Well that was better. Annoying to blow a two goal lead but the football to get in that position was far better than we have served up recently. Wright again showed he was too good for the level we played at, Raynes was excellent and Mullins looked assured. Was also impressed by Ruffels and Davies in midfield, beggers the question why they don't get a chance when we're struggling at home. Also thought Marsh looked useful, excellent control and movement although a bit lightweight. Beano was his usual self, buzzing about and great pass to Davies for the goal and what a finish!
I must admit to being a bit cynical of Wilder and his decision to throw the likes of Marsh in against Charlton. If he thinks he's good enough to play against a league 1 team, why not bring him on against a tiring Pompy defence. I worry that he's trying to prove a point by playing them in games such as this where it would only be natural for him to struggle and he can say look he's just not good enough. I hope I'm wrong.
Although Charlton were poor we looked assured in the first half and it was only through Charlton stepped up a gear and brought on two wingers which isolated our full backs that they got back in the game. We still had the better chances and a draw was the least we deserved.
Got frustrated by Deano - he doesn't make runs for where the balls are going - a lovely cross came in towards the end and he was no-where to be seen. Also get annoyed by Kitson he clearly is a good footballer but he doesn't half give fouls away and looked one paced. He drops back so much sometimes that we just play with one up top and if we're breaking with two wingers getting down the line he rarely gets in the box for the cross. Surely that's the point of the target man?
Special mention for Rigg, the sponsers on Sat clearly chose their MOTM based on last nights performance he was excellent before tiring near the end and was our main outlet.
Lets hope the replay is on TV -if they think Gatehead/Wrexham v Oxford is worth showing Oxford at home to Charlton surely will be!
Don't expect many away fans though - speaking to a few last night they wanted to come but driving from the other side of London at that time of night means that isn't really an option and as they said the stadium is in the middle of no-where so public transport is just too much like hard work. I told them I knew the feeling,
Last night
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Paul Cooper
- Dashing young thing
- Posts: 658
- Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:16 pm
Re: Last night
I guess that it is all about opinions.
I spoke to a couple of people who went who said that Marsh seemed totally out of his depth and was by far our worst player (unlike Ruffels who looked to be a decent player as part of the team).
What was your view of Ruffels and Davies?
I spoke to a couple of people who went who said that Marsh seemed totally out of his depth and was by far our worst player (unlike Ruffels who looked to be a decent player as part of the team).
What was your view of Ruffels and Davies?
Re: Last night
Don't get me wrong Marsh looked lightweight and got knocked off the ball too easily. However, he is quick, controls the ball much better than Beano for example when fired into feet and shows good movement - quite often he got a couple of yards on a defender but the ball to him was often too long or went out of play. In the last two home games I'd have brought him on for 15 minutes. I didn't think he looked out of his depth - lets face it we wouldn't go two nil up against a Championship team on their own patch if we had a player totally out of his depth.
As I said I was impressed with Ruffels and Davies (apart from the latters inability to beat a man from a corner), Ruffels is tidy, does the simple things well and always seems to manage to find a yard of space. Davies played some good balls, got forward (and back) well and looked to get the ball to feet and always seemed to find a man.
Weak links for me were full backs, quite often an aimless boot forward or gave the ball away and Newey got beaten far too easily for the second goal - although to be fair to him he did get forward really well on a couple of occassions and Rigg did leave him pretty exposed.
As I said I was impressed with Ruffels and Davies (apart from the latters inability to beat a man from a corner), Ruffels is tidy, does the simple things well and always seems to manage to find a yard of space. Davies played some good balls, got forward (and back) well and looked to get the ball to feet and always seemed to find a man.
Weak links for me were full backs, quite often an aimless boot forward or gave the ball away and Newey got beaten far too easily for the second goal - although to be fair to him he did get forward really well on a couple of occassions and Rigg did leave him pretty exposed.
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Myles Francis
- Mid-life Crisis
- Posts: 927
- Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 3:17 pm
Re: Last night
Sorry, Ty, but I'm in the "out of his depth" camp with Marsh. He may well have "excellent control", but there's not much point in being able to trap a ball if you immediately let your opponent take it from you. In my eyes, he simply did not contribute.
Agree with the assessment of Raynes, Mullins, and Wright. All three were excellent. Again.
And, then there's the enigma which is Smalley. For the first 5 or 10 mins after he came on, he buzzed around putting a lot of pressure on the Charlton back line and making them hurry their passing. But then he just seemed to stop. His decision making at times was very poor indeed. Worst example for me was when a ball was lofted over the middle to him and he was in a race with the defender which he looked capable of winning. So, why did he then foul the defender rather than attempt to win/keep the ball and potentially be one on one with the keeper? Really poor judgement.
Agree with the assessment of Raynes, Mullins, and Wright. All three were excellent. Again.
And, then there's the enigma which is Smalley. For the first 5 or 10 mins after he came on, he buzzed around putting a lot of pressure on the Charlton back line and making them hurry their passing. But then he just seemed to stop. His decision making at times was very poor indeed. Worst example for me was when a ball was lofted over the middle to him and he was in a race with the defender which he looked capable of winning. So, why did he then foul the defender rather than attempt to win/keep the ball and potentially be one on one with the keeper? Really poor judgement.