TOPIC: Player ratings

We could have lost that 7-3 and not felt cheated. KC needs to sort out the defence.

Gillespie 5
Miller 5
Raynes 5
Grainger 3
Brough 4
Thompson 3
Joyce 3
Kennedy 4
Héry 4
Asamoah 6
Ibehre 6

Dicker 7 than heavens he came on.
Osei not on long enough
McQueen 6

Touch harsh some of them ,thought hery was better than a four,asamoah also better,how many would he have to score to get a 10/10?

bloody hell, 3's?

Keeping onside would help Derek; Hery only showed touches of what he is capable of - too many misplaced masses.
upperbyblue wrote:

Gillespie 6 - made good saves, awesome stop with legs, needed to command area better but up against a big strong lad
Miller 6 - pick of the defenders for me. Good strong tackles left exposed by Thompson too many times.
Raynes 5 - had a hard day against their striker. Would have been a 1 had akinde scored when he slipped.
Grainger 5 - as raynes tough day against big striker. Another assist though.
Brough 4 - good running but still raw
Thompson 3 - had a really tough game came off looking like a man who knew it wasn't a good day at the office. Switched off too many times.
Joyce 5 - midfield was overran and failed to get the 2nd ball wayward passing but great ball for mqueen for winner
Kennedy 5 - same as Joyce wayward passing not his best game
Héry 6 - need and tidy a lot of effort little surprised he was brought off
Asamoah 7 - full of running good finshes for both
Ibehre 6 - tough game, recent reputation marking him out of game although this gave asamoah freedom

Dicker 6 - calming influence when he came on, legs are not their but has a footballing brain
Osei not on long enough
McQueen 6 - excellent cross for goal, could have done better late on

Cayambe wrote:
Dicker higher than Asamoah?

Gillespie - 7 - We'd have lost the game by a large margin if not for him
Miller -6 Good header. Decent in first half, looked shaky second half.
Raynes- 4 Poor. Failed to win many headers. Let off by Akinde's awful miss.
Grainger- 6 Some decent passes.
Thompson- 3 Offers nothing sadly
Joyce-5 Battled. Great pass for the third.
Kennedy-4 The game passed him by. Looks slower than last season
Hery-5 Nice touches but not the type of game he enjoys
Brough-4 Awful first half, at least he put some effort in before being rightly hooked.
Asamoah-7 Had a poor start actually but took his first goal really well. Scored the winner.
Ibehre-7 Superb outlet and incredibly important defensively as well.

Dicker-7 Our best midfielder
Osei- Didn't have many touches
McQueen- 6 Better than Thompson. Good assist but should have set up a fourth.

Apart from Gillespie i wouldn't give anyone in the "defence"more than 3. Raynes was awful. Agree with 3 for Joyce as well.Thompson should have been hooked at half time.

Gillespie 5 - good saves but has got to come off his line more, he was crowded out at times but him taking a catch or 2 more would've relieved lots of pressure.
Granger 6 - great FK for the first goal and by his standards didn't make too many mistakes today, got a hell of a left peg sometimes...
Raynes 3 - Could've stuck a cardboard cutout at CB and it would have defended better. Didn't make any challenges really, literally turned around and ran away from their big no. 9. Absolutely embarrising.
Miller 6 - not great positionally but understandable as he's a RB by trade. +1 for the goal.
Brough 5 - he's an odd one, looked great in first 20 mins but completely faded?
Thompson 5 - didn't do anything wrong but didn't really do anything right! Solid I guess is the word but offers little as an outlet.
Kennedy 4 - poor. Didn't do anything all game, big fan of his last season but he was sloppy today.
Joyce 6 - put himself about, some poor passes but what a ball to McQueen for the 3rd goal.
Hery 5 - play him further forward Curle! Would be a nightmare to have running at you.
Ibehre 6 - not his best game but always caused problems. Looked shattered 2nd half but he's a focal point for the side.
Asamoah 7 - took his goals well though he's selfish at times. Caught offside yes but only because he's trying to run in behind! Still quick for a 30+ year old anyway.

Dicker 7 - got to start, very calm. Only player closing them down on the edge of the box!
McQueen 6 - got to start, great going forward though he's still very raw. Could be quite the signing..
Osei 5/6 - wasn't on too long but maybe should've scored?

Overall we were lucky to win really. Barnet big physical side, never have I seen a lad take a long throw in his own half?!

Need to sort the defence out, you knew Barnet were going to score only a matter of time. Can't believe how much we backed off in defence today and just let them run at us.. Put a challenge in man!! I do like Miller and grainger but I think if you played 3 proper CB's we'd concede less. I just don't think they could play the wide positions in the 3-5-2 so if they're gonna start its in a back 3. Raynes was so so poor today but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an off day. Got to sign a CB even if it's just for cover! Not one on the bench today.

Gillespie 7 made some good saves
Raynes 6 played okay
Grainger 6
Miller 7 played well
Brough 5 not much of a impact
J Thompson 5 disappointing
Joyce 6 mediocre
Kennedy 6 not a huge impact
Hery gets a 10 for his new hair
Derek 8 played well
Jabo 7 played well in parts


Subs
Dicker 8 came on and made a difference
McQueen 7 played well going forward
Osie 6 didn't do much

We need three new central defenders ASAP as these lot are just not good enough. Miller&Grainger; would be better utilised as wing-Backs IMO. We'll shift 80+ at this rate and be mid to lower table at best.

Raynes isn't good enough, outmuscled,can't pass and gets bullied every week.

Standard incorrect message board player ratings tonight will include:

Gillespie over marked despite looking very dodgy
Dicker over marked by everyone who hates Curle
Joyce under marked as he's not Dicker
Kennedy over marked as he tries hard
Ibhere over marked as he has been our best player this season
Asamoah under marked as he's not Ibhere or Dicker

Wukkie wrote:
I actually feel a bit sorry for Raynes (well not really) Grainger and Miller didnt offer a lot of assistance against the ariel bombardment. Its no coincidence he played quite well with another proper centre half in Troy alongside him. I dont think theres many at this level whod look good in a back 3 with Miller and Grainger playing as wide as they do. Our midfield were also crap today Joyce in particular looks too slow but he played a great ball in the build up to the winner so ill cut him a little slack. All in all we were crap but got 3 points which didnt happen very often last season. Plus i hate Martin Allen so i hope their bus breaks down the roof falls off and it pisses down on him.

STH wrote:
Personally id like someone who isnt Dicker or Joyce as a holding midfielder.

Gillespie 7
Miller 6
Raynes 5
Grainger 5
Brough 4
Thompson 4
Joyce 4
Kennedy 5
Héry 5
Asamoah 7
Ibehre 6

Dicker 7
Osei 5
McQueen 6

Some harsh ratings for Raynes on here.

He made 1 error in the match, and they didn't score from it.

Aside from that, did you not see the multitude of blocks he made that were sailing into the top corners?
Should be 6/7's at least for him.

CottonEyeJoe wrote:
Come on get with the party line, 3 for Raynes or you will get a 3 day ban

Team definitely a job in progress but heck 100% better than we have been used to over the lady few seasons and more importantly we got three points today. Inward and upward.
Still need to rid the club of the poison chalice that is JN and AJ then maybe we can reach our potential.

I'm just fed up of the fact that KC still can't pick his best eleven. Brough has had his chance, not doing it, Thompson v McQueen, Mc Queen every time. We look ok gan forward but our defence terrifies me!!!!!!!

I need beer!!!!!!!!!

CottonEyeJoe wrote: Yeah but remember in these threads Raynes starts matches on -3 because his name isn't Meppen-Walter and he came from Mansfield not Man City. So if you add your 6/7 onto -3, then deduct a point for the one near catastrophic mistake, the 2 or 3 ratings are about right.

In all seriousness I do agree. The mistake (all be it a really bad one) aside, he won more headers than the other 2 and like you say made some heroic blocks with all parts of his body. He struggled physically against Akinde but so did everyone else.
He needs help in that centre back position, at times he's a one man defensive line due to the other 2's full back instincts kicking in.

Gillespie 6 a real mixture, some good blocks, especially one with his feet, tip over the bar when it looked like a goal but also came out a couple of times for crosses beyond his reach and headless chicken in attempt to head the ball clear
Miller 6 took goal well but i feel both he and Grainger play too far wide and the wing backs too far up so we leave plenty of gaps. Yet again going forward down the wing in opposition half he passed the ball inside without looking properly and nearly cost us a goal. he's done this several times.
Raynes 4 no doubting his commitment, blocks, diving headers to clear but doesn't seem capable of playing against a big bullying type of centre forward - which he'll see a lot of in this division. How their bloke missed after he gave the ball away ( not for the first time ) is beyond me
Grainger 6 great free kick, a bit better of late but i don't like him in the middle 3, better as wing back
Brough 4 continues to struggle and often seemed to take the wrong option
Thompson 3 completely out of his depth
Joyce 6 unlike some I thought he did ok. Not helped in his role by the width referred to above
Kennedy 5 struggled the last few games. i am not convinced he is fully fit
Héry 5 mixture of some astute passing and needlessly giving the ball away either by misplaced passes or holding onto the ball far too long, especially in vulnerable positions
Asamoah 7 lively and deserved his 2 goals. Pity about the offsides, ran out of steam near the end
Ibehre 7 when we actually managed to get the ball to him he did well on the whole. Not helped by a referee who seemed more interested in using up his spray than blowing up for obvious fouls

We looked better with both Dicker and McQueen on - but they should both have been on at half time. From what I've seen so far how Thompson starts ahead of McQueen is beyond me.
Referee 2
Linesman on paddock side 1 ( for giving offside against their 'goal' )

We were very, very lucky to get 3 points. It was like the Alamo at times but at least we battled away

Gillespie 7 some great saves and not at fault for goals
Miller 6. Top header for goal , but other than that shaky performance
Rayners 7 best of back line , one bad mistake but other than that did ok , some superb blocks , tough ask against Akinde
Grainger 6. Did ok top delivery for Millers goal
Brough 4 too weak needs more confidence , hides from ball
Thompson 4 offered little and again not confident
Joyce 5 offered little protection at base of midfield
Kennedy 5 not showing form of last year yet
Heri. 7 some great touches and excellent ball for McQueen for third goal
Ibehre. 7 helped out in defence , not his best up top and victim of a horrendous offside decision
Asamoah 8 worked hard two goals can't ask for much more


lighting McQueen 7 made an impact and has to start next week
Dicker. 7 calming influence
Osei Not on long enough too mark

Alwaysblue17 wrote:
Think it was Joyce who played that excellent ball to McQueen for the 3rd goal. Could be wrong though because it's a bit of a blur.

crunchblue wrote:
Thought it was Joyce at the time myself, but sure the @officialcufc Twitter said it was Kennedy? Whoever it was it was a cracking ball.

Stand corrected it was Joyce. Still a great ball though !

I agree the problem is that Raynes is left to defend the centre on his own but it's not because miller and grainger have played as full backs. The same thing happened at Hartlepool with Troy to the left of the 3.

It's because our wing backs play as wingers and don't track back even when it's been defensive minded players like Grainger and Brough as the wing back they get caught the wrong side of the wide attacker regularly so they're obviously told to stay forward.
At 2 nil up today under pressure we should have had one wing back forward and one back at a time. Saying that for all the good bits mcqueen did he doesn't look like he can defend even when he's in a position to.

Gillespie 5 - didn't command box whatsoever, couple of decent saves nothing more
Miller 6 - average but not a CB
Grainger 6 - average but not a CB, blatantly obvious he doesn't like heading a ball, great ball for opening goal
Raynes 6 - felt a bit sorry for him, seemed to be battling on his own at the back, not tight enough to Akinde
Brough 4 - weak and ineffective
Thompson 3 - very very poor, looks low on confidence
Joyce 5 - doesn't offer much for me, too negative, the one time he did decide to go forward he helped set up 3rd
Kennedy 5 - looked lost today, pretty anonymous
Heri 6 - drifts in and out the game too much, not sure it's always his fault though
Ibhere 7 - tough afternoon against 2 decent strong centre halfs but some great touches and lay offs, nice ball for 2nd goal
Asamoah 8 - one of his best games when starting, two nice goals and looked lively

Dicker 7 - a bit of composure when everyone else was panicking, good job he came on
McQueen 7 - got up and down well, nice cross for the winner, good to see some pace in the side...finally!
Osei 5 - could have done better on a few occasions

Very strange game, could well have got hammered, god knows how we actually won! Massive problems at the back, we've got a goalie who has little physical presence in his area, two full backs playing at centre back (one of whom (Grainger) blatantly doesn't like to head the ball), a centre half who seems to be battling away on his own and two wing backs who seem to have little interest in defending and who's positioning is atrocious.

Joyce offers the team virtually nothing, preferring to go backwards instead of forwards, it should be his job to receive the ball off the back 3 not the other way around. Good job we have the front two forming a good partnership, they're a million miles ahead of Rigg and Wyke.

Presuming he's going to stick with 3-5-2 it's got to be McQueen in for Thompson, Grainger moving to left wing back in place of Brough with a proper centre half coming in, and Dicker in for Joyce. I'd like to see more of Balanta aswell.

Joyce's pass won us the game today.

I want to give Barnet a bit of credit, they'd obviously done their homework, they pushed up on Miller and Grainger in order to stop us passing out from the back. This split our back 3 and forced us long thus neutralising Hery as well. They had strong centre halves and a big strong forward and played to their strengths. Fortunately they had no real pace at the back, and we made them pay. Jabo and Joyce hit the two best passes of the day, using our pace and they had no answer.

I enjoyed the game, and the contrasting styles of play.

Moorlad wrote:
Surprised at how poor a start Barnet have had, thought they were a decent side. They really should have hammered us today, Akinde's miss second half, hit the bar twice and a glaring miss at the back post after about 10mins were the obvious ones.

They looked like scoring every corner - with Gillespie being blocked by someone and the ball being put right into the mix.

It's clever blocking the keeper, Asamoah does it for us.

They had 3 massive lads, decent delivery and that lad who came on could scop a ball!

Was anyone else proper s**ting themselves when Ibehre went down injured in the first half?

crunchblue wrote:
Aye, me and Griff had our heads in our hands.

Problem is with troy not playing atkinson injured and cmw never gonna play we had no defensive subs-mcqueen is more of a wing back but plays like a winger. If troy could play every game we would play him but we can't therefore we either need to bring cmw back in or get another strong fast cb. Raynes needs to be dropped I've never been convinced by him on the ground with the ball I have palpitations yes he can make blocks and win headers but on the ground he's terrible and slow. Joyce had a bad game yesterday just made too many mistakes and played like raynes dicker was miles better and should have replaced Joyce.
Gillespie
Mcqueen, Miller, troy, grainger, brough
Kennedy, dicker, hery
Asamoah ibehre
Should be our team next week

Don't understand why the BBC report on the game shown United has nearly 60% possession, yet all reports here suggest they were overrun.
Secondly whilst love reading the player ratings, could those who bother also include a score for entertainment value, ie did you enjoy the game,and will you come back.

A funny old game yesterday. Can understand Martin Allen's frustration at the end - we could've been 7-2 down and not had a leg to stand on. Then again, you can't withstand a barrage like that on luck alone, so credit to our lads for a few superb last ditch tackles and blocks, and taking our chances. Last year we would be the side wasting a dominant spell and cursing it. Maybe the tide is turning.

Sorry, I've rambled a bit with these f***ers as per!


Gillespie - 6 - Mixed bag. Agree that he sometimes doesn't assert in his area enough, and he did struggle with his distribution at times. Always makes 1/2 very decent saves a game and his catching, when he fancies catching, is good. Ten times better than Hanford.

Thompson - 4 Not the first or the last player that will struggle to understand the role of wing back in this formation. Kind of hovers in an awkward area when we are defending which means he's ineffective in that phase, but then can't beat a man frequently enough to be a forward asset. We have better options.
Miller - 6- Wasted at RCB. Would like to think he would get pushed into wing back if Troy was playing but there is the same dilemma with Grainger. Had a tendency to be pulled out by their left mid Luke Gannon, who was a good player. Still, did well in physical battles and great leap for his goal.
Raynes - 5 - I'm actually a fan. Well, not a fan as such, but I don't think he deserves the amount of stick he gets. His shocking mistake aside, he wins an awful lot of important headers and blocks and as others have pointed out, is effectively the only CB in the backline. Did have a tough old day against Akinde though, who looks a proper handful.
Grainger - 5 - See Miller regarding a tendency to pull out to his better position of WB. He also suffered against a very direct and physical Barnet front line and we won't get very far with him in a back three. Another assist though, which must put him on 6/7 now. Impressive.
Brough - 4 - Such a confidence player and, unfortunately, such a liability when he loses that confidence. Even the Barnet commentary team remarked on his transformation from a major threat into a weak spot after the first 20 mins. Think he may benefit from a rest if we can get Sheehan in.

Joyce - 5 - He's a difficult one, Joycey. Not sure if it's a tactical thing or not but he is sitting so deep, as in too deep for a holding midfielder. This invites pressure, and I'm convinced if he did the job he did 5/10 yards further up the pitch it would help the whole side out. He does also seem determined to pass backwards, sometimes when there are better options in front. That said, he deals well with his self-inflicted constant pressure, and the pass for the third was a pearler.
Kennedy - 6 - A battling performance, which deserves credit not for quality but determination and an effort to do the right things. Was tough for him considering Hery had a bad day at the office but he did okay. Not as mobile as I thought he once was, probably a reason he's here and not elsewhere,
Hery - 5 Probably the lowest mark I'll ever give him in a victory but his driving runs just weren't there like at Hartlepool and Port Vale. Does his fair share of the tackling which is a great boost but will always have the odd off day with his style of football.

Ibehre - 8 - This was the fella I was hoping we had signed. Goals have been an added bonus but his all-round game as a target man is a joy to watch. Back to goal for most of the 90 and yet still had their backline at sea 4/5 times. Perfect foil for Asamoah and already looking one of the great CUFC strikers of recent times.
Asamoah - 8 Not much more you can ask for from your striker than a brace in a 3-2 win. Some folk don't seem to understand breaking the offside trap. Frustrating at times, yes, but it only has to work once to be a success. Composure for the first was sublime and his confidence seems sky high since QPR. Hopefully the start of a goal run.

SUBS
McQueen - 8 - Changed the game. Couldn't see us getting another prior to his introduction but hell, he can beat a man.Crossing leaves a little to be desired but that's why he hasn't quite cut it at the top I guess. Could be a big player for us.
Dicker - 6 Don't quite buy into him like some but he did a solid job as per from the bench. Does give the ball away quite a bit which seems to go unnoticed but reads things very well and certainly has a time and place.
Osei - 6 Not sure what it is but I do think he has something. Will need time to adapt to the English game but his physique and touch hints at potential. Hope he's not another rough diamond we shine up for others like Wells and Madden.


Told you I'd rambled

Quokkablue2 wrote: Entertainment value has to be 10/10, superb end to end game although Neville and Carragher would still be picking the players to bits now, i really enjoyed it even with the heart attack moments, and unfortunately i'll always be back.

Quokkablue2 wrote:
United had 54% possession, in the same report
Barnet shots 28, shots on target 11, Corners 15
Carlisle shots 11, shots on target 5, Corners 6
We were overrun but held out.

Quokkablue2 wrote:
No we definitely had more possession. That was obvious when watching.

They over ran us in terms of clear chances, but they were mainly from long balls pumped into our box, long throw ins and mainly corners/set pieces.

Credit to them, they knew our weakness was aerially so they used their physical and height advantage well. But not well enough.

I agree with Crunch. A number of their attempts were scrappy efforts off throw ins and high balls, and a load missed by miles or were easy to stop or block. Yes, they knew how to play us, yes they played to their strengths. They had absolutely no answer to our pace though, and we really should have scored more. Some calmness in delivery from McQueen and a couple of others and Jabo could have had another hat trick.

Very exciting game to watch. They were unlucky hitting the bar, but we were clinical, we don't get to say that often.

For me HillyAteThePies it's KC's tactics that are doing for Joyce. Carlisle looked awful against Cambridge and played much the same again yesterday. The big exception was that Barnet were far more direct and outgunned us in the air going foward. I believe KC is expecting Joyce to sit right in front of the back 3 and help break up play or drop into the 3 to make a back 4. Unfortunately, teams are doing their homework and put 3 against 3 and Joyce is bypassed. I think he is trying to link play, but yesterday we lost composure and nobody was able to take control until Dicker came on. He, unlike Joyce, is more forward thinking and whilst breaking the play up, looks for a forward option. Joyce is a defensive midfielder. The problem for KC is how do you play Kennedy, Dicker, Joyce and Hery. Kennedy, Dicker and Joyce have similar traits, in that their first role is to stop the opposition and pass the ball on. Where as Hery is more of 'get it to him' and let his trickery unpick the opposition. Sadly, yesterday we just couldn't organise anything. Hery was bypassed as nobody had a clue how to defend against their crosses into our box. Nobody seemed to have a know who was marking who and it was just 'pack the box'. Joyce got stuck in defensively with a couple of great blocks and tackles. Unfortunately, it was his forward ball, or the lack of, until the pass to McQueen, that let him down.

You may be right Baggers.

I think that the Joyce issue is the one requiring the most urgent attention, because an alteration there may be the quickest way to exert the pressure that our defence is under 90% of the time in games. I don't think we need a midfielder that deep personally. Three CBs should be able to deal with two forwards like yesterday, so I think the CDM should be naturally setting themselves 5/10 yards further up the pitch and battling for the first ball rather than anticipating the second. That in turn would let Hery/Kennedy/Balanta further up the field to pressurise opposition defenders and get us on the front foot. The middle of the park is one place we should be on top, because we have quality in there. Sadly, we're losing that battle every week for me.

i know you can argue that we won the game so he picked the right team, but surely we needed our biggest back line vs what was some huge players. Jabo whilst he wasn't being fouled was not half as effective up top. not surprising with the beasts he was up against. but as moorlad said once it was on the ground some nice touches our mobility caused them problems. why we suddenly went from playing well to flapping around like last season is still a mystery to me. Thompson was poor he offered nothing forward or at the back apart from tiring his players for Mcqueens appearance.

Jabo's battle with the massive centre half was a highlight for me, when he got the ball on the deck he slaughtered the lad, but anything in the air, the big bloke was exceptional.

Quokka, our possession stats this season are being bumped up because the team are passing the ball around amongst themselves on the edge of our area for 5 or 6 pointless, dangerous passes before hitting a long punt upfield. Barnets possession was mainly threatening possession in the right areas of the pitch. Make no mistake we took an absolute beating in this game... but by a combination of terrible finishing and outrageous good luck we got away with it. This is one of the worst defences I've ever seen during my time watching Carlisle and we badly need some new centre backs or a formation rethink before our luck changes and we take some real beatings. The positive news is that we look excellent going forward and we have been clinical at times this season. We have pace and creativity... and for the first time in many years a centre forward who can hold the ball up and link play effectively as well as score goals.