PLAYER WATCH v Preston North End (A)

[tonyoz]

PLAYER WATCH v Preston North End (A)

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 = numbers

Kaminski                ****     9                              

Lenihan                  *************************  *****     37     

van Hecke              ******************  **     23

Wharton                ***********  **     14

Pickering               ********* *******     -1

Travis                     ************* ****     17

Buckley (86)          **************  ********     14

Rothwell (86)        ***************  *******     7   

Hedges                  ******** ********     -1

Gallagher (76)       **************** ***     17

Diaz                        *********  ****    11

 

Poveda (76)           *     2 

Dack (86)                    0

Edun (86)               *     2

 

Highlights and Lowlights 

(A justification for the main ratings given above)

 

Down to ninth. We’ve gone to a back 4 with Lenihan at right back, then Buckley, Travis and Rothwell with Gallagher, Hedges and Diaz up front.

00 Pickering booked!

01 Rothwell fails to prevent Potts getting in his cross from the byline. Lenihan heads away and Hedges gives away a dumb foul near the flag. Lenihan again heads clear.

05 Buckley receives a throw on halfway and slides a lovely ball through for Hedges to chase. He takes it to the left side of the box but his cross is poor. Diaz manages to get a touch and Travis feeds Rothwell who tries an ambitious shot from outside the box; it’s deflected and the keeper scoops it up.

08 We get a free kick 24 yards out on the left wing. Pickering takes, Diaz, 10 yards out at the near post, gets in a glancing header which flies across goal and hits the right post. Gallagher is quickest to react and launches himself horizontally to head the rebound past the keeper from 4 yards. 1-0.

10 It’s another free kick but 35 yards out. Everyone is lined up along the edge of the box and Rothwell takes. Wharton and the full back chase the header but the Preston man does well to get there first. Corner but this time it’s poor from Rothwell.

11 Pickering and Diaz bring the ball forward and feed Buckley. He takes it forward and from 30 yards unleashes a cracker along the floor. It’s deflected slightly and streaks inside the right hand post. John’s second of the season. EIEIEIO rumbles around the stadium.

14 Blimey, that’s a new dimension to our full-back play from Lenihan…..aggression! First he dominates an aerial challenge and then comes in with a robust tackle. I like it!

16 Some nice interplay from Rovers just outside the Preston box and Travis slips it to Hedges on the penalty spot but it hits his heel and rebounds. Travis perseveres and it runs to Hedges again, 10 yards out but Johnson puts in a full-blooded tackle just as he’s about to shoot and the ball squirts away for a corner. I thought it looked a good tackle at first glance but on replay there’s a decent shout for a penalty! Most of the Rovers’ Players think so!

20 Another sloppy foul and yellow card for Gallagher.

22 Some nice 1-2 football from Rovers.

27 A nice crossfield pass from Buckley to Diaz….who is offside.

28 For the first time Preston are putting a few passes together. Rovers are pressing but can’t get the ball. Cunningham receives the ball 30 yards out. Travis misses his tackle and ends up on his backside. Pickering, in the box, has left the whole of the wing exposed and is marking nobody. The ball goes out to Browne who moves easily round Pickering and fires towards goal - it hits Wharton’s head and deflects past Kaminski. Too easy! I knew it was too good to be true.

33 Another chance for Preston but Cunningham makes a mess of the cross near the left post and it goes for a goal kick. It was half a chance.

34 I don’t like the Rovers players crowding the ref, demanding that he book one of the opponents. It seems soft.

36 Lenihan wins his header on the wing and Hedges is fouled 25 yards out. (That must be the 3rd or 4th time Hedges has been fouled!) Rothwell takes and Lenihan on the left corner of the 6 yard box rises unchallenged and heads back across goal and into the net! Not a thunderbolt but a well-placed looper by Darragh.

38 Potts runs down their right wing and Pickering can’t stop the cross. Travis is haring back into the box, he can’t get out of the way, and volleys the ball towards goal!!! Kaminski makes a good save to spare Travis’s blushes! His best effort on goal all season! (Edit - see later!)

40 It’s all Preston! They attack down their right again and van Hecke can’t prevent the ball coming into the box. Johnson is unmarked 14 yards out but Lenihan blocks the shot! Close!

47 Good tight pressing from every Rover in the Preston half. Buckley, Diaz, Rothwell, Gallagher and Hedges!

The whistle goes on the best half we’ve seen for many a long while. Good grief if it continues like this, we could be back in the mix! It’s too much to ponder!

 

46 Gallagher is winning a lot of long ball flick-ons today.

51 We get a throw, 20 yards out on the left. Diaz receives and meanders his way cross field before slipping a beautiful ball through to the on-rushing Travis, in space 25 yards out. His first touch is perfect and he weaves his way into the box between 2 defenders before side-footing the ball past the keeper into the bottom right corner. A perfect striker’s finish. His first for 2 years and he knee-slides over to the fans to celebrate!

58 A Preston corner and Rothwell on the near post flicks a header behind him, right across the face of the goal. A Preston man heads it against Johnson and it falls perfectly for Jakobsen on the 6 yard line. His shot is brilliantly blocked by Kaminski on pure instinct. He gives a double fist-pump.

59 High booted challenge by Buckley 27 yards out and dangerous.

61 Yellow card for Whiteman’s challenge on Rothwell. Now Rothwell passes a ball to Diaz on the wing. It goes over his head and Diaz tries to catch it! The Preston players are demanding a yellow card for handball! I mean, what’s that all about? It used to be a man’s game!

62 Buckley might have earned the hook now. Another poor challenge 30 yards out and it’s yellow. He’s turned sloppy all of a sudden.

65 Preston are having a bright spot right now.

66 Now Lenihan picks up the ball and drives down the wing. He puts a great ball behind the whole defence for Gallagher to chase. He picks up at the right corner of the box and goes on. He’s 10 yards out but wide right and his shot is comfortably saved low at the near post. It was a very good run from Gallagher but a disappointing end. It’s a corner.

72 Ole ringing around the ground as Rovers pass the ball confidently from side to side.

73 Whiteman goes through the back of Buckley but John lays it off nicely anyway.

More neat inter-passing and Lenihan gets it on the wing before swinging in a nice cross to Diaz 8 yards out but his header loops on to the top of the bar. Credit to Ben for getting there but the finish was a bit disappointing in truth.

76 Whiteman clatters into the back of Buckley again!! Very nasty. Hmm, Gallagher is sat down too. Sam off, Poveda on!

81 Buckley seems back to normal now. Nice flick there.

88 A tired attempted challenge by Hedges allows the Preston man to square into the box. It’s crowded in there but some kind of weak shot comes in (Travis managed to get an important foot in) and van Hecke blocks and tidies up.

94 Final whistle and we’re up to 7th with a nice boost to our goal difference. Well, I can still dream can’t I? It’s part of the pain of being a Rovers fan. That’s the best performance since that brilliant run. Where has this team been hiding? Passion, skill and ……for heaven’s sake….goals! Two to go.

Edited April 27, 2022 by tonyoz

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Thanks Tony, I’ve been looking forward to this report. I’m glad your scores bear out my feelings that Hedges and Pickering were our weakest players on the night. Hedges got on my nerves right away with what you rightly describe as a “  dumb foul “. When your opponent is running away from goal towards the touchline the one thing you don’t do is get near enough to them for them to buy a foul. A little message should be going off in your brain as you move towards them “ Don’t get too close “. That’s exactly what he did. Lay a hand on an opponents shoulder and they’ll go down like a shot to get a free kick in s dangerous area.

I agree with you about Preston trying to get Brererton a yellow card when he jumped up to catch the ball, pathetic. Same with our players surrounding the ref, although they did have a bit of a case on Monday night. The ref didn’t help himself with that early booking but to hand out five cards in a game were there wasn’t a bad foul in the whole game was pretty poor. The two worst fouls, that Whiteman committed, didn’t get a booking.  As you say it used to be a man’s game, it’s certainly not now. As you know I watch semi pro rugby league and the difference in attitude of the players is like chalk and cheese. It’s like it was when I played football. If another player hurt you  you did your best not to show it, todays footballers make an absolute meal of the slightest foul.

Just one question, do you write your report as the game is going on or do you watch a recording of the game later ?

Edited April 27, 2022 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[tonyoz]

3 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Thanks Tony, I’ve been looking forward to this report. I’m glad your scores bear out my feelings that Hedges and Pickering were our weakest players on the night. Hedges got on my nerves right away with what you rightly describe as a “  dumb foul “. When your opponent is running away from goal towards the touchline the one thing you don’t do is get near enough to them for them to buy a foul. A little message should be going off in your brain as you move towards them “ Don’t get too close “. That’s exactly what he did. Lay a hand on an opponents shoulder and they’ll go down like a shot to get a free kick in s dangerous area.

I agree with you about Preston trying to get Brererton a yellow card when he jumped up to catch the ball, pathetic. Same with our players surrounding the ref, although they did have a bit of a case on Monday night. The ref didn’t help himself with that early booking but to hand out five cards in a game were there wasn’t a bad foul in the whole game was pretty poor. The two worst fouls, that Whiteman committed, didn’t get a booking.  As you say it used to be a man’s game, it’s certainly not now. As you know I watch semi pro rugby league and the difference in attitude of the players is like chalk and cheese. It’s like it was when I played football. If another player hurt you  you did your best not to show it, todays footballers make an absolute meal of the slightest foul.

Just one question, do you write your report as the game is going on or do you watch a recording of the game later ?

Thanks for the detailed comments. I agree 100% about the fouls and the pathetic nature of some of the fouls we commit. They kill any momentum we have or they give the opposition a free attack on goal.

As for writing the reports, mostly I have watched the game live and have recorded it at the same time. Then I watch it back and write the report. It's essential to have the "rewind 10 seconds" button to review complex incidents and goals.....sometimes I have to review several times before its clear! I do (mostly) write the brief intro before the game though....so I'm not influenced by knowing the outcome.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

11 minutes ago, tonyoz said:

Thanks for the detailed comments. I agree 100% about the fouls and the pathetic nature of some of the fouls we commit. They kill any momentum we have or they give the opposition a free attack on goal.

As for writing the reports, mostly I have watched the game live and have recorded it at the same time. Then I watch it back and write the report. It's essential to have the "rewind 10 seconds" button to review complex incidents and goals.....sometimes I have to review several times before its clear! I do (mostly) write the brief intro before the game though....so I'm not influenced by knowing the outcome.

I know it’s hard to believe but we are bottom of the disciplinary league and most of the cards have been for trivial incidents that could have been avoided. That’s with a team of basically soft lads.  I read the other day that the dingles have had 2 players sent of in 5 seasons. That’s with a team known for being physical but they’re not that stupid as to get soft cards like we do. You don’t win many games playing with ten men.

Regarding Pickering I couldn’t believe Bolton didn’t load their right hand at any point in the game. I’d have had somebody running against him as soon as he got the early yellow card.

You see the games exactly as I do. That doesn’t happen often with me !

Edited April 27, 2022 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[windymiller7]

Thanks for the report as always Tony. Your scores also back up my thinking that straight after the match, for me, DL was MoM by quite a clear margin.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

5 minutes ago, windymiller7 said:

Thanks for the report as always Tony. Your scores also back up my thinking that straight after the match, for me, DL was MoM by quite a clear margin.

I thought there were a lot of good performances, I wouldn’t have found it easy to pick a m o m . All the midfield three played well as did Gallagher and Van Hecke. However Tony’s stats tell their own story.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[tonyoz]

1 hour ago, windymiller7 said:

Thanks for the report as always Tony. Your scores also back up my thinking that straight after the match, for me, DL was MoM by quite a clear margin.

Back to his best I think….aggression mixed in with 2 lovely, long passes, a critical block and, of course, a goal. He was involved in more ‘significant’ incidents than anyone else. (30 I make it).

Edited April 27, 2022 by tonyoz

[Herbie6590]

Intriguing as usual…a game won by 4-1  & our (stand in) right back wipes the floor with his teammates with his contribution..!

If I were Peter Jackson I’d have given the MOTM to one of Rothwell or Buckley but Lenihan’s contribution is seemingly less glamorous (goal apart).  

Rothwell clearly does the eye-catching work that lingers in the memory.

[Miller11]

I expected Pickering to be the lowest, I thought he looked the weak link again.

I thought maybe Travis and Buckley would’ve been the standouts, but The defenders, particularly Lenihan, do see a lot of the ball which allows them to rack up plenty +1s and 2s.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

5 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

I expected Pickering to be the lowest, I thought he looked the weak link again.

I thought maybe Travis and Buckley would’ve been the standouts, but The defenders, particularly Lenihan, do see a lot of the ball which allows them to rack up plenty +1s and 2s.

The only thing I’ll say for Pickering is he managed to stay on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes after having been booked after 30 seconds. He was a lucky boy in that Preston inexplicably never targeted him afterwards. I don’t think he’s good defender. He was put in really bad position for their goal but he managed to do neither one thing or the other. As you says he was marking a space and not a player.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[tonyoz]

7 hours ago, Miller11 said:

I thought maybe Travis and Buckley would’ve been the standouts, but The defenders, particularly Lenihan, do see a lot of the ball which allows them to rack up plenty +1s and 2s.

This is true. Lenihan is usually involved in more incidents than anyone else. Ayala was always well up there too. I thought it was because they were in the heart of the defence…with all the aerial challenges to win. But it seems it’s more than that; even on the wing Lenihan still manages to get stuck in. It’s attitude too I guess. The midfielders did ok but commentary covers every “big” event and their names don’t appear positively all that often. It’s not just the numbers. Buckley was very good for the first hour but he blotted his markbook with some sloppy stuff later. This is just my opinion of course….this is not the definitive assessment of the game.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

8 hours ago, tonyoz said:

This is true. Lenihan is usually involved in more incidents than anyone else. Ayala was always well up there too. I thought it was because they were in the heart of the defence…with all the aerial challenges to win. But it seems it’s more than that; even on the wing Lenihan still manages to get stuck in. It’s attitude too I guess. The midfielders did ok but commentary covers every “big” event and their names don’t appear positively all that often. It’s not just the numbers. Buckley was very good for the first hour but he blotted his markbook with some sloppy stuff later. This is just my opinion of course….this is not the definitive assessment of the game.

People years into the future will be reading these reports Tony. Don’t under sell what you are doing.