Player ratings vs Watford

[goldstone]

We started off so brightly and O'Grady should have scored early on. Decent first half, but our game deteriorated as the second half wore on. Probably did enough for a point and Watford nothing special. They'll be coming straight down if they get promoted. Why the decision to play three at the back?

Stockdale 7. Some good saves; one poor kick that almost lead to a goal.
Greer 2. Awful. Get rid. Can't pass to a Brighton player. At fault for the first goal.
Halford 5. Looked like the best of the back three, but not the best we have seen from him.
Dunk 4. Did not look comfortable in that role on the left of three. The fact he is right footed didn't help.
Bruno 5. Some good, some bad. Usual Bruno. We need a new RB for next season.
Bennett 6. Some good crosses and some poor defending. Hope we don't sign him.
Kayal 7. Our best player until he faded towards the end. MOM
Stephens 6. Didn't think much of his corners. Did an OK job in midfield.
JFC 5. Not a bad game by his standards, but not good enough for a team pushing for promotion (hopefully) next season.
Carayol 7. Looked good, particularly in the first half. The guy has potential.
O'Grady 6. Should have scored in the first few minutes. A couple of other decent attempts. Didn't win as many high balls as usual and looked slow at times.

Subs:
CMS 3. Clear why we are getting rid.
Calderon 5. Not great.
KLL 4. Didn't see enough of the ball. Gave the ball away on one occasion in a very dangerous position.

Ref: Awful.

 

[Napier's Knee]

Stockdale. Good as now usual - excellent long clearance to CMS. 7
Bruno. One of the few who cares 6
Greer. Oh. 4
Dunk. Hints of his Sami-period good form 6
Bennett. Good left side midfielder, poor defender 5
Halford. Solid in the back three. 6
JFC. Ok 5
Stephens. Good 6
Kayal. Our motor 8 MoM
Carayol. Ok 5
COG. Strong, never looked likely to score 6

KLL 4 and seemed not to care
CMS. 4 and played his usual game - not up to it
Calderon 4 but cared


Liked the 3 at the back - doing well until Greer's mistake

Watched Leon Best closely during prematch warm up. Lazy, arrogant. When the team was announced before KO some people near me in the North booed when Best was announced - completely agree with them. I'm convinced CH is going to sign him.

Best visiting support of the season. Watford are a big physically strong team - will come straight back down if they go up.

 

[Acker79]

Stockdale - 7 Nothing he could do about the goals, a few errant kicks under pressure, but I'm giving him a point for that delightful side step when Greer made a bad back pass
Bruno - 5
Greer - 4
Halford - 4.5
Dunk - 5
Bennett - 4
JFC - 5
Kayal - 7
Stephens - 6
O'Grady - 5
Carayol - 4

CMS - 4
Lualua - 4
Calderon - 5


It is incredible to look at some of the goals we've conceded, at how awful our defence has been so frequently and realise that we're staying up because of how few goals we've conceded.

I wonder, if we totted up the number of passes our opponents have made to their goalkeepers, would it equal the number of passes we have made to our opponents' goalkeepers?

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Stockdale 6 Did everything required, one annoying punch when he could have caught the thing.
Bruno 6 Average and ordinary performance.
Greer 5 A few misplaced passes, out of position once or twice and at fault for the first goal/assist for the first goal.
Halford 6 Solid and consistent, changed my opinion completely, sign him up.
Dunk 6 Sheer class, will be first choice centre back next season.
Bennett 6 Happy to sign him, he'd link really well with a proper left winger.
Stephens 7 Busy, mobile and sharp. Quality player and his partnership with Kayal is class.
Kayal 7 Such a quality player, needs better around him to fully utilise his class.
Forster-Caskey 5 His role wasn't really defined in the team and he didn't get into the game.
Carayol 4 Poor performance and didn't really seem too bothered.
O'Grady 4 Rubbish player, he is League 1 standard at best and needs to be flogged.

Subs
Mackail-Smith 5 Going to miss him.
LuaLua 1 Shit.
Calderon 4 No time, deserving player of the season.

 

[El Sid]

Stockdale - 7
Bruno - 6
Greer - 3
Halford - 5
Dunk - 5
Bennett - 5
JFC - 5
Kayal - 9
Stephens - 7
O'Grady - 6
Carayol - 6

CMS - 10 (I'm team CMS and proud)
Lualua - 5
Calderon - 5

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Why 3 at the back? Because we don't have any decent wingers, so better to try two up-front. I thought we played well today, until we got a nose bleed in the final third

Stockdale 7.5. Did very well today - can't think of any moments where he made a mistake & he made some good saves.
Greer 4. Poor today. Really poor. Terrible mistake for the first goal
Halford 4. Equally as poor. He should have cleared the ball for the first goal before Greer cocked up
Dunk 6.5.. I thought he played well today. Made to look worse by his fellow centre halves.
Bruno 7. Played well IMO.
Bennett 6. Also played well
Kayal 7.5. MOM. Again
Stephens 6. Mixed bag today. Wish Hughton would play him in the advanced midfield position. Also gives a 6 foot presence in the box if we ever do cross the ball
JFC 6. Did ok without standing out. Keeps things ticking over
Carayol 7. Looked good for half an hour & then completely faded
O'Grady 7. Held the ball up really well, but doesn't look like scoring. Having said that, almost scored with the header & Gomes made a great save from the one in the first half

Subs:
CMS 6. Did well by his standards, which aren't particularly high
Calderon 6. Did ok - not as good as Bruno
KLL 4. Sigh. There's a quality player in there somewhere

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Stockdale - 7 - Couple of very good saves, having seen the replay
Bruno - 4 - not his best day
Bennett - 5 - usual inability to defend, coupled with some good runs offensively
Dunk - 5 - all over the place. Personally, I'd cash in as not good enough.
Greer - 2 - woeful, more intent on barging the player than controlling the ball for the first game.
Halford - 4 - void of confidence, poor header for the first goal. Probably played himself out of a contract.
JFC - 5 - not as awful as some, but didn't do a lot. (What has Ince done?)
Kayal - 8 - Only outfield player with any ability apparently.
Stephens - 4 - getting worse each game, needs a pre-season.
Carayol - 5 - head down, produces little, another pointless loan.
O'Grady - 7 - good performance, if only he could finish......

KLL - 6 - saw more of the ball when he came on, but should have started.
Calderon - 4 - one game too many for him
CMS - 6 - buzzed about in his own inimitable style and could have had a pen.

Ref: 1 - the Football League kindly saved the worst refereeing appointment to the final game. Just shocking.

Hughton - Pleased he changed his tactics, basically try anything, it really couldn't get any worse post Wigan. Calderwood is a silly appointment and I cannot see what he brings that Jones doesn't. If he doesn't make a fast start next year then the pressure will be on.

 

[GT49er]

O'Grady 4[/B] Rubbish player, he is League 1 standard at best and needs to be flogged.

Bit harsh, isn't it?

 

[Cloughie]

Stockdale - 6 Not at fault for either goal & nothing he could've done with either. Didn't dominate his box and a couple of hairy moments could've been prevented had he been more authoritative throughout.

Greer - 6 Coulve done better with the first goal where he tried to 'pin in' forward with his back rather than attack the ball after Halfords poor header. Distribution was fine (never easy to pass into midfield when you could throw a net over all 3 CMs as they're all too close together) although found himself 1vs1 too often for my liking (part and parcel of 3 at the back)

Halford - 5 Distribution was poor and was at fault with the opening goal after a weak 'free' header. Could've pushed the midfielders on and travelled with the ball 10-15 yards and committed a Watford player before passing after the ball had been recycled.

Dunk - 6. Dealt with Igalho and Deeney well when 1vs1. Still takes too many chances and closes his own space down when in possession. Still, we shouldn't be leaning on our young lads and expecting them to get us out of holes.

Kayal - 7 Looked assured in possession and made 2-3 penetrating runs from deep which are difficult to track. Defended well but could've been more cynical and got Deeney booked in the first half for persistently body checking him.

Stephens - 6 Spurned the best chance of the match when he generously passed back to Gomez from 15yards. Lucky not to have been sent off after a series of daft tackles. Good passer but none seem to break the lines and was all too pedestrian to worry Watford.

JFK - 6 His refusal to run in behind opponents infuriates many on here but overall I think he is unfairly vilified. Guilty of waiting for things to happen in games and coming too short to get the ball off of the defence. Kept the ball moving well and positionally was good. Offers very little in therms of forward thrust and is better suited to playing deeper.

Bruno - 7 Loves giving away petty fouls when there is no need but other than that his performance was solid. Gets forward and finds only one player in the box & is forced to go backwards far too often for my liking. One of the most skilful and capable players in the squad and obviously one of the most frustrated judging by his acts of petulance (fouls).

Bennett - 6 Was a passenger today really. Woke up after his run in with Deeney but was always on the fringes of the game. Lashed wide early on after a good opening and was fractionally offside from a diagonal pass but other than that offered little offensively. Was resolute defensively though.

O'Grady - 8 thought he was really good today under the circumstances. When he got half decent service he was strong, brave and brought others into the game. If they use him properly he is more than capable of being effective in the championship but if he's isolated as often as he was today then it's pointless playing him. He lacks pace which means defenders can go tight to him as they're not worried about him running away from them. Needs willing runners to stretch the play so he can either; turn and play forward himself, or drop it off to someone who can find the runners.

Carayol (sic) - 6 Squandered a chance early on and was very much on the periphery of the game thereafter. Saw glimpses of raw pace and talent but clearly struggling after a long layoff and shouldn't be relied upon from the start of.

 

[Cloughie]

Bit harsh, isn't it?

I thought he was our best player today. With willing runners he could be a solid #9 in our system. Was totally isolated today and still looked good when he got half decent service. At the moment, the rest of the team dump it off to him and hope he can do something.

 

[Silk]

KLL 4. Sigh. There's a quality player in there somewhere

There's just not. We've waited long enough for him to produce the goods. Get rid.

 

[Stat Brother]

I don't understand the majority of scores and comments on Stephens.

He isn't very good.
He's late with most his tackles and NEVER passes the ball forward.
Everything he does is to the side or backwards, no more than 10 yards.

He's a wannabe Dean Hammond, Poyet throw back, without the attacking intent.

 

[Kevlar]

I don't understand the majority of scores and comments on Stephens.

He isn't very good.
He's late with most his tackles and NEVER passes the ball forward.
Everything he does is to the side or backwards, no more than 10 yards.

He's a wannabe Dean Hammond, Poyet throw back, without the attacking intent.

he had the best effort at goal for 2 matches in a row

 

[Stat Brother]

he had the best effort at goal for 2 matches in a row

That's the problem, they may well have been his best efforts.

 

[Rookie]

Funny how people see the game. I thought halford was dreadful and yet people say he was the best of the back 3

 

[Kevlar]

its all opinions I know but I thought that was one of our best performances this year
that's not saying much and we cannot score which is the point
but we did match the top team in the league
happy to concede a second going all out for an equalizer

stockdale 8

Greer 5
halford 6
dunk 7

bruno8
Stephens 8
Kayal 8.5 (would have been 9 but for understandably tiring weak shot and crosses late on)
JFC 7
Bennett 8

kayarol 5
cog 8

CMS 6
calde 8
Lua Lua 5

if Bruno or calde remains our right back choices next year
It might be reassuring to have 3 defenders behind them
it might also be a way back in the team for Ince as 1 of the 3

 

[Silk]

Stockdale 7
Greer 4
Halford 6
Dunk 5
Bruno 5
Bennett 5
Kayal 7
Stephens 6
Carayol 7
O' Grady 7
Forster-Caskey 4

Mackail-Smith 5
LuaLua 4
Calderón 4

The 3 centre backs was just weird, Greer was crap. Good first half hour, but once they scored we lost heart. Thought O'Grady had one of his best games for us.

It concerns me that at a time when we needed results we can't even score goals. Very poor stuff lately and I'm not convinced by Hughton, but he deserves a go with a decent squad next season. I would only keep Kayal, Stephens, Stockdale and Dunk from today's starters, and subs that came on.

 

[Silk]

I don't understand the majority of scores and comments on Stephens.

He isn't very good.
He's late with most his tackles and NEVER passes the ball forward.
Everything he does is to the side or backwards, no more than 10 yards.

He's a wannabe Dean Hammond, Poyet throw back, without the attacking intent.

I don't agree, one of only a handful of players we should keep.

 

[Silk]

Funny how people see the game. I thought halford was dreadful and yet people say he was the best of the back 3

I thought he was. Dunk and particularly Greer were terrible.

 

[Phat Baz 68]

Stockdale - 5
Bruno - 7
Greer - 6
Halford - 6
Dunk - 5
Bennett - 4
JFC - 2
Kayal - 8
Stephens - 7
O'Grady - 7
Carayol - 7

CMS - 6
Lualua - 6
Calderon - 6