Player Ratings (2 Viewers)

Kelly was fantastic today.

Nick said:

With Bayliss going off injured I wonder if him and Meyler will allow him to be a bit more free going forward?

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I thought the best part of Kelly's game today was breaking up play. The way he got himself between Rochdale player and ball when the ball was free and either turned and used possession or bought a free kick was superb. So not sure I'd want him much further forward...

Nick said:

Kelly and Stockdale both did well.

Thomas did well defensively and Bakayoko battled all game.

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Don't people on here criticise when the quip is 'Chaplin worked hard'?

I, myself appreciate it, but the pantomime villain on here doesn't so much.

Stockdale 8 very assured. Claimed everythijg and when punched for the ball away. Top save down low to keep us in lead.

Hyam 8
Willis 8
Sterling 6
Maaon 6
Kelly 9
Bayliss 6
Bright 7
Thomas 8
Baka 8
Hiwulla 8

Shipley 6

covcity4life said:

Stockdale 8 very assured. Claimed everythijg and when punched for the ball away. Top save down low to keep us in lead.

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Am I right in thinking he can't play against Walsall, the 7 days is up.

If so can someone bash Burge on the head again so we have a pretext to extend the loan.

Captain Dart said:

Am I right in thinking he can't play against Walsall, the 7 days is up.

If so can someone bash Burge on the head again so we have a pretext to extend the loan.

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MR just said prob 1 more week max depending in burge

Stockdale 9. Didn't put a foot wrong. Agree with covcity4life - very assured. Highly decent distribution.
Hyam 8. Decent. Reads the game so well.
Willis 8. Athletic. Under-rated.
Sterling 6. Decent. Didn't see the usual attacking qualities today.
Mason 6. I like him.
Kelly 9. Great performance.
Bayliss 6. Not in great form right now.
Bright 7. Love watching him play. Exciting talent. Being played too deep though.
Thomas 8. Always involved. Fantastic energy.
Baka 7. Decent and more to come.
Hiwula 7. Confidence coming back.

Shipley 8. I thought Shippers was fantastic in the centre (cue the abuse). Some great passing. Good engine. Well done to the lad after some of the ridiculous criticism.

I'm really enjoying watching us play right now - we play an attractive style and there are promising signs.

Stockdale 8. Very assured display, commanded his area very well.
Sterling 7. Offered a decent attacking outlet and defended reasonably well too.
Hyam 7. Dealt with everything that was asked of him.
Willis 7. Challenged well with Andrew who was winning everything in the air for them.
Mason 6. Got forward on occasion but doesn't quite link as well as Sterling/Thomas.
Kelly 9. Was everywhere and broke up and recycled play superbly.
Bayliss 6. Offers an attacking threat alongside Kelly but couple of loose touches before his injury.
Thomas 8. Always a threat with his pace and willingness to run at the defence. Looked most likely to create something for us.
Bright 6. Some lovely touches but for me he slowed down a couple of counter attacking chances by turning back inside when if he thought a bit more positive and urgently.
Hiwula 7. Took his goal well but thought it'd got away from him. Very positive and stays alot further forward than Thomas does.
Bakayoko 7. Looked a little clumsy in the first 15 mins but grew into the game and was a handful in the end and looked well up for it 2nd half.

Shipley 7. Did the basics well along side Kelly and moved the ball.about well enough.

Stockdale 8 A proper keepers performance-kicks good/distribution good-handling good-decision making good. Burge please take note.
Sterling 6 Ok but not as effective today.
Mason 6 Nothing too good or bad.
Willis 7 Assured.
Hyam 7 See Willis above.
Kelly 8 Dynamic midfield performance. Really stepped up to the plate.
Bayliss 6 Good until he got clattered.
Bright 6 Reasonable with the ball but again needs to work harder when not in possession or when the ball is lost.
Thomas 8 Man of the match. Back to something like his best-always dangerous and on the front foot. Great run second half when he beat 3-4 players but the finish let him down.
Hiwula 7 Got his goal which proved to be the winner but some dreadful finishing before that.
Baka 7 A dreadful miss in the first half when he missed a from 6 yards but worked hard and looked a better option than Chaplin on today’s appearance.

Subs Shipley 6 Thought he was good when he came on-one shot that went just passed the post.

Davies n/a

Robins 8 As much as we point the finger when we think he gets it wrong, today on the whole he got it right.

Stockwell 8 brought a level of calmness to the back 5.
Sterling 6
Hyam 7
Willis 7
Mason 6
Thomas 8 think that’s his 5th booking so will be missing next week
Kelly 9 mom
Bright 7
Bayliss 6
Hiwula 7
Baka 7
Shipley 6
Great to get a win but we must have created nearly 3 times the amount of chances they did. Still I’ll always take 1-0 wins.

Nick said:

I much prefer Shipley playing in the middle. I know just sub appearance but a different player to on the left

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Yes he was good when he came on I thought

Stockdale 7
Sterling 7
Willis 7
Hyam 8
Mason 7
Kelly 9
Bayliss 6
Thomas 7
Bright 5
Hiwula 7
Bakayoko 7

Subs
Shipley 7

SAJ said:

Stockwell 8 brought a level of calmness to the back 5.
Sterling 6
Hyam 7
Willis 7
Mason 6
Thomas 8 think that’s his 5th booking so will be missing next week
Kelly 9 mom
Bright 7
Bayliss 6
Hiwula 7
Baka 7
Shipley 6
Great to get a win but we must have created nearly 3 times the amount of chances they did. Still I’ll always take 1-0 wins.

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I think Thomas is ok, after a certain date (beginning of Jan I think) it goes to 10 yellows.

SAJ said:

Stockwell 8 brought a level of calmness to the back 5.
Sterling 6
Hyam 7
Willis 7
Mason 6
Thomas 8 think that’s his 5th booking so will be missing next week
Kelly 9 mom
Bright 7
Bayliss 6
Hiwula 7
Baka 7
Shipley 6
Great to get a win but we must have created nearly 3 times the amount of chances they did. Still I’ll always take 1-0 wins.

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The limit for bookings went up to 10 so no suspension as far as im aware

Stockdale 7 - His presence filled the box. Literally. Didn't think he had much to do but did the basics well though - when he caught crosses I just nodded and thought 'good take' instead of clapping like a demented seal when Burge occasionally manages it.
Sterling 7 - He goes game after game without putting a foot wrong but thought he didn't get forward as often as recently today.
Willis 7 - Steady and got a couple of decent back headers in so was pleased his confidence not knocked.
Hyam 7 - Assured alongside Willis.
Mason 6 - Did ok but needs to cut out the needless fouls. Doesn't get as much support on the left as Sterling does from Thomas.
Kelly 9 MOM - Normally takes a game or two to get back up to speed but was superb today. His anticipation of where danger is going to be and his ability to get a toe to intercept a pass are excellent.
Bayliss 6 - Thought he did a lot of good defensive work today and was becoming a more influential attacking force before his injury.
Bright 6 - Slowed down play too much in the first half which allowed Rochdale to regroup and in turn forced the ball out wide to where the fullbacks overlap, resulting in crosses into the box with just 1 striker there. Beats players with ease though which will excite the crowd.
Thomas 7 - Thought he was allowed much more space than recent matches. Wanted to give him 8 but he really has to score when he gets that shot away on the penalty spot. Doesn't seem to get the vitriol that others do for their awful misses, perhaps because he creates a lot of his chances for himself and contributes in defence.
Hiwula 6 - Great run off Baka for the goal but was anonymous first half apart from 1 missed chance. Needs to get in the box more and play with/off the central striker more when he plays on the left.
Baka 7 - Gave the back 4 a hard time and was a dynamic outlet but never looked like scoring and fluffed his one real good chance although I thought was a bit harder than others have suggested.

Shipley 7 - Like last week's 20 minute cameo as a central midfielder, he looked a L1 player when he came on today in the same role. Hopefully Doyle's departure affords him a few more opportunities in his preferred position.

Stockdale - 8. So powerful and assured in the air. Great save in the second half where he parried it for a corner.

Duj - 7
Willis - 7.5
Hyam - 7.5
Mason - 7

Bayliss - 5. Very sluggish with his passing today.
Kelly - 9. Brilliant both defensively and going forward. Great performance.
Hiwula - 8. Good finish. Could have had another.
Thomas - 7. Looked really tired again. Still worked his socks off and caused problems.
Baka - 8. Caused them a lot of problems at times. Super flick on for the goal.
Bright - 7. Really annoys me. Outstanding ability but slows the game down too often. There were a few potential counter attacks where he shouldn't have held the ball back.

Shipley - 7.5. Did very well. Lots of nice touches.

superskyblue said:

Kelly was fantastic today.

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Nah I'm not having that. Someone on here said he was shit and only ever passes sideways

Spurs 'City Away Kit' Kit said:

I think Thomas is ok, after a certain date (beginning of Jan I think) it goes to 10 yellows.

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That’s great news then. Hopefully then he will roast Luke Leahy to put him in his place.

Nick said:

I much prefer Shipley playing in the middle. I know just sub appearance but a different player to on the left

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Thought he did well in the middle in the gillingham game

DannyThomas_1981 said:

Stockdale 9. Didn't put a foot wrong. Agree with covcity4life - very assured. Highly decent distribution.
Hyam 8. Decent. Reads the game so well.
Willis 8. Athletic. Under-rated.
Sterling 6. Decent. Didn't see the usual attacking qualities today.
Mason 6. I like him.
Kelly 9. Great performance.
Bayliss 6. Not in great form right now.
Bright 7. Love watching him play. Exciting talent. Being played too deep though.
Thomas 8. Always involved. Fantastic energy.
Baka 7. Decent and more to come.
Hiwula 7. Confidence coming back.

Shipley 8. I thought Shippers was fantastic in the centre (cue the abuse). Some great passing. Good engine. Well done to the lad after some of the ridiculous criticism.

I'm really enjoying watching us play right now - we play an attractive style and there are promising signs.

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Spot on about Shipley.
I am a fan of him and Burge but you've got to be subjective, Stockdale looked so much more assured than Burge but Shipley was very good in midfield.

clint van damme said:

Stockdale looked so much more assured than Burge

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Given how much Birmingham pay him in wages, that's hardly surprising!!

Deleted member 5849 said:

Given how much Birmingham pay him in wages, that's hardly surprising!!

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Well there is that NW.

clint van damme said:

Well there is that NW.

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Which is also why thoughts we could replace Burge with a Stockdale are dead in the water. Leeds wanted him in the summer but couldn't afford him.

Great to hear that Shipley picked up where he left off last week in more central roles (inside the winger for the first hour, then replacing Meyler as a central player for the last part of the game, which seemed to suit him even better). You could see the change in him immediately. Some of the low ratings he got against Gillingham were completely unfair, and I can only think that some people just see what they want to see.

Not claiming he’s the new Bryan Robson, but he can do a good job at this level.

I've been a supporter of Burger but I think it's because we're so used to seeing either inexperience or poor performances for years and seeing someone like Stock dale today reminds us how much we've been missing. Felt his authority spreading confidence and commanded his area.

Surprised at a number of 9s for Kelly. I thought he did well but still a couple of dangerous losses of possession in bad areas and a number of shots that didn't hit the target at all.

A narrow win was enjoyable and we controlled the game, but have to start putting teams away. Nobody poor, nobody outstanding imo so 7.5s all round.

Have to say it, Kelly controlled the midfield today.
A great performance.

rob9872 said:

I've been a supporter of Burger but I think it's because we're so used to seeing either inexperience or poor performances for years and seeing someone like Stock dale today reminds us how much we've been missing. Felt his authority spreading confidence and commanded his area.

Surprised at a number of 9s for Kelly. I thought he did well but still a couple of dangerous losses of possession in bad areas and a number of shots that didn't hit the target at all.

A narrow win was enjoyable and we controlled the game, but have to start putting teams away. Nobody poor, nobody outstanding imo so 7.5s all round.

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See northern wisdom posts above. Stockdale in a different pay grade all together by the sound of it.

rob9872 said:

I've been a supporter of Burger but I think it's because we're so used to seeing either inexperience or poor performances for years and seeing someone like Stock dale today reminds us how much we've been missing. Felt his authority spreading confidence and commanded his area.

Surprised at a number of 9s for Kelly. I thought he did well but still a couple of dangerous losses of possession in bad areas and a number of shots that didn't hit the target at all.

A narrow win was enjoyable and we controlled the game, but have to start putting teams away. Nobody poor, nobody outstanding imo so 7.5s all round.

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You may have info on the inside son but don't mean you know much. Kelly is the underrated force behind promotion and if you can't see what he brings, then your opinion is worth jack