Player Ratings-Notts Forest (H)

Kuszczak-7
Calderon-7
Greer-6.5
El-Abd-7
Bridge-7
Bridcutt-7
Crofts-7.5 MOM
Lopez-6.5
Buckley-7.5
Hoskins-7
CMS-7

Subs: LuaLua-6.5
Barnes-6.5
Hammond- N/A

Kuszczak 6
Calderon-6.5
Greer-6.5
El-Abd-7
Bridge-7
Bridcutt-8 MOM
Crofts-6.5
Lopez-6.5
Buckley-7
Hoskins-6.5
CMS-6

Kuszczak-7, distribution pretty poor again but done what was asked of him.
Calderon-7, played pretty well, especially in the first half
Greer-6.5, actually won a header in the first half
El-Abd-7, a warrior
Bridge-6.5, nothing special, a few questionable passes which could have let them in
Bridcutt-8, amazing as always, always in the right place, broke up play, covered out of position defenders, same old same old.
Crofts-8, his best game since his return, stuck in, won headers and generally played well.
Lopez-7, good distribution, faded later in the game
Buckley-7, some good runs
Hoskins-6, played well but missed a lot of opportunities.
CMS-4.5, added nothing to the game

Subs - not enough time.

GingerBeerMan said:

Kuszczak-7, distribution pretty poor again but done what was asked of him.
Calderon-7, played pretty well, especially in the first half
Greer-6.5, actually won a header in the first half
El-Abd-7, a warrior
Bridge-6.5, nothing special, a few questionable passes which could have let them in
Bridcutt-8, amazing as always, always in the right place, broke up play, covered out of position defenders, same old same old.
Crofts-8, his best game since his return, stuck in, won headers and generally played well.
Lopez-7, good distribution, faded later in the game
Buckley-7, some good runs
Hoskins-6, played well but missed a lot of opportunities.
CMS-4.5, added nothing to the game

Subs - not enough time.

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Harsh on CMS, got no service and chased everything as per usual.

stss30 said:

Harsh on CMS, got no service and chased everything as per usual.

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True he got no service but being a good long distance runner doesn't add many points in my opinion, especially if the pressure on the defence rarely (if ever) leads to a chance.

Kuszczak - 7
Calderon - 6
Greer - 7
El-abd - 7
Bridge - 6
Bridcutt - 7
Crofts - 8
Lopez - 5
Buckley - 7
Hoskins - 5
CMS - 6

Kuszczak - 7
Calderon - 7
Greer - 7
El-abd - 7
Bridge - 7
Bridcutt - 7
Crofts - 7
Lopez - 4
Buckley - 7
Hoskins - 7
CMS - 4

Kuszczak-8, His kicks stayed on the pitch tonight and did everything else well
Calderon-5.5, Good when forward but out of position every time they attacked,
Greer-7.5, I've been a Greer hater but he was very solid and so much better with El-Abd
El-Abd-7, Solid
Bridge-6, Some very poor long passes, but decent
Crofts-8, Played very well
Lopez-7, Some great playmaking, faded in the second half
Buckley-7, played well but we didn't use him enough
Hoskins-6, Finishing was shocking but every chance we had he was in the right place, and couple of nice link ups with CMS, want to see him play more as he has potential to be very good
CMS-6.5, Ran hard, did what he always does but didn't score

Subs
Kaz,6.5
Barnes,6.5
Hamond,N/A

Kuszczak - 7
Calderon - 7
Greer - 7.5
El-abd - 7
Bridge - 6.5
Bridcutt - 7.5
Crofts - 8
Lopez - 7
Buckley - 7
Hoskins - 6
CMS - 6

Kooshack - 7
Calderon - 7
Greer - 7.5
El-Abd - 7
Bridge - 6
Bridcutt - 7
Crofts - 8 MOM
Spanish Dave - 6
Buckley - 7
Hoskins - 6
CMS - 6

Subs -
LuaLua - 6
Barnes - 6
Hammond - No time to do anything

Kusczak - 6 - little to do
Calderon - 6 -looked injured after half-time
Bridge - 7
Greer - 7
AEA - 6.5
Bridcutt - 7
Crofts - 8
Buckley - 7
Lopez - 5 - Not good enough today, shocking set piece delivery
Hoskins - 6 - Should have scored 2
CMS - 6

Thought the ref had a steady game, though might have sent Halford off.

Kuszczak 5.5 - seemed to be completely lost with distribution today. Several times seemed to not know what to do even when everyone (including gus on the side line) was yelling at him to go long. Seemed reluctant to come for most crosses even when there was no pressure, just didn't seem in the right frame of mind. Still, clean sheet, thanks in part to errant shots and the cross bar.
Bridge 7 - Solid
El Abd 7 - Solid - amusing seeing hi wind up sharp early, but seemed to stop it pretty quickly.
Greer 7.5 - Good clearing headers, accurate passing, used Calderon a few times. Good performance from him
Calderon 7 - got forward and had a few shots, including one of the only two times we worked their keeper.
Lopez 7 - linked play in the middle third well, I thought.
Bridcutt 7 - Decent performance, seemed to get roughed up a bit, but only when we retain possession, so ref played advantage and they got away with it.
Crofts 8 - Really strong performance
Buckley 7.5 - Didn't torment Harding as much as I was expecting (I think Harding went off for reasons other than performance, possibly a cold or something - a friend noted the physio giving him a tablet in the first half), seemed to throw himself to the ground in a rather dramatic fashion (in the corner) when their 15 was already on a yellow that worked the crowd up, but I didn't think was worth a second yellow.
Hoskins 7 -Seemed to have trouble finding the target, but got in positions, and seemed to work hard, made some of the closing down runs that CMS usually makes
CMS 6.5 - Not a strong performance, worked hard though.

Lualua 6.5 - Didn't really have an impact, none of his threatening runs, didn't try to take on his man
Barnes 6.5 - We seemed to have run out of ideas before he came on so was limited in how he could impact the game, had a slight chance, but good quick reaction from the defender snuffed the chance out. Won a few cheap free kicks, which helped a bit as Forest had some control in the second half.
Hammond - Not on long enough


Don't really need to add to the comments about our finishing, I suppose. But it is really frustrating. If we'd scored only a fifth of our chances this season we would probably be a fair few points clear at the top. I don't think you can blame any particular player because so many of them all miss good chances. We worked the keeper only twice. And despite all the pressure and chances in that first half, only one of them troubled the keeper.
I thought the ref was ok, in that sense that he didn't want to send anyone off. I don't like the attitude that it is the ref's duty to keep 22 men on the pitch, but that does seem to be a common belief, if TV pundits are anything to go by an the ref did well with that regard - Their number 15 didn't deserve a second yellow for throwing Buckley to the ground, imo, because buckley made a meal of it, then the mysterious incident in the middle wasn't seen by the ref (or many people), and so I think it would have been wrong to punish him if no one saw it.
A bit scrappy in the second half, we sat too deep for too long, and it just felt that for the final 20-25 minutes we had lost all creativity, or desire to really go for it, almost like we had accepted we weren't going to score and decided to just try not to lose.
Our set pieces seemed to be hit past the first man a lot more today. Unfortunately, it also tended to go past the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth (one taking, one back to defend the counter and kuszczak left over)
The north stand seemed to have a few more empty seats than usual, and even after 15 minutes a large number of people seemed to be heading to the concourse, making it seem emptier.

Kuszczak-7
Calderon-7
Greer-7
El-Abd-7
Bridge-7
Bridcutt-7
Crofts-7
Lopez-6
Buckley-7.5
Hoskins-6
CMS-6.5

GingerBeerMan said:

True he got no service but being a good long distance runner doesn't add many points in my opinion, especially if the pressure on the defence rarely (if ever) leads to a chance.

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But came close after a cracking run and shot going towards the South. If he had hit it with the inside of his foot instead of the outside, it may have curled past the goalies dive!

I thought Hoskins missed more clear-cut chances today. Should have buried the bicycle kick attempt, with a header instead!

Kuszczak – 7 – Gus was screaming at him on a number of occasions to release the ball quicker
Calderon - 6
Greer - 6
El-abd - 7
Bridge - 7
Bridcutt - 7
Crofts – 8 – Best game since he has been back, midfield looked better without Hammond starting
Lopez -6
Buckley - 7
Hoskins – 4
CMS – 6 – needs a partner up front and it’s not Hoskins.

Surprised it was the highest attendance at the Amex today, when there appeared to be a quite a few empty seats.

Kuszczak - 6
Calderon - 7
Greer - 6
El-abd - 6
Bridge - 6
Bridcutt - 6
Crofts - 7
Lopez - 6
Buckley - 7
Hoskins - 5.5
CMS - 5

All 6

Kuszczak-6 did not have to do very much but what he did was ok took an age to take kicks
Calderon- 6 played ok nothing special
Greer- 7 solid best game for a little while
El-Abd- 7.5 we are so much better with this comedy genius in the team
Bridge- 7.5 good game class act
Bridcutt- 7.5yet again another fine performance
Crofts- 8 best performance since his return
Lopez - 8.5 first half 7 second half run out of legs
Buckley-7.5 flashes but can not do it on his own we need two wingers or two strikers
Hoskins-7 fantastic game worked hard make space got on the end of play but could not score and that's what he's paid to do!
CMS-7 same as Hoskins

Subs: LuaLua-6 can not stay up right on dry pitches how was he to cope in the wet
Barnes- 6 not on long enough
Hammond- Not on long enough