Plymouth @ Home 16th February

Neither can they

 

No not at all, just comparing Wyke & Clarke to Hanson & Clarke, neither were great as a striking partnership, and the more Hopkin plays Doyle & Clarke the poor comparisions will be made.
Most say that teams have got the best from Doyle when he has a foil, unfortunately Hopkin does not think that is the case, by the sounds of it I didnt miss much.

 

Nah we need to win every game to stand a chance according to football manager players on here

 

Yes got to agree with that 100%.
Only problem is positive note's don't seem to be allowed on here.

 

You know thats not true, although I did say Wyke doesn't do the lone striker role, Clarkes very poor miss cost us that game.

 

To be fair, there centre forward was even more useless than Doyle.

What a poor, poor player he looked.

Lost every header against our weak centre backs, and brought nothing to their team in the second half.

Dismal.

 

And little pace in the team Park,ball did play well but a couple of times he got put away but had to stop because the defender caught up with him.

 

Too true
We both go back along way following BCFC and I can't remember a good season where we didn't have both a striker and a foil

 

Actually over the last 9 games, if we include today, Plymouth have won 5, drawn 3 and lost 1. Decent enough form mind.

 

O'Donnell - 6 - Thought the fans let themselves down jeering and sarcastically applauding O'Donnell today. If anything tells me we're down, it's stuff like this. Getting on players backs for doing the right thing... Dear oh dear, shows how far morale has fallen.

Chicksen - 8 - MOTM contender, Chicksen stopped Plymouth with multiple challenges, and put in crosses that any reasonable forward should have scored from.
Caddis - 8 - Again, some of the crosses were exceptional, such a shame we don't have a single decent forward on our books.
NKP - 7 - Won everything second half, minus one point for the fact that Plymouth fielded the worst striker I've seen at VP this season.
O'Connor - 6 - Just awful first half, and probably the weakest player second - had nothing to do, but when the ball came to him, his decision-making often resulted in a crushing disappointment.

O'Brien - 6 - Terrible first half, improved slightly in the second, looks like he badly needs a rest to me. Should have hit the target also second half, put it wide.
Butterfield - 6 - Flashes of real quality, but isn't there yet - wonder if he'll be the saviour in the final games? If anyone can unpick a quality defence, it's going to be him.

Ball - 7 - Had two or three quality chances, just couldn't quite finish any of them off. Endless endeavour, is a must-sign for next season (if we can get him)
Payne - 6.5 - Unmemorable game, really don't see what he was doing that made him un-sub-able.
Clarke - 6.5 - I like him playing a slightly deeper role, but don't agree with one up top in must win games like this. Tried, ran, actually competed pretty well.

Doyle - 6 - A generous six, because for 70 minutes the lad did absolutely nothing. Started winning a couple of headers, and had to bury a chance from a great Caddis cross, but didn't.

Thoughts?

 

I'm not sure why Hopkin didn't take the offer of Conor Sammon, yes it would be another wage but I would have hoped Stefan would have sanctioned the deal, if nothing else it would have given Hopkin another option.

 

I thought Caddis and Chicksen both had decent enough games and David Ball stood out as our best player. Ball, can't decide a 7 or an 8, Chicksen and Caddis 7s, the rest 6s. Taking both halves into an account it was a very average performance against what was very average opposition on the day.

 

I think that's fair, Chicksen certainly had his best game in a city shirt. However I think you've been a little harsh on O'Connor, I don't think he did anything wrong other than one point in the second half when he passed it back to O'Donnell instead of forwards. Speaking of O'Donnell, he'd get a 7. Terrific save in the first half and distribution was much better.

And yes Payne didn't have a great game but he's our best and most creative player, he stays on the pitch. You think Barcelona would take Messi off if he was having a stinker in a must win game? No chance.

 

Payne is a Championship quality player, but nothing like Messi at Barca.

Messi scores virtually every single game.

Payne has scored 9 goals in 41 games.

Bad comparison, but I see your point.

I agree that Hopkin seems to be in a strange habit of taking Payne off every single game. I'm not really sure why.

Today, Billy Clarke deserved a round of applause and he's barely played any football, so asking him to hammer it for 90 minutes is strange.

 

We are simply a VERY SHIT football ream, which will be rightfully relegated this season. The whole club is a shambles and, for the first time in many decades, I don't care and am now finding better things to do with my time. All very sad.

 

But surely you see WHY we're in the state we are?

How is no longer supporting the club a sensible option when the two-hat that got us to this state is long gone?

Bizarre.

 

NKP was a 6. Hoofed and headed it too much to the smallest midfield. Never controlled and passed it out

Clarke a 6 also. Poor attacking play.

Chicksen a 7. Didn't over lap well

Apart from that I agree.