A trip to South Wales was our first away day for the second successive season and, despite being under the cosh for the first 40 minutes, we offered more threat than we did in this same fixture last season, while also keeping a clean sheet. A good away point, where the team’s overall performance was probably greater than the sum of the individuals, as we now hold the record for the worst attack and joint-best defence in the Championship so far this season.
Michael Cooper - 5
Was never really called into action, making it hard to rate him above the benchmark.
Femi Seriki - 5
Struggled to make things happen for most of the game, as he was unsuccessful in taking players on, but many of our better moments came when he was played in down the right.
Japhet Tanganga - 6
Impressed me again, as he won his individual duels more often than not.
Mark McGuinness - 4
I don’t want to be too harsh, but he was caught under the ball on a couple of occasions, and it felt like a better attacking side would’ve punished those little errors.
Sam McCallum - 6
Playing in a less familiar LCB position, but was again solid, doing the defensive work he had to.
Harrison Burrows - 4
Had a couple of weak moments defensively, and his most impactful forward move saw him booked for simulation.
Sydie Peck - 5
Picked up on a few loose balls early on, but his impact on the game was minimal, and he probably wasn’t as tidy with the ball as he’d have liked.
Joe Rothwell - 4
Looked the more threatening midfielder with his passing, but his biggest moment in the game came when he lost possession deep in our own half and allowed a Swansea attack to unfold.
Ollie Arblaster - 6
Looked the liveliest of the midfield three, with his defensive contributions the real highlight.
Callum O’Hare - 5
Had arguably our best chance of the game when he struck the bar and, while he was relieved of possession a little too easily at times, he often seemed to be in and around our better attacking moves.
Patrick Bamford - 4
Had to play a largely hold-up-focused role, which didn’t really work, more often losing out than bringing others into play.
Average rating - 4.91
Ratings system:
0 – Reserved for anyone who has a wayward effort at goal smash me in the face, unlikely to ever happen.
1 – Worst of the worst. Saved for disastrous performances, with result-altering mistakes.
2 – A terrible performance. Performances where a player offers very little and has many unsuccessful actions, ultimately proving to be a major detriment to the team’s overall performance.
3 – A bad performance. Negative contribution. Like a 2, just a bit less rubbish.
4 – A below-average performance. Not necessarily having a negative impact on the game; it could just be a player who struggled to impact the game at all.
5 – The baseline rating. All players go into a game starting on a 5 — it’s bang average, given out for an unremarkable yet solid performance, for a postman delivering the post.
6 – A decent performance. A player who gets a 6 has positively contributed to the game, and at the very least has had some impressive moments while being generally solid outside of them.
7 – A good performance. Awarded for players who had a noticeable positive impact on the game.
8 – A very good performance. A player who made significant contributions to the outcome of the game with their performance and consistently displayed a high level throughout.
9 – An outstanding performance. To score as high as a 9, a player needs to be dominant throughout the match, performing at a level well above the standard and/or making multiple game-changing contributions.
10 – A perfect 10, unlikely to ever see the light of day as nobody has a flawless game. For me to even think about giving out a 10 it would probably have to be a player doing something historic or unheard of.