Preston player ratings

[clazkel]

Weale - 6.5 Afew decent saves

Neilson - 5.5 I dont think he did as bad as some say, but wasnt impressed with his crosses and shot/cross towards the end, i do think and have thought all season that Morrison should be playing instead

Tunchev - 6.5 ok, but abit ropey at times

Brown - 6 Got isolated afew times and dealt with it ok, Hobbs should be playing instead of him tho

Berner - 6.5 At fault for there second goal, but he doesnt seem to have anyone helping him

Gallagher - 7 Some good runs, he shouldnt be playing on the wing tho

Wellens - 6.5 Not as effective as normal

Oakley - 7 Tried to make things happen

N'Guessan 5.5 Couldnt beat his man, at least he tried to tho

Fryatt - 7.5 Sharp first half, looked quick and created alot of chances. im not sure if their defence lacked pace or whether Fryatt has gained pace

Howard - 6 Whinges too much, it wasnt his sort of game

I was gutted with the lack of fight and passion we didnt show until the last few minutes, wasnt any urgency

The team seems unbalanced to me, and the defence isnt as solid as it use to be as they dont get the support from the wingers thats they should. Gallagher played well today but he isnt a winger, and him and N'guessan dont support the defence enough.

Hobbs should be playing instead of Brown, i was shocked when they announced the team today. Morrison should be playing instead of Neilson, and i would like Adams to be playing on the wing.

I know Tunchev is a good player but i feel sorry for Morrison being dropped he didnt really do anything wrong, so even Hobbs and Morrison as they seemed to have a great understanding last season.

[lou]

I may be a cynic but wonder how much of Fryatts new-found sharpness is down to him being "watched" by a couple of Prem clubs by all accounts?

[davieG]

I may be a cynic but wonder how much of Fryatts new-found sharpness is down to him being "watched" by a couple of Prem clubs by all accounts?

I don't think what we've been seeing, extra pace is something that he can turn on and off. I'd like to believe the club, with all it's coaching and fitness resources have been working with him to provide a genuine improvement.

[lou]

I don't think what we've been seeing, extra pace is something that he can turn on and off. I'd like to believe the club, with all it's coaching and fitness resources have been working with him to provide a genuine improvement.

Hope so

[Alf Bentley]

Weale 7 Some great catches and stops

Nielson 6.5 Tackled well, rarely gave ball away, unjustly chastised

Tunchev 6 Some good blocks and positional play, but hesitant, off pace; probably needs match time.

Brown 7 Some great last-ditch tackles, even passed it better today, unjustly chastised

Berner 6.5 Solid and lively

N'Guessan 4 V. bad day at office - kept running into defenders or giving ball away..but he's young

Wellens 5.5 Some good passes, but off pace, not 100% fit - and gave 1st goal away

Oakley 6.5 Decent passing

Gallagher 7 A clever, dangerous player - crying out to be played in the hole (AMC to FM folk!)

Howard 6 Worked hard as ever, but their defence controlled him well

Fryatt 7 Still looking sharp and capable of creating goals for himself

Waghorn 6.5 Busy, unsettled their defence a bit

Dyer 6.5 At least he beat his man and put in crosses a couple of times, another unjustly chastised

Kermogant 7 His 15 mins excited me: quick, penetrative passes; strong in air; good positionally; nearly scored a spectacular goal - would like to see more of him!

[davieG]

Hope so

Just need to work on Brown, Howard and Neilson now

[ousefox]

Weale 5 - Didn't do to much wrong

Nielson - 2 Shocking today. Please bring back Gilbert.

Brown - 3 Very poor. Got away with some bad tackles as well.

Tunchev - 4 Very suprised at how poor he was today.

Berner - 6 Best of a bad bunch. Good finish.

N'Guessen - 4 Didn't do anything

Oakley - 4 Crap.

Wellens - 5 Not fully fit.

Gallagher - 5 Did as well as he could in a position that does not suit him.

Howard - 4 Shite

Fryatt - 5 Got behind defenders a bit more. Looked quite pacy

Kermorgant- 6 From the little of what i saw of him, he looked like he had a good touch and would rather have him than howard come Tuesday night.

Dyer- Not worth talking about

Waghorn- See Dyer

[Thracian]

You can't criticise him for that as i'm sure he's there under the instructions of the management. Pearson would not be pleased if Neilson said no gaffer I can't go forward too far as I'll piss off peterborofox

Pearson was a defender so he should know all about organising defenders when a full-back has gone forward supporting the attack.

I always favoured a simple pivotal system but whatever the approach I just didn't see that cover some of the time. One thing was for sure though. Preston were fast enough and aware enough to use the space behind advancing defenders.

Particularly from our corners and attacking set pieces but occasionally at other times too. The higher up you go in football the more you need fast, mobile defenders.

[davieG]

Pearson was a defender so he should know all about organising defenders when a full-back has gone forward supporting the attack.

I always favoured a simple pivotal system but whatever the approach I just didn't see that cover some of the time. One thing was for sure though. Preston were fast enough and aware enough to use the space behind advancing defenders.

Particularly from our corners and attacking set pieces but occasionally at other times too. The higher up you go in football the more you need fast, mobile defenders.

Which also made it odd that slow coach Brown was our last man at set pieces

[Nationwider]

Neilson is a limited full back who's being asked to do things beyond his capability, you can't doubt his effort and commitment the managment team must take a lot of the blame for exposing him to this situation.

Brown is a limited CB playing in his natural position he lacks skill, finesse and a football brain. He's throwback, the standard of the football in the Championship has moved on since we got promoted with Brian Little unfortunately that's where he'd best fit in.

I find it irritating that he continues to berate his team mates for the slightest mistake whilst making so many himself. Players like Weale and Hobbs need encouragement not a raging loony having a go at them especially from one who's not exactly faultless.

I completely agree with your analysis of Brown, davieG. I felt that he was no footballer from the first moment I saw him in a City kit, and nothing since has changed my opinion.

Brown and Howard should be dead men walking in a squad aspiring to be top six. Howard achieves very little of any consequence; if the ball is served up to his forehead on a plate, then fine - but its not as if he drags defenders left, right and centre like Heskey and scoring in 4 out of 30 Championship games for City is hardly spectacular.

Brown is just a chest-beater, but whereas Steve Walsh had a number of tricks up his sleeve to hide certain footballing deficiencies, Brown is just two-dimensional.

Up front, I'd like to see Waghorn or Gallacher playing off Fryatt - in fact, there's no reason why both shouldn't start, just to try something different.

[DB11]

Weale - 8

Neilson - 5

Brown - 5

Tunchev - 7

Berner - 8

N'Guessan - 4

Wellens - 5

Oakley - 6

Gallagher - 7

Howard - 6

Fryatt - 8

SUBS:

Dyer - 6

Waghorn - 5

Kermogant - 6

[lou]

Just need to work on Brown, Howard and Neilson now

Browns quick running backwards

[Jfox]

Weale 7 - Good catches and kicks, 1 great save, not at fault for the goals

Neilson 4 - Gave the ball away far to often and got caught out of position

Brown 4 - Scared to tackle today for some reason, kept backing off!

Tunchev 6 - Looked strong but not totally up to full match fitness yet though

Berner 7 - Good going forward and a nice goal but some times caught out of position, maybe he should be tried in left midfield?

N'Guessen 5 - Confident but too predictable, kept losing the ball

Oakley 7 - Nice little passes in and around the box and rarely gave the ball away, two good/unlucky effots on goal

Wellens 6 - Didn't look fully fit, he did't pass or play with as much zip as usual

Gallagher 7 - Not a left winger but improvised well and looked quite dangerous occasionally

Howard 6 - Won a lot in the air but rarely showed much effort, a liittle unlucky with the refereeing decisions and got frustrated

Fryatt 8 - The only real threat on goal, chased most things, showed a lot of pace and even tracked back. MOTM

Dyer 5 - Didn't really have any effect

Waghorn 6 - Chased things a bit and got stuck in

Kermogant 7 - Nice passing, won headers and almost scored, I'd like to see a bit more of him until I judge him though

Pearson 5 - Tactics didn't work! Wrong formation, changed it too late and used the wrong subs, what does Adams have to do to start, surely he deserves a go after N'Guessen's performance today

Referee 7 - Let the game flow and got most things right, although there wasn't many big decisions and he was a bit harsh to Howard

Overall - Preston totally deserved the win, we were awful and couldn't take our chances whereas, they did. they looked quicker and broke well. However, we some how almost robbed them in stoppage time!

[clazkel]

Neilson is a limited full back who's being asked to do things beyond his capability, you can't doubt his effort and commitment the managment team must take a lot of the blame for exposing him to this situation.

Brown is a limited CB playing in his natural position he lacks skill, finesse and a football brain. He's throwback, the standard of the football in the Championship has moved on since we got promoted with Brian Little unfortunately that's where he'd best fit in.

I find it irritating that he continues to berate his team mates for the slightest mistake whilst making so many himself. Players like Weale and Hobbs need encouragement not a raging loony having a go at them especially from one who's not exactly faultless.

I totally agree with you about Brown, it was embarrassing and annoying when we played Peterborough and Brown shouted at weale for not coming for the ball when i actually thought Brown was at fault. Was unprofessional and harsh on Weale. Also Howards annoys me at times, when he was subbed afew games ago Oakley had to have a word with him as he didnt seem happy about being subbed.

And with Neilson, again i agree, at least he tries and doesnt hide, but i really think if Pearson wants a right back who is to get forward then Neilson isnt the man for the job

[Ricey]

Weale - 7

Neilson - 5 - Sloppy, slow, rash....rubbish

Brown - 5 - Backed off too much and looked slow

Tunchev - 7

Berner - 7

N'Guessan - 5 - Tried to do too much

Wellens - 6 - agaood until he tired late on

Oakley - 6 -

Gallagher - 7 - A lot better, looked creative

Howard - 6 - He looked very lazy and lathargic today

Fryatt - 8 - Deserved a goal or two

SUBS:

Dyer - 5 - Tried to do too much

Waghorn - 5 - Ineffective

Kermogant - 6 - Very promising, good touch and won more headers in 10 minutes than Howard did the whole time he was on

[Fox92]

Weale - 7

Neilson - 6

Brown - 4 - Needs a rest.

Tunchev - 6 - Shouldn't have played ahead of Hobbs. Didn't win anything in the air.

Berner - 7

N'Guessan - 3 - Don't like him at all, another poor performance. He is just a bench player.

Wellens - 6 - Not match fit, but never sherks a tackle and some of his balls were good.

Oakley - 6

Gallagher - 7 - Please play him in the hole or on the right, and put N'Guessan on the bench.

Howard - 7 - Won headers and took knocks all game, but got frustrated.

Fryatt - 8 - Perhaps, man of the match.

SUBS:

Dyer - N/A

Waghorn - 5 - Never going to win anything in the air. Not his fault for that though I guess.

Kermogant - N/A - Didn't see him come on.

[davieG]

Weale - 7

Neilson - 6

Brown - 4 - Needs a rest.

Tunchev - 6 - Shouldn't have played ahead of Hobbs. Didn't win anything in the air.

Berner - 7

N'Guessan - 3 - Don't like him at all, another poor performance. He is just a bench player.

Wellens - 6 - Not match fit, but never sherks a tackle and some of his balls were good.

Oakley - 6

Gallagher - 7 - Please play him in the hole or on the right, and put N'Guessan on the bench.

Howard - 7 - Won headers and took knocks all game, but got frustrated.

Fryatt - 8 - Perhaps, man of the match.

SUBS:

Dyer - N/A

Waghorn - 5 - Never going to win anything in the air. Not his fault for that though I guess.

Kermogant - N/A - Didn't see him come on.

And yet he won more headers than Howard, makes it hard to take your ratings seriously if you didn't notice him.

[Fox92]

And yet he won more headers than Howard, makes it hard to take your ratings seriously if you didn't notice him.

I wasn't in the ground at that point

That's what I meant.

[davieG]

I wasn't in the ground at that point

That's what I meant.

Not easy to notice then

[Fox92]

Not easy to notice then

Fairly difficult

[foxaholic]

Weale - 6

Nielson - 4

Brown - 4

Tunchev - 6

Berner - 7

N'Guessen - 3

Oakley - 5

Wellens - 5

Gallagher - 7

Howard - 6

Fryatt - 7

Subs: -

agree with that apart from Howard who should be only 4

Waghorn - 5

Kermogant - 6

Dyer - 4

[foxaholic]

WTF?? Youre joking right?

were you at the match Brown our best defender

[Guest Bilo]

Weale 7 - Solid and could do nothing about either goal. Decent.

Neilson 4 - Fail to see what he brings to the side based on recent performances. How he came to captain an SPL side is a mystery based on this.

Brown 4 - The only positive is that he wasn't as bad as he was against Posh. Horribly out of form and Hobbs should replace him for Middlesborough and Coventry.

Tunchev 6 - Reasonably solid again but not at his mercurial best yesterday. Unusually average performance.

Berner 7 - Good at the back and did well going forward, deserved his goal. The only one of the back four who impressed.

N'Guessan 4 - Patience is a virtue, especially with an up-and-coming youngster like N'Guessan but he can't remain in the team much longer until he makes an impact. No pace, little footballing intelligence exhibited and was outclassed.

Gallagher 7 - Along with Berner, our best player on the day (though that's damning with faint praise). Industrious, hungry and caused their defence problems.

Wellens 5 - Unfit, ineffective and lacking match practice. A fit Kingy would have done a far better job in this position yesterday.

Oakley 6 - Must have been the most frustrated man on the pitch as his passes went to wasteful players who appeared to still be in bed.

Fryatt 7 - Clearly brimming with confidence and chasing down every ball. The only one of four players who looked like wanting three points and you have to worry what'll happen if he gets injured.

Howard 4 - Was he on the pitch?

----------------

Dyer 5 - Poor performance and never looked like changing anything when he came on. Doesn't look up to Championship football.

Waghorn 5 - Didn't make much impact but didn't get a lot of service. Uninspiring.

Kermorgant 7 - Encouraging debut for the Frenchman. With Howard's dip in form, Pearson could do worse than hand him a start on either Tuesday or Saturday.

---------------

Pearson 4 - Little impact made from substitutions, looked disorganised at the back and outplayed in midfield and the team played worse in the second half than in the first. A rare bad day at the office for NP.

[TrickyTrev]

Shapeless today. It's been coming.

Weale 8 He made two great saves in the first half

Nielson 3 I don't want to get angry at the lad because he tries hard and improved greatly defensively from last week, but he is being asked to do things he is not capable of. Given that no team in modern football can afford to have full backs that are a liability to their offense, he's clearly out of his depth. Pearson said that we attack and defend as a team in his post match interview, and he is quite right in that, but this is something we did brilliantly last season but I believe we have gone backwards with this season.

Tunchev 6 Okay.

Brown 6 Clearly been told to not clear the ball into the stands so much and his distribution was improved. People who are criticizing him for backing off need to realise that the midfield should never allow their players to have so many free runs at a centre back, it is impossible to defend if you are also trying to cover a pass. See the second goal. Again, failure to defend as a team.

Berner 6 Not as good as the past few weeks but still pretty good.

N'Guessen 3 I don't think he is a winger. He strikes me more as a forward player who runs channels and offers for the ball back to goal. Either way it just was not happening at all for him today.

Oakley 7 One of his better performances this season. Would be nice to see him get on the score sheet.

Wellens 5 Not even close to being fit, King should have played. This partnership with Oakley is not going to work, we look like conceding on the break every time we give the ball away.

Gallagher 8 A class apart who we need to get at the centre of the action. That means moving him in field and trusting our passing game.

Howard 5 He won a few flick ons. He gave the ball away when it went to his feet. He was too slow to get in the box and offer a goal threat. A typical Steve Howard Championship performance.

Fryatt 7 Nearly scored a great goal to get us back into it and his movement in the first half was great. Sadly when he was put down the channels his striker partner was still on the half way line and thus he had no one to pass to.

****SUBS****

Waghorn 6 Created a great chance but neither Dyer or Nielson looked like they knew how to kick a ball when it fell to them

Dyer 5 Badly out of form but made the goal

Yann 7 He looked pretty good to me. Good touch and an aerial threat.

[ThorpeAstleyFox]

Weale - 7 (commanded his area well)

Nielson - 4 (just not good enough for this level)

Brown - 5 (I'd like to see Hobbs in for Tuesday)

Tunchev - 7 (solid but not spectacular today)

Berner - 7 (a good performance capped off with a goal)

N'Guessen - 5 (needs to be a bit more direct and get his shots away)

Oakley - 6 (an average game)

Wellens - 5 (clearly not match fit but his distribution was sloppy today and he was at fault for their first goal)

Gallagher - 6 (I like the look of Gallagher but would rather see him play behind the front two)

Howard - 5 (I'm a big Howard fan but felt that he had a poor game)

Fryatt - 7 (chased a lot of balls into the channels and was a menace for the entire game)

Subs: -

Waghorn - 5 (not helped by the shocking high balls that were played up to him)

Kermogant - 6 (I thought that he looked very good when he came on and would like to see him brought on whenever we substitute Howard)

Dyer - 4 (I personally feel that he is not rounded enough for this league)

Pearson - 3 (Gallagher is not a winger and Wellens didn't appear to be fit enough to play. I would also rather see Tunchev playing as the left centre back meaning that Hobbs would have to come in for Brown. When we took off Howard and N'Guessen we continued to hoof the ball and put in high crosses - despite having no aerial threat whatsoever. I don't mind us playing without a target man but you have to work the openings better, play balls to be ran onto and drill your crosses hard and low. I still think that we look better with a target man and to that end would like to so Kermogant replacing Howard whenever he is subbed. Finally, Neilson does not look good enough for what we are trying to achieve - please address this in January)