Wow. Talk about incompetent. Don't think I've seen a performance as poor as that for quite a while now. I mean there's been some bad ones, but that tops it off really. I don't remember coming out of a game and being quite so angry at a football manager before. Livid, absolutely livid. It's not possible that we were that bad against Wycombe Wanderers was it? Oh yes, it was.
Firstly, bit unlucky in two unavailable, and we missed both of them I thought. Out goes the ill Alessandra for the scared-to-tackle Banton, but then Morgan is out to for a player who looks more non-league standard than anyone else.
We missed the energy from MM and Lewi. That's what they offer, Lewi will run and run and run and when with Reid, he'll pressure defences and cause all sorts of problems. It's something that Smalley doesn't do. In fact, I'm not quite sure what he does do. He looks quite lazy, he's not that good on the ball, he doesn't win anything in the air and he's not very strong. Thank God we don't play him much, you can really see why. He's like a slower, weaker, and less skilful version of Alessandra really. Morgan would have done well too, when teams double-mark Reid, it creates space. Crikey, the man doesn't have much technical ability but he's an absolute nuisance for most teams, and we have to exploit that. I don't know his situation, but when I heard Lewi was out I was also quite annoyed that MM wasn't available either. Either of the two would have been a big bonus tonight.
There is a positive I can take out of this I suppose, our defence doesn't look too bad. McCormick is clearly a top keeper, and Nelson and Hartley both look strong and powerful in defence. Mellor, my man of the match, was consistently better than Jacobsen, arguably one of the best defenders in the league. We've got an excellent little player on our hands if he keeps it up. McHugh was ok, little surprised to see him go off really. Not annoyed, and Purrington did ok. Neither were better than the other though, but I'd still be very much tempted to start Purrington on the weekend. Sadly, you just know it wont happen.
Our midfield looks very average. Dare I mention Luke Young? Of course not, he's obviously in a much worse league and to be fair, only a half decent man manager has gotten anything out of him so far. I'm not surprised, he's above non-league level. If he doesn't get back with Torquay, then it'll be with someone else soon. Norburn, sadly, does not look on the same level. He's roughly the same size but his range of passing isn't as good, he doesn't find pockets of space like Young did, and I've not seen him get stuck in as much either. He's still young, so I'll reserve judgement for a while. However, he's the same age as Young, but is put down as having potential. How come to many, Young had fulfilled his? Doesn't make much sense to me, if any. Oh well, I might move on one day.
O'Connor didn't look great, a decent ball winner but can't seem to do anything when he does get the ball. Cox is a bit better, prefer him of the two but again he didn't play well. Disappointed with both. Harvey? Not great at all, best in a number 10 role. Thought this was obvious, so why isn't he being played there? I've got no idea, frankly. Very disappointed.. Banton I didn't think was as bad as people say. Yes he's not physically good but he never has been, he's another who's better centrally but for some random reason has been stuck out wide. Did some good work and nifty footwork today, and whilst he can be bullied off the ball he still has that spark that others don't. If he looked a bit more up for it then maybe people would feel differently. Sadly, it doesn't look too much like he cares.
As for up front? Well, Reid was handled well in the second half. In the first he ran and ran but to no avail, a half-decent partner might have helped him out a bit but sadly Smalley offered nothing. Very disappointed. We're so one dimensional going forward that it actually hurts me. It's a few passes between the defence and midfield before the ball is chucked upfield to Reid where he's expected to just make things happen. With nobody running on or finding space, it means he has little option but to run at defences, and so often has to shoot himself or ends up losing the ball. We need other options, quickly.
To me, we don't seem to have a style. Are we a passing team? Because the ball either gets to our 'wide' players and we lose it, or O'Connor/Cox will win the ball, lay it off to Hartley who might pass it around with Nelse for a bit before hoofing it up to, you guessed it, Reuben Reid. It's genuinely upsetting to watch sometimes. We've got players who can hurt teams IF they're used correctly. Beginning to have serious doubts about whether Sheridan is the right man. The team looks confused, it has no identity, so one dimensional and as much as anything, it's very boring. Wouldn't blame anyone for a second for not wanting to go again, that was just terrible, indescribably bad. I can deal with defeats when we do ok and we work hard, but there's nothing. No energy, no movement, no anything. I'm trying to work out if it's his management or the players. Whatever it is, we can't seem to counter well or dominate possession and we're certainly not ruthless by any means. It's quickly becoming a real concern, and it better get sorted out quickly.
Oh well.. Onwards and (potentially) upwards I guess. See a few of you Saturday I guess.. Hoping some Argyle optimism will have returned by the time Saturday comes along! Christ, you know the game is bad when Ian cheerleading is by far and away the best thing about the night (kudos for that as well, very impressed.. You're a natural)!
Player Ratings: McCormick 6, Mellor 7, Nelson 7, Hartley 6, McHugh 5, (Purrington 5), Harvey 4, Banton 5, O'Connor 5, Norburn 4, Allen N/A), Smalley 3, (Cox 5), Reid 6.