Talking of on their arses what studs or sliders does Dan Neil have in his boots , the amount of times he slips over appears to be getting worse with bad outcomes at times . He is a player with so much potential and that I like as a player but it is concerning how many times he ends up on the floor for no apparent reason - take a look at recent matches .
I sort of expected our season to be win one, lose one, draw a couple. Finish midtable with something like 15 wins, 16 draws and 15 defeats. We are well ahead of that curve with a 13-10-10 record
our 'centre' was really weak, not sure how it can be changed though, if evans was fit and ready it would be nice to have him in there right now...lads have done well but the fixtures are tiring them i feel.
I think (with no stats to back it up) that he's made fewer mistakes this season which, considering it's a higher level, is encouraging. The way he plays, the way we play means things like getting caught in possession are always going to happen. We are missing Evans right now. This stage of the season would be the time to pull Neil out the team for 2 or 3 weeks. Hey ho
You mentioned the half turn thing earlier and I thought it was interesting, do you not think that is being coached into him? It seems to be a popular thing for young midfielders to be able to receive the ball like that. Not sure I like it, and tonight proved that
That last one he tried to generate power. A more experienced player would’ve known that. He’s a very young player trying to impress. Possibly a little too hard. Just needs to relax and play the game
It's been a mad run when you add in the cup games. 7 games in a month since the Boro game. No coincidence we've only won 2 of them
Yeah. It's good when you're on the reciving end of the ball but you have to be bloody sure you have your body right and it's moved on when you get it. Neil thinks he has too much time and isn't physcial enough to recover at times. It's costing us points. Last week he should have made a foul and he didn't. Today he did that we concede. Lots of other examples where he has turned or ripped possession and we have suffered. He has done lots of good things too but as a main CM he has made too many mistakes for me.
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/20...land-poor-all-round-as-lads-succumb-to-defeat Anthony Patterson: 6/10 Would be disappointed to concede two very similar goals, both low and into the far corner but not sure he could have done much about either. Not given much to do, other than to pick the ball out of the net. Luke O’Nien: 6/10 Put in a great cross for Gelhardt’s goal but we looked lacking at right back until Hume came on with O’Nien unable to link up play effectively with Amad. Dan Ballard: 6/10 Really should have scored from Pritchard’s corner but headed wide, otherwise defended solidly most of the game. Danny Batth (c): 6/10 Was competing well with Hugill but like one or two others, backed off too much for the first goal. Dennis Cirkin: 4/10 Struggled a bit against Ogbene, got booked for a foul on him and was on the back foot from that point. Dan Neil: 5/10 Again we got caught out from Neil slipping when trying to be too fancy in dangerous areas, leading to the second goal. Did put in a good ball that Gelhardt scored from but the striker had strayed offside. Edouard Michut: 5/10 Was finding teammates with passes but struggled to make an impact and was far too casual in tracking Rathbone for the first goal. Amad Diallo: 5/10 Completely out of sorts for the first half, improved after the break and particularly once Roberts came on. Involved in Gelhardt’s goal when he played in O’Nien. Alex Pritchard: 5/10 Had one great effort just after Rotherham scored their first that needed a great save to keep him scoring, then put in a good corner that Ballard should have scored from but otherwise he had a very quiet, ineffective night. Jack Clarke: 5/10 Had one well-hit shot on target from wide but was unable to make anything happen all night. Joe Gelhardt: 6/10 Scored his first goal for the club with a well-timed run to the far post. Strayed offside needlessly when converting another, made poor contact on a good Roberts cross, then almost clinched an equaliser at the end. Good to see him getting on the end of passes into the box but the ball is still not sticking on him enough. Substitutes Aji Alese: 6/10 Made us more solid defensively and had a good chance but took too long to control the ball. Trai Hume: 6/10 Gave us some impetus down the right and had half a chance with his first touch but for his volley to be blocked. Patrick Roberts: 7/10 Instantly made us a more dangerous side, caused Rotherham problems and unlucky not to get an assist or two. Jewison Bennette: 6/10 Came on for Clarke as we pushed for an equaliser. Abdoullah Ba: 6/10 Had a volley blocked for a corner very late on. Man of the Match: Patrick Roberts Some poor performances tonight but Roberts was by far our most influential player once he came on, with Amad looking a better player for his introduction. Put in a great cross for Gelhardt that the striker couldn’t get a proper connection on, played a really nice flighted ball to Alese that he couldn’t control quickly enough to get an effort away and caused problems whenever he had the ball. please log in to view this image Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Keeper is rash there and gets looked after cause he is a keeper and as soon as they go down after contact its a foul 9 times out of 10.
True, if we hadn't allowed Stewart to play in football matches he'd never have been injured ... ... I think we should drop Roberts, for the same reason, and have him train alone so he's not put at risk. And, why oh why, didn't we pretend to be the Chinese takeaway when Everton rang up asking us to send Ellis Simms back ... .... 'Number nine? Yes boss be there in 30 minutes.'
