Late Barrow Goal Earns Point

A mixed bag.
Swift really can fukk off.
Meite was a beast when he came on. Pretty much MotM for me just for those last 15min. Ran the Stoke defenders all over the place and was our only player to physically outmuscle them
Pleased for McNulty but he didn't do much else. Rhino looked good in patches, but Yiadom was very good.
McCleary....don't get where he was playing first half, was much better playing on the RW in the last 20

Swift is awful. OUT!
Club1871 is awful. OUT!
Clement is awful. OUT!
Get rid of those 3 deadwood and we will stay up!!!!
UUUUUURRRRRRRZZZZZZZZ

you missed one..YOURSELF, Piss off.

^ this
Basically a decent draw with our second string team versus (for all intents and purposes) a Premier team

Stoke aren't a Premier League team mate, they were appalling last season. If they were they would still be there. However a good result against a decent side at this level with an outstanding keeper. Need to pick up 3 points soon, from where though I'm not sure. Need to be on at least 26 points at Christmas

Stoke aren't a Premier League team mate, they were appalling last season. If they were they would still be there. However a good result against a decent side at this level with an outstanding keeper. Need to pick up 3 points soon, from where though I'm not sure. Need to be on at least 26 points at Christmas :roll:
(all intents and purposes)

you missed one..YOURSELF, Piss off.

Please don't use foul and abusive language. Mods might threaten to ban you.

Operation Nurdle is on.

Well that was a struggle to watch. The same issues as usual after half time. Although we weren't exactly brilliant in the first half either.
The referee was an absolute disgrace and seemed to be starstruck by the ex Premier League names on show. I think he's the one that Steve Clarke said shouldn't referee at this level ever again in an assessors report a few years ago, shame nobody listened.
Stoke probably the quietest away fans all season. Only made noise after they'd scored and that was just two short airings of Delilah. Afobe dived three times, once audibly shouting ref before his marker had even got near him, nothing from the ref to penalise him though and the less said about James Mcclean the better.
Jaakkola - Made some good saves in both halves that kept us in the game. 8
Yiadom - Energetic up and down the wing. Stitched up by Illori for the second goal. 7
Illori - Absolutely terrible performance defensively and in possession, casual and sloppy. Seems to have a far too high an opinion of himself and his ability. Needs to realise he's in a team fighting against relegation. 2
Blackett - Cant decide whether he had a decent game or if Illori was so bad that he looked better than he was. 5
Gunter - His usual self in the first half but was one of the few to improve in the second. 6
Bacuna - All action display from him. I'm not his biggest fan but he was ok today. 6
Swift - Sorry Seth, he was awful again apart from one very good turn in the first half. Just wish he would do it more because the ability is there. 4
Rinomhota - An absolute star. Involved himself in everything against an experienced Stoke side. 9 motm
McCleary - Was being fouled over and over again but the idiot in black gave him nothing which meant he couldn't get any momentum going in the game. 6
Loader - Wasn't involved too much. He is very good at finding little pockets of space but team mates didn't really find him. Starting might be a bit too much for him but definitely worth a bench place. 5
Mcnulty - Took the goal well although it would have been difficult to miss. 6
Subs:
Meite - Excellent cameo. Constant threat, Stoke didn't know what hit them. Apparently he did well to hold up the ball for the goal, although I wouldn't know as I'd left. :lol: 8
Baldock - Ok, could have scored from a Meite cross but good defending. Almost put therough once but lacked the pace to get the ball. 5
Barrow - The goal masks what was a pretty poor performance. A shot that went out for a throw and a terrible touch that also went out for a throw. Hopefully the goal will give him back some confidence. 5

Bit ironic that Barrow should pull Clement out of the knackers yard-given their apparent disputes this season.

Strange selection prompted by more illness and injury-hopefully after Tuesday;Clement was forced to pick Gunts.
IMHO:
Jakkola 7 : Couple of good saves, didn't do much wrong. For some reason his kicking wasn't quite so bad as usual.
Yiadom 5: Personally I thought he had a bit of a stinker-as mentioned before his early season form seems to have deserted him-like so much of the team however there were some good moments.
Gunts 3: Better than Tuesday (wouldnt be hard); thought he didnt put in much of a shift. Should have pressed Ince tighter on their 2nd goal. So often struggled in recovery.

Ilori 4: This guy is so frustrating. After a good perfomance midweek-there was a lot of dross today.

Blackett 6: The pick of the defence.Very comfortable at CB.

Rhino 7: For such an inexperienced player had to block a lot of hole. Brilliant on our 1st. MOM.

Swift 4 : In his best position, and at times ran the game. But a lot of misplaced passes.

Bacuna 6: Summed up the team really; lot of good stuff, amongst the bad. Lucky it was only a yellow. Far better attitude this season. No doubt the prospect of Div 1 frightens him.

Macca 6 : Ditto Bacuna really. A lot of good stuff let down by some dross.

Loader 4: Some nice touches; but rarely in the game.

McNulty4: Got his goal at long last-but ineffectual.
Barrow: He does carry a threat and Stoke were never comfortable once came on.

Meite: Smashed his way round, good hold up play for the 2nd.

Baldock: Very little really.
An enjoyable good footballing game by both sides; mixed with a lot of dross.
Ref: 1st half, did OK-terrible secomd half though.

Amazing the difference between being pegged back to a draw and getting an equalizer, in terms of mood. We were lucky to get that point though.
Jaakkola - 8. Didn't do much wrong, and made some great saves
Yiadom - 6 Horrible mixup with Ilori, compoounded by them arguing with each other instead of getting on with the game. Otherwise pretty decent, in both attack and defence, and kept plugging away.

Ilori - 3 - Passing dreadful, at fault partially for both goals. He needs a senior player beside him, and obviously Blackett can't do that. Pity such a talented player needs a minder.

Blackett - 6. Partially at fault for first goal, but otherwise decent showing

Gunter - 6. Caught out positionally a couple of times, but had no cover from Swift. Improved during the game. Couple of decent crosses, and provided an attacking outlet that wasn't always used.
Bacuna - 7. Mix of good and bad. Something really good, followed by a lazy sloppy pass. Infuriating player becuase you feel he's got it in him to be better.

Rinomhota - 9. MOTM for me.

Swift - 3. Was good for about 15 minutes, then seemed like he couldn't be bothered for the rest of the game. Worst player defensively by far. Is he fit?
McCleary - 6. Things just didn't seem to be working out for him in offence, but he kept trying. Worked hard, tracked back, played his part. Referee seems to hate him!

Loader - 5. Bullied too much by the Stoke players, although again the referee could have helped him a bit more. Hope he keeps a place on the bench, but think being a starter is a step too far, just yet.

McNulty - 6. Great goal, absolutely delighted for him after Tuesday. Didn't do much else though
Meite - 7 Put himself about, much more suited to playing Stoke than McNulty or Loader. Hope he's back fully fit for next game

Baldock - 5 - Didn't really notice him do much

Barrow - 6 Great finish, but otherwise wasn't great.
Referee - 2. Do all referees hate us or something? Are they getting served up awful food pre-game and taking it out on us? So inconsistent.

Clement - 5. At times it looks like the players have no idea what shape they are meant to be playing. And that very narrow back 4 defence only works if you have midfielders who track back and defend. But credit due to him for cobbling together a working team despite the late withdrawals, and for the subs, which were timely and good.
Overall I'm fairly happy. Yes, we need 3 points, but the team is showing a bit of resilience and fight which we need.

This looked very much like the foundations of a future team.
Didn't miss Moore at all today.

I wouldn’t say that we didn’t miss Moore but yes, a team very much in progress.....a lot of it enforced by aches, pains and illness obviously. Sjoke had a seriously strong Championship squad...despite it all, the result was all I could’ve hoped for.

Watching the highlights again - Meite’s play for the equaliser was phenomenally good. Brilliant centre forward play

Jaakkola. 7 Kept us in the game at times

Yiadom. 6. One or two good runs but along with Ilori at fault for their second goal

Ilori. 4 Passing out of defence appalling and at fault for their second goal

Blackett. 7 I thought he was solid and one or two crucial blocks

Gunter. 6 No protection from Swift in the first half. Generally solid but offered little in attack

Bacuna. 6. Typical hit and miss with some great passes and poor ones

Rinohmota 8 MoTM Created a goal out of nothing and set up Meite. Neat and tidy

Swift. 4 Showed quick feet on occasions but defensively hopeless

GMac. 6. Worked hard but not much end product

Loader. 5. Worked hard but ineffective

McNulty. 6. Took his goal well but lacked physicality
Barrow. 6. Was poor but took his goal really well

Meite. 7 Was an absolute beast upfront. Needs to start next week

Baldock. 6 Worked hard and unlucky not to win a pen.
Clement will probably cling on for another week but I had no idea what the formation was supposed to be in that first half and Stoke really exploited our left flank

Can we please stop these silly short corners. They are just awful.

We are also very poor at counter attacks as it’s all so slow. The ref had a mare.

Anybody else think that the ball went out of play prior to the Stoke second goal?

Will have to see their second goal again because it looked to me like Yiadom had the ball covered and Illori stuck his beak in for absolutely no reason.

Odd lineup with a lack of physicality up front against a big defence and the goal aside barely threatened first half, however we seemed comfortable.
Second half we were shocking. Stood off them, the midfield let them walk straight through. Got lucky at the end when Meite and Baldock showed a bit of aggression up front and caused them some issues.
Still in trouble not improving quickly enough.

Swift can only play in one half of the pitch.

Tbf either Bod or Méïté are a big part of our game and neither were fit
Once Bod, Baldock and Meite are all fully fit with have a lot more threat
Missing some seriously important players and getting a draw against a side of Stoke’s quality is a reasonable result really

think PC explained post-match, his predicament regarding his team selection and its pecking order, happy with a point off of a very strong Sjoke

think PC explained post-match, his predicament regarding his team selection and its pecking order, happy with a point off of a very strong Sjoke

I wasn’t very impressed with Stoke. Cart horses.

Impossible for me to say as we sit in the ED Stand. It was a sublime finish from Ince.

Just seen the highlights and to me it looks like it’s still in play.

Our centre backs were both poorly positioned for their first goal.

think PC explained post-match, his predicament regarding his team selection and its pecking order, happy with a point off of a very strong Sjoke

I wasn’t very impressed with Stoke. Cart horses.

I thought they were decent and played some neat and tidy football.

I wasn’t very impressed with Stoke. Cart horses.

I thought they were decent and played some neat and tidy football.

They were OK. Not the blitzkrieg I was expecting.

Strength in depth tho’ just look at their bench
Nailed-on top 6

stunning positioning from our Welsh international for their 2nd.

yep, he looked like coming out of the boozer from an early doors session at 11.00 pm.

The usual scapegoating ^ :roll:
Decent enough game from him today...but if you are ‘that way inclined’ probably not.

Though Rinomhota was such a positive, truly only depressives would feel down after that. Also Stoke supporters did enough gesturing and library-book requests, so the 94th Minute was great to stay for.