Half Term Review

Halfway through the season and time to review our fortunes.

A good start followed by deeply frustrating performances.

Some amazing results – 5-2 at Ipswich, 4-1 at Charlton but some utterly embarrassing performances – Stockport, Hartlepool. And an unparalleled run of anaemic away defeats


Some odd decisions, still not explained, with regard to players leaving/not playing – Sarcevic,( Pivotal) Doyle, Politic, Darcy.


The slow, slow pass, pass, pass style of play is not working – more pace needed. The manager must be more adaptable and also not so obnoxious a bit harsh but he does appear intransigent and at times bullying. I have one friend who always calls him a clown. If he was manager of any other team, I bet most of our fans would dislike him because of his attitude. Having said that I am still in the pro-Evatt camp as I have not yet recovered from years of Phil Parkinson Agreed re PP but IE has done little yet to revere stupor.

Defensively, we are poor we take far too many risks relative to playing skill and concede some really slack goals whilst attack wise we cannot score. Set pieces a major reason Considering we scored 6 goals in our first 2 matches, the following 21 games have been pretty poor goal wise. There is no leadership, Captaincy has destroyed the little bit of Santos that had promise- that and better opposition


So overall the messages is could do better and obviously need to do better as the bottom of the league is looking pretty close. There is confident talk about 4 of the next 5 games are at home but look at the opposition – Wycombe, Ipswich, Sunderland – maximum points out of those? We have no chance of avoiding relegation on our current trajectory



Matthew Gilks ¬- Badly missed his organisational skills but his goalkeeping skills (MK Dons, Port Vale) mean he is not 1st team quality. Can't grade, Insufficient data. Overall we would probably have won more with him involved. Is old and plays old but experience shines through. Was very good puppeteer for Santos

Joel Dixon ¬- Some good saves this season but some bad bad mistakes. His dominance of his 6-yardbox is sadly lacking. Must do better, C+ Insignificant and beginning to lose confidence- must sign a competitor

Gethin Jones ¬- A good half year. Badly missed since his injury. B   A- Untarnished and the only player to have improved

Declan John ¬- Disappointing. His distribution, particularly corners is really poor. His linking with Afolayan which was so good last season is missing. D C+ Very good going forward, very poor defending, Not a left back. Not fit/ lifestyle?

Ricardo Santos ¬- Not captain material. He has a casual attitude about his play where he gives opponents 3or 4 yards start and expects to catch them. There are numerous occasions this season where his slowness off the mark has cost us goals. C- D- Completely out of his depth and deteriorating- not sure why

George Johnston ¬- Disappointing. For a centre half his aerial ability is awful. Regularly out-jumped. His forward passing (not the side to side that he Santos and Dixon play) is not very good. C B-. Underrated- in wrong position and /or in wrong pairing- two decent efforts in midfield defence- in correct formation could be a strength, wholehearted and a fearless blocker

Will Aimson ¬- Only seen a few times but appears to get out-muscled too often. C+ Agreed, surplus at Plymouth after a run of defeats

Harry Brockbank ¬- Just a squad player really. Slaughtered (not 100% his fault) by Wigan. C D- not good enough in position too slow on the turn and on start up. Might though make it at centre half behind a dominant partner

Alex Baptiste ¬- On his last legs now but does have a football brain. C Agreed. One of our better players and blockers and defensive distributors but looks sluggish and at times Zombie-like as he tries to figure out where the hell Santos is?

Liam Gordon ¬- Better than expected when he has been chosen. Needs a confidence boost to believe in himself and to press John into action. C+ B + maybe improving and has skill and a brain and a good left foot

MJ Williams ¬- Mainstay of central midfield and missed when not available. B  B- good at this level, very good at L2   - being found out for speed and carrying inury

Josh Sheehan ¬- Started well but looks a bit lightweight and, of course, now injured. C B+  Showed class at times but deteriorated- weak defensively but good at free kicks and atttacking forays, second only to Sarcevic at this- a real miss

Xavier Amaechi ¬- Yet to show what his reputation points to. C- Agreed - not a team player?

Kieran Lee ¬- Quality midfield player who when combined with Williams makes a decent central midfield. B A- our best player by a country mile

Lloyd Isgrove ¬- Hard working and covers the right side well with Jones. Has some flaking defensive moments (Sunderland). B B+ showed commendable versatility, partnership with Kachunga was taking off- aloss but at the ceiling of his ability

George Thomason ¬- Sat on the bench most of the season but performs well when he comes on. Needs to realise that when you get to the edge of the box, you are allowed to shoot. C+ B-  Developing. gem of a left foot but declining with over exposure 2nd best player in class

Nathan Delfouneso ¬- Surely in his last throes as a Wanderer player. Had a few opportunities but has not risen to them. D E for Euthanise

Eoin Doyle ¬- A difficult season and a number of missed opportunities. League 1 is obviously harder than L2 but a disappointing season so far. C Agreed, can't shoot and misses too many, a trier and a leader but needs to complement someone stronger in a two and be told to stay put and not get offside all the time. No disaster if he leaves

Amadou Bakayoko ¬- Nothing seen of him really. He looks strong but his first touch so often lets him down. D C- Affected by injury- we have seen some good moments - they just aren't sustained- awful defensively

Oladapo Afolayan ¬- Started so well. Tremendous dribbling skills and good shooting. Somehow has dropped into a lull where he looks disinterested. He seems to think that his role these days is just to win free kicks. Also time to stop whinging at the officials. A- B+ a talent for sure but somewhat inconsistent- needs freedom and to stop falling over- when at last he gets a red card there will be no sympathy for him at all amongst opponents. He is intelligent, maybe the most intelligent of all our players- could in time be midfield captain but not before he grows up and stops cheating. Much improved shooting this term

Elias Kachunga ¬- Started very slowly, had a short purple patch but has fallen back into bang average. C B- has an abundance of skill, rarely gives the ball away and is the best knock on header in the team , maybe the best directional header of all but lightweight and too often has no impact- excellent on transition and breakaway - would come into his own if we opted for proper defence and counter attack. Good enough defensively


Ian Evatt - Too dogmatic in his beliefs. The preferred style of football is good but we don't have Ederson in goal or Dias, Laporte, Stones or Rodri so he need to adapt. - C   D- Really struggling and seems to have fallen into the grass is greener post Jan defeatist illusion. Am clinging to the hope that he can adapt and learn but currently out of his depth. He is not without intelligence despite his gruff exterior and his analytical capacity is his strength - can he motivate- not sure- does he accurately identify playing strengths and weakness of individuals and leadership potential-- serious question mark. Also is his support staff up to it. Why is defence and set piece work not improving and younger players not forcing their way in. seems to be in a job for life just now but surely surely if we are relegated it is over for him

 All his substitutions are like for like and consequently ineffective.

 it seems clear that Evatt doesn’t like to be challenged or have his methods questioned. Is that conviction or just plain stubbornness, or even insecurity.