my thoughts on yesterdays game..... and player ratings

It was a pretty poor game, very scappy in appalling conditions. Neither team dominated, but Burnley made the most of the man advantage in the first half when Souza with injury (stitches) and scored both goals.

Burnley had few chances but made the most of them in the conditions and the player who scored stood out, Lafferty especially! thought he ran the sho for them.

I thought first half we were poor and looked completely out of sorts especially at the back. I have said this before NYATANGA IS NOT A FULL BACK! He looked out of place, uncomfortable and kept drifting back inside leaving Leon Exposed. Surely with that back four you should play Foster RB, Naytanga CB, Souza CB, Kozluk LB. Also same goes for Hassel, NOT A MIDFIELDER! broke up play yes, but was distribution poor and yet again he got caught dwelling on the ball. Second Half we were much brighter and had numerous chances to equalise but the usual lack of sharpness, quality and bottle up front let us down once more. If the players were looking to secure shirt next week then some of them need to take a good long look at themselves, in particluar Nardiello! he started okay and two or three chances to score, but in the last 20 mins he simply gave up, and didn't look interested! If I were SD I would have hauled him off after two specific incidents;
1). Coulson beats Nards to ball (ball was 10yards closer to Nards) then runs down the wing. Nards then rather than making a run and helping the attack build, stood still and let Coulson run by him.
2). Loose ball in the area, Nards vs the keeper. Nards would have got there first no doubt but bottled it! in fact he stopped running and let keeper clear..... for me that summed him up, has potential but must try harder and get some balls!

(6) Steele - unlucky with first goal, no chance with second.
(6) Kozluk - broke up attack and played some good balls over the top for fwds. Also had a shot on goal but was caught off-side.
(7) Souza - the gladiator, battled all day long. Fell apart in short spell when he went off with injury.
(5) Foster - below usual standard perormance against his old club. Will battle hard where ever he plays but I must admit I prefer him at Right back.
(5) Nyatanga - out of position, looked un settled in first half. But was much improved in the second.
(8) JCR - covered a hell of a lot of ground, broke up play and dictated out forward play.
(7) Howard - good performance topped off with a goal. Maybe should have had a second, but tried to do to much (i.e. walk ball in net).
(6) Leon - got stick from some fans but I thought he did okay today, broke forward well and saved a goal by heading ball of the line in first half.
(5) Macken - not his best game by a long shot, again prefers to set up play rather than score. Okay he hit the bar but he had time and should have scored.
(3) Nardiello - managed to stay on side more often than not, but looked dissinterested in the final stages and wasted several chances to score. I would just like to point out that if Odejayi would had missed these chances he fans would have crucified him. Send him back to QPR!

Subs:
(7) Odejayi - made and immediate impact and lookin much improved this last few months. Unlucky not to have scored.
(7) Coulson - As with KO, he made and immediate impact, worked hard and created chances. Unlucky not to score with header.

 

(3) Nardiello - managed to stay on side more often than not, but looked dissinterested in the final

SETUP THE GOAL.

I like the fact that KO is unlucky not to score. Sick of hearing that one now

 

thought Foster had a good game

heaaded clear on a number of occasions and was quick in with a tackle when it mattered, Diego, a bit of a luxury player, reminds me of McFail, great skill, his ball control is fantastic but doesnt create chances, doesnt put in the crucial pass etc,

 

Still to beat a player too nt

 

did we only have ten men yesterday???

 

RE: (3) Nardiello - managed to stay on side more often than not, but looked dissinterested in the fi

What puzzled me re: Nardiello, is that he was referred to as 'a passenger' by a travelling fan yesterday, but is mentioned a lot more than Macken in the match reports. Seemed to be involved an awful lot for 'a passenger'! Maybe he kept messing up, but he must have been trying to get into so many positions.

 

Nards "the passenger"

Can't dissagree with Burnley Fan re; Nardiello, okay he may have more of mentions that Macken but he's a passanger alright, maybe one who just keeps mssing the bus.........

1. Okay he set up the Goal..... but he probably should have scored it!
2. He also missed a one-on-one in the first half (okay was unlucky, but others would have been crucifed)
3. His first touch let him down several times in second half when quality balls played to him over the top.
4. Not yesterday but generally caught offside far to often.
5. As usual did **** all off the ball yesterday. Didn't run back to help defence and support players in attack.
6. Bottled it big time in the second half. Loose ball in the area, One-on-one Nards vs keeper (Bearing in mind Nards had 5yards start on keeper and open goal I thought he should have burried it) but Nards started his run and bottled out. This was followed by BOOO's from the a large section of the travellling Reds! and deserved!!
7. Shocking lack of interest and enthusiasum late in second half. Young Coulson was the exact opposite, (playing on the right wing) he had drifted into the middle of the park and chased after a loose ball (that was closer to Nards than him). He ran down the left wing, rather than making a run foward or inside to help his team mate Nards stepped a side (off the pitch) and let Coulson run though. Coulson then looked for pass and Nards was no where to be found.


Don't ge me wrong I once was a Nardiello fan, and I appreciate what he has done for us in the past. But most of his good work was in League 1 not the Champoinship. Without doubt he has natural quality, but he's struggles to stay focussed, does little work for the team off the ball and is to injury prone. Besides the fact he snubbed us in the summer!
I was very suprised when he did return on loan this time. But find myself thinking, is he really better than youth & enthusiasum of Coulson, the workrate / battle of Ferenczi and the rawness/power/pace of Odejayi. And more importantly is he good enough for the Championship? I would say not, League 1 yes, but not the Championship NO!

 

3 for nardiello is harsh

Okay he sometimes doesn't put in the effort that others do but he made some good chances yesterday and was unlucky not to score.

Coulson did well when he came on and I wish that Dan put in the same effort but that's not his game and never has been. Infuriating at times but he's scored crucial goals for us. We just need him to come up with the goods now!

 

RE: Nards "the passenger"

It sounds like he didn't play well, but was too involved for most of the game to be termed a passenger (even by your points 1, 2 & 3). I think the issue is his fitness, which exposes him late in games (which is why he normally gets substituted after an hour). He has spent the majority of the season on the sidelines and we know from past experience it takes him ages to build fitness up. This probably led to him failing to get there for the 50-50 mentioned late in the game, which will always be perceived as a lack of effort by our fans who prefer an obvious trier. If he had been substituted when he normally is, I bet there would have been a different assessment of his contribution yesterday.

 

RE: (3) Nardiello - managed to stay on side more often than not, but looked dissinterested in the fi

You dint even go yesterday so how can you defend him?

 

That 50-50

Try at least 60-40 in Nards favour. Okay, so he could have missed the target, but the unforgivable thing was he didn't even try to get there to find out. If Davey has learnt one thing from yesterday, it's hopefully that Nardiello gets a Wembley suit but not a shirt.

 

That old Chestnut

a lot of people don't go but does not stop them having opinions.

I merely stated that he set the goal up, as seen on the footage on TV.

 

rawness/power/pace of Odejayi.

but he can't score. Face it, regardless of your opinion of DN, KO is toss.

 

RE: That old Chestnut

You didn't see how poor he was for the rest of the game

anyway what's happening with this bus?

 

RE: That old Chestnut

PM.

I didn't. But then I never do?!

 

RE: 3 for nardiello is harsh

I don't think it was harsh. He's loads of talent but just bone idle. He obviously has no intention of making the big time.