Monday 19 March 2012

Player Ratings for Northampton Game

Nicholls - 6 Not too much to do but did struggle with crosses, to blame their goal on him would be harsh. Hes only young and needs time.

Mclntyre - 7 Had a tough time dealing with a very quick winger but did quite well. Massive improvement since the beginning of the season.

Nisala - Stayed solid and did his job effectively.

Kiernan - 7 Good debut for the player. Similar to Nisala in they both did a good shift in the centre of defence

Coid - 8 Really good performance from Coid. You can see his experience and has certainly made RB his own.

Joyce and Barnett - 7   Both did well in defencive midfield roles. Both players are filling in the gap left by Procter's departure.

Grant-7 Did have many opportunity's to impress on his return. Hopefully he can score a few goals before he returns to scunthorpe

Murphy - 7 Played okay. Linked up well with Devitt in the first half and caused Northampton a number of problems.

Devitt - 9 My MOM. Kept going the whole game and put 110% effort in. Scored a great goal and even though he may make the odd wrong decision, he always looks up for it. Top quality player.

Amond - 8 Despite his size and playing a lone striker role, he plays it magnificently. His effort and determination is second to none and is a really good player.


Rating system.
4= Doesn't deserve to wear the shirt.
5=Poor
6=Not bad
7=Okay
8=Good Performance
9=Stand out player
10= Better than Messi

Thursday 15 March 2012

Murdoch leaves

Sean Murdoch has officially left Accrington Stanley by mutual consent. The Scottish goalkeeper struggled to gain the no.1 spot over Dunbavin and with the arrival of young keeper lee Nicholls (on loan from Wigan) he had drifted to 3rd choice keeper. Due to this it isn't surprising that Murdoch wanted to leave and is probably a good outcome for both sides.

My opinion of Murdoch wasn't great to be honest. He was a decent shot stopper but his positioning at times was poor. Due to his low amount of appearances I think that most people only remember his good points and not his bad. Dunbavin has been known to make mistakes, he's not perfect, but he looks more settled and took his oppertunity. Murdoch has had very few chances to impress but both managers (Coleman and Cook) have looked past him. If they don't think he's good enough then thats that.

Monday 12 March 2012

Stanley just can't cook up a win..

Paul Cooks wait for a win drags on as Stanley drew 2-2 against Southend. The day could have been much worse for Stanley though, with Padraig Amond scoring at the death to give Accrington another well-earned point.

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Thursday Round-up

2 draws in the last two games has ended Paul Cook's losing streak and also put stanley an edge closer away from relegation this season.

3/3/2012 - Port Vale (H)

Saturday's game against cash strapped Port Vale was a scrappy affair with the stanley team going 1-0 down in the 28th minute to a mistake by goalkeeper nicholls, on loan from wigan athletic. On the stroke of half time Coid's long range effort fell to Amond who manged to smash the ball over the line to end Paul Cooks long wait without a goal. The second half proved to be similar to the first, with Port Vale scoring again in the 56th minute only to be cancelled out by a strike from substitute Will Hatfield who had only been on the pitch 3 minutes to end Accrington's 4 game losing run.

I thought the Port Vale game showed good spirit by the team and the point felt like a win to me. The only problem I thought was the team struggled to dominate in midfield. Maybe the loss of Proccy is showing? His height and Passion certainly influenced and helped the other players and I think we're missing a battler in centre midfield to get the ball down and break up the opposition. I also think that Charlie Barnett is more effective on the wings than in a more defencive midfield role, at one moment in the game Barnett nearly created a goal on the left flank with Amond header flicked over the bar by the Vale keeper.

6/3/2012 - Bradford City (A)

Will Hatfield saved Stanley again as a substitute scoring in the 1st minute of added time to give Accrington another point against Bradford. A first half entailed a balanced and evenly sided game with both sides testing the oppositions keeper, but neither did prevail. Unfortunately for Stanley 5 minutes in to the second half the yorkshire side took the lead with Nahki Wells scoring his 7th league goal of the season, despite this Accrington kept battling hard and in the 91st minute luck turned their way. Luke Joyce's long corner found Hatfield at the far post and volleyed it pass the line.

Overall

Two battling performances this week would have settled the team and pleased Paul and assistant Leam Richardson especially with the amount of injures to key players such as Winnard, Hessey, Hughes and Craney. The playoff situation is still mathematically possible but I think that's very unlikely now. looking at the recent performances a mid-table finish awaits us, which I'll happily take now.

Paul Cooks red and white army!

J