I’m going to alter the end-of-month article a little, keeping it to one page and just the positives.
It’s mainly for me, but we all know what the bad games are. Let’s celebrate what we do well, and I’ll keep the other stuff for the end of the season!
Anyway, in August, the Imps played eight games, but we’re including nine, as there was a game in July as well. In nine matches, we scored 14 goals, conceded 11 (four against Peterborough), kept three clean sheets and picked up seven league points.
We won two cup games, drawing one which we won on penalties. Despite the gloom and doom around Saturday’s result, August wasn’t actually a bad month at all.
Here are the best of the performers and performances, as well as some stats that, if I get good feedback, might also be a feature.
Player of the Month – Carl Rushworth (7.26)
Rushworth certainly impressed you all – he was only one of two players to finish on a rating of 7.00 or more (the other was Max Sanders). Rishworth kept two of our clean sheets and had strong outings in almost all of his matches. He was named Man of the Match in our 2-2 draw with Fleetwood, remarkable given Ted Bishop’s performance, and I think we’ve got a solid keeper going into a tough Autumnal period.
If anything, his distribution needs a bit of work, but he’s always quick to get us moving up the field, and despite seeming small for a keeper, he’s not been to blame for any of the four goals he let in over the course of August. It’s certainly a solid start from the Brighton man.
Individual Performance of the Month – Jordan Wright (8.7 Barrow A)
Whilst Jordan Wright conceded seven of the 11 goals we shipped in August, he was still responsible for the best performance of the month, away at Barrow. He made three crucial saves in the penalty shoot-out to set up the not-so illustrious trip to Ashton Gate, but he also put on a good performance in normal time.
He’s as solid a backup as we’ve had in many years, I feel; he’s top of League Two standard right now in my opinion, and he’s only going to get better. He proved that with the most recent clean sheet against Barnsley, where he managed to keep himself warm for 90 minutes when the opposition didn’t trouble him with an effort. I like that sort of self-sufficiency.
Team Performance of the Month – Oxford United (7.29)
I don’t have any images from the Oxford game, but as our only league win of the month, there’s no surprise it scores the highest. It showed two sides of the Imps, the clinical finishers in the first half, the team that netted 14 goals in nine matches and can create good chances, but in the second, it showed a dogged defensive team, well-organised and capable of putting their bodies on the line.
For some reason, this was probably the last time we saw that application, and I’m not sure why, but there’s no doubt the win against Oxford underlined that we can do the right things the right way; we just need to do it every week. If we played as we did at Oxford every week, we’d be fine.
Wyscout Stats Leaders
It’s worth noting here that the way Wyscout works makes it hard for me to separate the new faces, and those who have played for us and gone elsewhere and played for other clubs, so this s intended to give you a flavour of the better performers, but is not to be used as an in-depth scouting model. Which I doubt any of you would want to use it for, but you never know.
To qualify for the stats, a player must have played at least 200 minutes for the Imps. Otherwise, someone coming on for ten minutes and getting a shot away would be right at the top of the ‘per 90’ stats!
Most Touches In The Box Per 90 – Jordon Garrick (4.72)
Most Shots Per 90 – Jordon Garrick (2.18)
Successful Dribbles Per 90 – Jordon Garrick (5.44)
Goals & Assists Combined – Ted Bishop (7)
Forward Passes Per 90 – Regan Poole (22.7)
Accurate Forward Passes % – Anthony Scully (76.4%)
Successful Crosses Per 90 – Jamie Robson (1.16)
Successful Defensive Action Per 90 – Jamie Robson (13.62)
Aerial Duels Won Per 90 – Tom Hopper (7.18)
You must be logged in to post a comment.