Cheltenham Town after thoughts and player ratings part II

PLAYER RATINGS:

ISTED 7: hard to score him, as he only had one save to make, but he looked confident, just flapping at one cross in the second half, otherwise fine and his distribution, mostly short-distance was good.

BOBBY THOMAS 8: very solid and we definitely need to try to sign him permanently in the close season, whether we go up, or not. The other aspect of his play was the way he carried the ball out of defence and into attack, a la John Stones. The Town forwards didn’t track him back enough and he exploited the space in front of him several times. Passing good. Won everything in the air.

MADS ANDERSEN 8: again, like Thomas, won everything in the air and he got more of it, being the central defender of the three. A key reason why I thought that we wouldn’t concede was because Mads was so solid in the middle.

LIAM KITCHING 8: read the same as Thomas and Andersen. Never looked like being beaten. Always available for a pass when we were moving the ball out of defence.

JORDAN WILLIAMS 8: the usual rapid movement up and down the wing. Involved in the first goal and scored the fourth. I like the way he saw the space for number four and also the way he was picked out by Kane’s perfect pass, from which either he , or Shaw could have scored.

ZIYAD LARCKECHE 7: good for him to get a start and to get game time. He played a little farther forward than Williams on the right and was more of a left-winger than left wing-back. This meant that we were a little more vulnerable down our left than our right, but Town weren’t good enough to get in behind him and he was well covered by Kitching. Was fouled for the free kick from which Phillips scored, although I couldn’t work out where he was heading on a run from the left wing into the middle of the park and I am not sure he knew either. No matter. It won us the free kick from which we scored and he may have been trying to angle for a shooting chance.

ADAM PHILLIPS 7: brilliant free kick and played his full part in our excellent midfield passing game.

LUCA CONNELL 7: seems to understand his role so well, dropping back when we are building from defence and finding space for a pass, from which he can then get the ball rolling forwards and get us on the attack. Has found his best position without a doubt. I hope that his injury at the final whistle wasn’t too bad.

HERBIE KANE 9: outstanding performance all round from Herbie with highlights of setting up the start of the first goal, assisting with the fourth with a superb pass over the top and scoring a blinder for our number two. Behind so much of our midfield dominance. Excellent short and longer range passing. Always in space to pick up a pass. Almost always finding a white shirt with his own passes. My MAN OF THE MATCH.

DEVANTE COLE 6: put himself about to good effect, but a little short of sharpness where it mattered and was rather better contained by the Town defence than Norwood. Good work-rate nonetheless and you can’t fault him for his contribution to the overall team performance. Looked focussed and committed.

JAMES NORWOOD 8: the typical old-timer performance, but he seems to have some younger years into his legs as well because he was at this game for all the time he was on the pitch. Good to see him score his goal. In the right position and expecting the pass – classic experienced striker. But he also won a good number of headers and was very clever, even when under pressure, in getting headers and flicks to a white shirt. Very good game from an experienced striker who is giving us everything right now.

SLOBODAN TEDIC (sub) 5: was brought on to play the classical target man with his height and physique, but he needs to take some lessons from James Norwood on this showing. He didn’t win much at all in the air and his one header, although close, was off target. We were trying the long ball down the middle to him after he came on, but it didn’t really come off and the defenders were largely on top of him.

OLI SHAW (sub) 7: showed some really good touches after he came on and looks a snip at £75k, if that’s what we paid for him. He made intelligent runs in behind the defenders and seems to read the opportunities well for a young gun. One bit of skill on the left touch-line was very impressive as he came away from the defender with the ball. He definitely has the talent which Paterson et al can develop and, once he starts a scoring streak, we could have a real find on our hands.

BARRY COTTER (sub) 6: had few chances to show off his legendary pace, but Town seemed aware of it and covered well. Several opportunities to launch his long throws, even from close to the half way line, into the box, but we couldn’t capitalise this time. Nice touches and, for the reported £20K, an absolute bargain.

LUKE THOMAS (sub) 6: got a great reception when coming on and showed some good touches, which indicate that it won’t be long before he is back up to speed and making the sort of impact he did before being injured. Great to see him back and he was obviously thrilled to be involved again, which you could tell just from his body language.

An excellent performance. We were as dominant as I have seen us at any time. A pleasure to watch. When we get the ball on the deck and pass, pass, pass, we look a very competent team and, with goals of that quality from all over the pitch, the future looks good. It will need to, as we will be tested to the max over the next eight games. COYR

 

Can't argue with any of that. Luca Connell is the key player for us, always available, rarely wastes a ball and not afraid to get stuck in when required. With him and Herbie Kane we have an excellent central midfield.

 

I'm quietly confident. After a disappointing January, we've hit a vein of form so far this month and taken 13 out of a possible 15 points, with 12 goals scored and only 3 conceded. Duff has the players working extremely hard and it's paying dividends. Fingers crossed that we can continue like this and that the teams above us find a few banana skins.

 

Lovely review, thanks. Sounds exactly like the game I listened to, legally on Radio Sheffield.. so happy for Luke, he’s got a big part to play in our promotion..

 

I thought another pre Christmas run would secure a playoff spot. Now, given the game or 2 in hand, the Wednesday game is looking like a 6 pointer.

 

I've been thinking for some time that it will take an exceptional run of form from two other sides to beat us to the automatic promotion slots. I really can't believe that Wednesday, Plymouth and the rest are better than us player for player and we not only have the momentum in our favour but also games in hand. I said, a bit tongue in cheek, a couple of months ago that if we win those games in hand, then beat the teams above us (easily achievable) then I see no reason why we can't get first or second place. This is a hell of a squad we have now and they are all working for each other.

 

Pretty good player analysis there.
I have to agree with Tedic ,how did he not get that on target.
Great team performance, I heard a couple of comments from reds fans saying how poor Cheltenham were.
I thought BFC were immense in the first 45 minutes ,high pressing was excellent.
Big games coming up starting with Derby County next Saturday.
The fans could play a big part in that one.
Much more of the vocal support, like when we went down to 10 against Cambridge , this may get us over the line against a very well backed Derby County who will make some noise.

 

Good ratings; Although I’d give Tedic more than a 5, I even made a rare bet on him as next scorer as he looked lively and willing to be a nuisance. The long ball dated his introduction, as Cole was struggling to make some good balls down the middle stick and Tedic’s introduction made sense in that approach. The officials stopped him in his tracks once or twice, but a 6 would be fairer for me.

Cotter looked like he was well up for it and very promising.

Kitchen was very impressive first half on the ball under pressure and playing the ball out.

Only one save for Isted to make is probably about right, but there was another very dangerous attack or two which he helped to snuff out.