RATINGS

[Esmond Million's Bung]

To be honest I am not too pissed off so much with losing, what was worrying tonight was what I have been saying about Hunt came to fruition, he is not a very good defender, he loses sight of his man far too often and has the tendency to be weak as their goal proved.

Also worrying was the sight of our central midfield completely losing their discipline one of them has to hold FFS it really is not rocket science.

Kelly was casual in the first half but improved in the 2nd and took his goal well.

Paterson is still a waste of space.

We played really well at times and created shedloads of chances but far to ill disciplined and gung ho in centre midfield and that really does need to be addressed, the first 3 goals and goals that actually decided the game were as a direct result of being wide open down the middle with Pack and Brownhill ahead of the ball, somebody needs to get a grip of that problem.

Mäenpää 6 Badly let down by his defence and his central midfielders.

Hunt 3 Defensively poor and weak.

Webster 5 not at his best, but could have expected more protection from his central midfield.

Kalas 7 A warrior.

Kelly 5 Confidence is great but casualness is not. But he will learn and it never really affected him overall.

Watkins 4 Poor all night.

Pack 4 Naive, ill disciplined and poor.

Brownhill 4 Same as Pack.

ODowda 8 Probably MOM, he worked really hard for 90 minutes.

Taylor 6 I was surprised that he was taken off, his link up play is better than Wiemanns.

Wiemann 5 Worked hard as usual but not his night.

Diedhiou 7 Gave them something different to worry about and tried hard, scored a screamer.

Eliasson 7 Same as Diedhiou, apart from the screamer.

Paterson 3 Not a player to bring on when your losing, but I wouldn’t bet against him starting at Wigan.

LJ Cannot be blamed for individual mistakes from defenders and a central midfield who cannot communicate with each other, I think he must have been really pissed off after 2 minutes of the 2nd half when Pack and Brownhill were caught out in front of the ball again.

I just want to add West Brom will not get promoted playing like they did because most teams would have punished them and you could just feel the crowd waiting to get on their backs all night.

[Jimbo76]

Harsh. Think I was watching a different game.  Naive defending but otherwise strangely proud of city tonight.

[Lrrr]

O'Dowda looked on another level to me, need to get him to sign a new contract. Agree about LJ the set up and tactics saw us create plenty of chances away at a good club but just let down by execution rather than the tactics.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

 

Harsh. Think I was watching a different game.  Naive defending but otherwise strangely proud of city tonight.

It's my opinion, you cannot concede 4 goals against a team who never had to play very well to score those goals and repeat the same mistakes, the naivety was in central midfield for the first 3 goals and the game was over.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

 

Did we watch the same game? Thought the majority of them played very well. 

All I can say is you are easily pleased, 3 of the back 4 were poor and 2 of the midfield were poor and we gifted 4 goals against a side we were outplaying for long periods and missing very presentable chances, before we surrendered central midfield.

[UK0wnag3]

Mäenpää - 5. Couldn’t do a lot with the goals. Distribution has been better than it was tonight IMO. Made a class save when 1-0 down but also can’t award any more points to a keeper who concedes 4.

Hunt - 4. A kind five perhaps. Distribution very poor and none of the back four covered in glory tonight. On second though, a four.

Webster - 5. Defence struggled with Gayle’s movement tonight. Left exposed.

Kalas - 5. Exposed like Webster. Slightly stronger of the two IMO but not by much.

Kelly - 4. Disappointed to learn he’s not perfect. Had a real tough first half, gave the ball away in crucial areas a la Magnússon of last season and general passing was poor. Kept fighting but not the best night going forward either.

Watkins - 3. Laid a brick tonight. He’s better than that and we go again.

Pack - 5. Not his usual metronomic self. Will play better on Friday.

Brownhill - 6. Plenty of energy as per, not a lot to show for his graft. Didn’t have his shooting boots either.

O’Dowda - 6. Positionally too narrow at times for my liking in the first half, probably would have taken him off if Watkins wasn’t drawing cats on the opposite flank. A lot of good crossing opportunities but not his usual dangerous deliveries.

Taylor - 6. Was playing well as we started brightly and he could run the channels. Faded as the goals were shipped and never really stood a chance aerially.

Weimann - 5. Touch was poor tonight, would have been a much different dance had he scored with the early lob.

Eliasson - 6. Had the LB on toast, not as much with the RB. Like O’Dowda, plenty of crossing opportunities. 

Diedhiou - 7. Took his goal very well, did bits in the air. Think he should have stayed central and pushed Weimann out wide IMO

Paterson - 5. Not someone I would describe as an impact sub. Didn’t have time to really prove this either way.

[yardy]

Bit harsh ratings but i agree with you about O'Dowda, he looked positive and dangerous especially 2nd half....maybe his best position is a number 10 role?

[cheshire_red]

From TV

Maenpaa 6 No chance for any of the goals

Hunt 3 defending is appalling, caught out of position, on the wrong side of his man and the trap on the touchline to set up the last goal was just stupid

Kalas 7 battled hard with nowt outside him of any help, wins most balls, intelligent defender

webster 6 not too bad he and Kalas were left facing three or four running at them several times

Kelly 6 would have been 7 bar the mistake

Watkins 5 still not quite there

Pack 6 found it hard defensively when chasing runners but still dicatated our play well mostly

Brownhill 6 Not good with final ball around the box

O'Dowda 8 good game intelligent positioning for a pass,

Taylor 5 still ball control issues and takes too long to get a shot away at this level

Weimann 6 worked tirelessly even on our own byeline in open play, great pace and stamina and no little skill

Fammy 7 was he told to play down the left? great goal.

Eliasson, 7 excellent, some great crosses, the one to Patterson should have been a goal

Patterson 3 devoid of confidence it would appear, nothing like the player he was and the open goal header jeez

[Glarster Red]

We have just played West Brom away and forced them to play counter attack at home,We created 23 opportunity’s yes 23 to WB 11,We lost 1 game but the futures bright . COYR

[Midlands Robin]

Walking back to the Metro station tonight listening to the Baggies fans, most were discussing how they felt they would have really been up against it had they not got a fourth. Their fans certainly didn't seem to think they were that much better than us.

Hard to disagree with any of the comments on here tonight. Sadly, we got punished for some poor defending.

 

[And Its Smith]

Tonight shows fine margins in football. If Blackburn score their clean through at 1-0 up we probably dont win and if we had gone 1-0 up tonight we possibly dont lose.

No point getting angry or annoyed at fine margins. Man for man we were pretty much as good as them. They made fewer individual errors but made a fair few in their previous games

[Davefevs]

Just watched the game on tv (was out earlier).

We started so well, think we got a bit carried away, and we seemed to find it easy to get the ball into their final third....but boy did they catch us on the break.

Lots of positives.....with the ball....but away from home I didn’t see enough desire to work backwards.

Easy to blame individuals, or score them low, but I think certain players like Hunt and Kelly were left exposed by their wingers, and as a result were rarely able to cover Kalas and Webster.

I didn’t see enough of what I expected to be two banks of four with Weimann dropping in.

We certainly created some chances though, could’ve easily been 4-4.

Couple of things...not seen replays.

- did Webster get the ball for the pen?

- thought Hunt was shoved for their 4th

No ratings from me.

[TV Tom]

O’Dowda was our best player by a distance

[Beezey]

 

Just watched the game on tv (was out earlier).

We started so well, think we got a bit carried away, and we seemed to find it easy to get the ball into their final third....but boy did they catch us on the break.

Lots of positives.....with the ball....but away from home I didn’t see enough desire to work backwards.

Easy to blame individuals, or score them low, but I think certain players like Hunt and Kelly were left exposed by their wingers, and as a result were rarely able to cover Kalas and Webster.

I didn’t see enough of what I expected to be two banks of four with Weimann dropping in.

We certainly created some chances though, could’ve easily been 4-4.

Couple of things...not seen replays.

- did Webster get the ball for the pen?

- thought Hunt was shoved for their 4th

No ratings from me.

I said at the time (at the game) I thought Hunt was pushed from behind for the forth. Not defending him though (The irony) as he had a shocker tonight. 

Ref was awful and gave us nothing 

[UK0wnag3]

 

I said at the time (at the game) I thought Hunt was pushed from behind for the forth. Not defending him though (The irony) as he had a shocker tonight. 

Ref was awful and gave us nothing 

Actually thought the ref was really good - played the advantage very well for WBA’s penalty and then reciprocated in the second half for Brownhill’s free kick.

[Beezey]

 

Actually thought the ref was really good - played the advantage very well for WBA’s penalty and then reciprocated in the second half for Brownhill’s free kick.

Perhaps I’m bitter, didn’t agree with the advantage and then because it’s saved call it back. Third goal the keeper is outside the box when he throws It and the forth goal was a foul on Hunt ( I may be bitter however) 

[David Brent]

“Pack - 4”

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

[Super]

Maenpaa 6

Hunt 3 

Kalas 6

webster 6 

Kelly 5

Watkins 5 

Pack 5

Brownhill 5

O'Dowda 8

Taylor 5 

Weimann 6 

Fammy 7

Eliasson, 7 

Patterson 3

[daored]

 

O’Dowda was our best player by a distance

I would consider playing him centrally as our attacking midfielder. Will need someone to sit and protect beside him, but generally believe he could cause opposition problems centrally 

[Tears in rain]

 

I would consider playing him centrally as our attacking midfielder. Will need someone to sit and protect beside him, but generally believe he could cause opposition problems centrally 

Based on how the midfield played the sitting element of that position yesterday I wouldn’t count on it. 

[Esmond Million's Bung]

11 hours ago, JonDolman said:

I wouldn't blame the players for our team being far too open. LJ went attacking, and it could have worked if those chances went in, but didn't and we inevitably got caught on the break. Individually most of them played well imo.  

Sorry but you couldn't be more wrong, I cannot believe for the life of me that LJ instructed both Brownhill and Pack to just bomb on and get ahead of the ball and not leave a holding midfielder and leave centre midfield wide open to counter attack, which is what happened for the first 3 goals, I think they got over excited because of the way that we started.

I am not a wholly convinced LJ convert but this one was down to the players, LJ did little or nothing wrong last night, if you are correct and LJ instructed both Pack and Brownhill to bomb on in a gung ho fashion then he should be sacked immediately.

[Super Scotty Murray]

Agree that O'Dowda was MOM. Some of the other ratings a bit harsh but clearly we made some poor errors leading to their goals, and we seemed a bit over-confident and were made to pay for it.

[BigAl&Toby]

You’re a tough man to please. And harsh

That said I’d agree with some of the sentiment.

Hunt was dire for all the reasons you’ve said. He’d not get a 3 from me.....

Kelly started well but faded when he was needed most. Finished better but by then it was too late.

I thought the rest were all ok - some more so than others. Stats show we had more possession, shots and corners.

WBA were sadly better than us in the areas that mattered.

Still say we’ll be ok come May!

[Esmond Million's Bung]

5 minutes ago, BigAlToby&Liam said:

You’re a tough man to please. And harsh

That said I’d agree with some of the sentiment.

Hunt was dire for all the reasons you’ve said. He’d not get a 3 from me.....

Kelly started well but faded when he was needed most. Finished better but by then it was too late.

I thought the rest were all ok - some more so than others. Stats show we had more possession, shots and corners.

WBA were sadly better than us in the areas that mattered.

Still say we’ll be ok come May!

I would say I have been incredibly patient, waiting for a fully functioning centre midfield, as I have said more 2 years and last night was once more a graphic example of how ill disciplined and disorganised they become especially when they are over confident.

A quick look at the first 3 goals will highlight the problem.

And I don't blame LJ, I suspect part of his half time talk was telling Pack and Brownhill that one of them must sit when we attack and 2 minutes into the 2nd half they both get caught out ahead of the ball yet again, I wouldn't mind betting that he was spitting nails and it was obvious that the message that Eliasson imparted to Pack when he came on as sub was something along the lines of "if you 2 cannot communicate or realise when the other is attacking and sit in, you can sit in for the rest of the game and let Josh, play more forward FFS".

[BigAl&Toby]

I’d agree with that too. No one was prepared or able to take tough calls when necessary - think it was their 3rd when in the build up we were screaming that someone needed to “take the ducker out” 

For me though I still think the most glaring of errors came from the choices that our fullbacks made. 

I think both Pack and Brownhill have come on leaps and bounds. Still lack that “bastard” approach when it’s needed - see Pack towards the end of the game make a half hearted and weak attempt to block a WBA player striding out of just outside their penalty area with the ball?

Progress nevertheless and as I’ve said elsewhere I’m confident we’ll be more consistent this year and will finish Top Two

[Esmond Million's Bung]

2 minutes ago, BigAlToby&Liam said:

I’d agree with that too. No one was prepared or able to take tough calls when necessary - think it was their 3rd when in the build up we were screaming that someone needed to “take the ducker out” 

For me though I still think the most glaring of errors came from the choices that our fullbacks made. 

I think both Pack and Brownhill have come on leaps and bounds. Still lack that “bastard” approach when it’s needed - see Pack towards the end of the game make a half hearted and weak attempt to block a WBA player striding out of just outside their penalty area with the ball?

Progress nevertheless and as I’ve said elsewhere I’m confident we’ll be more consistent this year and will finish Top Two

Occasionally, but when your centre midfielders are nowhere to seen in the build up to 3 goals then something is seriously wrong.

The mistakes by Kelly for the first/penalty and Hunt for the 4th, is when you need your centre midfield to rectify those mistakes but when they are nowhere to be seen because they have BOTH bombed on and are ahead of the ball, everybody is capable of making a mistake, it happens, but to play most of the game with the sort of abandon that Pack and Brownhill did is just asking for trouble.

I must reiterate the fault lies with centre midfield and not the defence per se, just watch the build up to all of the goals, when they play like they did last night they offer little or no protection to their defence.

Goal 1 Kelly was incredibly casual, Brownhill nor Hunt are not even in the picture, Pack reacts far too late and Webster dives in.

Goal 2 A simple rolled ball from their keeper takes Brownhill and Pack out of the equation (one of them should have been on the halfway line) both were far too forward, that in turn forces Kelly to come across to cover leaving the eventual goal scorer unmarked and Webster loses his footing, Watkins was far too weak to allow the run to continue as he did.

Goal 3 An even simpler throw out by their keeper once more takes out Pack and Brownhill from the equation both yet again are struggling to get anywhere near where they need to be, Hunt well god knows what he was doing instead of back peddling who moves forward enabling the player to get past him with ease, his attempted foul was weaker than Watkins for the 2nd goal, Kelly is attempting to get back to cover YET again for his missing centre midfielders but he has not noticed the unmarked Rodriguez (unmarked because for the 2nd time Kelly has been dragged out of position) trying to cover for Pack and Brownhill.

Goal 4 An even simpler long ball from their keeper, Hunt thinks that he has become Franz Beckanbauer and tries to be clever and is far too weak, Pack is incredibly slow to spot the danger and is out of the picture.

For all 4 goals only Watkins trying to atone for his weakness for goal number 2 gets back into the area and Pack lumbers back well behind the ball for the 4th, they are the only 2 midfielders actually in shot for all 4 goals.

[Tears in rain]

13 minutes ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

Occasionally, but when your centre midfielders are nowhere to seen in the build up to 3 goals then something is seriously wrong.

The mistakes by Kelly for the first/penalty and Hunt for the 4th, is when you need your centre midfield to rectify those mistakes but when they are nowhere to be seen because they have BOTH bombed on and are ahead of the ball, everybody is capable of making a mistake, it happens, but to play most of the game with the sort of abandon that Pack and Brownhill did is just asking for trouble.

I must reiterate the fault lies with centre midfield and not the defence per se, just watch the build up to all of the goals, when they play like they did last night they offer little or no protection to their defence.

Goal 1 Kelly was incredibly casual, Brownhill nor Hunt are not even in the picture, Pack reacts far too late and Webster dives in.

Goal 2 A simple rolled ball from their keeper takes Brownhill and Pack out of the equation (one of them should have been on the halfway line) both were far too forward, that in turn forces Kelly to come across to cover leaving the eventual goal scorer unmarked and Webster loses his footing, Watkins was far too weak to allow the run to continue as he did.

Goal 3 An even simpler throw out by their keeper once more takes out Pack and Brownhill from the equation both yet again are struggling to get anywhere near where they need to be, Hunt well god knows what he was doing instead of back peddling who moves forward enabling the player to get past him with ease, his attempted foul was weaker than Watkins for the 2nd goal, Kelly is attempting to get back to cover YET again for his missing centre midfielders but he has not noticed the unmarked Rodriguez (unmarked because for the 2nd time Kelly has been dragged out of position) trying to cover for Pack and Brownhill.

Goal 4 An even simpler long ball from their keeper, Hunt thinks that he has become Franz Beckanbauer and tries to be clever and is far too weak, Pack is incredibly slow to spot the danger and is out of the picture.

For all 4 goals only Watkins trying to atone for his weakness for goal number 2 gets back into the area and Pack lumbers back well behind the ball for the 4th, they are the only 2 midfielders actually in shot for all 4 goals.

Apparently I can’t add another emoticon reaction

But thanks for this post, decent insight and knowledge into all of the goals conceded and I was infuriated about how the midfield didn’t operate defensively. 

 

 

[Jerseybean]

34 minutes ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

Occasionally, but when your centre midfielders are nowhere to seen in the build up to 3 goals then something is seriously wrong.

The mistakes by Kelly for the first/penalty and Hunt for the 4th, is when you need your centre midfield to rectify those mistakes but when they are nowhere to be seen because they have BOTH bombed on and are ahead of the ball, everybody is capable of making a mistake, it happens, but to play most of the game with the sort of abandon that Pack and Brownhill did is just asking for trouble.

I must reiterate the fault lies with centre midfield and not the defence per se, just watch the build up to all of the goals, when they play like they did last night they offer little or no protection to their defence.

Goal 1 Kelly was incredibly casual, Brownhill nor Hunt are not even in the picture, Pack reacts far too late and Webster dives in.

Goal 2 A simple rolled ball from their keeper takes Brownhill and Pack out of the equation (one of them should have been on the halfway line) both were far too forward, that in turn forces Kelly to come across to cover leaving the eventual goal scorer unmarked and Webster loses his footing, Watkins was far too weak to allow the run to continue as he did.

Goal 3 An even simpler throw out by their keeper once more takes out Pack and Brownhill from the equation both yet again are struggling to get anywhere near where they need to be, Hunt well god knows what he was doing instead of back peddling who moves forward enabling the player to get past him with ease, his attempted foul was weaker than Watkins for the 2nd goal, Kelly is attempting to get back to cover YET again for his missing centre midfielders but he has not noticed the unmarked Rodriguez (unmarked because for the 2nd time Kelly has been dragged out of position) trying to cover for Pack and Brownhill.

Goal 4 An even simpler long ball from their keeper, Hunt thinks that he has become Franz Beckanbauer and tries to be clever and is far too weak, Pack is incredibly slow to spot the danger and is out of the picture.

For all 4 goals only Watkins trying to atone for his weakness for goal number 2 gets back into the area and Pack lumbers back well behind the ball for the 4th, they are the only 2 midfielders actually in shot for all 4 goals.

Having watched it last night and having since seen the highlights the fact that at the start of three of their goals the ball was with their keeper and that we were so quickly and effectively cut through is alarming. As well described above this should have been prevented by stronger midfield positioning/play. While I like the fact that we play football all over the pitch there are occasions, especially defensively, when doing the basic and sometimes ugly thing (like putting the ball into touch, giving away a foul, etc) is needed.

[Sturny]

13 hours ago, David Brent said:

“Pack - 4”

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

Harsh rating indeed. His passing was good as always but he couldn't compete aerially vs their midfield 

[Esmond Million's Bung]

For clarity I think Pack and Brownhill are extremely talented footballers and we will do well to hold on to Brownhill as he matures he is a real talent and Pack is our best captain since Louis.

However we are now into the 3rd season of Pack, Smith and Brownhill as our centre midfield options and all too often for my liking they have nights like last night, where nobody takes responsibility to make sure that the defence are adequately protected, it is left to chance far too often and that is clearly not good enough, short of my idea of fitting them both with electric shock collars, then I believe we need a new face somebody who can organise.