Rate The Players v Rotherham United | Vital Football

Rate The Players v Rotherham United

Scotimp

Vital Football Legend
A poor performance follows a brilliant one, but that is symptomatic of a side punctuated by injuries and players returning from them. Adelakun on the bench because of a back injury received last season is a new one on me, but we also have Maguire, Eyoma, Nlundulu, Sanders, Bishop, and now McGrandles either carrying niggles or noticeably not match-fit. Add illness to Montsma and Bishop to the mix, and we still have a bit of a patched-up squad ten games into the new season. MA says he is two players short, and that he has never seen a run of injuries like this one. Inconsistency will be the only constant for a while.

6.0 is the par score, use half-marks and give us your comments too.

Deadline is 5pm on Thursday.

Griffiths
Poole
Montsma
Jackson
Robson
Bridcutt
Sorensen
Maguire
Hopper
Scully

Fiorini
Adelakun
...................
 
Griffiths: 9.5 His best performance by a mile. Three or four excellent saves, and how wonderful it is to see a goalkeeper firstly coming off his line and secondly catching the ball instead of flapping at it. Won us the point almost single-handed.
Poole: 5 Never really got forward because he was so busy defending.
Montsma: 5.5 Rotherham had so many chances right in the centre of goal. However, he was up against a forward line of giants - MA warned us about this at the press conference on Monday and he was right.
Jackson: 5.5 Ditto Montsma. Was in the side as a deliberate attempt to counter Rotherham's aerial threat but it didn't really work. Was lucky not to get a red.
Robson: 5 Welcome to League One. Ogbene was too good for him and he often left a hole behind him by roaming too far forward.
Bridcutt: 6 Tried hard, but was swamped down the centre. The only defensive midfielder we had and it showed - partly why the defence had such a hard night.
Sorensen: 5 Was overrun except for his part in the goal. Seems to have little idea of the defensive side of midfield.
Maguire: 4.5 A bonus half-mark for his pass for the goal, but woefully out of touch for the majority of the game. Can only get better and fitter.
Hopper: 5 Ineffective, saw little of the ball. A couple of good defensive headers.
Scully: 5 Brilliant on Saturday, largely a passenger this time.

Fiorini: 6.5 Good going forward and got a second goal in a week. However, he is 19 and does not have the same defensive ability as McGrandles.
Adelakun: 5 Never got into the game.

The entire defence had a tough night and could have been embarrassed had it not been for Griffiths. Everyone struggled with Rotherham's directness and the constant aerial bombardment. Only having one defensive midfielder compounded the problem.
 
Griffiths 9 Excellent goalkeeping display which earned us the point. Several exceptional lose range saves and good handling throughout

Poole 6.5 Decent effort although he couldn't get forward as much as he did on Saturday. Goalline block late on earns a point

Jackson 5.5 Brought in to stop Smith winning headers. Didn't

Montsma 6 Made a couple of decent blocks

Robson 6 Had a tough time against their speedy right winger but kept to the task

Bridcutt 6 Started brightly but once McGradles went off was swamped in the middle.

Sorensen 5.5 Superb pass that led to our goal and tried to replicate that without success on other occasions. Didn't help out with the defensive side

Maguire 5 Ring rusty and couldn't get involved

Hopper 6 Ran himself into the ground with little support

Scully 6 Plenty of effort without reward. You could see that Rotherham knew that he was going to cut inside to try a right foot bender as they had three on him the couple of times that opportunity arose

Fiorini 7 Excellent cool finish for the goal and was our most attack minded midfielder after he came on

Adelakun 5 Barely touched the ball
 
Griffiths 9
Poole 7
Montsma 6
Jackson 6
Robson 4
Bridcutt 5
Sorensen 4
Maguire 4
Hopper 6
Scully 6

Fiorini 6
Adelakun 4
 
Griffiths 9.5
Poole 7.5
Montsma 6.5
Jackson 5
Robson 4.5
Bridcutt 5
Sorensen 5.5
Maguire 5
Hopper 5
Scully 6

Fiorini 6.5
Adelakun 5.5
 
Griffiths 9
Poole 7
Montsma 6.5
Jackson 6
Robson 5
Bridcutt 5.5
Sorensen 5
Maguire 5
Hopper 6
Scully 6

Fiorini 6.5
Adelakun 4
 
Griffiths 9.5 MotM* :clap:
Poole 7.5
Montsma 7
Jackson 7
Robson 4
Bridcutt 5
Sorensen 5
Maguire 5
Hopper 7
Scully 6

Fiorini 7
Adelakun 5

* I am struggling to recall a better goalkeeping performance by an Imps custodian? It would’ve been a perfect 10 if he’d kept a clean sheet.
 
Griffiths 9
Poole 6
Montsma 6.5
Jackson 6
Robson 5.5
Bridcutt 6
Sorensen 5.5
Maguire 6
Hopper 6
Scully 6

Fiorini 6.5
Adelakun 6
 
Griffiths - 9.5 and Motm
Poole - 6
Montsma - 6.5
Jackson - 5
Robson - 5
Bridcutt - 6
Sorensen - 5.5
Maguire - 4.5
Hopper - 6
Scully - 6

Fiorini - 7
Adelakun - 5
 
Griffiths - 9
Poole - 6.5
Montsma - 7
Jackson - 6
Robson - 6
Bridcutt - 5.5
Sorensen - 5.5
Maguire - 6
Hopper - 6.5
Scully - 6

Fiorini - 6.5
Adelakun - 6
 
Griffiths 10
Poole 7
Montsma 7
Jackson 6
Robson 7
Bridcutt 7
Sorensen 7
Maguire 7
Hopper 7
Scully 7

Fiorini 8
Adelakun 6
 
Griffiths 9. Best goalkeeping display I can remember from an Imp.
Poole. 6. Good for 75 minutes then caught up in the brain fart last 15 minutes.
Jackson. 5. Thigh heavily strapped after half time and struggled. Lost more headers last night than any game previously.
Montsma 6. Best of our defenders and stood up pretty well to the Alamo barrage at the end.
Robson. 4 Fried on toast by Ogbene. Welcome to LG 1 up and at em, goodbye SPL walking football.
Bridcutt 5. Gave up possession too many times and over run.
Sorensen 5. Footballer in there trying to get out but only glimpses of flair hidden amongst a lot of nothingness. One quality pass between the lines leading to the goal.
Maquire 5. Nothing for 20 minutes then looked good and used the ball well when we had our best spell and great assist for the goal. Knackered after an hour as expected but he has the class to impose himself on games.
Hopper 6. Won some great headers in our box defending set pieces but never threatened them in their box.
Scully. 5.5. Can’t fault his effort and running but nothing quite fell for him. Keith Andrews was watching, I guess he is involved with Rep of Ireland coaching team.

Fiorini 6. Class goal and a few flair moments but over powered and out run by their midfield.
Adelakun 4. Keeping up his trait of marks either 4 or 8, very very good or nothing. Sadly he offered nothing, as knackered as Maquire was at least he could control the ball and look for a neat pass to try to keep possession, Adelakun struggled todo either last night.
 
Griffiths 9
Poole 6.5
Montsma 6.5
Jackson 6
Robson 6.5
Bridcutt 6
Sorensen 4.5
Maguire 5.5
Hopper 5
Scully 6

Fiorini 7
Adelakun 5
 
Griffiths 9.0 Surely we need a more experienced keeper.
Poole 7.0 Never got forward because he was busy defending
Robson 5.0 Never got close enough to defend. Will be better for the experience
Jackson 7.0 Busy defending
Montsma 7.0 Busy defending
Sorenson 5.5 Tired in second half. Will be better for the experience
Fiorini 6.0 Well taken goal.Part of a dysfunctional midfield on the night. Will be better for the experience
Bridcutt 7.0 One man defensive midfield when McGrandles went off, no wonder he didn't always succeed.
McGuire 6.0 Took 30 minutes to get anywhere near the pace of the game. Great pass for goal. If he stays fit, will be a good addition.
Scully 6.0 Not much service
Hopper 7.0 Busy defending and giving the referee the opportunity to give us a much needed free kick


Adelakun 6.0
 
Griffiths 9.5, but bordering 10. Sometimes keepers make loads of saves you expect them to make but a couple of the low down ones were ridiculously good. Also some brave takes from high balls
Poole 7.5 probably between him and montsma for best outfield player. Did that one horrible slashed ball across our half late on but then immediately blocked a certain goal. Absolutely absurd that some people have given him the same rating as robson (think he looks good but he had so many problems against their right winger whereas Poole gave as good as he got)
Montsma 7.5 our best playmaker first half, body on the line etc
Jackson 6.5 little bit more rash than montsma and looked a border line red.
Robson 4.5 their winger caused him so many problems with his pace and power and he basically gave up getting tight so it was just a free cross into the box... Still like the look of him as a footballer though
Bridcutt 5 ropey really. The way rathbone just knocked him off the ball was a bit concerning and part of the reason we couldn't get out second half
Sorensen 5.5 great ball between the lines for the goal but looks lightweight if he's next to fiorini too
Maguire 5 goal contribution but first half was way off the pace
Hopper 5.5 struggled to get into it
Scully 6 looked like he might make something happen when he actually got on the ball, but not often enough

Fiorini 6 took the goal well but part in their goal too.
Adelakun 5 didn't get in the game
 
Griffiths 9 - after all the pelters he's received this season, an outstanding display showed what a talented and confident young keeper he is, earned the point almost single-handedly. Best keeping display for the Imps since, um, May 2021?
Poole 7.5 - MoM candidate until late in the game when joining in the collective brain fart, even then a vital block. Effective in defence and attack where he's involved in many of out best moves.
Montsma 7.5 - showed he's brave as well as talented, not just a pretty face.
Jackson 6.5 - nominally the more senior CB but looked less comfortable all night.
Robson 5 - tough welcome to 'proper' L1 football after Saturday's hors d'oeuvres, found out in many respects but confident he'll learn and adapt.
Bridcutt 5.5 - poor by his standards, too many loose passes in the first half, helped build the intensity in the second before the collective fade.
Sorensen 5.5- showed what he's capable of in the pass before the goal but needs to be more involved throughout the game.
Maguire 6.5 - looked rusty early on but at the heart of our best moves before tiring. Showed his strength on the ball will be an asset.
Hopper 6.5 - needed closer support but as ever worked hard, defended well and never shirked.
Scully 6.5 - after the lord mayor's show.... Effectively closed out by the defence for the most part, one great run and shot aside, possibly over-confidence a couple of times in shooting when a pass was a better option.

Fiorini 7 - took goal well and showed some great touches, he'll have learned from the experience.
Adelakun 5.5 - not really much time to have an effect as the team fell apart around him.

McGrandles, in his 20 minutes, showed again he's getting into last seasons form with some crucial defending and midfield work, with their goal coming through a McG shaped hole in the defence. Hope the injury is minor.
 
Griffiths 9.5 Excellent display that should give him huge confidence. Distribution still not up to scratch though.

Poole 6 Not the worst of the two full backs by any means, but didn't stop as many crosses coming in as he should have.
Montsma 6.5 Good display outside our box, but neither centre backs won a lot inside our box.
Jackson 6 Struggles playing left side centre back, especially with his passing.
Robson 5 Totally burned throughout the ninety minutes. A game for him to forget quickly.

Bridcutt 5.5 Well below par.
Sorensen 5.5 A few good passes, but struggles to blend in with the midfield generally.

Maguire 5 None of our three forwards had a real impact unfortunately
Hopper 5 None of our three forwards had a real impact unfortunately
Scully 5 None of our three forwards had a real impact unfortunately


Fiorini 7 Excellent goal, and must be close to starting
Adelakun 5 No real impact