Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:12 pm
Right, where to start? Well, first of all, unlike previous weeks, there can be no argument to suggest that we may have deserved to win that game - we weren't good enough anywhere on the pitch to deserve more than a point.
For the first 25 minutes, we were dreadful. Having two oafs at centre half just isn't getting us anywhere. All Smith & McDonald are in the team for is to win their headers and do the basic defensive stuff. They don't do that though. All too often, it just takes a couple of yards' movement from an opposition striker to create a decent chance. Add to that the fact that they continue to aimlessly hoof the ball forward and it's no wonder the ball ends up in the back of our net more often than our oppositions'.
We improved towards the end of the first half as we made use of the impressive McGivern going forward, and Marshall and Davis started committing themselves forward a bit more often when we finally managed to get the ball on the floor.
We saw more of the ball in the second half and they were restricted to attacking us on the break. That said, a breakaway within a couple of minutes of our equaliser was all they needed to put us to bed.
Gray looked typically dis-interested, and Byfield looked way off the pace. Macken was neat and tidy, but he can only do so much with the service he gets. Reid added some movement to our front line when he came on, but again, we didn't make much use of him.
It was another game where no individual was noticeably awful, but the balance just isn't right, and the manager has to take some of the flak for that. Brain couldn't have done anything about either goal and made one good save when their striker was clean through - proving that calls to drop him were unnecessary.
I thought McGivern and Davis showed why they'll be returning to Premier League clubs after their respective loan spells - they were probably our 2 best players. McGivern bombed up and down the left for the whole of the second forty-five to good effect, and Davis looks every part the all-action midfielder we've been lacking. Richards continued his consistent form of this season with a solid performance, even if that did require him to cover here there and everywhere at times.
My biggest concern is at centre half. Smith and McDonald don't have the concentration levels between them to shackle strikers for 90 minutes. And neither of them can play the ball along the ground into midfield, which just leaves us with the likes of Macken, Byfield and a lethargic Julian Gray chasing shadows. I can't understand why Lancashire sits on the bench while these two morons continue to struggle at centre half. Bringing Davis into midfield has improved our ability to win the ball in the middle of the park, but we need to change things at centre half if we're going to stop this shambles of just letting teams have free reign of dangerous areas.
The system also went completely out of the window in the second half. McGivern seemed to have the entire left side to himself, and Gray seemed to be sitting in front of the back four. Reid came on and played somewhere up front, but nowhere in particular, whilst Byfield just hovered wherever.
I'd defended Hutchings up to now, but today has made me think twice. The choice of personnel at centre half, a system which is unbalanced to say the least, and the fact that the likes of Julian Gray look like they'd rather be anywhere else than on a football pitch are all observations that the manager should have control over.
And to make things worse, we had an extra 800 or so home fans present after the efforts of the club over the last couple of weeks.What a let down.
