sidwell 7
Kayal 8
Lualua 7
Hemed 8

Subs:
Wilson 6
Murphy 7

Like most around me I was worried that this line-up was another Cardiff in the making - how wrong was I. Once level I didn't ever think Albion wouldn't go on to win. It was great to watch

 

[BobbySmith]

I know we won, and I am sure Chris knows more about football than I, but like most I was mystified as to the team selection and tactics. Firstly our record playing 4-3-3 (or last night 4-5-1 when defending and still could not work out what position Sidwell was actually playing as he had his back to the play a lot like a centre forward, which he clearly is not. Why drop Murphy and Knockhart?, they got loads of time for a rest this week. Also why does he always take Hemed off?, again it caused us problems as we were not keeping the ball up front and to be honest we made hard work against a very ordinary team. On talking to a Blue Nose in the bar afters, he said he could not believe their luck after watching the Burnley game that we had dropped 'our 2 best players' as he said their full backs are very suspect and fans were expecting us to exploit that. Not moaning, but an observation.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I know we won, and I am sure Chris knows more about football than I, but like most I was mystified as to the team selection and tactics. Firstly our record playing 4-3-3 (or last night 4-5-1 when defending and still could not work out what position Sidwell was actually playing as he had his back to the play a lot like a centre forward, which he clearly is not. Why drop Murphy and Knockhart?, they got loads of time for a rest this week. Also why does he always take Hemed off?, again it caused us problems as we were not keeping the ball up front and to be honest we made hard work against a very ordinary team. On talking to a Blue Nose in the bar afters, he said he could not believe their luck after watching the Burnley game that we had dropped 'our 2 best players' as he said their full backs are very suspect and fans were expecting us to exploit that. Not moaning, but an observation.

Thought it was quite simple, the entire midfield four were knackered after about 70 mins on Saturday, which is why we ended up conceding. No way were they all going to be able to start a game three days later. Anyway, has Knockaert done much away from home yet? Didn't think Hemed was doing anything like holding the ball up after 60 mins last night, rarely even got close to it.

 

[ALBION28]

Stockdale 4 Nervous in the warm up, it got worse, gifted goal to Lafferty throw out hit Birmingham player, he is prone to these lapses e.g Cardiff, Reading.
Bruno 8 - Classy as usual but a little tired perhaps.
Goldson 8 - Really solid with a great goal
Dunk 9- MOM really excellent and you could see his goal ment everthing to him.
Rosenior 7 - steady game
Stephens 8.5 Excellent game took control of midfield.
Kayal 7 - Worked hard but not at full speed (Carrying knock from Joey Baerton encounter?)
Sidwell 7- Best performance so far, put himself about.
LuaLua 7 - Welcome back Kaz, looked his old self but ran out of steam.
Skalak 8 - Developing nicely, high quality crossing and never say die attitude.
Hemed 7 - Works hard for the team.

Subs:
Murphy - 7 Plugged the gap that a tiring Kaz and unlucky not to score when he scuffed his shot after a brilliant run
Wilson -6 Just does not look well. Managed to miss the ultimate open goal at the end.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Not off the telly

Stockdale 4 - dropped a ball onto the feet of their striker and some dodgy distribution, but not one to dwell on I hope
Bruno 9 - just so calm and collected, and great going forward
Goldson 9 - impressed
Dunk 9 - really strong, thought he might 'Do a Dunk' on a couple of occasions, but got a way with a couple of iffy moments. One vicious challenge ended a couple of minutes of niggly fouls by Brum, really starting to lead this team.
Rosenior - 8 whole back four was good and that moment they all played it out from the corner flag was fantastic
Kayal 6 - started well but faded early, looked tired. Should have been subbed against Burnley I reckon. Looked damn good for half an hour though
Stephens 9 MOM - Ran the show last night, cleaning up and getting stuck in from first to last. Very impressive.
Sidwell 5 - Played surprisingly high on the pitch.There were moments when he threatened to be a really good player, but then he would lose the ball or put too much weight on a pass. If he got a run of games I reckon he'd be great, he's showing the effects of not playing for months
Lua Lua 5 - First start after a long layoff, what did we expect? Looked lively in first half an hour before predictably fading. Murphy brought on when they started getting purchase down their right.
Skalak 7 - Two awesome crosses and a lot of enthusiasm. Another who needs time to get up to speed but there are glimpses there of a special player. Could be supporting Hemed in a front two for the rest of the season?
Hemed 6 - as a big guy leading the line I thought he could have done more. Not much holding up of the ball, but can't fault workrate on a night when he got barely a sniff

Murphy 6 - alright, should have scored but a huge stroke of luck by their defender. Mainly on to provide defensive support to Rosenior.
Wilson 5 - not his kind of match situation, his skills are elsewhere. Should start in our next couple of home games, if Skalak not picked as a striker, and I'm sure he's got a big part to play the rest of the season

 

[BobbySmith]

Thought it was quite simple, the entire midfield four were knackered after about 70 mins on Saturday, which is why we ended up conceding. No way were they all going to be able to start a game three days later. Anyway, has Knockaert done much away from home yet? Didn't think Hemed was doing anything like holding the ball up after 60 mins last night, rarely even got close to it.

All about opinions. Just want us to go at teams a bit more, as we always sit back on leads and this often causes us big problems. I would have thought the 2 most tired after Saturday would be Stephens and Kayal?, but who can replace them, so maybe you have a point. Agree re Knockhart, but Murphy always looks dangerous away from home and still unsure what position Sidwell was playing, but as said we won, so no issue.

 

[Lurker]

Stockdale 5.5 Everyone has at least one dodgy game in them, I still want him to start the next one.
Bruno 7.5 Not at his best for the first 20 minutes, but imperious after that.
Goldson 8.5 Faultless and good header for the goal.
Dunk 8.5 Same as Goldson.
Rosenior 6.5 Not his best performance, I thought he should have seen the danger coming when they scored.
Skalak 7.0 Two assists and good delivery all night so he should be MOM, but disappointed with his inability to get past any opposing player … ever!
Kayal 6.5 He makes us tick, but not last night he didn’t. A rare quiet game, he should have dominated a piss poor Brummie midfield. Carrying a Barton knock perhaps?
Stephens 9.0 MOM. Superb performance. Didn’t put a foot wrong.
Lua Lua 6.5 Looked unsure first half, tentative even. Started to look more dangerous 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] half but clearly knackered and it was right to take him off.
Sidwell 6.5 Didn’t do anything wrong, although nothing exciting or dangerous came from his display, but he did a lot of good work closing down and linking play.
Hemed 7.5 His value is very underestimated by some on here. He grafts non stop, his hold up play is almost Bobby-like, and he’s always dangerous. The overhead kick would have been a brilliant goal but for Koosh’s excellent save.

Murphy 7.0 Our left side looked much stronger when he came on, both offensively and defensively.
Wilson 5.0 Marmite man. Sometimes I love him, Sometimes I don’t . Last night was a don’t. His work rate is less than 50% of what we get from Hemed, so if he’s missing easy chances what’s the point in having him in the team?

Hughton 9.0 I was one of those who questioned his team selection last night, but he proved me wrong. Only reason I don’t give him a 10 is because I thought Murphy should have come on for Kaz earlier, plus I’m not convinced Wilson is the right replacement for Hemed, and it really pisses me off when we sit deep on 1 goal leads. It happens so often, it must be a Hughton instruction?

Away Support 10.0 I thought it was excellent last night. Significant numbers on a Tuesday night hundreds of miles from home, and even when the Brummies scored nobody got on the team’s back, nor on Stockdale’s back … they just carried on making positive noise for the whole 90 minutes. Take a bow son.

 

[Reinelt12]

Also why does he always take Hemed off?, again it caused us problems as we were not keeping the ball up front.

I agree in that Hemeds hold up play and in particular his defensive work in open play and at set pieces are invaluable when holding onto a lead - him coming off against Burnley contributed to them looking more of a threat with set pieces

However - I also remember our playoff season under Gus and a certain Ulloa playing at Peterborough with about 2-3 games to go and he was shot to bits, as he had had to play every minute of the past 10-15 games with Barnes suspended/injured.

Keeping Hemed fresh is imperative - getting Bobby fit just to play 20 mins here and there to give Tomer a rest will help that.

 

[Acker79]

Any more ratings?

 

[Acker79]

Average Player Ratings

Highest Rated
Dunk 8.47 (96mins, 16 votes)

The Rest
Stephens 8.34 (96mins, 16 votes)
Bruno 8.25 (96mins, 16 votes)
Goldson 8.22 (96mins, 16 votes)
Skalak 7.63 (96mins, 16 votes)
<Hemed 7.34 (79mins, 16 votes)
Kayal 6.94 (96mins, 16 votes)
Sidwell 6.75 (96mins, 16 votes)
Rosenior 6.69 (96mins, 16 votes)
>Murphy 6.47 (26mins, 15 votes)
<Lualua 5.91 (70mins, 16 votes)
>Wilson 4.93 (17mins, 15 votes)
Stockdale 4.88 (96mins, 16 votes)


Squad Average: 6.99