Player rating vs Bristol City

[Weststander]

Stephens was the only player on the pitch looking anything like PL standard. Great game.

True.
Good to excellent performer in 9 out of 10 games. Calm when those around him go into headless chicken mode.
It's imperative thae we keep DS. If not, PL standard replacements will cost a huge chunk out of our player budget.
Easy to see why Dyche rates DS.

 

[Marshy]

Stockdale 7

Bruno 6
Bong 6
Uwe 6
Dunk 7

Kayal 5
Stephens 9
Skalak 4
Knockaert 6

Hemed 5
Murray 6


March 6
Sidwell 6

 

[Trigger]

Stockdale 7
Bruno 7
Dunk 7
Hunemeier 7
Bong 8
Kayal 6
Stephens 7
Knockaert 4
Skalak 3
Murray 6
Hemed 5

March 6
Sidwell 6
Tomori N/A

 

[Brighton Mod]

True.
Good to excellent performer in 9 out of 10 games. Calm when those around him go into headless chicken mode.
It's imperative thae we keep DS. If not, PL standard replacements will cost a huge chunk out of our player budget.
Easy to see why Dyche rates DS.

Not sure about Stephens, good at passing sideways and back, but very little in terms of decisive balls forward, telling passes and shots on goal. Not convinced he is as good as some on here might think.

 

[JC Footy Genius]

Stockdale 7

Bruno 6
Bong 6
Uwe 6
Dunk 7

Kayal 5
Stephens 9
Skalak 4
Knockaert 6

Hemed 5
Murray 6


March 6
Sidwell 6

This but Stephens down to an 8.

 

[BensGrandad]

Not sure about Stephens, good at passing sideways and back, but very little in terms of decisive balls forward, telling passes and shots on goal. Not convinced he is as good as some on here might think.

Very strange remarks as he is able to pick out short passes to create space and long passes to either wing to Bong or Bruno He is our midfield

 

[Scunner]

Not sure about Stephens, good at passing sideways and back, but very little in terms of decisive balls forward, telling passes and shots on goal. Not convinced he is as good as some on here might think.

I'll have some of whatever it is you're smoking...

Hughton's fault yesterday. If dead balls are a problem, which they are, then Norwood must play. He's on better form than Kayal is, who's been poor since his comeback, and Murphy or March are better players than Skalak and either should have played from the start instead.

Stephens was a class apart yesterday and when he came on at Norwich, so for me both defeats are the manager's responsibility.

Hughton appears inclined towards emotional rather than rational decisions. Again Pocognoli is a better footballer than Bong, by quite a large margin, but CH presumably played GB because Pog is a loanee and it was the last game of the season. It can only be that the Norwood decision was the same; he favours Kayal as POTS last year and should have been more hard headed in his appraisal of the players at his disposal.

Is CH a winner? He's been amazing for us, but what separates good people from winners is ruthlessness and clarity of purpose. After the Norwich game he tried to explain leaving Stephens on the bench by stating that competition was strong and he had 'international' players to pick that weren't getting games. That sounds like a hassled Dad coach on Sunday mornings trying to pacify parents of subs rather than a winner.

I hope that I am wrong but I am concerned by yesterday, Norwich (a) and Huddersfield (a) where strange decisions appear to have been costly.

I really hope CH makes it to the end of next season, but I have a suspicion that the Chsmpionship may be his level.

 

[amexer]

Stockdale 7 Did everything needed
Bong 4 Passing terrible
Dunk 7 Good game
Hunemeir 7 Good game
Bruno 6 Defended well but poor crossing.
Stevens 8 Good game
Kayal 6 too much poor play mixed with good
Skalak 2 One of poorest performances seen by Albion player. Everytime lost ball did stupid foul
Murray 6 How on earth did he miss the chance in 5mins
Hemed 2 Did nothing apart from moan to ref . If Baldock not fit play Akpon
Knockhaert 4 Cant believe wasnt booked. Just sulked and moaned all game because not going his way.
March 4 Whats happened to the March that goes past fullback

If wingers dont play well we have no idea. Hemed and Skalak as part of a promotion squad must have decent value so should sell. Priority is replace these 2 and and a creative attacking midfielder

 

[dazzer6666]

Bong, Kayal and Skalak all had shockers yesterday.

.....and Knocky.

 

[Weststander]

Not sure about Stephens, good at passing sideways and back, but very little in terms of decisive balls forward, telling passes and shots on goal. Not convinced he is as good as some on here might think.

It's not DS's job to be the ball-playing Vicente or Kayal. Watching him in games he protects our centre halves when one is out of position brilliantly, plays short instinctive passes to the creators and battles for the cause in a measured way. He also gives height and power when opponents pack their central midfield with muscle. Great tackler too.

Yes, not a world beater, but he would be bloody expensive to replace.

 

[Weststander]

.....and Knocky.

and Hemed. The invisible man against giants.

 

[Claude samdamme]

What a disappointment. The players really let the club and the fans down today. Great pre-game atmosphere with the flags and streamers and interviews with Storer, Bobby and Peter Ward. Then over to the players and what did they serve up? Mostly rubbish. And the manager gets no credit whatsoever for selecting Skalak ahead of March and Murphy. What the hell was his thinking behind that decision?

Stockdale 8. One superb save towards the end. Otherwise a bit too much punching for my liking.
Bruno 5. One joke of a cross right at the end just about summed up his day.
Dunk 8. Mostly dealt with Abraham OK, but struggled at times.
Hunemeir 7. Decent performance.
Bong 7. I thought he played well, but some on here think otherwise.
Kayal 6. Nowhere near his best. Lack of ball control plus some poor passing.
Stephens 8. His best performance of late.
Knockaert 5. At his most frustrating. Poor corners, poor free kicks, poor decision making.
Skalak 2. Slow. Fell over a lot. Awful.
Murray 7. Not his best game, but tough to play well with such dross around him.
Hemed 3. Slow. Won nothing in the air. nowhere near premier league standard.

Subs:
March 7. At least tried to get the game going.
Sidwell 6. OK.
Tomori N/A

A real wake up call for those who think this group of players will be able to cut it in the Premier League.

We just got promoted prem you miserable b@stard

 

[desprateseagull]

Hard to put figures on, but everyone seemed off the pace, and nowhere near the action, to follow up missed crosses / rebounds and the like.

Game play, going forward along either side of the pitch became almost predictable, and reduced options.

Bong always seems out of sorts, every time I see him play.

Maybe Bristol were just the better team- never gave out players much room, though they had more to lose. Fair play to them, avoiding the drop.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

I'll have some of whatever it is you're smoking...

Hughton's fault yesterday. If dead balls are a problem, which they are, then Norwood must play. He's on better form than Kayal is, who's been poor since his comeback, and Murphy or March are better players than Skalak and either should have played from the start instead.

Stephens was a class apart yesterday and when he came on at Norwich, so for me both defeats are the manager's responsibility.

Hughton appears inclined towards emotional rather than rational decisions. Again Pocognoli is a better footballer than Bong, by quite a large margin, but CH presumably played GB because Pog is a loanee and it was the last game of the season. It can only be that the Norwood decision was the same; he favours Kayal as POTS last year and should have been more hard headed in his appraisal of the players at his disposal.

Is CH a winner? He's been amazing for us, but what separates good people from winners is ruthlessness and clarity of purpose. After the Norwich game he tried to explain leaving Stephens on the bench by stating that competition was strong and he had 'international' players to pick that weren't getting games. That sounds like a hassled Dad coach on Sunday mornings trying to pacify parents of subs rather than a winner.

I hope that I am wrong but I am concerned by yesterday, Norwich (a) and Huddersfield (a) where strange decisions appear to have been costly.

I really hope CH makes it to the end of next season, but I have a suspicion that the Chsmpionship may be his level.

Some interesting points re CH.
In all the euphoria of promotion, I have been trying to analyse some very recent decisions by the manager. I heard comments by him and TB that the title was an objective, now that promotion had been secured. Fine, I thought....lets go and get the job done. But the focus seemed to go from the players and the manager. Team changes were made, that seemed unnecessary. Norwich were there for the taking but we didn't go for the jugular and picked a powder-puff line-up. I was puzzled by the inclusion of Skalac v Brizzle. Murray's early scuffed effort, when well placed to score, was a warning of what was to come. A scruffy, disinterested and disjointed performance followed.
The season, as a whole, has been very successful and CH deserves a lot of credit for that. He survived the traumatic loss of Calderwood with quiet dignity and got on with the job. That doesn't mean he can't be scrutinised and criticised. He appears to have allowed the players a bit of leeway since the Wigan game and hasn't been repaid with wholehearted effort. Now is the time to reassert himself and demand one more big effort. He cannot be happy that we finish with a whimper. Another title is good for his cv and will round off a superb season.
If our players come out breathing fire and blow Villa away, he will be vindicated in my eyes. If we see the same lack-lustre approach as the last two games, then I will start to believe that, maybe, there is a little bit of ruthlessness lacking in him.

 

[rocker959]

Collectively poor including Chris Hughton for initial team selection .

 

[Seagull1989]

Stephens frustrated me on Saturday . Every single time he would get it wide when it was clear our crossing wasn't working and Bristol could deal with it . He must have had 4 or 5 occasions where it dropped to him on the edge of the box and instead of hitting it he would send it wide again .

 

[Weststander]

Hard to put figures on, but everyone seemed off the pace, and nowhere near the action, to follow up missed crosses / rebounds and the like.

Game play, going forward along either side of the pitch became almost predictable, and reduced options.

Bong always seems out of sorts, every time I see him play.

Maybe Bristol were just the better team- never gave out players much room, though they had more to lose. Fair play to them, avoiding the drop.

DS played very well, whilst surrounded by headless chickens on the day.

 

[Weststander]

Stephens frustrated me on Saturday . Every single time he would get it wide when it was clear our crossing wasn't working and Bristol could deal with it . He must have had 4 or 5 occasions where it dropped to him on the edge of the box and instead of hitting it he would send it wide again .

Because Bristol,City had two players snapping at DS's heels, goal side, within a micro second of him receiving the ball. The "shoot" calls from the crowd were premature and unrealistic .... unfortunately werent on. So he had to pass sideways to March and others who dithered.

 

[goldstone]

We just got promoted prem you miserable b@stard

I do apologise. 9s and 10s for all of them. They played brilliantly against a team threatened with relegation and were SO unlucky to lose after giving 100% for the entire game. Based on that game and Norwich (A) we clearly have a squad that will do exceptionally in the Prem.

 

[Weststander]

I do apologise. 9s and 10s for all of them. They played brilliantly against a team threatened with relegation and were SO unlucky to lose after giving 100% for the entire game. Based on that game and Norwich (A) we clearly have a squad that will do exceptionally in the Prem.

Always tell it as you see it and disregard the thought police.