A brief summary

[true99blade]

First half: As bad as I've seen this season, the midfield were non-existent and this was the source of the problem. McGinn and Doyle faded badly as the first half went on and we never looked like a threat.
There goal was easily avoidable. Crosses came in and were dealt with well by the defence. Maguire headed a cross out to Miller on the edge of the box who took an extremely heavy touch which lead to a straight forward cross and header. Nothing the defence could have done about it really, Miller's fault.
Oldham looked like the only team that could score and Long wasn't helping at all as he dropped a couple of straight forward crosses. Was badly at fault for the offside goal for Oldham as the shot was more or less straight at him but decided to punch into the path of the Oldham striker. McMahon was badly exposed down the right as he had nobody in front of him, I don't know if this is down to Clough's tactics or some hideous play from ourselves. Very dodgy first half all round.

Second half was very much improved. Baxter got on the ball more and Doyle actually put himself about more. McGinn was again non-existent however. The goal was just pure class. Question marks about whether it was a free-kick or not but it didn't matter as the ref continuously blew on his whistle for anything at all. After this there were a few good moves and ideas but nothing clinical or threatening at all. Baxter was the only threat on the field and had a deflected shot agonisingly hit the post and put in a couple of good balls through the box which our strikers failed to connect to. Overall an improvement from the first half but still not creative enough.

This team is awful. The only players that impressed were Maguire and Baxter. And maybe Collins. Other than that there is a huge lack of quality and I'm not sure whether this will be properly addressed in January. Walking home from the Gillingham game I felt that this team was destined to go down. Even after that past few results I've still yet to drive home feeling anything different.

Long - 4/10... Did not impress at all and even though he didn't have to deal with any attempts on goal he must have dropped at least 3 or 4 crosses and kicked the ball straight out of play on a couple of occasions. I think this will be just an off-day for the young man but he has to improve from todays display.

McMahon - 5.5/10... Wasn't influential but did his job. He was caught out a couple of times in possession but this was solely because he had no help in front of him. Other than this he was solid enough and contributed as much as he could in my opinion.

Collins - 7/10... He was solid enough and tried to play it out from the back and got rid when he had to. Didn't do anything wrong today.

Maguire - 8/10... Man of the match for me as he didn't let anybody past him and actually contributed to the attack more than the midfield today. His lack of pace didn't show today as his positional play was immense.

Hill - 6/10... The right winger had the better of him on a couple of occasions in the first half but he improved and learned in the second half. He was solid enough and was not at fault for the goal like the rest of the defence.

McGinn - 4.5/10... Didn't contribute to anything apart from a few sideways passes. He tried to get the ball moving up front but it wasn't his day as he misplaced quite a lot of his passes.

Doyle - 6/10... I don't think I noticed him at all in the first half but actually played well in the second. He got stuck in when he had to and contributed a lot in the second half. Many around me squealing for him to be replaced but he was far from the worst today.

Murphy - 5/10... Looked very much like the player that we signed under Wilson last season. He took on his man a few times but only got passed once and even then he failed to deliver his cross. Ran out of play after a good run too.

Baxter - 7.5/10... First half he didn't show up but he was very good in the second. His goal was sensational and he contributed to at least every attack we had. He has definitely improved from when Weir got his hands on him.

Miller - 3.5/10... Maybe I'm being harsh but he was absolutely ineffective today and was rightly substituted. It was his fault that we conceded and contributed next to nothing up front. I've noticed that everyone on this forum is reluctant to giving him criticism but he hasn't done a thing since he's come back.

Porter - 4.5/10... Gave it his all as he does week-in-week-out but come on.. he's useless. He won a few flick-ons which I imagine is his job but fluffed a good chance late on. We need a new striker and he's the most effective of the lot we have up there. Taylor, Miller, King etc. They're all useless.

I won't give ratings to White, Taylor or Flynn because they weren't really noticeable.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

First half: As bad as I've seen this season, the midfield were non-existent and this was the source of the problem. McGinn and Doyle faded badly as the first half went on and we never looked like a threat.
There goal was easily avoidable. Crosses came in and were dealt with well by the defence. Maguire headed a cross out to Miller on the edge of the box who took an extremely heavy touch which lead to a straight forward cross and header. Nothing the defence could have done about it really, Miller's fault.
Oldham looked like the only team that could score and Long wasn't helping at all as he dropped a couple of straight forward crosses. Was badly at fault for the offside goal for Oldham as the shot was more or less straight at him but decided to punch into the path of the Oldham striker. McMahon was badly exposed down the right as he had nobody in front of him, I don't know if this is down to Clough's tactics or some hideous play from ourselves. Very dodgy first half all round.

Second half was very much improved. Baxter got on the ball more and Doyle actually put himself about more. McGinn was again non-existent however. The goal was just pure class. Question marks about whether it was a free-kick or not but it didn't matter as the ref continuously blew on his whistle for anything at all. After this there were a few good moves and ideas but nothing clinical or threatening at all. Baxter was the only threat on the field and had a deflected shot agonisingly hit the post and put in a couple of good balls through the box which our strikers failed to connect to. Overall an improvement from the first half but still not creative enough.




This team is awful. The only players that impressed were Maguire and Baxter. And maybe Collins. Other than that there is a huge lack of quality and I'm not sure whether this will be properly addressed in January. Walking home from the Gillingham game I felt that this team was destined to go down. Even after that past few results I've still yet to drive home feeling anything different.

Long - 4/10... Did not impress at all and even though he didn't have to deal with any attempts on goal he must have dropped at least 3 or 4 crosses and kicked the ball straight out of play on a couple of occasions. I think this will be just an off-day for the young man but he has to improve from todays display.

McMahon - 5.5/10... Wasn't influential but did his job. He was caught out a couple of times in possession but this was solely because he had no help in front of him. Other than this he was solid enough and contributed as much as he could in my opinion.

Collins - 7/10... He was solid enough and tried to play it out from the back and got rid when he had to. Didn't do anything wrong today.

Maguire - 8/10... Man of the match for me as he didn't let anybody past him and actually contributed to the attack more than the midfield today. His lack of pace didn't show today as his positional play was immense.

Hill - 6/10... The right winger had the better of him on a couple of occasions in the first half but he improved and learned in the second half. He was solid enough and was not at fault for the goal like the rest of the defence.

McGinn - 4.5/10... Didn't contribute to anything apart from a few sideways passes. He tried to get the ball moving up front but it wasn't his day as he misplaced quite a lot of his passes.

Doyle - 6/10... I don't think I noticed him at all in the first half but actually played well in the second. He got stuck in when he had to and contributed a lot in the second half. Many around me squealing for him to be replaced but he was far from the worst today.

Murphy - 5/10... Looked very much like the player that we signed under Wilson last season. He took on his man a few times but only got passed once and even then he failed to deliver his cross. Ran out of play after a good run too.

Baxter - 7.5/10... First half he didn't show up but he was very good in the second. His goal was sensational and he contributed to at least every attack we had. He has definitely improved from when Weir got his hands on him.

Miller - 3.5/10... Maybe I'm being harsh but he was absolutely ineffective today and was rightly substituted. It was his fault that we conceded and contributed next to nothing up front. I've noticed that everyone on this forum is reluctant to giving him criticism but he hasn't done a thing since he's come back.

Porter - 4.5/10... Gave it his all as he does week-in-week-out but come on.. he's useless. He won a few flick-ons which I imagine is his job but fluffed a good chance late on. We need a new striker and he's the most effective of the lot we have up there. Taylor, Miller, King etc. They're all useless.

I won't give ratings to White, Taylor or Flynn because they weren't really noticeable.

Talking about Porters good chance late on, I remember a peach of a ball delivered in the first half by Mcmahon that was asking to be buried unfortunately it was CP on the end of it. Why he was getting such stick from the Oldham supporters was just beyond me, I thought they would be overjoyed he no longer plays for them !.

 

[Deadbat]

Apparently he left Oldham for more money at Motherwell turning down a new contract. It was some time ago. As above states it is not as if they were missing anything!

Strangely Baxter who left them presumably for much more money was greeted like a hero.

 

[blade too long]

We still need that spark plug to fire our engine, Nigel knows it but still has 5 days to wait, the fact weve stopped losing is testament to his ability , no doubt 3 months ago wed have lost this game with the same players, we didnt , so for me hes still getting blood out of stones . Given he has some options planned to fill in the gaps I am prepared to hang fast as this current squad is as poor as weve had, still in need of 3/4 players minimum to acHieve anywhere near THE MINIMUM of what we expect.

 

[alcoblade]

You know we are in serious trouble as a club whilst ever there remains any element of doubt as to if Chris Porter deserves a shirt or not.

Is it a measure of the sanity of those who still defend him, or more probably that we are so wank that his performances touch on acceptable for us, at times

Useless. End of.

UTB

 

[Deadbat]

Careful alco or some posters will say you are talking utter bollocks re - Porter. Mind you same poster said recently: 'We have plenty of choice up top now and look like scoring goals.'

 

[alcoblade]

Careful alco or some posters will say you are talking utter bollocks re - Porter. Mind you same poster said recently: 'We have plenty of choice up top now and look like scoring goals.'

The fortunate thing when you are debating strikers is that you have real stats to back up what you see. I'm amazed how many (not many, but too many) see something in Porter, but the stats show I'm right.

The only defence of merit is that, as a squad, we've sunk to a level when players like Flynn and Porter don't stand out. Other than league position, it's ultimate proof that a complete clearout is required.

It could be desperate, but I don't feel so. The manager gives the impression he knows they're shite, lots of contracts are expiring and I believe we have resource to address it. The difficult part is seeing the season out and witnessing this guff, but we still have the slight possibility of relegation to fight off.

UTB

 

[Fiery Blade]

On todays performance a clear out is necessary - clearly if we are relying on Porter and Miller as a strikeforce we are doomed !
Midfield is woeful, leadership on the field non existant and today the goalkeeper looked far from capable - the side is devoid of talent, ability and class.
I'm afraid Mr Clough has his work cut out to try and convert the current bag of sh!te masquarading as professional footballers into a team capable of promotion.
Oldham came well organised, hungry for the ball, always picking up the second ball and I personally thought they were very unlucky not to leave with three points - I also thought their No 8 was the best player on the pitch today

 

[shorehamview]

A briefer summary.


Apart from Baxter we were shit.

 

[Elsecar_Blade]

Agree with most of that especially the part about Miller.

He's been back a couple of months now, when do we say that he is now fit and is playing poorly? We can't keep making the excuse for him that he is just back from injury and is lacking match fitness and sharpness. In all honesty, he should have that now. He never even threatened at all yesterday and his ball control was woeful. Whilst I'm in no way defending Porter, it seems that everything he does is picked up on immediately whereas Miller has been given excuse after excuse. Bad injury it was but it looks as if the old adage, "You don't come back the same from an injury like that", is proving right in this case. Hopefully, that is not the case with our young Italian boy when he returns.

 

[alcoblade]

Agree with most of that especially the part about Miller.

He's been back a couple of months now, when do we say that he is now fit and is playing poorly? We can't keep making the excuse for him that he is just back from injury and is lacking match fitness and sharpness. In all honesty, he should have that now. He never even threatened at all yesterday and his ball control was woeful. Whilst I'm in no way defending Porter, it seems that everything he does is picked up on immediately whereas Miller has been given excuse after excuse. Bad injury it was but it looks as if the old adage, "You don't come back the same from an injury like that", is proving right in this case. Hopefully, that is not the case with our young Italian boy when he returns.

The fact is Miller has never scored many goals. Many (possibly me too) are seduced by a few good recent performances. It's the football fans' achilles heal to put far too much emphasis on recent performance over career long statistics. Wait until Porter bundles another over the line at the 8th attempt to witness this is action here.

UTB