TOPIC: player ratings Northampton

Well should have been out of sight by half time here. Similar setup to Stevenage but with a back four instead of a back three Five accros midfield with Asamoah up front. . Same game plan as at Stevenage, soak up the pressure for twenty minutes, deny them space and then start hitting them on the counter attack and boy did we shred their defence. Asamoah (ex Northamton) was hot, made their two big centre backs look like statues and had it been his day would have had a hatrick in this spell.
I looked at the big clock, 44 minutes gone,should have been four nil up but only one nil up. Asamoah off again down the middle and strikes the post, correct that ,five nil up ,game over, Northampton buried, they had not had a single chance,ball goes down the other end and they score.Second half starts, few seconds old, speculative shot deflected past Gillespie, dream totally shattered in the space of sixty seconds. Northampton with their tails up now score a third which kills the game off.

Such a cruel game. Northampton fans could not have complained if we had gone in four or five nil up at halftime. We played some terrific counter attacking football and missed some great chances. There was one lightning three touch move worthy of Chelsea or Man City, Gillesphy on to Grainger who whipped it in to Asamoah to knock it just the wrong side of the post. Northampton, not a bad side, won not through their scintillating football but through their high energy and persistence,a little luck and our missed chances. Reminded me of a game a Charlton in the seventies,two nil up after twenty minutes, playing like Real Madrid, all over them, ended up losing 4-2.

Gillespie - 7 sound game, Curle claims fouled for first goal. No chance with other goals.
Miller - 6 steady game
Atkinson- 7 only seen him once before and he really impressed me. Looks like a really good find.
TAH - 6 steady game
Gillesphy 6 better at fullback than Grainger

At last we actually have fullbacks now that look like fullbacks. It has been a long time coming. This is the best back four I have seen in along time, they actually looked like a defence.Forget the three goals it was just one of those games.


Dicker 6 played deep
Hery 6 never hid, constantly in the game just hope he can blossom and improve
Kennedy 6 busy
grainger 7 good in this role left side of midfield, capable of some great deliveries into the box.
Giillead 6 extra point for scoring but not his night. Never really got into the game and when he did they put two or three men on him after last Saturdays showing. Tried to beat them too much and was crowded out.

Asamoah 8 Back where he made his name and was up for it. Grainger, Dicker,and Kennedy are all tuned in to his runs and and supplied some great deliveries alas it wasnt his night. They were not glaring misses, struck the post ,just the wrong side of the post, good save by keeper, He also held the ball up well and was beating players ,had he taken his chances he would have been on a 10. When subbed he was given rousing applause from the Northampton fans.

4 at the back you say?. Therell be people having a bad do reading that from someone who was there. Looks like Curle got it right if we should have been 4 or 5 up at half time. Unfortunately he cant put the ball in the net himself .

Looking at the YouTube highlights, Gillespie got absolutely nowhere near the corner, no foul. In fact really poor goalkeeping.

Dancingbear wrote:
Just spoke to someone who was there who says it was deffo 3 at back!

DB - Must say I had a chuckle reading the comments of many not there upon returning home last night. Don't let the truth get in the way of the agenda though eh lads?

Gillespie - 5 Struggled to command his area. Their corners were excellent, inswinging and a perfect length to test keeper on their back stick. From where I saw the first I was adamant someone had gone through the back of him but not seen highlights.
Miller - 5 struggled to get forward in support of Gilliead
Atkinson - 6 seemed off the pace early on, and apart from that raking ball out to left in first half I thought his distribution was poor
Troy - 5 shadow of the dominant force of last year, couple of good blocks/etc just not sure he fits into the team with how we are trying to play now. CMW a better option?
Gillesphy - 6 solid enough
Dicker - 5 They were all over him from first kick so couldn't get us a foothold early in game and was unusually sloppy with his distribution. Amazed he wasn't replaced at HT.
Hery - 6 he's a serious talent this kid, if he can add decision making he's surely Championship level.
Kennedy - 6 industrious but somehow seems the game is passing him by much more this season. Is he another who the new style doesn't suit?
Grainger - 7 our biggest threat going forward, crosses excellent and was a shame he was moved backwards.
Giillead - 6 took his goal nicely but never really impacted game going forward. Needs to realise when they are doubling up on him and look to use space he is creating for others. Best work was in defence.
Asamoah - 8 so unlucky not to wrap this up for us in 1st half, his energy is phenomenal and is reason our away form is so impressive.

Subs - 4 obviously KC needed to change game plan once we'd gone behind but our options seemed to limit us further. To think Wyke/Rigg were first choice last season shows how far we've come. And as someone said near me last night, "if Joe Thompson is the answer, I don't want to know what the question is".

The nature & timing of their goals was brutal on us, coupled with the fact that whilst not a bully of a side, they were very cute with the way they 'competed' for the ball and the ref was so soft he played straight into their hands.

could also be argued he was too far off his line for the second and statuesque for the third, there seemed to be a huge gap in between midfield and defence, looked like we missed Joyce.

That's a pretty good summing up there STB, agreed Dicker was unusually poor last night, his passing was abysmal first half especially, I also thought Kennedy was very poor again a shadow of the player he was last season.

Thought their first goal was a nailed on foul on Gillespie from where I was sat but again haven't seen the highlights.

Positives were definately Asamoah and Grainger, I was one of Danny's biggest critics last season but thought he was class going forward again last night especially when he moved to more of a wing back role.

Disappointing result all round in the end after the early chances we created, felt we really missed Raynes for defending corners as much as anything else! still at least we actually look like a team with a bit of clue and talent, more than can be said for this time last year!

sirjimmyglass wrote:
I'm not saying it was definitely a foul, or even that he would have got anywhere near the cross, but having their number 25 jump into him when he clearly wasn't challenging for the actual header meant he had no chance of getting to the cross. Seen them given and seen them ignored like last night.

Well that was my first game for a few years as I live in the far north and work commitments have seriously restricted my ability to travel.

However after the defeat (warranted in my opinion) I felt that old buzz returning which doesnt quite get there listening on the radio or in chat rooms with other like minded folk.

Like stb I felt we didnt attempt to do much in the first 20/30 mins apart from counter.

Northampton were stronger, wanted the ball more and passing it meaningfully going forward with intent playing in our half although their options on goal were well defended.

We struggled to find players in space and Gillead always seemed to have 2/3 on him.

Loved it though and will be trying to make more games despite the current owners

CCU wrote:
It was definitely 4 at the back.
Miller Atkinson Troy Gillesphey

The 2 wingers (Grainger and Gilliead) did track back quite often to help the full backs, so it looked like a back 6 at times in the first half while trying to hit them on the break.

I thought we were poor last night. Never really in game and took the lead against the run of play. Yes we hit the post but it was only in injury time that we upped the pace, there was no urgency for the rest of the time too many misplaced passes or over hit that made them difficult to control. Why can we not stay on our feet so many players slipping around do they not have studs in the boots. The best player on the pitch was their number 21 who controlled things, don't think an Carlisle player deserved more than a 6 and TAH was a shadow of the player I have seen before.

O and it was a back three.

It wasn't.

At least not until the last 20 minutes after Gillesphey had gone off.

Southern Exile, I was at that 4-2 defeat at Charlton in the 70's with the London branch. What you say is exactly as I recall, 2-0 up, I think we hit the post twice and playing like Real Madrid. Bobby Owen scored from about 35 yards but then lobbed a back pass in from outside the box and it all went wrong after that.

It doesn't exactly scream 'good defensive shape' when people can't work out whether we were playing 3 at the back or 4.

Can those that think it was three confirm which of the following four was not playing in defence?
Miller Atkinson Troy Gillesphey

sirjimmyglass wrote:
Exactly my thoughts!

A Cobbler mate thought we were 3, as said Miller and Grainger were pushing up high (As our WB's have done in this system)...

Grainger was pretty much permanently high up, but Miller wasn't. Miller went forward occasionally as a right back would, just as Gillesphey did as the left back.

Grainger was on the left wing, Gilliead was right wing, Asamoah down the middle by himself. That's how we set up from the start. I can't believe this is even being discussed.

It did change in the second half when subs were made etc. Troy played the last 10 as a centre forward!

Just had a look on Twitter to see if I'm losing the plot here.

Jon Colman tweeted that we were playing a 4-1-4-1 formation. That's how I saw it as well.



So if I'm going crazy then so is Colman.

From where i was sat it looked like Gilhespy had pushed up with TAH coming across to make s three. However whatever system it didnt work they controlled the game and there was limited entertainment unless you count the muppets up in the stand to our left.

How come if it didnt work and they controlled the game we should have been 4 up at half time?(according to some)

and I thought I was the only one still alive from those days. Bobby Owen,thats a blast from the past. Can you remember who the manager was and was it before the 74 season?

I suppose some people could see it as controlling the game,playing with a high energy ,constantly pressing forward but they created no chances while we were busy counter attacking and shredding their defence. If we had been 4 nil up after 44 minutes I dont think you would find a Northampton fan who would say it wasnt a fair reflection of play.

Some people go to Specsavers and some dont. When you play two fullbacks and two centre halves in a line then that is termed a back four.

After watching the highlights I would put the first and third down to Gillespie. Not much evidence of a foul for the first, just caught under a ball which he had little chance of reaching. The third was appalling in all honesty. A keeper should command his 6 yard box, that's his area. So for someone to score with a volley from 4 yards out off a corner is unforgivable, he was rooted to his line. Major flaw in Gillespie's game is he doesn't command his area at all.

I read some of those comments and thought I must have been at a different game. I thought we were poor in the first half except for a 5-10 minute spell, when we scored. Definitely more in line with stamfordblue than southernexile.

And I thought Dicker was about the only one who kept trying to pass it short, while Hery did the odd nice trick but was largely anonymous and wasted a few good positions on the rare occasion he was involved.

It was definitely a back 4. Formation was 4-5-0-0-1, such was the gap between Asamoah and the rest.

It may have been after Dick Young took over as manager. It was 1976 I think but I don't have my CUFC history book here. Definitely after the First division season.

Dicker kept it short, problem was he kept passing to them. We missed Joyce's engine and Raynesie's reading of the game.

I agree with southern exile's write up, the game should have been over at half time.

There were plenty of positives: Atkinson looks a class above - he and Miller are destined for higher levels.

It is wonderful to have a player as skilful as Hery playing for us in this league.

And Grainger looks a different player from last season.

That's the seventh away game I've seen this season and the first defeat, last season they lost seven before I even saw them get a point away.

With a bit more quality arriving in Jan we can trouble the top 7...

It's all totally irrelevant anyway. Last time I checked they didn't hand out points based on how many chances you missed or what random formation you were or weren't playing. Whether we were great or crap or somewhere in between, we scored 2 goals and Northampton scored 3 and therefore they deserved their win.

My observations,

Definately a back 4.
Dicker had an off night (he has been our best player in the other games I have seen this season)
Gillespie was previously caught under 2 corners exactly the same as he did for their first, and he needs to be a bit more commanding
We were second to every loose ball in the midfield area
Northampton are nothing special
Atkinson and Miller look as though they have a lot of potential, as mentioned above
Kennedy and Hery looked out of their depth
Asamoah needs more support up front

First goal Gillespie is definitely fouled off their 25. Second big deflection.

So we're looking at about 1:10 from the YouTube video. At about 1:13, the ball about 2 foot directly above the top of Gillespie's reach. You can just about see 25's hands on his shoulders but regardless of that, Mark's getting nowhere near it.

I'd be hugely disappointed if we were on the other end of this and it got called a foul.

1st poor goalkeeping and defending
2nd v unlucky
3rd even worse goalkeeping and defending

What Dancingbear said.

The more I see the 3rd goal the more it annoys me, wasn't even a good corner, should have been the keepers ball all day long it was 4 yards out ffs.

The first was never in creation a foul, just a total misjudgement by Gillespie.

Gillieads poor contribution to the second needs mentioned, he just gave up tracking the man across field

It doesn't take much too annoy you mind Victor.

melbourneblues wrote: m

Folk putting too when they mean to annoys me

Stray 'm's in posts get on my tits.

sirjimmyglass wrote:
Not sure me like, he jumps one way and ends up flattened another. Only seen the highlights like. Also 3rd goal, there are 2 players who run across his path not sure what side cos I only have the YouTube highlights., defender should have dealt with it but seems to get completely out muscled.

Edited to add that your highlights ate different to what I first saw and the 3Rd goal is definitely shite from us