*Sigh* Player Ratings - BHAFC v Nottingham Forest

[Skaville]

Great assist from Barnes. Wonderful run to the far post, then he did well to centre for Crofts. He had f. all service all night and was very isolated. I'd like to see Dickinson alongside him. I'm perplexed as to what Barker offers?

 

[Zebedee]

I will be quite happy if David goes nowhere near our first team again for a while.

I'd be tempted to drop the whole lot of them if only it was possible.

 

[saafend_seagull]

Pig 8
Ward 8
Lua Lua 8
Rest 5

Players looked tired and low on confidence. Greer and Upson take it in turns to have a shocker.

No depth on the bench either.

Hopefully can grind out a point at Yeovil otherwise we could get dragged into it.

 

[One Love]

Have you any understanding of the game? It's not easy for Barnes as he is a different type of player to Ulloa, if they want to to continue to chip the ball at Barnes' head he's going to struggle to use it the same way Ulloa would. We're playing exactly the same style, Barnes stands no chance.

What an arrogant post. Obviously my understanding of the game comes nowhere near yours.

I am well aware of the rest of your post but taking that into account was expecting so much more from him. The problem was when played into his feet he was continually beaten to the ball which should not be happening. I was a target man all my playing life so I have half an inkling of what is expected in the role.

 

[One Love]

Who got an assist then? I was pretty sure it was Barnes.

Assist!

The BBC website report says "But Brighton deservedly went ahead after a deep cross by Stephen Ward was mis-hit into Crofts' path by Ashley Barnes."

Had to check just in case I was mistaken.

 

[DJ NOBO]

Tom 7 Important saves in first half. Forest goals weren't his fault.
Calderon 5 Defended reasonably well. Had a great chance with a header, but his technique was shocking
Ward 5 I reckon ward is happier when he's in the shadows. He doesn't really want the ball.
Greer 5 Not as bad as some have been saying but he cost us a goal with a wayward pass
Upson 7. The odd fumble but he has great pedigree which shines through
Jfc. 4. The game passed him by. I've noticed defenders almost encourage him to shoot because they know its not going in
Crofts. 6. Limited player but always tries hard
Andrews. 6. Acted as the spare defender when they attacked. Good organiser. Not his best game but deserves a 6
Lua lua. 8. Ok, the final ball is rarely there, but I love it when he runs at defenders. He was the one forest were worried about
Buckley 4. Either didn't get a cross in when he should have, or did a great cross in , and hit it too long
Barnes. 4. totally owned by their centre backs. Didn't get great service but didn't make anything happen for himself either


Barker. 4. Can only have touched it twice.
Lopez. 4. Oh dear. Wild passing and delivery
Conway. 5. Time for Conway to deliver. Expect better from someone with his cv

Garcia. 7. I liked the first eleven - only criticism was taking off our main striker when we needed two goals

 

[Acker79]

First half would probably be a point higher, second half a point lower, so am averaging them out.

Kuszczak 7 - some good saves, not sure he had much chance with the goals
Calderon 5.5 - don't remember a particular error from him defensively, though I wouldn't be surprised if someone corrected me on that
Greer 4 - several times tried a high crossfield pass without looking giving the ball away, played the ball up the line to no one, gifted possession to forest straight from kick off, then conceded the penalty. Terrible game from greer.
Upson 5.5 - I thought he was, generally speaking, our best defensive player, but he also cleared to a forest player for their second goal
Ward 5.5 - gets a bit of a bump for the cross. He is simply a decent left back. Not particularly bad, not particularly great.
Crofts 6 - seemed to be trying, playing through the pain, got a goal
Forster Caskey - 5 m'eh.
Buckley 5 - he kept running towards the corner flag and doing nothing when he got there. He occasionally got a cross in, but it wasn't anything we could with them, too soft in the challenge
Lualua 5 - wasted so much possession. Shots into the crowd, his crosses were so close to the keeper they may have been off-target shots, the one time he looked up he lost the ball, he seemed to want to do everything himself rather than use his team mates.
Barnes 5 Would probably be lower, but I do think part of his problem is that he lacks support, passes constantly being played two yards behind him, or too far ahead of him. For large periods of the game he seemed to be more concerned with winning a free kick than receiving the ball and doing anything with it.

Lopez 5.5 - I think it was his best performance this season. Made most of his passes, but his balls into the box from free kicks are seriously lacking
Conway - Not sure I really noticed him. Hope his form improves (and will be forgiving if his performances are due to his new baby - assuming I'm remembering the retweet right)
Barker - game already lost when he came on, didn't really do anything


First half I was feeling quite negative, noticing the mistakes more than normal. Was determined to be positive second half when we conceded softly. There is so much that needs sorting out with this team. I do not believe the problem was a lack of Ulloa. The balls in the final quarter of the pitch were awful, even Ulloa wouldn't have done anything with them. Yes we have injuries, but we still had buckley, lualua, crofts and andrews who showed no creativity or cutting edge. Still don't see why so many people are constantly calling for JFC to be brought through, no more than solid at best.

Too many players seemed to be constantly trying to win freekicks rather than receive it and do something with it. Which would make sense if we had a beckham or some big guys to get on the end of balls into the box.

Our passing was so soft. There was no zip in the ball, no energy. Players would be in space and a softly hit ball would trundle towards them, by which time forest will have surrounded the receiving player. Throw ins were the same. Free kicks were wasted as ball after ball was slowly lofted into the box.

Yet again we failed to utilise a man advantage. That's the third time this season we have had a man advantage, and the third time we haven't used it to control the game and really bother our opponents. Scraped a draw v millwall, just about managed to get a second goal but ceded a lot of possession to burnley, failed to muster a shot on goal in 28+mins v ten men today.

Yes, we have injuries, but look at the team we put out. First choice keeper, centreback pair, left back. Calderon was picked at right back despite Bruno being fit suggesting he's our current first choice right back. So, first choice back five.

First choice left and right wing in Buckley and Lualua.

In the middle we have Crofts, Andrews and JFC. Crofts and Andrews are going to be regular starters if not first choice even when everyone is fit.

Barnes has his detractors, but there are some who would rate him ahead of CMS. I'm not sure management would, but he has plenty of experience playing in our first team, he's not a kid, he's not likely to be far from the matchday squad when everyone is fit, Barnsley (or was it burnley, I always get the confused) were interested in signing him. It's wrong to think of him as a player would be nowhere near the team if it wasn't for all these damn injuries.

The starting 11 isn't the patchwork of fringe players our injury list might suggest. We shouldn't be struggling with what to do when we get near their penalty area. Our "fringe" players are not that bad. Yet they keep playing like it at the moment.

3-1 does not flatter Forest, they deserved such a win.

 

[T soprano]

Barnes today = TILTMAN OR FARRINGTON
BARNES 3 points

 

[One Love]

Lualua 5 - wasted so much possession. Shots into the crowd, his crosses were so close to the keeper they may have been off-target shots, the one time he looked up he lost the ball, he seemed to want to do everything himself rather than use his team mates.

Try to imagine today's game without LuaLua but with say, Conway in instead.

How do you think we would have done? How much do you think you would have enjoyed the game?

 

[Acker79]

Try to imagine today's game without LuaLua but with say, Conway in instead.

How do you think we would have done? How much do you think you would have enjoyed the game?

Oh my god you're right. We might have lost if lualua hadn't started.

 

[One Love]

Oh my god you're right. We might have lost if lualua hadn't started.

I'm not talking about the result, I'm talking about the performance (Sigh! I really should be used to this by now).

 

[Acker79]

I'm not talking about the result, I'm talking about the performance (Sigh! I really should be used to this by now).

Did you not read the rest of my post? I wasn't impressed with the performance. It's not like I thought we lost but it was a good performance. It wasn't. "Well, it could have been worse" isn't a great argument.

I've not seen enough of Conway to know if he'd be any good. I know he hasn't had great reviews in his brief appearances, but he has also had a wife due to give birth (and she has now), and needs time to settle into the side. He got promoted with Cardiff, and been with them a couple of years as they were regularly there or there about, so I don't imagine he'd be a terrible replacement. He may have even looked up and seen when a teammate was on for a pass. Or he could have put in a performance that made us worse. I'm not going to assume anything. Either way "well, it could have been worse" is not going to make me feel better about today's performance.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

Kuszczak 7

Calderon 6
Greer 4
Upson 5
Ward 6

Crofts 6
Forster Caskey 5
Buckley 5
Lualua 7
Andrews 5

Barnes 5



Lopez 5
Conway 5
Barker 5

Again poor discipline in marking and keeping a shape beat us, the players available are good enough to make us hard to beat and to get results. I'll give Oscar a 3 for picking a better starting eleven but the way they are trying to play and are working as a defensive and offensive unit is still very poor and naïve.

 

[ferring seagull]

First half would probably be a point higher, second half a point lower, so am averaging them out.

Kuszczak 7 - some good saves, not sure he had much chance with the goals
Calderon 5.5 - don't remember a particular error from him defensively, though I wouldn't be surprised if someone corrected me on that
Greer 4 - several times tried a high crossfield pass without looking giving the ball away, played the ball up the line to no one, gifted possession to forest straight from kick off, then conceded the penalty. Terrible game from greer.
Upson 5.5 - I thought he was, generally speaking, our best defensive player, but he also cleared to a forest player for their second goal
Ward 5.5 - gets a bit of a bump for the cross. He is simply a decent left back. Not particularly bad, not particularly great.
Crofts 6 - seemed to be trying, playing through the pain, got a goal
Forster Caskey - 5 m'eh.
Buckley 5 - he kept running towards the corner flag and doing nothing when he got there. He occasionally got a cross in, but it wasn't anything we could with them, too soft in the challenge
Lualua 5 - wasted so much possession. Shots into the crowd, his crosses were so close to the keeper they may have been off-target shots, the one time he looked up he lost the ball, he seemed to want to do everything himself rather than use his team mates.
Barnes 5 Would probably be lower, but I do think part of his problem is that he lacks support, passes constantly being played two yards behind him, or too far ahead of him. For large periods of the game he seemed to be more concerned with winning a free kick than receiving the ball and doing anything with it.

Lopez 5.5 - I think it was his best performance this season. Made most of his passes, but his balls into the box from free kicks are seriously lacking
Conway - Not sure I really noticed him. Hope his form improves (and will be forgiving if his performances are due to his new baby - assuming I'm remembering the retweet right)
Barker - game already lost when he came on, didn't really do anything


First half I was feeling quite negative, noticing the mistakes more than normal. Was determined to be positive second half when we conceded softly. There is so much that needs sorting out with this team. I do not believe the problem was a lack of Ulloa. The balls in the final quarter of the pitch were awful, even Ulloa wouldn't have done anything with them. Yes we have injuries, but we still had buckley, lualua, crofts and andrews who showed no creativity or cutting edge. Still don't see why so many people are constantly calling for JFC to be brought through, no more than solid at best.

Too many players seemed to be constantly trying to win freekicks rather than receive it and do something with it. Which would make sense if we had a beckham or some big guys to get on the end of balls into the box.

Our passing was so soft. There was no zip in the ball, no energy. Players would be in space and a softly hit ball would trundle towards them, by which time forest will have surrounded the receiving player. Throw ins were the same. Free kicks were wasted as ball after ball was slowly lofted into the box.

Yet again we failed to utilise a man advantage. That's the third time this season we have had a man advantage, and the third time we haven't used it to control the game and really bother our opponents. Scraped a draw v millwall, just about managed to get a second goal but ceded a lot of possession to burnley, failed to muster a shot on goal in 28+mins v ten men today.

Yes, we have injuries, but look at the team we put out. First choice keeper, centreback pair, left back. Calderon was picked at right back despite Bruno being fit suggesting he's our current first choice right back. So, first choice back five.

First choice left and right wing in Buckley and Lualua.

In the middle we have Crofts, Andrews and JFC. Crofts and Andrews are going to be regular starters if not first choice even when everyone is fit.

Barnes has his detractors, but there are some who would rate him ahead of CMS. I'm not sure management would, but he has plenty of experience playing in our first team, he's not a kid, he's not likely to be far from the matchday squad when everyone is fit, Barnsley (or was it burnley, I always get the confused) were interested in signing him. It's wrong to think of him as a player would be nowhere near the team if it wasn't for all these damn injuries.

The starting 11 isn't the patchwork of fringe players our injury list might suggest. We shouldn't be struggling with what to do when we get near their penalty area. Our "fringe" players are not that bad. Yet they keep playing like it at the moment.

3-1 does not flatter Forest, they deserved such a win.

I wouldn't really argue much with most of your observations though I thought Tamas was disappointing in that there were balls he should have gathered rather than punching ineffectively.

Lua Lua and, whereas I don't necessarily disagree, he was certainly our only ongoing threat today he is certainly a loose canon who seems to forget that there are another 10 Albion players on the pitch. His shooting/crossing is frustrating as the end result is generally zilch !

Ashley Barnes did indeed have a poor game, he spent a lot of time appealing to his team mates to support him but, that is the same problem CMS experienced as a sole striker which is a difficult thing to do ( Ulloah is indeed an amazing talent )

It was really a depressing day, in my opinion, as generally our passing was extraordinarily poor as was that of Forest but, I agree, they certainly deserved to win.

With 6/7 senior players missing it was always going to be an unlikely win so thank goodness that we at least have two more weeks to get some of those fit again.Her's hoping that maybe Liam and Andrea may be coming near.

 

[Acker79]

Lua Lua and, whereas I don't necessarily disagree, he was certainly our only ongoing threat today he is certainly a loose canon who seems to forget that there are another 10 Albion players on the pitch. His shooting/crossing is frustrating as the end result is generally zilch !

I get the impression most people, when they see lualua on the ball, think "ooh, he beats his man a lot, this is going to be exciting". I don't. When I see lualua on the ball, I tend to think "19 times out of twenty he blasts the ball at a defender or into the crowd, I'm not gonna get too excited until the ball goes in".

 

[Paddy B]

KLL can go past pretty much any defenders in this league but do you know how many goals or assists he has got this season (i.e the reason he is in the side?) I'll give you a clue it's less than 1 on both counts

 

[Acker79]

He got an assist v Millwall. He won the free kick and took it that led to our first goal v Bolton.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

KLL can go past pretty much any defenders in this league but do you know how many goals or assists he has got this season (i.e the reason he is in the side?) I'll give you a clue it's less than 1 on both counts

Didn't he cross for Ulloa's equaliser against Millwall? Wasn't his free-kick against Bolton headed in by Spearing?

 

[Paddy B]

He got an assist v Millwall. He won the free kick and took it that led to our first goal v Bolton.

Yes but apart from those 2

*neatly backtracks*

 

[Seagull1989]

Tomasz -8- MOTM - made some great saves and couldn't do much about goals
Calde -5- missed a free header!
Greer -3- poor passing could count on one hand how many passes, reached our players
Upson -5- needs to get stuck in more
Ward -6- consistent performer
Andrews -3- had a, nightmare gave ball away too often
JFC -4- Anonymous
Crofts -7- took goal well and go stuck in
Buckley -5- improvement since Sheff, Wed but final ball is poor
LuaLua -7- terrorised their right back, too greedy on occasions though
Barnes -5- set up the goal but offered very little else


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