PLAYER WATCH v Sheffield United

[tonyoz]

PLAYER WATCH v Sheffield United

Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale:

+5 GOAL

+4 Excellent play

+3 Very good play

+2 Pleasing/good play

+1 Decent play

  0 Routine stuff

 -1 Sloppy play

 -2 Disappointing/poor play

 -3 Very poor play

 -4 Terrible play

 -5 Own goal

The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match.

 

Ratings      

Key incidents per player = coloured stars              Overall contribution = number

Kaminski                     *******  ***     11                                 

Nyambe                       **************** ***     14

Lenihan                          **********************   *******     26

Wharton                        ***********************   *******     24

Edun                                ***************  *********     5

Davenport (77)            ***********  ******     8 

Travis                              **************  **     19

Buckley                          *********************  *****     30    

Poveda (92)                  **********************  ****     34  

Khadra (66)                  *************  ********     15

 Diaz                                ***************  *********     18

 

Dolan (66)                   *****  *     7

Rothwell (77)                **     3

Butterworth (92)          0

 

Highlights and Lowlights

(A justification for the main ratings given above)

01  A long clearance from United flies down their right wing. Wharton ánd  Sharp are in hot pursuit. Wharton is nearer the ball but Sharp is quicker and Wharton is under pressure. He tries to put the ball out but doesn’t make proper contact and Sharp is away. His cross from the byline is perfect and Brewster volleys powerfully into the roof of the net. There’s a big character test ahead!

04 The United fans are still in full voice. Then there’s an excellent long, crossfield ball from Travis to Khadra who controls beautifully, skips infield and beats his man who then has to hack him down just over 30m out. Yellow card. Buckley’s free-kick is headed clear.

06  Lenihan gives a crude foul away midway in our half. Edun, for some reason, decides to stay in midfield leaving Khadra to mark the whole of our left flank! When the United winger gets the ball he passes behind Khadra and into the box. Edun chases but inexplicably falls flat on his face! Fortunately Wharton is well-placed to cut out the cross.

07  Edun fires a nice ball from halfway down the inside left channel to Diaz, 40m out. He goes on one of his runs and the ball is bobbling all over the place, off his knees and ankles, but he somehow bamboozles 3 men until he goes down in the box. It looked like a clear penalty to me, tugged back by Egan - he’d only the keeper to beat! The ref thinks differently, Diaz can’t believe it, Mowbray is screaming at the ref and the crowd roars its fury!

09  Buckley puts a foot in and Poveda is off on a jinky run. He puts a nice ball through to Diaz on the edge of the box but Ben somehow misses the ball!

The crowd are wide awake now. Good Rovers pressing.

13  Lovely long ball by Lenihan lands perfectly for Diaz on the edge of the box; he nets but was offside!

18  Good United move sees the right winger get a cross in but again Wharton is in position, in the box, to intercept for a throw. From the throw Edun and Khadra are too easily beaten by White but Travis runs across the box to challenge and it’s another throw.

21  Well placed free-kick by Khadra from midway in the United half but Lenihan can’t quite get there as the keeper hesitates.

27  Buckley dispossesses a United man in midfield and Travis plays a lovely ball to Khadra, 35m out, but it’s poor control by Khadra and the defender slides in to clear. From the throw, Wharton misjudges the ball and United steam forward. It’s dangerous but Nyambe sprints back and manages to get his foot in and Rovers clear up.

28  Lovely through ball from halfway by Poveda finds Diaz on the edge of the box. Ben tries to cut it back to Buckley but it’s blocked. Disappointing, Ben holds his head.

32  Another good free-kick by Khadra from midway in the Sheffield half, on the right (same place as the last one!) into the 6 yard box. The defender does really well to get there just before the ball reaches Wharton! Two quick corners keep the pressure on.

35  A beautiful long crossfield ball by Buckley from halfway falls perfectly for Edun near the corner flag. His cross is blocked but Davenport picks up the loose ball and gives it to Khadra 20m out. Fancy footwork keeps three defenders at bay and he lets fly from the left edge of the D. There’s a slight deflection and the ball hits the back of the net. Nice goal.

37  Wharton misjudges a ball into the box and Sharp pinches the ball. Lenihan’s robust challenge clears the danger.

40  Edun is stranded in midfield again as the ball reaches a totally unmarked Bogle at the edge of the box and where is Khadra?  Khadra eventually gets back to deflect Bogle’s shot for a corner. This defensive partnership of Edun and Khadra is just not working though!

41  A good long run by Diaz but his final pass is short…..he picks it up again and feeds Nyambe high up on the wing. His cross finds Poveda in the box and he brings the ball down on his chest but a defender clears it off his toes. Davenport wins it back on the edge of the box but his rushed shot is well over the bar.

43  Poveda is well beaten by Stevens on the wing. His dangerous cross is met by Lenihan but only reaches the edge of the box. Fortunately, this time Brewster scuffs his shot wide.

 

48  More trickery from Poveda on the right wing before he slips a pass to Diaz in the box. Ben doesn’t control it fully but he follows the ball to the byline and his attempted cross is deflected across the face of goal. Khadra chases it down and some nice interplay sees Nyambe with a chance of a shot on goal but there’s a reason he never scores as the ball disappears into the heavens!

53  A Rovers throw in the United half. Buckley collects and glides between 2 men, he reaches the box and slides a glorious, square, low ball across the face of goal but there’s nobody there to tap in! Then there’s some fancy footwork from Khadra on the left wing which leaves the defender in his wake but his cross is too high. The camera focuses on Travis who is winding everyone up! Great stuff.

Then there’s a dangerous length of the field counter move by Sheffield and White receives in the box but Davenport slides in to block his cross….corner. Good lad!

55  It’s loud now! Travis wins a free kick just inside United’s half and takes it quickly to Khadra on the wing. He slips it to Edun who puts a great cross into the goalmouth but Diaz can’t make contact………….close!

56  Fleck fires a lovely ball, from halfway, over our defence, catching out Wharton and it falls to Sharp but his shot is well-saved by Kaminski’s legs. Wharton chases Sharp towards the rebound and puts the ball out for a throw.

58  Good strength from Lenihan wins the ball for Rovers and breaks up a dangerous attack. Poveda picks up near our box, on the right, and starts a long run. He lays off to Travis just inside United’s half. Travis carries forward and Poveda keeps running……..he’s pointing to the right of the box, behind the last defender. Travis threads the ball exactly to that spot and Poveda collects near the byline  He squares the ball perfectly for the fast arriving Diaz who nets from 1m. Fantastic goal and Ewood erupts! Terrible swallow dive celebration by Ben but I forgive him.

60  Fantastic, length of the field pass by Wharton finds Diaz who controls well and turns the defender inside out but he’s come too wide and his shot is well off-target. The atmosphere is electric.

61 A Sheffield attack breaks down and Khadra is on the ball in a flash and drives forward with real pace. He lays off to Diaz on the wing and keeps running. Diaz delivers it back to Khadra inside the box but he overruns it. He recovers but the defenders close him down and block the shot. A square ball to the unmarked Poveda would have been a better option!

66  Dolan on, Khadra off.

67  White’s neat turn does both Lenihan and Davenport but his pass into the box is too hard for Sharp and Kaminski collects.

White crosses from the left and Davenport makes an important interception but he deflects the ball only  inches over the bar.

A couple of corners follow and Kaminski punches the second one clear.

68  It comes back and eventually Buckley wins the ball. Diaz picks it up and he’s off, Poveda and Edun are keeping pace with him. It’s 3v3.  He slips it left to Poveda on the edge of the box and his first-time shot from a narrow angle is saved at the near post but the keeper can’t hold it. Poveda collects again and does a 1-2 shimmy round the prone goalie and taps the ball past the last defender into the net. Brilliant by Poveda. WE WANT SEVEN!!

71  A fantastic, long, crossfield ball by Buckley bends behind the last defender and lands at Diaz’s feet. Ben takes it into the box but stumbles, falls over and the ball is lost.

73  Poveda, midway in the Sheffield half plays a beautiful, defence splitting pass through to the charging (but well-offside) Diaz.

White gets the better of Travis, Lenihan and Davenport so they foul him.

74  Edun is dispossessed in our own half, Travis is nutmegged and White lobs a perfect ball over our entire defence to the feet of Mousset. Kaminski makes a great save, it’s pandemonium as it falls to Mousset again. This time Lenihan blocks 3m out and Wharton gets a crucial foot in …but it falls to White 12m out and his shot crashes against the woodwork and goes out of play! The gods are with us!

76  Dolan does some fancy stuff near the corner flag and gets clattered for his cockiness. Buckley puts the free-kick well over…..disappointing.

77  Davenport off, Rothwell on.

80  I reckon everyone is now thinking “Is there enough time for them to score 2?......or3?”

81 Beautiful lobbed ball by Travis to Diaz on the left wing but he’s offside!

82  The ball comes into the Rovers box, Lenihan’s there to block but it’s not clear. Nyambe thinks he’s shepherded it out but no…...White keeps it in (dubiously!) and crosses. Again Lenihan’s there to put it behind for a corner.

83  Buckley picks up the ball midway in the Rovers half and carries it forward. He releases the inch perfect ball to the pleading Diaz midway in the visitors half. There’s no one in front of him and he runs to the edge of the box but his shot is too near the keeper and it’s saved.

85  White lobs another fantastic ball over our defence to Mousset but he can’t control it and it’s a goal-kick. Kaminski’s kick is weak and Edun can’t get it under control and Sheffield attack. Lenihan and Travis clear up. Eventually Diaz gets the ball midway in United’s half. He does that magical “I haven’t got it under control...but I have really” thing of his and squares it to Buckley. He passes to Poveda who beats 2 men in the D and rolls it forward a metre to Buckley who is free and clear but his shot hits the post. It rebounds to Diaz who completely mis-hits the ball in front of an open goal! He was offside anyway!

90  A lovely floated ball into the box gets the better of Lenihan, Edun and Wharton but the Sheffield player can’t control it and Kaminski collects.

92  A nice touch as Poveda is named Man of the Match….he is subbed for Butterworth…..but gets a standing ovation!

95  The whistle goes and that’s the perfect answer to Wednesday’s debacle! Well done everybody!

Another nice scene as Poveda and Khadra come out on to the pitch to wallow in the celebrations.

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by tonyoz

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

15 minutes ago, tonyoz said:

PLAYER WATCH v Sheffield United

Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale:

+5 GOAL

+4 Excellent play

+3 Very good play

+2 Pleasing/good play

+1 Decent play

  0 Routine stuff

 -1 Sloppy play

 -2 Disappointing/poor play

 -3 Very poor play

 -4 Terrible play

 -5 Own goal

The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match.

 

Ratings      

Key incidents per player = coloured stars              Overall contribution = number

Kaminski                     *******  ***     11                                 

Nyambe                      **************** ***     14

Lenihan                       **********************   *******     26

Wharton                     ***********************   *******     24

Edun                            ***************  *********     5

Davenport (77)           ***********  ******     8 

Travis                           **************  **     19

Buckley                        *********************  *****     30    

Poveda (92)                 **********************  ****     34  

Khadra (66)                 *************  ********     15

 Diaz                             ***************  *********     18

 

Dolan (66)                   *****  *     7

Rothwell (77)              **     3

Butterworth (92)          0

 

Highlights and Lowlights

(A justification for the main ratings given above)

01  A long clearance from United flies down their right wing. Wharton ánd  Sharp are in hot pursuit. Wharton is nearer the ball but Sharp is quicker and Wharton is under pressure. He tries to put the ball out but doesn’t make proper contact and Sharp is away. His cross from the byline is perfect and Brewster volleys powerfully into the roof of the net. There’s a big character test ahead!

04 The United fans are still in full voice. Then there’s an excellent long, crossfield ball from Travis to Khadra who controls beautifully, skips infield and beats his man who then has to hack him down just over 30m out. Yellow card. Buckley’s free-kick is headed clear.

06  Lenihan gives a crude foul away midway in our half. Edun, for some reason, decides to stay in midfield leaving Khadra to mark the whole of our left flank! When the United winger gets the ball he passes through Khadra and into the box. Edun chases but inexplicably falls flat on his face! Fortunately Wharton is well-placed to cut out the cross.

07  Edun fires a nice ball from halfway down the inside left channel to Diaz, 40m out. He goes on one of his runs and the ball is bobbling all over the place, off his knees and ankles, but he somehow bamboozles 3 men until he goes down in the box. It looked like a clear penalty to me, tugged back by Egan - he’d only the keeper to beat! The ref thinks differently, Diaz can’t believe it, Mowbray is screaming at the ref and the crowd roars its fury!

09  Buckley puts a foot in and Poveda is off on a jinky run. He puts a nice ball through to Diaz on the edge of the box but Ben somehow misses the ball!

The crowd are wide awake now. Good Rovers pressing.

13  Lovely long ball by Lenihan lands perfectly for Diaz on the edge of the box; he nets but was offside!

18  Good United move sees the right winger get a cross in but again Wharton is in position, in the box, to intercept for a throw. From the throw Edun and Khadra are too easily beaten by White but Travis runs across the box to challenge and it’s another throw.

21  Well placed free-kick by Khadra from midway in the United half but Lenihan can’t quite get there as the keeper hesitates.

27  Buckley dispossesses a United man in midfield and Travis plays a lovely ball to Khadra, 35m out, but it’s poor control by Khadra and the defender slides in to clear. From the throw, Wharton misjudges the ball and United steam forward. It’s dangerous but Nyambe sprints back and manages to get his foot in and Rovers clear up.

28  Lovely through ball from halfway by Poveda finds Diaz on the edge of the box. Ben tries to cut it back to Buckley but it’s blocked. Disappointing, Ben holds his head.

32  Another good free-kick by Khadra from midway in the Sheffield half, on the right (same place as the last one!) into the 6 yard box. The defender does really well to get there just before the ball reaches Wharton! Two quick corners keep the pressure on.

35  A beautiful long crossfield ball by Buckley from halfway falls perfectly for Edun near the corner flag. His cross is blocked but Davenport picks up the loose ball and gives it to Khadra 20m out. Fancy footwork keeps three defenders at bay and he lets fly from the left edge of the D. There’s a slight deflection and the ball hits the back of the net. Nice goal.

37  Wharton misjudges a ball into the box and Sharp pinches the ball. Lenihan’s robust challenge clears the danger.

40  Edun is stranded in midfield again as the ball reaches a totally unmarked Bogle at the edge of the box and where is Khadra?  Khadra eventually gets back to deflect Bogle’s shot for a corner. This defensive partnership of Edun and Khadra is just not working though!

41  A good long run by Diaz but his final pass is short…..he picks it up again and feeds Nyambe high up on the wing. His cross finds Poveda in the box and he brings the ball down on his chest but a defender clears it off his toes. Davenport wins it back on the edge of the box but his rushed shot is well over the bar.

43  Poveda is well beaten by Stevens on the wing. His dangerous cross is met by Lenihan but only reaches the edge of the box. Fortunately, this time Brewster scuffs his shot wide.

 

48  More trickery from Poveda on the right wing before he slips a pass to Diaz in the box. Ben doesn’t control it fully but he follows the ball to the byline and his attempted cross is deflected across the face of goal. Khadra chases it down and some nice interplay sees Nyambe with a chance of a shot on goal but there’s a reason he never scores as the ball disappears into the heavens!

53  A Rovers throw in the United half. Buckley collects and glides between 2 men, he reaches the box and slides a glorious, square, low ball across the face of goal but there’s nobody there to tap in! Then there’s some fancy footwork from Khadra on the left wing which leaves the defender in his wake but his cross is too high. The camera focuses on Travis who is winding everyone up! Great stuff.

Then there’s a dangerous length of the field counter move by Sheffield and White receives in the box but Davenport slides in to block his cross….corner. Good lad!

55  It’s loud now! Travis wins a free kick just inside United’s half and takes it quickly to Khadra on the wing. He slips it to Edun who puts a great cross into the goalmouth but Diaz can’t make contact………….close!

56  Fleck fires a lovely ball, from halfway, over our defence, catching out Wharton and it falls to Sharp but his shot is well-saved by Kaminski’s legs. Wharton chases Sharp towards the rebound and puts the ball out for a throw.

58  Good strength from Lenihan wins the ball for Rovers and breaks up a dangerous attack. Poveda picks up near our box, on the right, and starts a long run. He lays off to Travis just inside United’s half. Travis carries forward and Poveda keeps running……..he’s pointing to the right of the box, behind the last defender. Travis threads the ball exactly to that spot and Poveda collects near the byline  He squares the ball perfectly for the fast arriving Diaz who nets from 1m. Fantastic goal and Ewood erupts! Terrible swallow dive celebration by Ben but I forgive him.

60  Fantastic, length of the field pass by Wharton finds Diaz who controls well and turns the defender inside out but he’s come too wide and his shot is well off-target. The atmosphere is electric.

61 A Sheffield attack breaks down and Khadra is on the ball in a flash and drives forward with real pace. He lays off to Diaz on the wing and keeps running. Diaz delivers it back to Khadra inside the box but he overruns it. He recovers but the defenders close him down and block the shot. A square ball to the unmarked Poveda would have been a better option!

66  Dolan on, Khadra off.

67  White’s neat turn does both Lenihan and Davenport but his pass into the box is too hard for Sharp and Kaminski collects.

White crosses from the left and Davenport makes an important interception but he deflects the ball only  inches over the bar.

A couple of corners follow and Kaminski punches the second one clear.

68  It comes back and eventually Buckley wins the ball. Diaz picks it up and he’s off, Poveda and Edun are keeping pace with him. It’s 3v3.  He slips it left to Poveda on the edge of the box and his first-time shot from a narrow angle is saved at the near post but the keeper can’t hold it. Poveda collects again and does a 1-2 shimmy round the prone goalie and taps the ball past the last defender into the net. Brilliant by Poveda. WE WANT SEVEN!!

71  A fantastic, long, crossfield ball by Buckley bends behind the last defender and lands at Diaz’s feet. Ben takes it into the box but stumbles, falls over and the ball is lost.

73  Poveda, midway in the Sheffield half plays a beautiful, defence splitting pass through to the charging (but well-offside) Diaz.

White gets the better of Travis, Lenihan and Davenport so they foul him.

74  Edun is dispossessed in our own half, Travis is nutmegged and White lobs a perfect ball over our entire defence to the feet of Mousset. Kaminski makes a great save, it’s pandemonium as it falls to Mousset again. This time Lenihan blocks 3m out and Wharton gets a crucial foot in …but it falls to White 12m out and his shot crashes against the woodwork and goes out of play! The gods are with us!

76  Dolan does some fancy stuff near the corner flag and gets clattered for his cockiness. Buckley puts the free-kick well over…..disappointing.

77  Davenport off, Rothwell on.

80  I reckon everyone is now thinking “Is there enough time for them to score 2?......or3?”

81 Beautiful lobbed ball by Travis to Diaz on the left wing but he’s offside!

82  The ball comes into the Rovers box, Lenihan’s there to block but it’s not clear. Nyambe thinks he’s shepherded it out but no…...White keeps it in (dubiously!) and crosses. Again Lenihan’s there to put it behind for a corner.

83  Buckley picks up the ball midway in the Rovers half and carries it forward. He releases the inch perfect ball to the pleading Diaz midway in the visitors half. There’s no one in front of him and he runs to the edge of the box but his shot is too near the keeper and it’s saved.

85  White lobs another fantastic ball over our defence to Mousset but he can’t control it and it’s a goal-kick. Kaminski’s kick is weak and Edun can’t get it under control and Sheffield attack. Lenihan and Travis clear up. Eventually Diaz gets the ball midway in United’s half. He does that magical “I haven’t got it under control...but I have really” thing of his and squares it to Buckley. He passes to Poveda who beats 2 men in the D and rolls it forward a metre to Buckley who is free and clear but his shot hits the post. It rebounds to Diaz who completely mis-hits the ball in front of an open goal! He was offside anyway!

90  A lovely floated ball into the box gets the better of Lenihan, Edun and Wharton but the Sheffield player can’t control it and Kaminski collects.

92  A nice touch as Poveda is named Man of the Match….he is subbed for Butterworth…..but gets a standing ovation!

95  The whistle goes and that’s the perfect answer to Wednesday’s debacle! Well done everybody!

 

 

 

Great stuff Tony, I bet you enjoyed doing that.

[tonyoz]

19 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Great stuff Tony, I bet you enjoyed doing that.

Yes, we all needed that Tyrone. It was the most enjoyable watch of the season I think. I wonder how many changes he’ll make for the next game?

[Wheelton Blue]

I'm surprised that Davenport scored so low.

I thought that he was one of our better players on the day.

[tonyoz]

21 minutes ago, Wheelton Blue said:

I'm surprised that Davenport scored so low.

I thought that he was one of our better players on the day.

He adds bite to the midfield but, as you see, he didn’t feature in many critical incidents. I would certainly keep him though……..check out Rothwell’s scores in some of the recent games!

[Exiled in Toronto]

Thanks Tony. So much to enjoy about that game, including the best goalmouth scramble I’ve seen for a long time! 

[tonyoz]

21 minutes ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

Thanks Tony. So much to enjoy about that game, including the best goalmouth scramble I’ve seen for a long time! 

Yep. The atmosphere in the stadium sounded brilliant. We do so much better when we have a positive mindset……let’s hope there’s a lot more to come before the usual rude awakening!

[Wheelton Blue]

1 hour ago, tonyoz said:

He adds bite to the midfield but, as you see, he didn’t feature in many critical incidents. I would certainly keep him though……..check out Rothwell’s scores in some of the recent games!

It's a really interesting thing you do here btw, hats off to you for taking the time and trouble 👍

[tonyoz]

33 minutes ago, Wheelton Blue said:

It's a really interesting thing you do here btw, hats off to you for taking the time and trouble 👍

Thanks Wheelton Blue. I don’t get a lot of feedback so I appreciate your comment. It cheered me up.

[blondie]

Brilliant, well done.

[BlueBro]

Thanks again Tony, always very interesting. Buckley's recent scores shows his ever increasing importance to the team.....obviously apart from when he's played as centre forward...........they will be even better when he starts adding more assists and the odd goal to his game, which should come as his confidence continues to grow. Fair play to Poveda who I didn't want to see again after some of his previous appearances.......something to build on hopefully. Let's see if Davenport can push on after a full game, still far from convinced but hopefully he can at least become a worthwhile member of the squad.

[WacoRover]

Very enjoyable synopsis. Thank you! 

[Mashed Potatoes]

A very interesting analysis. The whoscored.com website also has Poveda and Buckley as our best 2 performers in the game, for those who want to compare the ratings.

[47er]

On the basis of that, I wonder if there is a regular place for Dolan? Of if there will be a bit of a rotation policy?

I appreciate that a rest for him  every now and again is wise given the way he plays, but I wouldn't like to see him on the fringes.

[tonyoz]

6 hours ago, BlueBro said:

Thanks again Tony, always very interesting. Buckley's recent scores shows his ever increasing importance to the team.....obviously apart from when he's played as centre forward...........they will be even better when he starts adding more assists and the odd goal to his game, which should come as his confidence continues to grow. Fair play to Poveda who I didn't want to see again after some of his previous appearances.......something to build on hopefully. Let's see if Davenport can push on after a full game, still far from convinced but hopefully he can at least become a worthwhile member of the squad.

Yes, I was definitely a Buckley skeptic up until fairly recently. He has come on a lot in recent weeks and there’s something extra satisfying about seeing ‘one of our own’ step up to the mark. After Wheelton’s comment above, I’ve thought about Davenport’s contribution a bit more. We need that extra bite in midfield. A couple of his “last ditch”  interventions were pleasing …..we are unlikely to get that from, say, Rothwell or Johnson. I want to see more of him.

i’d already written off Poveda!

Edited November 8, 2021 by tonyoz

[tonyoz]

On 09/11/2021 at 03:39, Mashed Potatoes said:

A very interesting analysis. The whoscored.com website also has Poveda and Buckley as our best 2 performers in the game, for those who want to compare the ratings.

I’ve followed whoscored.com for a long time now (stats nerd) and I’ve used them to make points on the message board. They attach a big weighting to goals scored and assists I’ve noticed but I’d like to know how they assess the other contributions. For instance, in the Fulham defeat there were only 1.5 points between all the players’ scores……including van Hecke and the subs! I guess you could say ….”well, they were all garbage!”

Oh yes! And their methods somehow have Gallagher rated as the best Rover and the 7th best player in the Championship! I notice that they have Poveda in their team of the week though.

Edited November 9, 2021 by tonyoz

[tonyoz]

36 minutes ago, 47er said:

On the basis of that, I wonder if there is a regular place for Dolan? Of if there will be a bit of a rotation policy?

I appreciate that a rest for him  every now and again is wise given the way he plays, but I wouldn't like to see him on the fringes.

For what it’s worth, I think Poveda and Khadra will continue to have highs and lows…..just like Dolan does. Sometimes Dolan is terrific, other times he’s almost anonymous. It’s part of the learning process I reckon. But Dolan has improved considerably already so I’m sure he’ll continue to feature regularly. I like him.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 minutes ago, tonyoz said:

For what it’s worth, I think Poveda and Khadra will continue to have highs and lows…..just like Dolan does. Sometimes Dolan is terrific, other times he’s almost anonymous. It’s part of the learning process I reckon. But Dolan has improved considerably already so I’m sure he’ll continue to feature regularly. I like him.

That’s the nature of the beast with wingers I’m afraid but when they both click it’s great to watch.

[tonyoz]

5 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That’s the nature of the beast with wingers I’m afraid but when they both click it’s great to watch.

They made this game great to watch. Dougie, Mike Ferguson, Mike Harrison, Ridley and Wilcox, Duff, Bentley we’re all favourites of the past. One performance has always stuck in my mind…..Kanchelskis playing for Man U at Ewood (94 or 95) ….he terrified me every time he got the ball……

[Wheelton Blue]

John Robertson at Forest was the best non-Rover winger I've ever seen.

My dad used to take me to see Forest occasionally in the early 80's when they played at Utd, City etc.

Robertson was mesmerising.

[tonyoz]

2 minutes ago, Wheelton Blue said:

John Robertson at Forest was the best non-Rover winger I've ever seen.

My dad used to take me to see Forest occasionally in the early 80's when they played at Utd, City etc.

Robertson was mesmerising.

Yes, I remember him well. Just remembered another nightmare. Chris Waddle, playing for Wednesday, took apart little Alan Wright (one of my favourite players then) at Ewood. I’d never seen him struggle before but Waddle went past him with ease every time. It might have been the League Cup semi 92-93.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I remember little Jimmy Johnstone running the great Keith Newton ragged in an Scotland v England game just prior to the 1966 World Cup. I reckon it cost Keith a place in the final 22. Sir Alf went with Gerry Byrne of Liverpool who wasn’t fit to lace Keith’s boots. I think he ended up getting 1 cap in a friendly whereas Keith was a regular England full back for about 4 years. At that time Johnstone was a World class winger, unstoppable on his day.

Fergie and Mike Harrison were a great combination. One a tricky dribbler the other fast and very direct.
 

Every team back then had at least one really top class winger, some teams had two.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[tonyoz]

22 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I remember little Jimmy Johnstone running the great Keith Newton ragged in an Scotland v England game just prior to the 1966 World Cup. I reckon it cost Keith a place in the final 22. Sir Alf went with Gerry Byrne of Liverpool who wasn’t fit to lace Keith’s boots. I think he ended up getting 1 cap in a friendly whereas Keith was a regular England full back for about 4 years. At that time Johnstone was a World class winger, unstoppable on his day.

Fergie and Mike Harrison were a great combination. One a tricky dribbler the other fast and very direct.
 

Every team back then had at least one really top class winger, some teams had two.

Aye! I remember Johnstone……..one of the best examples of a winger who could rip teams apart. Your post made me look up his wiki….very interesting. I didn’t know he had been voted Celtic’s best player of all time!

[joey_big_nose]

On 08/11/2021 at 13:49, tonyoz said:

Thanks Wheelton Blue. I don’t get a lot of feedback so I appreciate your comment. It cheered me up.

I think what you're doing is great! So much more objective than all the opinions that get thrown around.

Do you have average scores so far for the season? Would be interesting to see how Rothwell compares to Travis or Edun compares to Pickering, or Gallagher compares to Dolan.

[JacknOry]

Yep, relly appreciate what you do. I dont always comment or like, but I always read - except I still have not brought myself to check the Fulham game.