Player Ratings v Coventry

[Virgo's Haircut]

Just got back, rather tired as I've been awake since 3pm yesterday.

Blayney - 8 - Solid, best keeper we've bought in this season by a long way.
Reid - 6 - Struggled a little at times, but did his job
Harding - 5 - Had another poor game
Butters - 7 - Quite a good game at the back
Dolan - 5 - Lacked pace and wasn't reading the game too well, beaten on numerous occasions
Oatway - 6 - Was invisible for long parts of the game
Hammond - 6 - Tried hard, and made some good tackles covering for Dolan
Hart - 6 - A quiet game, but gave 100% as usual
Knight - 8 - Gave everything, but got no support
Virgo - 7 - Strong, determined, and scored
McCammon - 4 - Very poor, gave the ball away, lacked any kind of pace, hardly won a header, nowhere near match fitness.

 

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Blayney - 8 - Kept us in it towards the end. Needs to improve kicking from his hands but good start
Reid - 5 - Average defending, kept banging too many long aimless balls forward
Harding - 4 - Drivel. Got caught in possession a few times too many
Butters - 8 - Solid and dependable as ever
Dolan - 5 - Slow and slightly dodgy. Will get exposed too often at this level
Oatway - 4 - An embarrasment. Hardly won a challenge in midfield. Woeful
Hammond - 6 - Tried to get himself booked to no avail. Snapping back to easily but some useful touches
Hart - 6 - Good run for the goal - thats it
Knight - 5 - Piss poor effort. Lacklustre - never took on Cov players often enough. Should have been subbed
Virgo - 9 - A meance, tailed defenders, chased, harriered everything. Scored 2 good goals
McCammon - 5 - Flatters to deceive. Again could have been sent off. Carthorse

Subs
McPhee - What is the point of this chap??

Unused sub
Elphick?? - Spitting image of Bobby. What position is he?

 

[El Presidente]

Blayney 6: One excellent save, reasonable throwing but kicking at times dodgy
Reid 5: Had a battle with their left winger all game
Harding 6: One excellent covering tackle but in general could do better
Butters 7: Good in the air against the Goat, and not needed on the floor
Dolan 6: Classic stopper centre half, no frills or pace but very committed.
Hart 5: Looked out of sorts and reluctant to take on defenders. Seems to be getting slower
Oatway 5: Chased as wholeheartedly as ever but needs to slow down the game more
Hammond 5: Did nothing memorable and game seemed to pass him by
Knight 5: Most skilful player on the park as usual but does not go chasing the ball.
McCammon 5: Won a few balls in the air and held up play on occasions, but has the first touch of a brick wall.
Virgo 8: Ran his cotton socks off and did not deserve to be on losing team

 

[Willow]

Highfield Road was a fantastic ground. Why are they moving out?

Blayney - 7 - Did well although most of the time it was a case of being in the right place at the right time. Poor kicking though.
Harding - 7 - Played very well and looked committed. Showed some pace too.
Butters - 7 - Solid and dependable. Can't remember any mistakes
Dolan - 6 - Looks like an astute addition to the tram by McGhee
Reid - 3 - Abysmal performance. Beaten time after time and poor distribution
Oatway - 6 - Passing was good. Left the field to fix his shinpads and they nearly scored from a breakaway.
Hammond - 6 - Anonymous
Hart - 6 - Huffed and puffed but showed nothing creative going forwardattacking wise
Knight - 6 Always something happening but wish he would take players on when he is wide
Virgo - 8 - Superbly taken goal. Ran around a lot. Booked as usual
McCammon - 6 Tried hard but lacked any service from the flanks.
McPhee - 4 - What's the point? Came on as fresh legs but Virgo still had to chase the keeper to make him pick it up
Nicolas - 5 - Anonymous
Jones - 5 - No time to do anything

 

[DJ NOBO]

blayney - 8- good handling, amazing safe of adebola

reid - 5 - has gone downhill, distribution is very poor now
harding - 6 - some decent tackles
butters - 7 - held it together in first half
dolan - 6 - solid enough but couldnt handle cov's subs

oatway - 6 - struggles for creativity but has presence
hammond - 6 - not sure he's gonna make it at the albion
knight - 7 - our most talented player but passes went astray
hart - 6 - battled as ever but just not a championship player

mccammon - 6 - don't rate him but perked up after fight with page
virgo - 7 - well taken goal, put himself about. Good player.

Generally: We matched them but the difference was on the subs bench. They bought on Adebola, we bought on chris mcphee - nuff said.
Our tired defence couldn't handle their subs and the second goal was coming for ten minutes beforehand.
Never a pen - obviously.

Hate to say it - but where's our next point coming from?

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Hart - 6 - Huffed and puffed but showed nothing creative going forward attacking wise

I accept this is your opinion but ....
it was OGH that sliced the Coventry defence with his through-ball that put Vigs in for his goal - how does this not count as creative?

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Hate to say it - but where's our next point coming from?

Tuesday at Deepdale - if the Pikey's can get a point there, so can we .... [hopefully] - but we do need some decisions to start going our way too

 

[blueandwhitearmy]

Blayney 7 - Made good saves one particularly memorable, comfortable in the air though kicking was poor.
Reid 5 - Wasn't a match for Lloyd Dyer, kept hoofing it forward.
Harding 6 - Strong and reliable performance made some good tackles.
Butters 7 - Totally reliable, won every header and every tackle.
Dolan 5 - Lack of focus, looked out of depth but showed promise in his commitment.
Oatway 6 - Swept up after an at times non-existant midfield. Calmed the football down well.
Hammond 6 - Quiet game, but did everything asked of him.
Knight 6 - Only Albion threat, just lack of support left him out of the game, not sure right wing is his strongest position.
Hart 5 - Looked nervous and tired easily but did try.
Virgo 7 - Great game from our best player this year, held the ball up well but could be more suited with some pace up front.
McCammon 5 - Clumsily lost the ball too often, not an attacking threat but with respect he don't look fit enough.

 

[Willow]

I accept this is your opinion but ....
it was OGH that sliced the Coventry defence with his through-ball that put Vigs in for his goal - how does this not count as creative?

Okay, I never picked that out as him so I'll give him his dues and up him to a 7!

 

[Yorkie]

Blayney 7
Reid 6
Harding 6
Butters 7
Dolan 7
Oatway 5
Hammond 6
Knight 7
Hart 6
Virgo 8
McCammon 6

 

[London Irish]

Blayney 7 - an excellent debut, forget about the good saves, what impressed me more was his anticipation and positioning. The odd dodgy kick but overall very heartening. He keeps the shirt.

Reid 6 - Fine defensive performance to keep Dyer pretty impotent but passing awry today.
Harding 5.5 - Beaten a little too easily at times when he seemed to get his angles and positioning wrong. I wonder if he would make a better midfielder.
Butters 8 - Our MOTM, can he have played better than this all season? Got everything that came his way and was our best distributor from the back today. One high ball trapped beautifully near the touchline and laid off - skill!
Dolan 6 - Another promising debut, very strong in the air, only one bad mistake on the ground early on. Very hopeful he could be our man to replace Cullip.

Oatway 6.5 - Not vintage Charlie but what good passes we made in this game invariably came from him. Takes responsibility to make progressive passes, which is why he's first choice over perhaps more naturally talented players. Note the pass into OGH for our goal. Also made a brilliant goal-saving challenge in his own box after that great Blayney save.
Hammond 6 - Did OK, a few good runs but will make way for Chippy.
Knight 5 - bad day at the office for Leon, seemed to lack that zip we know he has.
Hart 5.5 - Fantastic pass for the goal but nothing much else of consequence.

Virgo 8 - Once again proved for the umpteenth time why he must play up front, he's easily our best striker. Wonderful finish. Shame McPhee's cross at the end was just that half-yard too far.
McCammon 6 - A constant menace to the Coventry defence, good effort so shortly after his energy-sapping illness which he probably hasn't completely shaken off the effects of, hence his lack of puff in the second half.


McPhee 5 - Did well with the cross at the end but I'm slightly worried that a half-fit puffed-out Big Mac was troubling the Cov defence more than McPhee's fresh legs.
Jonah/Nicolas - not on long enough to get a mark.

McGhee 7 - will be kicking himself that he didn't bring on more fresh legs in midfield in the final quarter, the winner was tired defending. Nicolas should have come on earlier for Hammond IMHO.

 

[bigc]

.
Knight 5 - bad day at the office for Leon, seemed to lack that zip we know he has.

McCammon 6 - A constant menace to the Coventry defence, good effort so shortly after his energy-sapping illness which he probably hasn't completely shaken off the effects of, hence his lack of puff in the second half.

erm...lol

McCammon was no constant menance...he walked away from goal so many times in the first half when Virgs would have contested it.

 

[Silent Bob]

Blayney 7 - Apart from dodgy kicking a fine debut.

Reid 6 - Kept Dyer under control for the most part.
Harding 6 - Average.
Butters 8 - Solid as a rock today.
Dolan 6 - Not a bad debut.

Oatway 5 - Mostly anonymous, sometimes crap.
Hammond 6 - Played in a midfield that was overrun.
Knight 6 - Had two men on him always. Made little of consequence.
Hart 5 - Apart from his involvement in the goals was not in the game, as he hasn't been in any recent games.

Virgo 8 - Ran his arse off, great finish for the goal. I'm now starting to think he really is our best striker
McCammon 4 - Poor. Foul after foul. Gave away the ball most of the time. Didn't look fit either.


McPhee 3 - Pointless. Only involvement was the cross near the end which was too far.
Jones/Nicolas - not on long enough to make an impact.

 

[London Irish]

erm...lol

McCammon was no constant menance...he walked away from goal so many times in the first half when Virgs would have contested it.

Virgs is a much quicker player, Big Mac's strengths are not chasing after balls, but causing aerial problems, which he did frequently in the first half, and holding on to possession and feeding it, remember Virgs' Wigan goal.

Let's not forget that Leon always gets constantly criticised too, often unfairly, for not chasing and harrying defenders. Very few players are in Virgs' class at that because very few have his unique combination of speed, desire and stamina. But I guess we'll still see people parrotting this illogical obsession that Virgs must play in a back 3 and nowhere else.

 

[bigc]

It wasnt a constant criticism of McCammon like many here do, I just think right now, Virgo and Knight up front would suit me.

 

[Skaville]

Blayney 8 MOTM
Reid 6
Harding 7
Butters 7
Dolan 5
Oatway 5
Hammond 6
Knight 6
Hart 6
Virgo 7
McCammon 5

 

[fatboy]

Unused sub
Elphick?? - Spitting image of Bobby. What position is he?

Centre back.

 

[London Irish]

It wasnt a constant criticism of McCammon like many here do, I just think right now, Virgo and Knight up front would suit me.

I'd just love to know what you saw in Leon's performance yesterday that would make you think he would be any more effective up front than in the many games he's already played there this season. Baffling to me. He's been ineffective due to tight marking and yesterday Adams did his homework by ensuring he was tightly marked even in the wide and deep positions where McGhee has moved him to get away from the kind of muscular defending that has made him so ineffective.

 

[bigc]

he's the only one with any skill on the ball.

 

[London Irish]

And how did he show that yesterday?