Its a praise and a grumble....

[Casper]

A massive praise for the blades today. That the best display of the season so far. We actually created (yes thats created) chances today. No hoof ball lumped into the mixer in the hope it would hit somebody on the arse and drop to a blades boot. We played crisp, pass and move football. It was excellent to see. Well done Blackwell!!!!

And the grumble........ Dread Evans, oh dear, the guy is sheeite. Cant wait till we play with 11 men right from the start - rather than waiting till 70 minutes or so.

 

[DuncDisorderly]

And the grumble........ Dread Evans, oh dear, the guy is sheeite.

...best performance by Evans so far, we all thought. Active, involved and playing well off the defenders shoulder. First game where there was a glimmer of hope that he will come good...

(Shows how we all see the game differently I guess...)

 

[Guesty]

Evans showed some decent movement and strength but nearly everything he did on the ball ended in failure. I can only imagine Camara isn't fully fit to not get a start ahead of him.

 

[oaklandrdblade]

Yep, thought it was his best so far. BUT he is offside as much as Billy ever was, he seems to have little anticipation of where the ball will end up, and so often allows a defender to sneak a foot in front of him and get the ball away.

However there were signs today of increased work rate and a couple of good attempts.

 

[keenzy]

Creswell was just as bad, if not worse.

 

[Blades-7]

Well I thought Evans played well today

 

[Gloucblade]

Thought Evans had a reasonable game. And NO PLAYER in the history of SUFC has ever been offside as often as Billy.

 

[Gloucblade]

Harper had a good game, involved, didnt waste much and was always looking to pick the pass. I was really encouraged when he arrived, but his performances so far have been disappointing. The last 4 0r 5 games has seen steady improvement, probably as his match fitness has improved, and his goal at Plymouth was well taken.

 

[dingledog]

Who was the new player on the wing with Ginger hair, not seen him play all season until today?

 

[kivoblade]

Could'nt get today daughter in hospital , was it better than forest

 

[Northyorksblade]

Much, much better. Played a lot of football, passed through the midfield, rather than over it! Played as a team, seemed to know where players were. Some lovely through balls. Cresswell and Evans linked up well (in my opinion anyway!) I was very impressed and couldn't criticise anyone. Not sure about that daft free kick though.

 

[Blade]

for me evans was at least four times the threat cresswell was. overall the best performance as a side at home this year. terrible offiicials and still more to come from us though.

 

[oldblade]

...best performance by Evans so far, we all thought. Active, involved and playing well off the defenders shoulder. First game where there was a glimmer of hope that he will come good...

(Shows how we all see the game differently I guess...)

Tend to agree with you there Dunc. Not sure if it was his best performance to date, but it was certainly one of his better ones. Although I did sometimes mistakenly think he was Cresswell. (Who also played very well).

But it has to be said, not a bad performance all round.

 

[alcoblade]

Tend to agree with you there Dunc. Not sure if it was his best performance to date, but it was certainly one of his better ones.

maybe so, but if he stands in the center circle scratching his nads for 90 minutes, it will count as an average performance by his standards......

UTB

 

[Bladesman]

Cheddar played like cheese solid and mild.

 

[happyhippy]

I don't think anyone had a bad game as such, but I thought this was Ched's best performance so far. What did seem worrying was that he looked a little tired when he was subbed.

 

[happyhippy]

Could'nt get today daughter in hospital , was it better than forest

Much better. We were at them early on, deserved the lead and they really did fall over a lot. All in all, well deserved, though there were passages in the second half where the match did pass most of us by.

All of which is much less important than your daughter's health. My youngest is having a prolonged bout of illness, so all the best to you, Blade.

 

[grafikhaus]

I don't think anyone had a bad game as such, but I thought this was Ched's best performance so far. What did seem worrying was that he looked a little tired when he was subbed.

Not sure he was 'tired' - he'd just been assaulted by a Palace player which the ref. and linesman chose (again) to ignore.

A greatly improved display. Not really a poor player (although, as Blades I'm sure we'll find a scapegoat ). Morgs and Killa outstanding against a Palace side who needed watching at all times. Harper and Williamson stood out. Quinny much better.

Palace? Considering their illness/money woes I thought they contributed fully to a very good game - even though they got away with a lot thanks to that god-awful ref. and lino.

The highlight of the match for me was the Palace No. 11 (Moses, I think). A cracking, almost-virtuoso display that needed us doubling- and tripling-up on him at times. Destined for far greater things.

 

[Casper]

What did our £3m signing (according to Mr McCabe) and one of the highest paid players outside of the premiership actually do yesterday?

Ok, i agree he did play better than he usually does, but its like saying a wannabe sprinter did better cos he did the 100m in 20 seconds rather than his usual 22.

Evans had a shot just wide, won one header and controlled a difficult ball very well. Thats it of particular note in the whole game. Yep his running off the ball was better, but he didnt show anything like the anticipation needed for a striker in a team looking to promotion to the premier league.

He is nowhere near the standard required of a top striker in this league. He was Blackwell's talisman signing and has consistently failed to deliver.

Verdict - very poor.

But hey, it was a much improved team performance and i give Blackwell credit for that. Thats given me some hope. If we can just add one or two quality players to the squad in January (and stop carrying others!) we should have a decent shout of the play offs.

 

[bartman]

What did our £3m signing (according to Mr McCabe) and one of the highest paid players outside of the premiership actually do yesterday?

Ok, i agree he did play better than he usually does, but its like saying a wannabe sprinter did better cos he did the 100m in 20 seconds rather than his usual 22.

Evans had a shot just wide, won one header and controlled a difficult ball very well. Thats it of particular note in the whole game. Yep his running off the ball was better, but he didnt show anything like the anticipation needed for a striker in a team looking to promotion to the premier league.

He is nowhere near the standard required of a top striker in this league. He was Blackwell's talisman signing and has consistently failed to deliver.

Verdict - very poor.

did you actually go to the game because your comments would suggest you didn't?

Or is Evans your new whipping boy as it is difficuly to slag off Quinn at the moment ?

 

[Muttley]

Thought Evans had a reasonable game. And NO PLAYER in the history of SUFC has ever been offside as often as Billy.

You don't remember Keith Edwards then?

 

[oldblade]

And lets face it, Keith Edwards didn't exactly wear himself out during a game. But he did do one thing very well, and he did it several hundred times. He put the ball in the net.

 

[alcoblade]

did you actually go to the game because your comments would suggest you didn't?

Or is Evans your new whipping boy as it is difficuly to slag off Quinn at the moment ?

I went to the game and saw it the same as casper. Our main £3M striker, one of the highest paid outside the premiership, didn't have a shot on goal (I think) yet had his "best game yet". Is it just me that finds that extremely worrying?

He isn't a whipping boy. To date, he's completely shite. We want to get out of this division, and currently one of the first names on the team sheet wouldn't get a game with the Red Lion. I'd love him to prove me wrong, seriously. But right now, he's crap.

UTB

 

[oldblade]

I went to the game and saw it the same as casper. Our main £3M striker, one of the highest paid outside the premiership, didn't have a shot on goal (I think) yet had his "best game yet". Is it just me that finds that extremely worrying?

He isn't a whipping boy. To date, he's completely shite. We want to get out of this division, and currently one of the first names on the team sheet wouldn't get a game with the Red Lion. I'd love him to prove me wrong, seriously. But right now, he's crap.

UTB

He did have a shot in the second half. He was to the right hand side (as he would be looking at it) of the goal and missed to the right. It followed a very good United move.

 

[alcoblade]

sorry, I meant "on" goal. I remember the one 5 yards out, when he was 6 yards wide....

To be fair, I wouldn't hold that one against him, but the fact remains that if that was his best game yet and he's our main striker, we wont do anything this season.

UTB

 

[tomtheblade]

Our midfield is shaping up quite nicely with Harper and Williamson forging a partnership, and monty available if needed. Add in an improving Squinny and Ward and that's not bad. Whats happened to Treacy though is he injured?
Defence is getting better, if only we could hold onto Killa...
Our strikers are much of a muchness for me. Now Ward has turned winger i don't feel particularly inspired by any of them apart from Hendo, and he seems to encourage us to play hoofball. Not his fault thats blackwells tactics but just the way it is unfortunately.

What i wouldn't give to swap Ched for Hulse.

 

[oaklandrdblade]

sorry, I meant "on" goal. I remember the one 5 yards out, when he was 6 yards wide....

To be fair, I wouldn't hold that one against him, but the fact remains that if that was his best game yet and he's our main striker, we wont do anything this season.

UTB

Sure it was him who hit the post in the first half after their defender had deflected what was a goal bound effort

 

[Casper]

did you actually go to the game because your comments would suggest you didn't?

Or is Evans your new whipping boy as it is difficuly to slag off Quinn at the moment ?

lol i can count on 1 hand the amount of home games ive missed in the past 35 years or so. Must admit im a bit of a part-timer away from home though these days. Of course you wont have noticed but i didnt post a single comment after the Bristol City or Plymouth games.......cos erm i didnt go!

I will simply say i expect far far more from our talisman signing and main striker on wages you (i would imagine!) and i could only dream of.