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Smith 5 - The jury is out for me. Let in a soft goal and seemed a bit hesitant as times
Clohessy 6 - Slightly below his usual level, but did his job
Barker 6 - Looked ok at left back. A good pro
Phillips 6 - Got caught out a couple of times.
Cresswell 7 - A real find. Big and strong at the back.
Timlin 6 - Gave the ball away a few times, but you can't fault his workrate
Spicer 6 - Went about his work quietly. Would like to have seen him totally dictate play when they went down to 10.
Hurst 6 - First time I have seen him and looked ok. Nice crossing and set pieces
Martin 6 - Did ok. Gave a a nice shape. I can see where the lazy comments are coming from, but was he told to stay wide against 10 men to stretch the play ?
Britt 8 - Took his goals well and was a constant danger
Tomlin 7 - Holds up play, runs the channels and pesters defenders. His strike rate isn't great, but I like this guy

Subs
Straker 6 - Not bad. Kept our shape
Harris / Benyon - not on long enough

Ref - 6. I thought it was a very soft sending off, but I suppose that is the law these days.
North Bank 9 - I thought we did the team proud, yesterday
 
Long ball

I know this subject has been talked about often, but after yesterdays game I now understand why Mr. Sturrock needs to play the long ball game.... The midfield is cr8p! The only person in my opinion to come out of the game was Michael Timlin.

Hurst left all the hard work to Clohessy and barely ventured beyond the half way line in the 1st half and I don't remember him once making the bye line. Definitely not a winger! Plus he cant/wont tackle.

Spicer, ran around like a headless chicken, and when he actually got near an opponent with the ball he did nothing! He wont tackle and seems chicken to me! He appears to have skill but wants the ball given to him on a plate!

Martin, sorry but he just does not have the ability imo. He really is the opposite to Spicer in so far as he will go where it hurts and put his foot in, but unfortunately does not have the skill levels required. Would have been subbed earlier had Mr. Sturrock had the options to do so on the bench. At fault for the lead up to the goal although where was Barker?

Baring in mind that Daggers were down to 10 men the above three should be ashamed of their performances.

Unfortunately I feel that unless the midfield is sorted out, mid table and the long ball game is our only hope this season, although I hope not!

UTB
 
I know this subject has been talked about often, but after yesterdays game I now understand why Mr. Sturrock needs to play the long ball game.... The midfield is cr8p! The only person in my opinion to come out of the game was Michael Timlin.

Hurst left all the hard work to Clohessy and barely ventured beyond the half way line in the 1st half and I don't remember him once making the bye line. Definitely not a winger! Plus he cant/wont tackle.

Spicer, ran around like a headless chicken, and when he actually got near an opponent with the ball he did nothing! He wont tackle and seems chicken to me! He appears to have skill but wants the ball given to him on a plate!

Martin, sorry but he just does not have the ability imo. He really is the opposite to Spicer in so far as he will go where it hurts and put his foot in, but unfortunately does not have the skill levels required. Would have been subbed earlier had Mr. Sturrock had the options to do so on the bench. At fault for the lead up to the goal although where was Barker?

Baring in mind that Daggers were down to 10 men the above three should be ashamed of their performances.

Unfortunately I feel that unless the midfield is sorted out, mid table and the long ball game is our only hope this season, although I hope not!

UTB

We don't play a long-ball game though, we mix it up! Yesterday was a mixture of direct balls into the channels for our speedy forwards to run on to and create opportunities but we also played some nice football on the deck at times too. Why can no-one recognise this?!
 
Judging by some of the whinging going on I sometimes think I was lucky to grow up in the days of Alvin, Alan Little, Rob Newman etc where if you won a game, you certainly didn't complain about how you did it.

I thought we played ok but at times played some nice stuff, particularly late on. I didn't think we played long ball to the front men at all. We cleared our lines from the back long at times, but if not doing that means doing what Dagenham did in the 7th minute to effectively lose them the game, I think I'd rather us clear our lines thank you very much.

Dagenham looked a better side than Wycombe and Accrington put together and they have some very quick players, which will give any defence nervous moments. I don't recall Smith making too many saves though.
 
Judging by some of the whinging going on I sometimes think I was lucky to grow up in the days of Alvin, Alan Little, Rob Newman etc where if you won a game, you certainly didn't complain about how you did it.

I thought we played ok but at times played some nice stuff, particularly late on. I didn't think we played long ball to the front men at all. We cleared our lines from the back long at times, but if not doing that means doing what Dagenham did in the 7th minute to effectively lose them the game, I think I'd rather us clear our lines thank you very much.

Dagenham looked a better side than Wycombe and Accrington put together and they have some very quick players, which will give any defence nervous moments. I don't recall Smith making too many saves though.

Alvin Martin
Alan Little
Rob Newman

Good old days
 
We don't play a long-ball game though, we mix it up! Yesterday was a mixture of direct balls into the channels for our speedy forwards to run on to and create opportunities but we also played some nice football on the deck at times too. Why can no-one recognise this?!

Ive been saying it for ages, we didnt play hoof ball yesterday. We sometimes hit it long but all teams do at times, and its worth it when you have the likes of Assombalonga to run on to it.

Our second goal came from a superb passing move all on the floor....
 
3-1 flattered us i feel, it was a clear red as Tomlin was clean through but his shooting is little better than abysmal so a daft rush of blood by the defender to drag him down

Martin got robbed just outside the 18 yard box and made NO ATTEMPT WHATSOEVER to try to fight back, thats where the lazy tags are coming from i'm sure, Smith should be hugely embarrassed to have let the cross in though ... it was a cross, not a shot and wasn't exactly travelling at pace

Assombalonga is a real handful and us keeping him for the season is VITAL if we are to challenge as Tomlin is about as effective as Sturrock Junior in front of goal

It certainly was poor keeping but I do think it was a shot and hit quite hard, maybe even taking a little deflection en route.

Still should have saved it.
 
Good to get the result and I felt we played well on the whole. I thought Daggers were dangerous up front, their crosses in the box were particularly accurate early on, we kept inviting pressure by giving away free kicks in dangerous wide positions. I couldn't work out wether the ref was just being overly fussy on this or wether we were being repeat offenders. Either way it was silly but thankfully their finishing was terrible.
Felt Martin had a bad game but a lot of the criticism from the stands around me was unfair. No player will be that consistent at this level, and he can definitely play much better than yesterday, hopefully people will realise that and stay quiet next time he makes a mistake.
Smith made a good save early on and was fine except for the goal. The attempt was definitely an opportunistic strike and not a cross, Smith just didn't get his body behind it.
The front two were very exciting. Shame Tomlin didn't grab a goal but surely it's coming soon, he looks sharp.
 
Decent enough performance. Very frustrating to watch at times. When the balls into the channels are pulled off, it works and is exciting to watch but it's all too rare and only really works when you have a pacy striker to get onto it. The only two players for me who were hitting the channels with any accuracy in their passes were Barker and Hurst - the rest just don't have the technical quality to pull off the direct balls into the channel accurately and that's why we keep surrendering possession. They've had the whole "hit the channels straight away" thing hammered into them with such force that they're now programmed to launch it down there without really thinking or looking, and when there are much better options closer-by. So for me, whilst it's great when it comes off and Britt latches onto it, it becomes infuriating on two fronts - 1) when players who don't have the ability to hit an accurate long pass do so anyway when there are better options and surrender possession and 2) when they insist on still hitting balls into the channel to be chased when Neil Harris is on the pitch, knowing full well that 9 times out of 10 he won't have the pace to latch onto it.

Smith did well for me. He should have saved the shot but I'm putting that down to rustiness. He made two cracking saves in the first half, commanded his area well and came for crosses. He'll only get better, don't know why all the hate for him.

Defence worked well. Clohessy his usual self. Cresswell quickly becoming a key player, he is a quality defender and wins everything. Phillips for me, whilst not fatally so, is becoming a little complacent and I think that's down to no longer carrying the pressure which comes with having to do a two-man job like he did last season. He held the defence together for most of last season when Barker was having a 'mare and I think that pressure brought the best out in him. Now that he has Cresswell next to him and doesn't have to worry about having to cover him, a few errors have crept in and I really think it's down to a lack of concentration sometimes. Barker was excellent for me, you can see he's a natural left-back, his positioning was very good and he was hitting the channels with his long balls accurately.

Hurst did well, his crossing was excellent and he looked like a winger which is what we need. He is creative and classy on the ball and I think his best is yet to come. Martin on the other wing was OK but didn't do enough for me. In the middle, Timlin worries me. he gets stuck in and wins the ball but gives it straight back. His work when in possession of the ball has been woeful recently and his passing leaves a lot to be desired. His passing failure rate must be 70-80% at the moment. I think he's aware that he is playing badly and is trying too hard, over-compensating almost and running around like a headless chicken. For me this is affecting the way Spicer plays because Timlin keeps getting in his way. Spicer does have the ability to create with his passing and he'll get there in the end once he's fully fit and settled.

Assombalonga, not a lot to say. He tires at the end, but his movement and anticipation is first class, he's so strong and well-built for a 19-year-old. He's too good for this level, but I have everything crossed that he extends his stay. Tomlin does his job well, holds up the ball and brings others into play, runs himself into the ground and controls the ball well, but his finishing worries me!

A good basis there and reasons to be optimistic, but still some work to do!
 
Just a little note on the goal we let in, I thought Barker could of done more, after their player went around Martin.
 
Smith 4 - bit shaky
Clohessy 6 - not his usual self
Barker 7 best hes been in a while
Phillips 6 - steady all game and won a lot in the air
Cresswell 8 - was excellent all game
Timlin 7 really impressed with his running and pressing
Spicer 8 im really impressed with him was excellent for second goal
Hurst 6 steady didnt do to much
Martin 4 donte rate him puts no effort in
Britt 7 excellent player ran all game should of had a hatrick though
Tomlin 7 very quick and skillfull if only he could finish
 
Smith 4 - bit shaky
Clohessy 6 - not his usual self
Barker 7 best hes been in a while
Phillips 6 - steady all game and won a lot in the air
Cresswell 8 - was excellent all game
Timlin 7 really impressed with his running and pressing
Spicer 8 im really impressed with him was excellent for second goal
Hurst 6 steady didnt do to much
Martin 4 donte rate him puts no effort in
Britt 7 excellent player ran all game should of had a hatrick though
Tomlin 7 very quick and skillfull if only he could finish

Was he hiding behind a green door?
 
I just think it's so funny that we don't hear from the likes of Wiggy when we win.

I genuinely thought we looked poor today, could just be an off day, but I think against a better team, or even playing a 11 man Daggers, we would have struggled to get a result playing like that.

I like Spicer but he lacked pace and energy today. Timlin has a bit of pace and bags of energy, but lacks composure. We desperately need another CM.

And I'm starting to get seriously p'd off with the Hall / Mohnsi situation, I don't mind Hurst, and think Martin is decent, but neither have as much of an impact as the 2 wantaways. You don't tend to see many League 2 players acting like this. Unfortunately, we have two!

Thought Smith was at fault for the goal, but was otherwise decent.

Over to you Wiggy....
 
couldn't agree more - just as well the Dagenham keeper had a mare or we could have lost this one.

I couldn't agree less. Much as we gave Daggers more chances than they deserved, we had a huge number of chances in the last half an hour and only our poor finishing let them off the hook. If either side had had players capable of finishing, the game could have finished 8-3.
 
A good week, three home wins and proof we are competitive without the big names, whether that be towards the top or mid table time will tell. Thought we started slowly, got lucky with the sending off and really from then should have beaten them more comfortably. Would have been interesting to see what would have happened 11 v 11 the whole game.

Smith 6 - Thought he did well apart from the howler on their goal
Clohessy 7 - Usual performance, not quite so advanced without Leonard in front
Phillips 7 - Very solid and reliable performance
Cresswell 8 - Becoming a fans favourite, what a good signing for nothing
Barker 7 - Did well back at left back, played with the experience he had, looked assured, never got unduly tested for pace
Hurst 8 - Good performance, knows when to cross and when to cut in, best performance thus far
Spicer 7 - Also looked assured, neat and economical in his runs, maybe due to the heat
Timlin 7 - Some useful tackles, always fear will get booked as sometimes a little late
Martin 6 - Was off today, was it nerves, passes overhit, failed to bust a lung and challenges were weak
Tomlin 7 - Worked really hard, but finishing again let him down, snatches at shots when needs a bit more composure
Assombolonga 9 - MOTM Awesome, deserved a hat trick, the longer he stays the more points we will get

Straker 6.5 - 3rd choice left back now, whats going thru his mind, always played really well when against us, but still better than Martin yesterday in a more advanced role
Harris 6 - Only on for a few minutes, cannot remember any real contribution
Benyon 6 - Even less time, came on in injury time

Well done Blues, some bigger tests ahead, next two away games for a start, can we get a win?, two draws would be useful. Will be interesting to see if we can push on and carry these home results on against better opposition away.
 
Okay replace 'long ball' with 'bypass midfield' then. Result is the same we don't use the midfield!
 
I don't think anyone else has mentioned it , but did anyone else in the North Bank see that on 2 occasions Creswell wanted to pass back to Smith and Smith REALLY didn't want it. The first time led to Creswell giving away a corner when Smith could have cleared it, and the second Creswell ignored him and passed it back anyway. It didn't give the impression of a confident keeper. I am not knocking him- just stating what I saw and how I interpreted it.
 
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