Post by irishrover on Feb 20, 2017 14:03:52 GMT
Brief Summary - Excellent strike from Bodin earned us a point we barely deserved against a Vale team that probably deserved even less than that. Put simply if it had finished 0-0 and the referee had arbitrarily decided that neither team had done enough to earn any points from the game then that probably would have been fair enough.
Matchday Experience - I set off on the relatively short drive down the M6 only to find that it took me considerably longer because the link road from the Manchester ring road to the M6 was shut causing me to join it much higher up than I needed to and then drive at 50 all the way to Stoke. The daft thing is these have been ongoing (and to be honest much needed) roadworks for at least 2 years now but somehow wishful thinking always seems to cast it from my mind before I set off. Route into Burslem from the motorway was good and I found a place to park near the ground - which seems to be on a kind of raised hillock that means it stands out quite impressively from one side. It also takes up an enormous amount of space for a ground of that size. You can see where the 'Wembley of the North' idea came from. I liked Vale Park - it was quirky and a good noise could be made in the away end thanks to the proper old school roof. Burslem itself had clearly seen better days - I normally see positives in most places but there's no too ways about it, the area was grim. I did enjoy the Stoke equivalent of a blue plaque given to a closed down pub on the high street thought that said something to the effect of 'Robbie Williams dad used to drink in here'. They were selling a fanzine outside which sadly seems a quaint anachronism these days - so I bought it but unfortunately it was not very good. Oh - and the annoying and generic 'X place is a s**t hole I want to go home' chant felt particularly ridiculous on Saturday - we were the ones who had travelled 3 hours and paid £50+ to be there so who's the real mug in that situation? Only other comment to make is that the traffic getting out was awful - for a ground that has been there for nearly 70 years and been redone more than a few times you'd have thought at some point the access would have been improved. It took me double the time to get home that it had taken to get there. Overall though it was a nice day out and a another ground ticked off the list.
First Half - Was an absolutely terrible exhibition of League 1 football. Neither team seemed to have either the wit or quality to string 3 passes together let alone generate actual chances. I was a bit surprised to see Harrison-Gaffney as being out front 2 as they don't seem a natural partnership and we duly spent most of the half banging aimless long balls up to them. It's easy to criticise but apart from the one occasion Ellis got free down the flanks (only to be smacked in balls and go down for what felt like 5 minutes - it did look bloody painful though) I don't think they had anything to work with. We were really terrible - the worst I've seen us play in ages. I do think that was mainly a function of our shape and tactics being disturbed by Partington going off. Sinclair did perfectly well as a makeshift right back (although there was an adjustment period - he was more solid 2nd half) but we lost his bite and energy in the middle and while we bought Montano on we didn't seem to switch to a more expansive game with him and Bodin on the pitch. The result was we just seemed like a man down in the middle of the park without having the width in attack that might make up for that by keeping the opposition honest. The result was that we just looked overrun and constantly seemed to be giving the ball away in midfield. Ollie Clarke looked a bit lost (I don't think it was really his fault though - it was too much to ask), Lines coped better and everything good we did seemed to come through him but it was very much feeding off scraps and the defence were made to work hard. A better side would have had is under the kosh and probably scored a couple of goals - fortunately for us Vale looked total bobbins in the main and failed to capitalise on the amount space and ball they seemed to be getting in promising positions. There was a total lack of quality and composure on their part. However, we were scrambling a lot which explains the 4 bookings we picked up. I felt Sweeney was pretty lucky to stay on the pitch to be honest (and yes I know their bloke handled in the build up but still....), he was exposed and forced to dive in and it looked over the top of the ball to me and, debatably, he may have been the last man too. So, all in all, I went into half time thinking that we were probably going to lose and quite likely to have a man sent off.
Second Half - Was much better - both in terms of quality of the game and our performance. It still wasn't particularly good though which really highlights just how bad the first half was really. We generally looked to have a bit more about us. It was interesting to see Johnny Burn - who I thought looked composed and fitted in well alongside Sweeney. Lines seemed willing to run at them a bit more and generally we had a bit more influence in the middle of the park. The game was certainly more even although they also looked more threatening down the flanks than they had in the first half and that was where the goal came from. You have to feel sympathy for Whispering Bob in that situation- ball comes across and he slides through and puts it into his net. Not sure it was really his fault - the guy did well but was given too much space. Only thing to say is that there didn't seem to be a Vale player coming in behind him from what I could see (it was a long way away so I could be wrong) so perhaps he should have been given a call to leave it. That perked us up a bit and in general we were the better team from that point onwards and you could feel the Vale side becoming tighter and tighter as they came nearer to a vital 3 points. Having said that until Bodin's goal we really didn't look like we were going to create anything much. Lines had managed a good break just after half time and we'd had a few free kicks but generally there was a stark lack of quality in forward areas. So when Bodin's strike smashed into the top corner it seemed to belong to a different game. After the equaliser there only really looked like one winner and had an energy and purpose that had been largely lacking for a lot of the game (felt a little end of season to be honest) and nearly nicked a win which we definitely would not have deserved. Overall a point was just about deserved but only really for the last 10 minutes. A point was fair enough - neither team deserved to win the game.
Lumley - 8. Seems odd to mark a goalie this highly in a game where he didn't really have a save to make. But I felt again that his confidence, decision-making and handling makes a real difference to how solid we feel as a defence. He's very good at anticipating crosses and that mattered on Saturday.
Sinclair - 7. I'm giving him credit for doing the cover job at right back on his terms. As a right back he'd get a 5 but as someone who clearly isn't and was trying his damndest I think he deserves a bit more than that. Shows the value that he has to the squad in terms of versatility and fitness.
Harris - 5. Trying not to be too harsh but the fact is that a lot of the danger seemed to be created down his flank and he seemed to make a number of poor decisions while being caught on the ball too often. Couldn't obviously see why he would have been picked ahead of Brown because he doesn't seem to be that different a player style-wise. He had something of a torrid afternoon and, while I don't particularly fault him for the own goal, his reaction to the own goal was quite indicative. Seemed to go into his shell and looked like a rabbit in headlights from then on.
Sweeney- 7. Would be 8 if not for the nagging feeling he was lucky to be on the pitch. I was impressed with Sweeney this time-physical and dominant, their forwards really didn't get in the game and that was a large part down to Sweeney.
Lockyer/Burn - 7. I assume Lockyer went off injured? They both did pretty well considering that they were getting little help from our midfield at times. Burn looked composed and confident and fitted in straight away. We could have genuine competition for places assuming injuries are not too bad.
Clarke - 6. Not one of Ollie's better games I felt. He did much better in the second half and didn't do anything drastically wrong. Just didn't influence the game in the same way that he's clearly been doing recently.
Lines - 7. Solid performance on his own terms. He was the only player in our side who really looked like he had a creative spark about him and might create something. Everyone else worked hard but with no quality. Having said that - weirdly I think we may have won if Mansell had been selected instead of him, it was just Mansell's sort of game is all.
Bodin - 6. Seems daft to give a player who scored such a quality goal such a low score. However, I genuinely thought he'd had a terrible game up to that point. It had just been one of those afternoons where nothing would stick to his feet. He gave it away constantly, didn't look much of a threat. Then he scored a cracker....I would say this is 2 away games I've seen Bodin where he has looked a bit lost and nothing like the threat he has been at home from what I've seen. I'm not sure the kind of free role that DC has given him really works for Bodin - I think he needs to be outwide but if that's what we need to do to be effective as a team then......
Montano - 6. Montano seemed to get a lot of stick from our fans (I was surprised how much abuse was getting generally to be honest - it's not like we're doing badly!) and it's true that he offered little going forward and made some very poor decisions in attacking areas. However, I thought he put a real shift in defensively and put his body in there. I honestly thought he covered a Harris quite a lot of the time.
Harrison - 5. It was definitely a poor afternoon for Ellis. He just wasn't effective. Didn't seem to produce much of a spark and looked a bit of a lost soul chasing down direct balls and winning headers. Having said that I'm a little bit worried that Ellis is now being seen as a 'back to goal' player. Where is the Ellis Harrison who gets the ball at this feet? That's the player I think is a threat and that definitely is not how he was used on Saturday. It was like having 2 Gaffney's out there.
Gaffney - 6. Another one who received a lot of stick. I think he was as happy as a pig in s**t on Saturday. He just was to go out there and try and win headers, chase down lost causes and generally make a nuisance of himself. Which in general he did, but he didn't do anything else and didn't look like he was going to take a chance. The guy is clearly lacking confidence from the player we signed a year ago. However, he did the job he was clearly being told to do.
Overall
We look a very blunt instrument with Harrissn and Gaffney up front being used in this way. When James came on we suddenly had other options so I think I would like to see him start with one of those two. It's also clear to me that DC has clearly decided to tighten the team up (away from home at least). We are playing a far less expansive and more narrow game than we were earlier in the season. This is a much more pragmatic side that is going to be tough to beat but may not be great to watch. I do not understand why Harrison is being used as a work horse centre forward as he has in the last 2 games I've seen him play. I'd like to see them play with Harrison pulled back a bit almost into the midfield as he was in one of the games I saw him play after Christmas. But generally we look solid in the main but currently lack guile and quality - really should have been beating a Port Vale side that looked poor and mentally shot.