Davies - 6 Nothing he could do for the goals and was quick off his line to save the clean through chance after about 70 minutes. Cavare - 4 First half was at fault for 2 of the goals. Complete liability at the moment. Fryers - 7 Good going forward and decent defensively. Shame he had to go off as it really affected the balance when he did. Lindsay - 7 Leaves himself in bad positions at times, but also gets himself out of them by being strong. A bit of an enigma for me Pinnock - 7 At times brilliant, at others not so. He caused us problems later on by hoofing the ball up the field. Potts - 6 Better than Saturday by miles, tidy at times but didn't really make a huge impact Mowatt - 8 I thought he had the best game he's had for a while, drove us forward on numerous occasions. McGeehan - 7 Far better than Saturday, not sure he's the long term answer but had a reasonable steady performance. Thiam - 5 Nothing of any note. A few step overs which ended up with corners he then hit straight to the Sunderland player stationed at the near post Woodrow - 6 Looked busy but apart from the chance where he hit the post, had little impact. Still worked hard though for the team Moore - 8 - Worked hard, the ball stuck with him today and was a constant nuissance. Best he's played since injury. Subs Brown - 5 Not a right back. Look accomplished at times but also naive at others. Work in progress. Moncur - 4 Couldn't get into the game as it got messier and messier late on. Little effect. Adebeyajo (Sic) NA - Wasn't on long enough to even notice him being there.
What’s interesting is we all seem to agree that was a really poor night for us. Yet Sunderland fans on twitter and elsewhere are saying we’re the best team at the SOL this year and some saying we gave them a footballing lesson. Before the game I thought if we played at our best and so did Sunderland they would win. And predicted 2-0 Sunderland. I was wrong. I think if both team played at their best, or if we were anywhere close, then more often than not we would beat them. I’m slightly optimistic because of that, despite the result. I would chalk tonight down as a poor night, with a couple of clangers, a terrible ref, take some encouragement that despite all that we could, and perhaps should have got back to 3-3. Said all along January is big. Stendel and co will have had enough time to really judge the squad. 3 or 4 to move out, and a couple of quality signings and think we’ll be there or there abouts come end of season.
Very generous for Cavare and Fryers got beaten time and time again on the outside in the first half, cf Maja's missed sitter, so no more than 5 for him. Rest of starters marks I'd say weren't far off. Still trying to work out if Moncur actually came on he was that anonymous.
I'm no happy clapper as you know Terry. 70 of the 90 mins I thought we bossed them. The Sunderland comments on twitter etc sort of back that up. It was a bad day at the office in the result aspect. That's obvious. Thought they had the rub of the green decision wise but I'm sure if you offered then a 'double or quits' rematch tmoz they wouldn't take it. Only criticisms are....... Thiam has never been a footballer and offers nowt. Cavare mmm he was outstanding first couple of months but now looks a liability. Too much tinkering with the team. That's it really. Score looks horrendous. Performance was decent. Couple of additions in Jan n well be there or there abouts.
I agree with most of them. Probably knock Pinnock down one for his part in the first two goals though I need to see a replay of the pen. Thought we played really well. Mowatt was superb & every time he got the ball he seemed to do something positive with it. He set Thiam up in dangerous positions so many times in that first half but Thiam would fail to get a ball in or mess it up. Moore was a lot better after what I thought were two below standard performances at Accrington (despite the goal & assist) & against Doncaster. I feel like in an ideal world Cavare should be dropped but I don’t feel like Jordan Williams is ready so Cavare’s pretty much undroppable until January at least. Reminds me of Tom Kennedy under Flitcroft after Golbourne was sold when he was in terrible form but we couldn’t drop him as we had no one else. Strange game we’ve lost 4-2 & I’m more encouraged than I have been by some narrow wins & draws.
Agree with you in the main but Fryers and Lindsay need to be marked lower. Fryers got caught the wrong side too many times and put himself in positions challenging for the ball where he simply had to win it and didn't. I really like Lindsay but he often does something that warrants applause because of a mistake he's made, and he gets dragged out of position far too easily for a centre half. Constantly following the ball, losing awareness of where he is, and leaving us wide open in the middle. He's not the finished article, which is why he plays for us, but I worry that it isn't getting any better. I'd be tempted to go with Jackson for a run of games and let Pinnock play on the left.
Bossed them is fair. It feels strange to write it after we were 3-0 down in no time, but we were so unlucky to lose. Dodgy penalty against us and we hit the post twice. Hungry to win the ball, pressing high, and it worked. That isn't to say there are no issues. Cavaré thinks he is a winger and our set-pieces are often dross. But considering we were three down, I thought we were great.
Really encouraging performance tonight after a number of games where we've just not been at the races, despite the results.
Agree with those probley knock Potts and fryers down one each though. Played poor on many occasions and ended up winning/drawing played quite well at times last night and lost.