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I didn't do any player ratings on the appropriate thread last week vs Blackburn because I felt that the defence was not really tested with the system deployed by Blackburn. In fact the only reason they didn't score sooner was because they missed a sitter on about 35 IIRC.

The truth is I worry about Ferdinand, something isn't right... He just doesn't show the kind of experience and composure I would expect of a former premier league Centre half. John White has so far been the stand out CB, so a pairing of AF and RK is unlikely to happen anytime soon. I can't be too critical of a player who is not even match fit yet, but I fear a flop in Rob Kiernan but will continue to support him in a blues shirt.

Kightly will have great games and indifferent ones, he has the burden of being marked out in every game he plays.

Do not understand at all the reason why we extended Theo's contract, I just don't see a player in there.... I think he had a purple patch at Lincoln last season in the cup and got him noticed (again), but I suspect we've dropped a clanger there unless he's on low wages, or we have an easy way out....

McLaughlin looked completely out of sorts when he came on vs Blackburn, he'll struggle to get in ahead of McGlashan if he offers no attacking prowess.

Wingers are not my main concern this season though, my big worry is our midfield. I have no regrets over losing Atkinson, but we're still fielding (to me) a League Two midfield in Timlin and Ryan Leonard simply doesn't want to play for us. All very well coming out to the Echo about how he'll play for the shirt, but when the chips are down if the heart is gone, it is gone.... We should probably have cashed in on him at around 750K (if that was ever an offer tabled) and brought in TWO midfield players with strong CH experience, I cannot emphasise enough the importance of a strong, experienced and creative midfield.

Oxley may have done ok at the weekend (albeit shipping 5 goals), and he made a good save vs Blackburn, but he had some really shaky moments and I do not trust him or Smith between the sticks. Truth is I'm mortified at the quality we have in goal having such a history of excellent goalies....

I have no concerns up top, Simon Cox is quality (generally speaking) and MAF will act as good cover until NR returns (god we need him).

I think our problems vs Rotherham were compounded by the midweek changes, I think it disrupted the team and whilst we may not have won, the scoreline might have been a little easier to swallow.

We go again next week, let's hope we Phil Brown can get a reaction from this and we see a positive response!
 
Jeez ! You sure that link was to Sky Sports ? Looked like the Horror Channel to me. :omg:
 
Just had a look on YouTube as I don't do sky. You get more action including that Miss by MAF. Not sure how people put 3 of the goals down to Ferdinand or Hendrie for that matter. You'll have to play it through a couple of times to see what I'm talking about but here goes.

Goal 1...Fortune loses the ball deep in their half and they attack down our left. Note about 3 Rotherham players pressing Ferdinand as he clears but is charged down with a hand ball (not clear on the TV but it was from behind the goal). Yes he could have put it out but we had already struggled from set pieces, so he probably had that in his mind. JW can't dive in once its in the Box and unfortunately Demme pays Moore on-side. Note where Kightly is when they score.

Goal 2..... We lose the ball in their half and they carve us apart as Deme has attacked and is now out of position. I thought we should have held our line at the time but worse than that now I've seen the replay it was off-side so should not have counted.

Goal 3.... Good goal end of. By then the were in full flow and the movement and finishing was top draw. Could win their goal of the season

Goal 4...Timlin gives a bad pass to Hendrie on his right foot. Notre he is closed down by 2 players including hatric boy Moore who passes sharply to Williams. Note the quality and weight of pass to Procter who makes a good strong run and picks out Moore for the return. Great running and work rate to create the chance but a nice simple finish.

Goal 5...Ferdinand is tight on Moore but he holds him off with strength and chests a nice ball down Williams, quick pass into Procter who has come off our back four. The busy Moore has made a good run and Procter finds him with another pass we couldn't manage all day. While all this is going on note the run by Williams and his desire to get on the end of the cross. Note also our lack of desire to stop him.

You could argue that they got a couple of lucky decisions, including before the first goal, from the officials but you make your own luck and from then on we were beaten by a much better side on the day. Their closing down their passing and moving as well as finishing was all streets ahead of ours.
 
Goal 2..... We lose the ball in their half and they carve us apart as Deme has attacked and is now out of position. I thought we should have held our line at the time but worse than that now I've seen the replay it was off-side so should not have counted.

SUFC Offside.jpg

Clutching at straws there..... Even if it were offside, it's the finest of margins which would have needed a number of replays and even then I doubt it would have been ruled out. I think this is making excuses for our defence.
 
View attachment 4877

Clutching at straws there..... Even if it were offside, it's the finest of margins which would have needed a number of replays and even then I doubt it would have been ruled out. I think this is making excuses for our defence.

That's called offside then and it wasn't a difficult one for the linesman. I have hardly used it an excuse if you read the whole post.
 
I listened to it on the radio, that was enough for me :cry: Couldn't bear to watch the "highlights" as well :nope:
 
That's called offside then and it wasn't a difficult one for the linesman. I have hardly used it an excuse if you read the whole post.

But you can't just say "should have been offside, so the goal shouldn't have counted" as a means to somehow make it seem like we were incredibly hard done by. It was a marginal call, one that we see all the time in football and if we had to analyse every on field decision like a DRS LBW review in cricket, games would last 3 hours long. I can't really argue with that decision, it is close enough to go either way for me.

This one is definitely Ferdinand's fault, he hasn't made the required ground to get a block on a cross that resulted in an easy tap-in.
 
But you can't just say "should have been offside, so the goal shouldn't have counted" as a means to somehow make it seem like we were incredibly hard done by. It was a marginal call, one that we see all the time in football and if we had to analyse every on field decision like a DRS LBW review in cricket, games would last 3 hours long. I can't really argue with that decision, it is close enough to go either way for me.

This one is definitely Ferdinand's fault, he hasn't made the required ground to get a block on a cross that resulted in an easy tap-in.

When does a cross become a pass ? The ball was played forward to Moore who was offside, so We don't need a review system or DRS just a lineman who can see an easy decision and a hand ball six feet in front of him.

I did say in the match report that we should have held our line for the second goal. When I have seen the highlights that's what I mean by creating your own luck. Moore nicked a yard and if we had held then it would make it clear to the lino and we would have got the decision. The one who should take control in that situation is Hendrie. He can see Moore straying off, so if he calls Anton to hold and gets his arm up we get a free kick.

That's not just blaming Hendrie, were not a team that looks for offside but it is a skill that some back fours use well. We did not on Saturday.
 
Utter cack ! For gods sake grow a pair of bollocks and take control in our box, please someone. They get paid a small fortune but cant put a tackle in? Pathetic. Ferdy that was your worst display, and i was full of praise for you last season. There's hardly one lunging tackle in that footage from anyone.
 
I did say in the match report that we should have held our line for the second goal. When I have seen the highlights that's what I mean by creating your own luck. Moore nicked a yard and if we had held then it would make it clear to the lino and we would have got the decision. The one who should take control in that situation is Hendrie. He can see Moore straying off, so if he calls Anton to hold and gets his arm up we get a free kick.

That's not just blaming Hendrie, were not a team that looks for offside but it is a skill that some back fours use well. We did not on Saturday.

It's not Ferdinand playing the forward onside, its John White, who is trying to defend the cross. If Hendrie had shouted and him and Ferdinand stopped, then still nobody would of been offside. It looked offside to me, but given the picture above it was a very marginal call, but could of been flagged.

Who knows what would have happened. Goal not given, only 1-0 down after being battered for 25 minutes? Would we have still lost? Probably, would it have been 5-0? I very much doubt it.
 
We look so exposed in those highlights. It struck me on Saturday how easy it looked for Rotherham to carve us open and that is really not like us. Last week Blackburn maybe managed to create two or three clear cut chances at most and generally we are a well-organised outfit.

I was pretty angry about the performance on Saturday. But the more I think about it, I'm not convinced it's a terminal thing. Let's be honest here, Ferdinand had a total nightmare. Seeing one of their most reliable team mates so out of form and so unable to cope with Proctor and Moore seemed to affect some of the others. Leonard was dreadful, totally unable to pick out his team mates. How often do you see him have a poor game?

The only area I have real long-term concerns about are the full backs. I've never been convinced about Hendrie and Demetriou is fine if he is protected, which he was by Atkinson last season. But pin him back and expose him, and he struggles defensively. A rethink may be needed and when Kiernan is ready and fit, I can see JW keeping his place but on the flanks rather than in the centre.

I guess it's all about what kind of weight you give to lots of players having an off day, Rotherham having a very on day, and real issues that need to be addressed.
 
How do you think I feel? I went to the game and even put myself through the highlights again.
Want me to call Rochford and see if they've got a spare bed for you Ricey?
 
That is some painful viewing. If we are going to persist with Hendrie and Demitriou at full back, and to be honest, we don't have much of an alternative right now then I feel we need to play a third CB and let them operate as wing backs.

Hendrie looked good there in his loan spell and it's where Demitriou played for Walsall. The pair of them got cut to shreds every time Rotherham came forward and were far too slow to get back or even look that bothered about getting back. if you're an opposition manager playing us soon you're telling your players to hit our full backs and have a field day.

For the time being I'm going to give Ferdinand the benefit of the doubt as his poor games are incredibly rare but he had an absolute mare.
 
That is some painful viewing. If we are going to persist with Hendrie and Demitriou at full back, and to be honest, we don't have much of an alternative right now then I feel we need to play a third CB and let them operate as wing backs.

I was thinking the same thing - the only problem what formations? 5-4-1 leaving Cox upfront on his own or 5-3-2 leaving Knightly out?
 
It's not Ferdinand playing the forward onside, its John White, who is trying to defend the cross. If Hendrie had shouted and him and Ferdinand stopped, then still nobody would of been offside. It looked offside to me, but given the picture above it was a very marginal call, but could of been flagged.

Who knows what would have happened. Goal not given, only 1-0 down after being battered for 25 minutes? Would we have still lost? Probably, would it have been 5-0? I very much doubt it.

I reckon Moore is behind the ball when it's played across so it doesn't matter whether any one is playing him on side or not.
He certainly was not in front of it.
 
I reckon Moore is behind the ball when it's played across so it doesn't matter whether any one is playing him on side or not.
He certainly was not in front of it.

Excellent point. He definitely appears to be behind the ball unless the stripes on the pitch have been cut on the wonk! Definitely not offside....
 
The picture on this tread is not when the ball is played. The ball has already travelled a few feet. If you watch the move without trying to freeze it you can see that once Moore goes past our back 4 he is offside, and still offside a second later when the ball is played.

But who cares we got beat and they proved how quick you can play if your on a decent pitch.
 
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