Swansea Player Ratings

[Bert]

Fair enough. I swear it was only the one start, did he get sub appearances? I might have accidentally scrubbed those out of my memory while desperately trying to forget Bruno N'Settee's stint in midfield.

He started against Wolves, Southampton, maybe a few others and made a few sub appearances.

Edit - 5 starts and 6 sub appearances.

[Flynny]

He started against Wolves, Southampton, maybe a few others and made a few sub appearances.

In that case I'll take this opportunity to shut up for a bit.

[NorthernFox]

Weale 6.5 Steady enough keeper, wants to distribute quickly, no chance with goal.

Morrison 6.5 Competent and improving.

Brown 8 Confident and imposing, reminds me of elliott.

Hobbs 7 Little nervy to start, but postional play helps allay real lack of pace.

Berner 6.5 Good enough at lb to play all season

Dyer 6.5 Seemed to lack confidence in 1st half whilst always drifting too far inside but much better 2nd

King 5 Looked a little lost, fit?

Wellens 8.5 My man of the match, outstanding and a class above.

Oakley 6.5 2nd half performance showed he is not a right winger

Howard 6 Pen was not good but had a solid day at the office, won more than his share of headers

Fryatt 5 Not fit, not fast and defiantely not strong enough.

Subs

Waghorn 8 Mackem Rooney, this lad was very impressive and was what the game needed.

N'Guessan 8 Exciting, good presence on the back post. Enjoyed his debut.

Adams 7.5 Much improved in his cameo, pre season form carrying on.

Manager

I was just chuffed to bits that my halftime rant (along with 90% of crowd) was succesful and that NP could recognise exactly what was needed. 8

Fans

Best atmosphere ive felt for years, I was emotionally drained when I left, thought the inflatable sheep were class but best singing from us for eons. 8

Overall

Tickety Boo. 1st half was woeful and left me full of trepidation but if we can repeat that 2nd 45 mins we shoud be top half. 8

[Shrenchel]

Glad to hear the atmosphere is on the up. Got a Cardiff mate that said the noise at their new place was better than anything he'd experienced at Ninian Park in years, which shows that can't just blame the blame the plastic bowl when it's going badly.

[Fosse Boy]

Glad to hear the atmosphere is on the up. Got a Cardiff mate that said the noise at their new place was better than anything he'd experienced at Ninian Park in years, which shows that can't just blame the blame the plastic bowl when it's going badly.

That is interesting.

It just shows that any group of fans prepared to make half an effort to get behind their team can do it wherever they are.

L1 was pretty good yesterday apart from the few token nobends that tend to be found wherever you go.

[Shrenchel]

That is interesting.

It just shows that any group of fans prepared to make half an effort to get behind their team can do it wherever they are.

L1 was pretty good yesterday apart from the few token nobends that tend to be found wherever you go.

Yeah, there may have been some slight exaggeration on his part because he always takes the piss out the atmosphere at the Walkers so I've been baiting him about what theirs will be like once they got their shiny new plastic shithole but someone emailed in the highlights thingy on BBC saying it was a crackin atmosphere so guess it must have been good.

[Koke]

Weale 6 (Quiet afternoon. I just didn't like the way Swnsea found the centre of our six yard box opening up the like the Biblical legend of the parting sea, thus allowing free headers or potential free headers without intevention by either goalkeeperor defenders).

Morrison 6 (Got caught out once when being run at but was otherwise fairly competent).

Hobbs 6.5 (Ponderous at times in possession but played he part in a defence which generally covered well and looked organised.

Brown 6.5 (Again his lack of pace was occasionally exposed but he was resolute and an important "presence".

Berner 7 (Desperately unlucky with a meteoric volley which shook the crossbar - even if a goal would have been disallowed - and generally enjoyed one of his best games for the club. I didn't seeMattock as being missed at all.

Oakley 5.5 (His lack of pace and penetration was very much part of our problem in the first half when we looked lethargic, less than urgent and second to the ball far too often. His limitations meant Kingy had limited options on the few occasions he was in possession and with Fryatt/Howard also lacking speed and elusiveness our attack looked like a busted flush until Pearson's inspired changes. Second half Oakley looked like a man revived and suddenly he was part of one of an exhilerating 45 minutes football).

Wellens 7 (Made mistakes, particularly in dwelling on the ball and being caught in possession but he looked the sort of in-your-face but skillful midfielder we have much needed. Never let mistakes dishearten him and a guy who will clearly add strength and attackin potency to our squad).

King 4.5 (Now facing his first major challenge at the club in the he has genuine challengers for his place. His one-paced style may prove a handicap at the higher level and yesterday he looked less than his sharpest which he just won't get away with this season. He will have to show a lot more attitude and urgency to retain his place because it was hard to remember him making a single telling contribution yesterday, especially in an attacking sense. Needs to be at peak fitness and to start supporting attacks and shooting once again to have any chance of staying in the side.

Dyer 6.5 (Dangerous at times but so much of his better work petered out and will have a much harder job making an impression on the Championship than Division One, like various others.).

Howard 5 (Poor. His penalty was a schoolboy effort - easily read, half-paced and the perfect height to be saved and he was so lucky not to be resposnible for a goal conceded when he allowed the opposing centre-back an unchallenged run to the near post from a corner which resulted in a flick-on which could so easily have cost a goal. Only one shot of note that I remember and contributed to our so-laboured attacking in the first half.

Fryatt 4 (I've rarely been impressed with Fryatt as a Championship player and have explained why lots of times. All those reasons were in evidence yesterday and it was significant that we improved so much when he went off. He had one nice run, knock-down and half-chance but his marker read the situation perfectly and blocked his effort with ease because Fryatt simply didn't have to explosive pace to get away. Unless he's fully fit and sharp there's no point in playing him as has been demonstrated countless times in previous Championship campaigns even though he has bagged a long contract.

Subs:

Waghorn 8 (I was pleading for the manger to introduce players with pace and penetration after barely 25 minutes and Pearson finally produced the perfect match-changing decisions at half-time. Waghorn delivered all the in-your-face harrassment that had been previously missing and his busy style and constant pressurising of defenders soon had the visitors in a panic. Played a major part in a total transformation and his goal and another near thing were no more than he deserved.)

N'Guessan 8.5 (Strong, positive, skillful, direct and eager to shoot...that's a lot of qualities for a winger and enough to make him man-of-the-match for me. Yes he should have two goals instead of one because one of the first lessons for a professional footballer is to head the ball down but there was nothing wrong with the way he got into position to get the chance and, apart from failing to make the simple pass in defensive situations, he looked like another quality signing.

Adams 7 (Looked determined to try and take his chance this season. So often a seeming apologist for a winger he looked quick, confident and direct yesterday and had his move which involved the taking a pass from the corner flag, nutmegging a defender and his final deadly pass into the penalty box actually produced goal it would have been something special to remember. As it was it wasn't the only genuine chance he created in a spell of football when Leicester might have scored five.

Altogether the (now bottled) Barbars tasted like nectar afterwards as I was able to savour 45 minutes of the sort of football that offered City fans real reason to be optimistic for the season.

As for Pearson I was disappointed that he presided over such a staid start and a first 45 minutes which simply reflected the limitations we showed in much of the second half of last season especially at places like Peterborough and Milton Keynes.

But he sure waved the magic want at half-time and deserves an 9 for changing the direction of the game and securing a confidence-building three-point start.

I'm extremely glad you're back again, mate. :w00t:

[Guest]

Weale - 6

Brown - 7

Hobbs - 7

Morrison - 7

Berner - 7.5 - Good performance from Bruno, another quality bit of penalty winning from him, took me back to Hartlepool last season

Oakley - 6 -Far and away better in the secnd half when he was moved into the centre with Wellens

Wellens - 8.5 - Really like this guy, not always the most eye catching but good lord does he know how to play the right ball at the right time

King - 5 - Quiet game for Kingy, still rate the guy though

Dyer - 6

Fryatt - 5 - Unfit and it was obvious, but he still gets my support

Howard - 6.5 -Should've scored the peno but otherwise pretty solid

Subs:

N'Guessan - 8 - Awesome, not afraid to run at players and also not afraid to shoot

Waghorn - 8 - Got in players faces, deserved the goal and hope he can keep that level of performance up

Adams - 6.5 - Looks like he really wants to prove himself this season

[Thracian]

I'm extremely glad you're back again, mate. :w00t:

Thanks Kareem - I was just taking a time-out.

[leftsideoverhere]

Berner 8 - Berner played one game better than all of Mattock's last season. Good overlapping, good passing and excellent penalty win right in front of me

You sitting in the family stand this season then, Daggers? No wonder you want to give your season ticket back.

[demon_dog]

Was beginning to think Thracian had missed the game!

Once again a good report Thrac, Oh and I still owe you that pint I promised.

Will try to catch up with you next home game.