Player Ratings

last_line

I would love to know how the Sun only gave Sodge a 6. I personally thought he and Mills in particular were excellent at the back. In the second half especially they seemed to win everything thrown at them. As was mentioned elsewhere they seemed to be bringing a bit more solidity at the back, and I feel Fortune is benefiting, and Basey will get a boost in confidence from playing an important role on Saturday.

Also, what on earth was the forward roll thing Mills was doing at the end!?! It was great to see the reaction of the players after the whistle, recognition perhaps of the support given to them by the travelling support. Was interesting that Pards stayed by the tunnel, I assume because he wanted the players to have the limelight for their efforts.

AFKABartram

i saw Thomas get given a 5 in one paper yesterday, unbelievable. Though Reid seems to be getting all the plaudits, i thought him and ZZ were outstanding 2nd half.

First time i've seen Thomas play more central and was impressed.

WSS

[cite]Posted By: last_line[/cite] Was interesting that Pards stayed by the tunnel, I assume because he wanted the players to have the limelight for their efforts.

Does this a lot, don't see him coming over to the fans too much which surprises me as i would have thought his big ol head would love the admiration of 3,000 odd fans.

Maybe he just thinks its "job done" and nothing that special as we are expected to win every game...

last_line

I'm pretty certain that these reporters don't really pay much attention to what marks they give. I suspect that they decide on their story as early as possible (we must have stitched a few up there!), and who they are giving man of the match to, then fill in the blanks with random 5's, 6's and 7's.

For my penny worth, I would have gone with:

Weaver 7 - did everything asked of him but not forced into too many saves
Mills 8 - looked to get forward first half then defended admirably second half
Sodje 9 - won everything in the air and commended back four superbly
Fortune 7 - looked comfortable mopping up around Sodje
Basey 7- solid defensively and got forward on occasion second half to provide a bit of width on the left
Semedo 5 - harsh to go for two tackles, but second one was rather stupid if you are on a yellow already
Reid 9 - was absolutely everywhere looking to pick Southampton open - frequently turned opponents inside out to make space and time
Thomas 8 - one of his better performances in our shirt, wasteful early on but looked far more dangerous when moved inside
Zheng 7 - got about the pitch well, and held ball up to make time for others to get up in support
Sam 6 - relatively quiet with the ball IMHO but worked hard for the cause
Iwelumo 7 - Looked to be fouled by their Centre Halves every time he went up for the ball. but kept putting himself about and bravely buried the winner
Subs:
Moo2 6 - Looked to run at opposition down right, made some decent tackles and caused them a few problems
Ambrose 6 - Had one run from our half when isolated, and managed to beat a couple then win a throw deep in their half
Varney 6 - Didn't really get involved until roasting the full back for pace then delivered a peach of a cross for Big Chris.

AFKABartram

LL, would of tipped ZZ up to an 8, ans Reid down to an 8, but yours look a lot better than those i've read in the papers

T

Did anyone else think the 2nd Semedo yello was a bit harsh, more like an accidental colision than blocking the man running off the ball?

Ketman

[cite]Posted By: T[/cite]Did anyone else think the 2nd Semedo yello was a bit harsh, more like an accidental colision than blocking the man running off the ball?

It was an innoccuous looking challenge but the ref was booking all the fouls like this & as soon as he made the challenge you knew the card was coming out.

For once Thomas stepped up to the plate & looked a real handful more of the same please. Anyone else think ZZ is crap now..........no didn't think so.

Carter

Remember me saying in the first half, they're playing like they never met each other?

I think I carried on saying that well into the second half until the reality sank through my thick skull that as the away team and as an away team down to 10 men we were actually playing bloody well and really fighting and wanting it.