Cardiff Player Ratings

[Thracian]

Fulop 7.5 (One decent save and totally reliable otherwise. Makes everything look so routine his presence gives confidence to all around him).

Stearman 7 (Another defensively competent performance in yet another clean sheet.)

McAuley 6 (Did well enough as a stopper but his distribution was thoughtless and wasteful at times)

Kisnorbo 8 (Immense. Talk about in the right place at the right time)

Mattock 6 (Competent but looked a bit tired. Sensible that he was subbed).

Newton 4 (What's he for?. Missed a great chance with a header from a Sheehan cross and although he did some okay things early on his attitude when someone misplaced a pass and he turned round as if to say "you don't expect me to chase that, do you?" suggested to me that his time will be limited under Holloway. I'd sooner persevere with Chambers/Odhiambo and get Gradel back. In fact I wish Gradel had never gone. There's no way Newton was ever going to be better than him.

Wesolowski 6 (Missed a good chance from close range but although weary from Saturday and not at his best he remained committed in midfield. Sensibly subbed as he faded.)

Clemence 6.5 (Mixture of good and bad. His control was woeful at times and he took a touch too many on occasions but what I liked was that he didn't hide when things went wrong but kept trying to impose himself and did a lot to eventually wrest control of the game against strong and committed opposition).

Sheehan 8.5 (Man of the Match by a distance. Threequarters of dangerous balls into the box involved Sheehan and how he failed to assist a winner was extraordinary. If we'd had a Jimmy Greaves he'd have had six. Varied his delivery from high to the back post to hard volleyed crosses which created the chance for Hume. Always offered the "out" ball, defended resolutely, won every header in midfield and showed the discipline to hold his position when replacing Mattock second half. People say I'm biased but he really did deserve greater reward for a terrific contribution. Even Hullfox had good words to say about him. Maybe I've undermarked the lad! )

Hume 7 (Might well have notched the winner with his shot from Sheehan's cross which Scheichel fingertipped onto a post but otherwise showed remarkable energy and commitment to keep pressuring and probing the Cardiff defence).

Fryatt 6.5 (His dribbling was occasionally dangerous and one low cross into the goalmouth should have produced a goal. Seemed full of enthusiasm although, sadly, I'd still say we needed someone there who had a natural instinct and the speed of reaction to plunder the tap ins).

Subs:

King 7 (Came on at the right time because Cardiff were gradually wilting almost to the point of surrender and he offered fresh impetus in midfield and helped ensure that we attacked almost non-stop in the lat 25 minutes. He's such a sound ground passer he makes everything easy for those around him).

Hayes 6.5 (Got some crosses into the box, provided genuine width at a time when Cardiff didn't want to be stretched and was always involved. Has an important role to play and can play it if he can stay injury free and build some confidence.).

Chambers 6.75 (I was so pleased he was given his chance. He's been impressive for much of this season and showed why last night. His speed and confidence to play one-two's in tight situations played havoc with the big, tiring, Cardiff defence. He was our sixth Academy scholar to make an appearance on the night and every one played their part. Did more in his 15/20 minutes that Newton managed all night.

Holloway 8 (Other that us getting the goal that somehow escaped us, I fail to see how he could have got more from virtually the same team that played so well and so vigourously at Bristol. This was a generally high tempo performance against opposition that started stronger than us but which we reduced to a team that was defending desperately and well pleased to escape with a point. Our side looked balanced and like a proper footbal team again. I don't mean there weren't things we could have done better but we moved backwards and forwards as a unit and tried to create things. There really does seem some hope now.).

Entertainment: 7 (Pity there was no goal and that we didn't win but this was a terrific contest, full of endeavour and I've rarely seen so many balls across the face of goal which weren't despatched to the net. Holloway cleearly tried to win, our players gave pretty well 100% and there was no comparison with the shit we served against Burnley)

[Phube]

Jonathan Hayes put in the best cross I've seen in about four years from a Leicester player at the Walkers tonight.

Agreed... I've never heard a reaction to just one cross like that before... It seems to be something we've needed since Guppy left! Wingers who can .... cross!!!

Crazy concept!

[Thracian]

It's too late to rate....

But: Sheehan had the best 30 minutes I've seen him play. His first half was average and his booking was silly again. However, his delivery of dead balls was exemplary tonight and for the first time in ages we saw his real potential.

Mattock looks short of confidence to me.

Chambers looked lively without looking like he might score. For the time being I'd keep him as an impact player from the bench rather than give him a start as some are calling for. What a tale to tell his kids though in the future.

It good to hear you praise Sheehan although I don't know that the booking was so much silly as vital. A situation arose which enabled their winger to head the ball inside Sheehan into space behind and there was every chance of a goal. Sheehan clearly recognised this and decided that giving away a free kick was the better option and I think he was right.

I was quite surprised they gave Chambers a free role in the centre - it showed a lot of faith in him - but I totally agree that he should be used in a way that helps him acclimatisation gradually and which enables him to use his pace and skill to maximum effect without the need to pace himself particularly.

[SamL]

Fulop 7 - Wasn't too special, did what was required.

Stearman 7 - Unlucky not to score. Getting in some good positions though. Better attacking threat than Newton

Mcauley 6 - Did what was required

Kisnorbo 7 - Good goalsaving stop in the second half.

Mattock 6 - Didn't do too bad until he went off injured. Came close to scoring.

Sheehan 8 - Set pieces were immense, bit shakey defending but not too bad.

Newton 4 - Poor

Clemence 7 - kept things ticking over, some good tackles. Silly booking

Weso 7 - Some nice tackles, good link up play.

Hume 7 - Never stops trying. Shame he can't score a few more.

Fryatt 7 - Shame he doesn't have pace. Some great dribbling again. You can see he's growing in confidence when he's shooting from 25 yards.

Subs: -

Hayes 6 - Some good crosses, likes to run at people. Bit shakey defending.

Chambers 7 - showed glimpses of his potential. Some good touches to Fryatt that weren't read. He's got a lot of pace. One for the future

King 7 - Some nice passes going forward. Did what was required.

[Thracian]

After reading through some of the ratings on here, I refuse to give any as clearly I was watching another game.

I thought that it was one of the most entertaining and enthusiastic performances I have seen from City in years.

To rate any player other than Newton lower than a 6 is absolutely ludicrous and goes to prove once again how mind numbingly deluded our supporters really are.

The players all had belief and passion for the cause which has been missing for the best part of 3 years, King may have misguided a few passes on the night but it seems that nobody has noted that he jumped straight up off his arse to track down and battle for the ball again.. Bravo son, keep it up.

Compared to what we have put up with recently I am delighted with the collective performance of tonight's game and think that there is a definite platform to build upon for the next game.

Agree 100%.

[eaststandtom]

Fulop – 7

Stearman – 7 - a better performance from stearman. Still a little wayward distribution wise at times but more like his old self. A confidence booster for him

Mattock – 6 – 4th game in 9/10 days is a lot to ask but did ok none the less.

Kisnorbo -7- played well. Did the neccersary stuff once again

McAuley – 6 – Good player but his pace worries me in a 4-4-2. his distribution exposes him at times. The less time he has on the ball the better. Again good player but to challenge for a top 6 place I have my doubts and feel we could strengthen in this area

Newton – 5 – strange player. Looks on the verge of falling over most of the time but then manages to go on the occasional mazy run. Definitely not a 1st choice option for me however, with him playing we were able to have a balanced team with no-one playing out of position

Clemence – 7- a proper midfielder. The kind we have needed for years. Not a classic game. Caught in possession being too clever at times but has to be 1st name on the team sheet with kisnorbo really

Wesolowski – 7 – endeavored and got the tackles in

Sheehan 8 – clearly has class and has a great left foot. More good crosses in one game than in the past 5 seasons

Hume – 6 – effort of course but for a player with his ability he is too inconsistent.

Fryatt- 6 – good performance 1st half. Excellent feet and has no right to run as far as he can with the ball with his pace. Has a great footballing brain. Trouble is, is he good enough to be in a top 6 challenging side? Ultimately we need a goal scorer. DJ, although cant do fryatts work outside the box, probably would have popped up during one of those 6 yard box scrambles.

[Thracian]

Know exactly which cross you're talking about- if he hits more of those I'll be well happy.

Bemused by some of the ratings here tonight but here we go...

Fulop 7- Solid as a rock, I know this is getting repetitious but my word do we need to buy this guy in January!

Stearman 7.5- I've been one of his biggest critics but he had excellent game for me. Don't think he was helped by his inside centre back (McAuley) during the first half- he only got skinned because he was trying to track two men! Otherwise solid and dependable and excellent going forwards.

Kisnorbo 7- Barely a foot wrong all game, but the shirt pulling is getting beyond a joke- refs will begin to get the gist of what he's doing. Covered for Mattock and Sheehan well when necessary and barely looked troubled all game by Thompson all night.

McAuley 6- In the air he's excellent but along the deck I'm really not sure. Got sucked in too much during the first half, allowing Hasselbaink to make some neat inside runs and leaving Stearman with two men at times. I put this down to getting used to 4-4-2 again, but I still would prefer N'Gotty here.

Mattock 6- Did OK but wants to let his man come onto him a little too much for me- I want him to be tighter to the man more often. Looked a little lost for me.

Newton 5- Not as bad as everyone's making out- some really good stuff came out of him first half- but then so did some really bad. Jury's still out for me- when he can be arsed he can be bloody good. It just doesn't happen often enough though!

Wesolowski 5- I'm one of the lads biggest fans but he really disappointed me today. To me he just had a bit of the headless chicken syndrome- he was so intent on getting the ball that the positional discipline went out the window and he too often ended up occupying the same space as Clem. Also, he needs to learn how to find a forward pass. Too often there were forward passes on and he was making the easy sideways or backwards passes. I don't want to slate him too much but I feel he needs to raise the bar now. First half our midfield was almost non-existent.

Clem 6- He only gets a 6 for his second half performance as in the first half Cardifs's midfield played straight through us. Got things under control in the second and I feel he was given more time, largely due to King's introduction IMO.

Sheehan 7.5- Much better going forward today and his set pieces, by and large were very good (although I think there's an element of hyperbole about them- there were some pretty awful ones too!). A lot of what was good about our play today, he was involved in. His heading has certainly improved no end and so has his defending. He got turned once or twice, but you generally have to expect that with him. And all but the once (when he was booked) Kisnorbo was covering.

Hume 6.5- At times his control was piss poor and he lost it by show-boating a bit, but never stopped running and created some nice interplay as well as a sizzling volley that really deserved to burst the net. Definitely needs to play on the right.

Fryatt 6- Greedy bastard. Just wanted to hold onto the ball a second too long for me. Some nice interplay and he seems to have found pace from somewhere but he needs to look up a bit more and find a player! His first touch was really quite poor today and if he's going to appeal for fouls- he actually needs to go down! It all got a bit impetuous for me.

SUBS

Hayes 7- Intelligent football brain. Made one or two mistakes (to be expected given his lack of first team action) but he was in the thick of things in the final half hour. Made some great runs and was at the centre of some really need interplay. Was full of running and always had his HEAD UP looking for the intelligent pass into feet on the edge of the box (if he wasn't whipping in an AMAZING cross). Was quite impressed.

Chambers 6.5- Didn't disgrace himself by any stretch. Looked more than accomplished, although he didn't really get some of the right balls. His runs off Fryatt were pretty good and he was getting into good positions. Would expect to see him get maybe a dozen games this season from the bench maybe or a loan spell now as I think this time next season he could be ready.

King 7- I'd be tempted to give him more if he didn't only play 30 minutes but I don't think I'm overstating when I say that this lad's introduction marked the start of our best passage of play (pretty much till full time) and I don't think it was a coincidence. His reading of the game was first class and he seemed to me to be a bit more positionally astute (or at least disciplined) then Weso was and thus he was more effective at breaking up the play and getting it moving again. He was always looking to play the thoughtful ball and got forward as much as he could. His play also seemed to provide the freedom for Clem to get himself into the game. Should be very proud of his contribution.

Ref 1- Bloody dire. Some absolutely bemusing decisions (for both sides). The less said the better.

That ref certainly seemed to have it in for us first half and how he could ignore Hayes being scythed down on the edge of the box second half I've no idea. It looked like a clip from a wrestling bout.

[fosseman]

There was far too much giving away the ball from all our players last night. Very frustrating performance!

[Tommy G]

Not sure about Sheehan, still too slow and lazy for me to get 8s for a handful of corners but Jonathan Hayes put in the best cross I've seen in about four years from a Leicester player at the Walkers tonight.

I'd say best cross in 10 years!! it was Beckham like (but left footed) Glad to see Hayes on the bench, can't understand his exclusion from the squad by the previous two managers, he's a positive player.

As for Newton....wel he is just wank. Stearman basically had to do all the defending and attacking down the right side. newton was useless at tracking back and useless going forward. How he became a footballer beggers belief.

Could of easily won 3-0 if they didn't have a prem keeper in goal. How he saved that from Stearman in the first half was a miracle. overall a decent performance, and with a bit of luck we could have won that no probs.

[Simon]

I think Simon's ratings are amongst the best I've read in this thread. Branding Hayes shit is comical, tbh and Ultra's remark about Fryatt was predictably attention seeking.

Thanks, I just wonder sometimes if I'm watching a different game from some people!

Giving Hayes a 4 is just a joke IMO. And to the person that talked about faulting commitment... I can't fault that at all. Was the most committed performance I have seen since the Watford game (and before last night I was beginning to wonder if that game ACTUALLY happened!). But I'll rate more on the quality of the performance thank you as I don't need to use my player ratings to slag players off, unlike some others on this forum.

[Thracian]

I'd say best cross in 10 years!! it was Beckham like (but left footed) Glad to see Hayes on the bench, can't understand his exclusion from the squad by the previous two managers, he's a positive player.

As for Newton....wel he is just wank. Stearman basically had to do all the defending and attacking down the right side. newton was useless at tracking back and useless going forward. How he became a footballer beggers belief.

Could of easily won 3-0 if they didn't have a prem keeper in goal. How he saved that from Stearman in the first half was a miracle. overall a decent performance, and with a bit of luck we could have won that no probs.

Hayes has been injured. He wasn't really an option for our other managers.

[Ric Flair]

Hayes has been injured. He wasn't really an option for our other managers.

Just about to say the same. He looks like he could be quite something if he stays fit. Fearless and quick as fook, just like Chambers as well.

Never been so excited after a 0-0 draw for quite some time.

Thought King's aerial presence when he came on was also key to us pressing forward. The ball was still going route one, but he was winning the second balls that Wesolowski and Clemence struggled to do. Certainly a useful option.

[Thracian]

Just about to say the same. He looks like he could be quite something if he stays fit. Fearless and quick as fook, just like Chambers as well.

Never been so excited after a 0-0 draw for quite some time.

Thought King's aerial presence when he came on was also key to us pressing forward. The ball was still going route one, but he was winning the second balls that Wesolowski and Clemence struggled to do. Certainly a useful option.

It was encouraging. Terrific contest and we so nearly squeezed a victory.

Quite agree about the players you mention. They're all so positive.

Kingy's being utilised as a basically holding player but when he gets established, I'm sure he'll get forward more and people will be able to see the attacking side of his game.

Hayes is additionally useful because he can also move right across the midfield area and Chambers can go out wide as well as playing in the middle. Both can also help give more pace in attack which is much needed.

All offer a slightly different dimension to our side which has been too limited for too long.

[Tommy G]

It was encouraging. Terrific contest and we so nearly squeezed a victory.

Quite agree about the players you mention. They're all so positive.

Kingy's being utilised as a basically holding player but when he gets established, I'm sure he'll get forward more and people will be able to see the attacking side of his game.

Hayes is additionally useful because he can also move right across the midfield area and Chambers can go out wide as well as playing in the middle. Both can also help give more pace in attack which is much needed.

All offer a slightly different dimension to our side which has been too limited for too long.

Even got a pet name for him now!

[Thracian]

Even got a pet name for him now!

Everyone calls him Kingy.

[Manwell Pablo]

Everyone calls him Kingy.

Is his dad nick named Kingy as well?

[Ric Flair]

Is his dad nick named Kingy as well?

Kingy's Kingy

[potter3]

Could of easily won 3-0 if they didn't have a prem keeper in goal. How he saved that from Stearman in the first half was a miracle. overall a decent performance, and with a bit of luck we could have won that no probs.

How many teams have said that about Fulop

Fulop - 7

Stearman - 7

McAuley - 7

Kisnorbo - 7

Mattock - 6

Newton - 5

Wesolowski - 7

Clemence - 6

Sheehan - 7

Hume - 6

Fryatt - 6

Subs:

Hayes - 7

Chambers - 7

King - 7

[Fez of Mahrez]

How many teams have said that about Fulop

Fulop - 7

Stearman - 7

McAuley - 7

Kisnorbo - 7

Mattock - 6

Newton - 5

Wesolowski - 7

Clemence - 6

Sheehan - 7

Hume - 6

Fryatt - 6

Subs:

Hayes - 7

Chambers - 7

King - 7

I'd agree with those.

[Fox in a Box]

Fulop - 7

Stearman - 7

McAuley - 9

Kisnorbo - 7

Mattock - 8

Newton - 5

Wesolowski - 8

Clemence - 5

Sheehan - 7

Hume - 6

Fryatt - 5

Subs:

Hayes - 3

Chambers - 7

King - 7

[Fez of Mahrez]

Fulop - 7

Stearman - 7

McAuley - 9

Kisnorbo - 7

Mattock - 8

Newton - 5

Wesolowski - 8

Clemence - 5

Sheehan - 7

Hume - 6

Fryatt - 5

Subs:

Hayes - 3

Chambers - 7

King - 7

No way you big spastic, you're a mentalist!

[Simon]

Fulop - 7

Stearman - 7

McAuley - 9

Kisnorbo - 7

Mattock - 8

Newton - 5

Wesolowski - 8

Clemence - 5

Sheehan - 7

Hume - 6

Fryatt - 5

Subs:

Hayes - 3

Chambers - 7

King - 7

I really don't understand this. I understand opinions are subjective but I find this very strange...

[SamL]

Newton - 5

Hayes - 3

You really don't like Hayes do you?

I thought he was better than Newton last night and remember Hayes is only coming back to fitness and is still young.

[Finnegan]

No way you big spastic, you're a mentalist!

Factoid.

PS: I suggest increasing use of the word 'factoid'. It's fun to say, fun to type, fun for all the family. I don't even know what it means.

[Bryn]

It good to hear you praise Sheehan although I don't know that the booking was so much silly as vital. A situation arose which enabled their winger to head the ball inside Sheehan into space behind and there was every chance of a goal. Sheehan clearly recognised this and decided that giving away a free kick was the better option and I think he was right.

But the reason the ball got in behind him was because he threw himself in in a ridiculous manner, selling himself to the winger and giving him license to knock the ball wherever he wanted. He should have backed off and got himself in a position to block the cross, forced him wide and then tried to tackle. Not to take away from his performance though, he was excellent, almost everything that worked in the first half and for much of the second went through him. He was the closest thing we had to a playmaker. But I wish you'd stop harping on about his one poor moment like it was to his credit.

Kingy's being utilised as a basically holding player but when he gets established, I'm sure he'll get forward more and people will be able to see the attacking side of his game.

Not sure I want him to. As you can see from my ratings I was very impressed with King. His role was subtle but hugely effective. Aerially dominant to get the second ball as has been said, coupled with intelligent use of the ball which had been missing. Could grow into an effective deep lying playmaker with the right coaching, providing the basis of the attack and allowing players ahead of him to get forward and supplying them with the ammunition they need.