The Player Ratings Thread 2025/26

[pineapple stu]

With the start of a new season, might be worth looking at bringing this back from a year or two ago. Ratings for the Irish players as per whoscored.com, which should at least be consistent and impartial, even if you can argue about how accurate or relevant it is. Seems to be a fairly good indicator though.

Think I might leave out League One as there's nobody there who would really be threatening the senior setup. Callum Robinson might be about the only interesting name, and he's unlikely to be called up in September given he's starting on the bench for Cardiff there.

Championship
Birmingham 1-1 Ipswich - Cashin an unused sub; O'Shea 6.9, Ogbene 6.1, Taylor 6.6, Szmodics 6.3
Charlton 1-0 Watford - Coventry 6.6, Abankwah 6.9
Coventry 0-0 Hull - McCarthy and Egan unused subs
Southampton 2-1 Wrexham - Bazunu 6.4, Manning 7.8 (last 20 minutes only, but scored), McClean 5.9 (last 5 only), O'Connell an unused sub
Boro 1-0 Swansea - Gilbert an unused sub
Norwich 1-2 Millwall - Emakhu 6.2 (last 5 only)
Oxford 0-1 Portsmouth - Goodrham 6.0, Shaughnessy 7.4
Stoke 3-1 Derby - Lawal 6.5, Bonham an unused sub
WBA 1-0 Blackburn - Molumby 7.2, McLoughlin 7.0, Johnston an unused sub
Sheffield United 1-4 Bristol City - Cannon 6.1 (last 30 only), Knight 6.9, Armstrong 6.2 (last 10 only), Sykes 6.1 (last 15 only), Murphy an unused sub
Leicester 2-1 Wednesday - McAteer 6.2 (last 15 only), Otegbayo 5.9

SPL - first two weeks here
Killie 2-2 Livi - Carey 6.1 (taken off at half-time), Blaney an unused sub
Dundee 1-2 Hibs - O'Hora 6.3, McGrath 7.0 (last 35 only)
Celtic 1-0 St Mirren - Scales 8.5 (man of the match), Idah 6.1, Kenny 6.1 (last 15 only), Phillips 6.5, Idowo 6.2, Sobowale 6.2 (last 10 only)
Hearts 2-0 Aberdeen - McEntee 7.7
Livi 3-1 Falkirk - Carey 6.4, Blaney 7.9 (came on after 15 minutes)
St Mirren 0-0 Motherwell - Phillips 6.6, Idowu 6.0 (taken off at half-time), Sobowale 6.1 (replaced Idowu)
Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic - Molloy and Kenny unused subs, Scales 7.0, Idah 6.5
Hibs 2-2 Killie - O'Hora 6.2, McGrath 7.7 (one assist)
Dundee United 2-3 Hearts - McEntee 6.7

Other leagues
AZ 4-1 Groningen - Parrott 9.0 (scored twice)
PEC 1-0 Zwolle - MacNulty 7.6
Braga 3-0 Tondela - Hodge 6.2
Then Serie A hasn't started yet, Istanbul Basaksehir's game was postponed, Finn is in the second tier after Lyon's relegation was overturned and Afolabi is in the Belgian second tier. I think that's the foreign contingent - getting harder to keep track of them all!


So very good weeks (8.5+) for Scales, Parrott
Good weeks (7.5-8.4) for Manning, McGrath, McEntee, MacNulty
Poor weeks (5.5-6.2) for Ogbene, Otegbayo, Idowu x 2, O'Hora, Carey, Idah, Hodge
And very poor weeks (<5.5) for no-one

So a couple of bright spots, but overall nothing really special I think.

[Eirambler]

Good to see this back. Also positive that we're close to completely moving on from picking League 1 players in squads, it's only couple of years since we'd regularly have had half a dozen or more of them involved.

The one club down there that might be the exception could be Luton, who are a bit unfortunate to be there to start with and will expect to bounce straight back. They have McGuinness, Alli and Keeley and some good form could get any of those three into our squad I think.

In terms of the continental based players the other ones that may still be of interest would be Omobamidele in Ligue 1 and O'Dowda in Hungary.

[elatedscum]

With the start of a new season, might be worth looking at bringing this back from a year or two ago. Ratings for the Irish players as per whoscored.com, which should at least be consistent and impartial, even if you can argue about how accurate or relevant it is. Seems to be a fairly good indicator though.

Think I might leave out League One as there's nobody there who would really be threatening the senior setup. Callum Robinson might be about the only interesting name, and he's unlikely to be called up in September given he's starting on the bench for Cardiff there.

Championship
Birmingham 1-1 Ipswich - Cashin an unused sub; O'Shea 6.9, Ogbene 6.1, Taylor 6.6, Szmodics 6.3
Charlton 1-0 Watford - Coventry 6.6, Abankwah 6.9
Coventry 0-0 Hull - McCarthy and Egan unused subs
Southampton 2-1 Wrexham - Bazunu 6.4, Manning 7.8 (last 20 minutes only, but scored), McClean 5.9 (last 5 only), O'Connell an unused sub
Boro 1-0 Swansea - Gilbert an unused sub
Norwich 1-2 Millwall - Emakhu 6.2 (last 5 only)
Oxford 0-1 Portsmouth - Goodrham 6.0, Shaughnessy 7.4
Stoke 3-1 Derby - Lawal 6.5, Bonham an unused sub
WBA 1-0 Blackburn - Molumby 7.2, McLoughlin 7.0, Johnston an unused sub
Sheffield United 1-4 Bristol City - Cannon 6.1 (last 30 only), Knight 6.9, Armstrong 6.2 (last 10 only), Sykes 6.1 (last 15 only), Murphy an unused sub
Leicester 2-1 Wednesday - McAteer 6.2 (last 15 only), Otegbayo 5.9

SPL - first two weeks here
Killie 2-2 Livi - Carey 6.1 (taken off at half-time), Blaney an unused sub
Dundee 1-2 Hibs - O'Hora 6.3, McGrath 7.0 (last 35 only)
Celtic 1-0 St Mirren - Scales 8.5 (man of the match), Idah 6.1, Kenny 6.1 (last 15 only), Phillips 6.5, Idowo 6.2, Sobowale 6.2 (last 10 only)
Hearts 2-0 Aberdeen - McEntee 7.7
Livi 3-1 Falkirk - Carey 6.4, Blaney 7.9 (came on after 15 minutes)
St Mirren 0-0 Motherwell - Phillips 6.6, Idowu 6.0 (taken off at half-time), Sobowale 6.1 (replaced Idowu)
Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic - Molloy and Kenny unused subs, Scales 7.0, Idah 6.5
Hibs 2-2 Killie - O'Hora 6.2, McGrath 7.7 (one assist)
Dundee United 2-3 Hearts - McEntee 6.7

Other leagues
AZ 4-1 Groningen - Parrott 9.0 (scored twice)
PEC 1-0 Zwolle - MacNulty 7.6
Braga 3-0 Tondela - Hodge 6.2
Then Serie A hasn't started yet, Istanbul Basaksehir's game was postponed, Finn is in the second tier after Lyon's relegation was overturned and Afolabi is in the Belgian second tier. I think that's the foreign contingent - getting harder to keep track of them all!


So very good weeks (8.5+) for Scales, Parrott
Good weeks (7.5-8.4) for Manning, McGrath, McEntee, MacNulty
Poor weeks (5.5-6.2) for Ogbene, Otegbayo, Idowu x 2, O'Hora, Carey, Idah, Hodge
And very poor weeks (<5.5) for no-one

So a couple of bright spots, but overall nothing really special I think.

Honestly in League 1, you've got 7 lads who have been called up not that long ago: Mark McGuinness, Callum Robinson, Josh Keeley, Aaron Connolly, Marcus Harness, CJ Hamilton, Luca Connell

And I'd say another 7 interesting senior players due to our lack of depth at left back and in midfield primarily and a few just because they're interesting: Mellenic Alli, Sean Roughan, Tayo Adaramola, Baba Adeeko, Jack Moylan, Neil Farrugia, Andy Lyons...

[pineapple stu]

In terms of the continental based players the other ones that may still be of interest would be Omobamidele in Ligue 1 and O'Dowda in Hungary.
Good spots! There's no ratings for the Hungarian league games though so O'Dowda won't feature here.

There's more League One players of interest than I'd realised! The last time it seemed to be mostly ex-LoI players, a couple of guys on the way down, and Cashing standing out

But will leave it out all the same. The player threads can cover them

[pineapple stu]

This one might be worth stickying in place of the "Games Weekend: All Leagues" thread btw?

First weekend of the Premier and in Holland too - just Serie A to start now really.

Premier League
Spurs 3-0 Burnley - Cullen 6.9 (their highest rating by a distance)
Wolves 0-4 Man City - Doherty 5.8
Forest 3-1 Brentford - Kelleher 5.8, Collins 5.9

Championship
Portsmouth 1-2 Norwich - Shaughnessy 7.4
Wrexham 2-3 WBA - McClean 6.6 (and an assist), O'Connell and O'Connor unused subs, Molumby 6.8, Johnston 7.4 (last 20 minutes only, but two assists)
Millwall 0-3 Boro - Emakhu 5.9 (last 10 only), Azaz 7.1 (last 20 only, but an assist)
Preston 2-1 Leicester - McAteer 6.2 (last 5 only)
Wednesday 0-3 Stoke - Otegbayo 6.3, Lawal 7.1, Bonham an unused sub
Swansea 1-0 Sheffield United - Cannon 5.9 (last 30 only), Curtis an unused sub
Watford 2-1 QPR - Abankwah 6.5, Vata an unused sub
Blackburn 1-2 Birmingham - McLoughlin 6.3, Cashin 6.5 (injury time only)
Bristol City 0-0 Charlton - Knight 7.1, Armstrong 6.2 (last 10 only), Sykes 6.2 (last 35 only), Coventry 7.1
Ipswich 1-1 Southampton - O'Shea 6.7, Taylor 6.4, Szmodics 6.1, Ogbene 6.2 (last 20 only), Bazunu 6.1, Manning 6.4 (last 35 only)
Hull 3-2 Oxford - Egan 6.8, McCarthy an unused sub, Goodrham 7.3 (and an assist - though I don't know if I should be counting him really)

SPL - no games this week as it was the League Cup

Other
Volendam 2-2 AZ - Parrott 7.2 (and scored)
Telstar 0-2 PEC - MacNulty 7.2
Tondela 0-1 Familicao - Hodge 6.4
Basaksehir 1-1 Kayserispor - Ebosele 7.4


So very good weeks (8.5+) for no-one
Good weeks (7.5-8.4) for no-one
Poor weeks (5.5-6.2) for Doherty, Kelleher, Collins, Szmodics, Bazunu
And very poor weeks (<5.5) for no-one

A pretty mundane week all told to be honest.

[tetsujin1979]

This one might be worth stickying in place of the "Games Weekend: All Leagues" thread btw?
Done and done

[pineapple stu]

Ratings as we get close to the international window - probably expect a squad decision in the next week?

Premier League
Leeds 1-0 Everton - O'Brien 5.9, Coleman and Travers unused subs
Bournemouth 1-0 Wolves - Doherty 6.9
Brentford 1-0 Villa - Kelleher 6.7, Collins 7.3
Burnley 2-0 Sunderland - Cullen 8.3 (one goal, one assist, one man of the match)
Everton 2-0 Brighton - O'Brien 7.1, Coleman and Travers unused subs

Championship
Derby 1-1 Bristol City - Knight 6.4, Armstrong 6.2 (last 35 only)
Hull 0-3 Blackburn - McCarthy 6.3, Egan 6.7, Ashbee an unused sub, McLoughlin 7.2
Charlton 0-1 Leicester - Coventry 7.1
Swansea 1-1 Watford - Abankwah 6.7, Vata 6.1 (last 5 only)
WBA 1-1 Portsmouth - Molumby 6.3, Johnston 7.3 (and scored), Shaughnessy 7.1
Coventry 7-1 QPR - Dunne 6.1
Wrexham 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday - McClean 6.8, O'Connell an unused sub, Otegbayo 6.1 (injury time only)
Birmingham 1-0 Oxford - Cashin an unused sub
Norwich 1-2 Boro - Azaz 7.2 (and scored)
Preston 1-0 Ipswich - O'Shea 6.9, Taylor 6.3, Szmodics 6.4, McAteer 5.8 (last 25 only), Ogbene an unused sub
Sheffield United 0-1 Millwall - Cannon 6.1, Emakhu 6.3 (last 20 only)
Southampton 1-2 Stoke - Bazunu 6.3, Manning 7.4 (came on after 20 minutes), Lawal 6.7, Bonham an unused sub

SPL
St Mirren 1-1 Rangers - Phillips 7.0, Idowu 6.7 (last 5 only - great rating for an 85th minute sub!), Sobowale an unused sub
Celtic 3-0 Livi - Scales 7.7, Kenny 7.2 (last 20 only, but scored), Blaney 6.7 (came off after 30 minutes)
Hearts 3-3 Motherwell - McEntee 6.0

Other
Roma 1-0 Bologna - Ferguson 7.3
Strasbourg 1-0 Nantes - Omobamidele 6.6 (but subbed off before half-time, presumably injured)
Benfica 3-0 Tondela - Hodge 6.0 (taken off at half-time)
No games for Parrott, Ebosele or MacNulty due to the European games midweek


So very good weeks (8.5+) for no-one
Good weeks (7.5-8.4) for Cullen, Scales
Poor weeks (5.5-6.2) for O'Brien, Dunne, Cannon, McEntee, Hodge
And very poor weeks (<5.5) for no-one

Again not a massive amount of good news in all of that

[Eirambler]

Is 8.5 maybe too high a bar for a "very good week"? Maybe 8.0 and up would be more realistic - I'd say Cullen definitely had a very good week this week. And maybe 7.2 - 7.9 for a "good week" - Collins, Johnston, Azaz and Ferguson all had good weeks this week I would say?

[SkStu]

Is 8.5 maybe too high a bar for a "very good week"? Maybe 8.0 and up would be more realistic - I'd say Cullen definitely had a very good week this week. And maybe 7.2 - 7.9 for a "good week" - Collins, Johnston, Azaz and Ferguson all had good weeks this week I would say?

Funny. I had a post written to say something very similar but decided not to post it as it’s all subjective. I’d go with anything over 8.0 being very good, anything over 7.1 being good and average being 6.5-7.0…

You’d be fairly happy with a B in the leaving, like.

[SkStu]

Thanks for doing this though, Pineappler.

[pineapple stu]

Funny. I had a post written to say something very similar but decided not to post it as it’s all subjective. I’d go with anything over 8.0 being very good, anything over 7.1 being good and average being 6.5-7.0…

You’d be fairly happy with a B in the leaving, like.
I think this has come up before alright. There's an argument 7.5 is too high for "Good" alright. Whoscored themselves define "Good" as 7.0-7.9 (https://www.whoscored.com/explanations), but more than a third of players score 7.0 or higher and that seems too much.

They also say 6.0 is "Average" but I'm defining it as poor because it effectively means you had bugger all impact on the game (I remember Will Keane's cameo in France was 6.0 because he was on the pitch 10 minutes and literally never touched the ball once - and not through his own fault either")

That said, if "Poor" is <6.3, there's an argument you could leave out 6.3-7.2 as nothing special, and then good starts at 7.3 and very good at 8.3

But in the end of the day, it's just an exercise in seeing who did what over the weekend where (which is a lot easier having taken out the League One sides :p), and then you can see that, for example, Otegbayo wasn't great in his first two starts for Wednesday and has been dropped, or Coventry may be coming back as an option. (Cashin was one who got great scores on this too actually)

[pineapple stu]

The ratings as we go international week so -

Premier League
Wolves 2-3 Everton - Doherty and Travers unused subs, O'Brien 6.6, Coleman 6.0 (came on in the last minute and didn't touch the ball)
Sunderland 2-1 Brentford - Kelleher 5.7, Collins 7.1
Man Utd 3-2 Burnley - Cullen 6.1 (scored an own goal)

Championship
Leicester 2-0 Birmingham - Cashin an unused sub
Boro 1-0 Sheffield United - Lenihan 6.0 (came on in the last minute and didn't touch the ball - but his first game in two years I think?), Cannon 6.1 (last 20 only)
QPR 3-1 Charlton - Dunne 7.3, Coventry 5.9
Stoke 0-1 WBA - Lawal 6.3, Molumby 6.4, Johnston 6.9, Bonham an unused sub
Watford 2-2 Southampton - Abankwah 6.4, Vata 6.9 (last 35 only, but got an assist), Bazunu 5.9, Manning 7.8 (and scored), Azaz 6.7
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Swansea - Otegbayo an unused sub
Blackburn 0-2 Norwich - McLoughlin 5.4 (sent off in the first half)
Bristol City 4-2 Hull - Sykes 6.3, Knight 7.0, Armstrong an unused sub, Egan 7.0, McCarthy 6.1 (injury time only)
Ipswich 2-2 Derby - O'Shea 6.9 (an eventful game - hit the bar, made a last ditch tackle, and made an error that lead to a goal), McAteer 6.1, Taylor 6.7 (last 15 only), Szmodics 6.0 (last 25 only)
Millwall 0-2 Wrexham - Emakhu 6.8, McClean 6.9 (last 15 only, but an assist), O'Connor an unused sub
Portsmouth 1-0 Preston - Shaughnessy 7.4

SPL
Aberdeen 0-1 Falkirk - Molloy 6.5 (second half only)
Livi 1-2 Hearts - Carey an unused sub, McEntee 6.7
Motherwell 2-2 Killie - Brown an unused sub
Rangers 0-0 Celtic - Scales 7.7
Hibs 1-1 St Mirren - McGrath 6.4 (last 25 only), O'Hora an unused sub, Philips 6.4 (came off after 25 minutes), Sobowale and Idowu unused subs

Other
Pisa 0-1 Roma - Ferguson 6.9 (and an assist)
PEC Zwolle 0-2 Utrecht - MacNulty 5.9
Basaksehir 0-0 Eyupspor - Ebosele 7.3

And Parrott, Omobamidele and Hodge all missing


So very good weeks (8.3+) for no-one
Good weeks (7.3-8.2) for Dunne, Manning, Shaughnessy, Scales, Ebosele
Poor weeks (5.3-6.2) for Kelleher, Cullen, Coventry, Bazunu, McLoughlin, McAteer, MacNulty
And very poor weeks (<5.3) for no-one

[pineapple stu]

Might be worth noting the ratings from last night - see how they seem for a game most of us were watching more closely than the other games listed here.

Kelleher 7.0
O'Brien 6.4
O'Shea 7.5
Collins 6.8 (technically an assist for Ferguson's goal)
Doherty 6.4
Szmodics 6.4
Knight 6.9
Cullen 6.0
Manning 8.4 (man of the match, and an assist)
Azaz 6.6
Ferguson 7.0 (and scored)
Ogbene 6.4 (last 25 only)
Idah 7.2 (last 15 only - but scored)
Johnston 6.2 (last 15 only)
Taylor 6.2 (last 25 only)
McAteer 6.1 (injury time only)

So on that basis a very good game for Manning, a good game for O'Shea, and a poor game for Cullen.

[Exgrad]

Not sure how O'Shea got such a high rating and Collins had a nightmare game, which is standard enough for him in fairness for Ireland. He's lucky Doherty was there to take the flak. Rest of ratings seem ok, Azaz a bit high but improved marginally second half i guess.

[pineapple stu]

Tonight's ratings are rather predictable really...

Kelleher 7.0
O'Shea 6.0
Collins 6.1
O'Brien 6.1
Ogbene 6.0
Manning 6.5
Cullen 6.6
Knight 6.1
Azaz 6.1
Taylor 6.3
Ferguson 7.1
Phillips 5.9
Johnston 6.1
Idah 6.6
Scales 6.1
McAteer 6.2

So poor games for O'Shea, Collins, O'Brien, Ogbene, Knight and Azaz - more than half the team

Kelleher and Ferguson the two obvious positives

[pineapple stu]

Back to club action this week - although to be honest it feels a bit of a futile exercise when you see the disparity between club form and international form last Tuesday...

Anyways!

Premier League
Newcastle 1-0 Wolves - Doherty an unused sub
Everton 0-0 Villa - O'Brien 7.1, Coleman and Travers unused subs
Brentford 2-2 Chelsea - Kelleher 6.8, Collins 6.7
Burnley 0-1 Liverpool - Cullen 6.8

Championship
Ipswich 5-0 Sheffield United - O'Shea 7.6, McAteer 7.1, Szmodics 6.5 (last 30 only), Taylor an unused sub, McGuinness 5.8, Cannon 5.9, Barry 5.7
Preston 2-2 Boro - Lenihan 6.9 (his first start in two years), Browne 6.3 (last 5 only - his first appearance of the season)
Charlton 1-1 Millwall - Coventry 6.8, Emakhu 7.1
Sheffield Wednesday 0-3 Bristol City - Otegbayo 5.7, Sykes 6.8, Knight 6.7, Armstrong 6.6 (last 10 only), Lumley an unused sub
Stoke 1-0 Birmingham - Lawal 8.7 (man of the match, and scored), Cashin an unused sub
Swansea 2-2 Hull - Idah 6.1 (last 25 only), Egan 6.8 (and scored)
Watford 0-1 Blackburn - Vata 6.4, Abankwah an unused sub
WBA 0-1 Derby - Molumby 7.2, Johnston 7.2
Wrexham 1-3 QPR - McClean 6.2, Dunne 7.3 (an assist)
Southampton 0-0 Portsmouth - Bazunu 7.0, Manning 7.1, Azaz 6.5, Shaughnessy 7.1

SPL
Killie 1-2 Celtic - Brown 6.6, Scales 7.1
Aberdeen 0-0 Livi - Molloy and Carey unused subs
Falkirk 1-2 St Mirren - Phillips 6.6, Sobowale and Idowu unused subs
Rangers 0-2 Hearts - McEntee 7.3
Hibs 3-3 Dundee United - O'Hora 6.9, McGrath (scored from the spot)

Others
Roma 0-1 Torino - Ferguson 6.1 (second half only)
Ajax 3-1 PEC - MacNulty 5.9
Besiktas 2-1 Basaksehir - Ebosele 6.6
And no games for Parrott, Hodge or Omobamidele, who I assume are all still injured


So very good weeks (8.3+) for no-one
Fair to middling weeks (in and around 8.7) for Lawal :p
Good weeks (7.3-8.2) for Dunne, O'Shea, McEntee, McGrath
Poor weeks (5.3-6.2) for Otegbayo, McGuinness, Cannon, Barry, McClean, MacNulty
And very poor weeks (<5.3) for no-one

[Trequartista20]

I think some would question the methodology as to these rankings, but an appreciated resource nonetheless.

As an aside, could I ask who is Lumley (likely brain-fog) and why Josh Key of Swansea isn't included?

[pineapple stu]

Joe Lumley is a brainfart - good spot! I meant Jack Bonham, who was an unused sub for Stoke.

Generally speaking I just cycle through the teamsheets and pick out the Irish flags - there's a fair few exceptions though, such as Szmodics (English flag) and Sykes (NI flag), so I have to just remember those guys.

Josh Key has no flag beside him and hasn't been linked with us for a couple of years at this stage I think, so just not on my radar at all. 6.6 was his rating, for what it's worth.

I see I also left out McGrath's rating from the weekend - 7.8. You can question the methodology for sure - any rating has to be subjective to some extent - but I think they're not bad, and they should definitely be independent and consistent, which is useful. Certainly don't take them as gospel for sure.

[Trequartista20]

Thanks. And all questions well explained.

I'm not still not sure if Key is absolutely elligible.

A useful and valued imput anyway.

[pineapple stu]

Don't know if this will lift the gloom and silence about the place. Probably not - it's not exactly encouraging...

Premier League
Burnley 1-1 Forest - Cullen 6.6
Fulham 3-1 Brentford - Kelleher 5.7, Collins 6.3 (bit lucky to get that from having had half an eye on it)
Liverpool 2-1 Everton - O'Brien 6.2, Coleman and Travers unused subs
And no sign of Doherty for Wolves this week

Championship
Bristol City 1-3 Oxford - Knight 5.9, Sykes 6.5, Armstrong 6.1 (last 5 minutes only), Lumley an unused sub
Boro 2-1 WBA - Browne 6.3 (last 30 only), Molumby 6.6, Johnston 7.3 (last 30 only, but an assist)
QPR 1-0 Stoke - Dunne 7.7, Lawal 6.8
Birmingham 1-0 Swansea - Cashin 6.4 (remember him?! Last 10 minutes only before anyone gets too excited), Idah 5.8 (last 15 only)
Blackburn A-A Ipswich - McLoughlin 6.3 (last 5 only), O'Shea 7.0, McAteer 6.1, Szmodics 6.0 (last 10 only), Taylor an unused sub - game abandoned after 75 minutes with Blackburn 1-0 up
Hull 3-1 Southampton - Egan 7.1, Bazunu 5.6, Manning 6.1, Azaz 6.4
Sheffield United 0-1 Charlton - McGuinness 7.4, Ogbene 6.4, Cannon 6.2 (last 20 only), Barry 5.9 (last 25 only), Coventry 7.1
Norwich 2-3 Wrexham - McClean 5.9 (last 10 only)
Portsmouth 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday - Shaughnessy 5.8 (subbed off after 50 minutes), Otegbayo an unused sub

SPL
Dundee 3-2 Livi - Blaney 6.6, Carey 6.1 (last 20 only)
League Cup games apart from that

League Cup
Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Grimsby - Otegbayo 6.2 (one of two players to come on after 35 minutes; not sure what that was about), Kabia 7.7 (and scored), Burns 6.2 (last 15 only), Pym 6.3
Brentford 1-1 Villa - Collins 6.3 (last 40 only), Kelleher an unused sub
Palace 1-1 Millwall - Emakhu 6.0 (last 15 only - missed in the shoot-out)
Swansea 3-2 Forest - Idah 6.0

Champions League
Newcastle 1-2 Barcelona - Murphy and unused sub

Other
Lazio 0-1 Roma - Ferguson 6.7
Paris FC 2-3 Strasbourg - Omobamidele 6.1 (last 5 only as he returns from injury)
Tondela 0-0 Estrela da Amadora - Hodge 6.9
PEC Zwolle 0-2 Go Ahead Eagles - MacNulty 6.2
Istanbul Basaksehir 1-1 Alanyaspor - Ebosele 6.3


So very good weeks (8.3+) for no-one
Good weeks (7.3-8.2) for Johnston, Dunne, McGuinness
Poor weeks (5.3-6.2) for Kelleher, Knight, McAteer, Bazunu, Manning, Shaughnessy, MacNulty, Otegbayo, Idah
And very poor weeks (<5.3) for no-one

[pineapple stu]

Another update, including the third round of the League Cup with some random names. Bit of a trend of players dropping down to the bench in recent weeks - Bazunu, McAteer, Taylor, Vata, Abankwah, Ferguson, Hodge...

Premier League
Spurs 1-1 Wolves - Doherty 6.6 (taken off at half-time - not sure why; seemed to do ok, and hit the woodwork)
Man City 5-1 Burnley - Cullen 6.7 (their highest rating bar the guy who scored)
Brentford 3-1 Man Utd - Kelleher 8.4 (man of the match, and saved a penalty of course), Collins 6.2 (booked for giving away the penalty in the first place)

Championship
West Brom 1-1 Leicester - Molumby 6.1, Johnston 6.7
Wrexham 1-1 Derby - McClean an unused sub
Swansea 1-1 Millwall - Idah 5.9 (last 10 only), Emakhu 6.9, Smallbone 6.5
Coventry 3-0 Birmingham - Cashin 6.3 (brought on just before half-time in a reshuffle when Birmingham had a player sent off)
Ipswich 2-1 Portsmouth - O'Shea 7.3, Szmodics 7.1, McAteer 6.2 (last 15 only), Taylor an unused sub
Oxford 0-1 Sheffield United - McGuinness 7.7 (man of the match), Ogbene 6.9 (and an assist), Cannon 6.0 (last 15 only), Barry an unused sub
Charlton 3-0 Blackburn - Coventry 7.5, McLoughlin an unused sub
Watford 2-1 Hull - Abankwah and Vata unused subs, Egan 6.5
Stoke 1-1 Norwich - Lawal 6.6, Bonham an unused sub
Southampton 1-1 Boro - Manning 6.5, Azaz 6.4, Bazunu an unused sub, Browne 6.3 (last 30 only)
Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 QPR - Ategbayo 6.3 (last 15 only), Dunne 7.1
Preston 0-0 Bristol City - Sykes 6.5, Knight 6.4, Armstrong 6.0 (last 5 only)

SPL
Celtic 0-0 Hibs - Scales 7.3, O'Hora 7.0, McGrath 6.4 (taken off after 35 minutes - presume injured?)
St Mirren 1-0 Dundee - Phillips 8.1 (scored, and man of the match), Idowu 7.1, Sobowale and O'Hara unused subs
Falkirk 2-2 Hibs - O'Hora 6.7, McGrath 8.2 (and scored)
Dundee United 2-0 Aberdeen - Molloy an unused sub
Hearts 3-0 Falkirk - McEntee 7.1
Dundee 0-1 Killie - Brown 7.2

Other
Roma 2-0 Verona - Ferguson 6.2 (last 30 only)
Strasbourg 1-2 Marseille - Omobamidele 5.9 (last 5 only)
Angers 0-2 Brest - Jauny an unused sub
AZ 2-2 PEC - MacNulty 6.6
Volendam 2-1 PEC - MacNulty 6.1
Santa Clara 1-2 Tondela - Hodge 5.9 (last 25 only)
Konyaspor 2-1 Basaksehir - Ebosele 6.3 (one of two players taken off at half-time)

Europa League
Nice 1-2 Roma - Ferguson 5.9 (last 20 only)
Red Star 1-1 Celtic - Scales 7.0
Ferencvaros 1-1 Viktoria Plzen - O'Dowda 6.9

League Cup
Lincoln 1-2 Chelsea - Collins 5.9 (last 20 only)
Wolves 2-0 Everton - Doherty 7.2, Travers 6.3, O'Brien 7.1, Coleman 6.2
Liverpool 2-1 Southampton - Manning 6.8
Burnley 1-2 Cardiff - Robinson 7.6 (and scored)
Wrexham 2-0 Reading - McClean 6.7, O'Mahony 6.0, Ryan 6.1 (subbed on just before half-time)
Wigan 0-2 Wycombe - Adeeko 6.1, Costelloe 5.5
Barnsley 0-6 Brighton - Connell 6.5, Farrugia 5.7
Newcastle 4-1 Bradford - Murphy 6.1 (last 5 only)
Huddersfield 0-2 Man City - Roughan 6.4
Spurs 3-0 Doncaster - Lawlor 6.7, Grehan 6.3
Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal - Curtis 6.5, Paton 6.1


So very good weeks (8.3+) for Kelleher
Good weeks (7.3-8.2) for O'Shea, McGuinness, Coventry, Scales, Phillips, McGrath, Robinson
Poor weeks (5.3-6.2) for Collins, Molumby, MacNulty, Coleman, O'Mahony, Ryan, Adeeko, Costelloe, Farrugia, Paton
And very poor weeks (<5.3) for no-one

[passinginterest]

There really is a worrying trend of players being dropped and very few showing any kind of consistent good form.
Scales seems to be one of the most consistent but not likely to start anyway. Kelleher has been mostly positive, although he was very weak for the goal conceded at the weekend, but balanced it with the penalty save. Coventry seems to be putting his hand up for a call, but he's another that's a solid midfielder but lacks mobility and probably isn't much of a difference to any of the others we've seen recently. Collins has been really poor in his last few games, lucky not to be sent off conceding the penalty and I feel like he might be in danger of being dropped if he wasn't captain for both club and country. Good to see Smallbone back, he seems to have slightly more about him than most of the other options in the middle. The only other player we haven't really seen, but is starting a lot in the Championship is Emakhu, but we've got a lot of similar players ahead of him. Early season with Parrot flying and a lot of staters was looking so positive, it started going wrong with Parrot's injury and seems to be getting worse and worse since the international break. It's very worrying.

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, that's roughly the way I see it alright.

We seem to have four good players - Kelleher, Collins, Parrott and Ferguson - but each of those is flawed. (Maybe O'Brien is a fifth) Kelleher is a Champions League winner, but he's only starting into his first season as first choice now, pushing 27, and he hasn't been pulling up trees yet this season (hopefully the Man Utd game gives him and Brentford confidence now). Collins as you say has ropey form - especially at international level. Ferguson is one of the top-scoring teenagers in Premier League history, but that was two years ago now, and Parrott is injured.

Beyond that, it's a sea of meh, and I don't really see where the next player to change that is coming from. I think it's fair to say Coventry isn't necessarily an improvement on Cullen/Knight/Molumby. Emakhu did jump out by seeming to make more of an impact than Idah in the Swansea v Millwall game - but what is he? A forward with one goal in 60 games for Millwall? That's worse than Armstrong (7 in 85 for Championship teams), and he seems to have reached a tipping point where he's going backwards now. Which way will Emakhu go?

There's a huge swathe of centre-halves too who are often our best performers - Scales, Collins, Cashin, O'Shea, McGuinness, McLoughlin, Shaughnessy, Lawal, Dunne, O'Brien, Egan, Omobamidele. Really you could call up any 4/5 of those and the others wouldn't have too much to complain about. It's pretty wasteful on our part!

There's also a fair few players who seem to be going backwards (which I'm taking as being more permanent than just a bad batch of form, but still not terminal for all that) - Moran, O'Mahony, Bazunu, Omobamidele, Armstrong, Vata, Szmodics, Cannon, Taylor, Idah, Hodge, Connolly, Obafemi, Connell. (Travers?) You can argue about how harsh some of those calls are, and most of the players are quite young still, but I think 3/4 years ago we'd have hoped they'd be further along than they are now.

And that doesn't leave a lot of other players on the list to be honest. We had a brief golden era with Kenny's 21s team, but that's ultimately brought us less far than we might have expected, and I'm struggling to see the next batch coming through.

It really is looking very, very stark for the foreseeable future. Will we beat Armenia next month? If not, we're ending the group winless - first time since 1972.

[pineapple stu]

The lie of the land going into the international window...

Premier League
Everton 2-1 Palace - O'Brien 8.0 (a goalline clearance in there), Coleman 6.0 (a 99th-minute sub), Travers an unused sub
Villa 2-1 Burnley - Cullen 7.3
Brentford 0-1 Man City - Kelleher 6.6, Collins 6.3

Championship (which includes a set of midweek games)
Derby 1-1 Charlton - Coventry 6.6
Birmingham 2-2 Wednesday - Cashin 6.2 (a first start - but at fault for one of Wednesday's goals), Otegbayo 5.9 (a 95th-minute sub)
Blackburn 1-2 Swansea - McLoughlin 6.7, Idah 6.8 (last 30 only, but an assist)
Bristol City 1-1 Ipswich - Armstrong 5.9 (last 25 only), Sykes 6.5 (last 35 only), O'Shea 6.6, McAteer 6.4, Szmodics 6.1 (last 10 only), Taylor an unused sub
Hull 2-2 Preston - Egan 6.9
Leicester 1-1 Wrexham - McClean 6.3 (last 20 only)
Boro 0-0 Stoke - Browne 7.0, Lawal 7.1, Bonham an unused sub
Sheffield United 1-2 Southampton - McGuinness 6.3, Ogbene 6.3, Cannon 6.1 (last 20 only), Manning 6.8, Azaz 6.4, Bazunu an unused sub
QPR 0-0 Oxford - Dunne 7.0
Millwall 0-4 Coventry - Emakhu 6.3, Smallbone 6.1 (last 15 only)
Norwich 0-1 WBA - Molumby 6.8, Johnston 6.9
Portsmouth 2-2 Watford - Abankwah 6.9, Vata 7.5 (came on as a sub after half an hour, but scored and was man of the match)
Wrexham 1-1 Birmingham - McClean 6.1 (last 5 only), Cashin an unused sub (so dropped after his error midweek it seems)
Portsmouth 1-0 Boro - Browne 6.2 (last 20 only)
Millwall 3-0 WBA - Smallbone 6.7, Emakhu 6.1 (last 5 only), Johnston 6.6, Molumby 6.2
Hull 1-0 Sheffield United - Egan 6.8, McGuinness 6.3, Ogbene 6.1, Cannon 6.0 (last 20 only)
Blackburn 1-1 Stoke - McLoughlin 8.3 (0.01 off man of the match), Bonham an unused sub.
Sheffield Wednesday 0-5 Coventry - Otegbayo an unused sub
Ipswich 3-1 Norwich - O'Shea 6.6, Szmodics 6.8, McAteer and Taylor unused subs
Preston 2-0 Charlton - Coventry 6.4
Bristol City 1-2 QPR - Sykes 6.4, Armstrong 5.9 (last 25 only), Dunne 7.7 (and an assist)
Derby 1-1 Southampton - Manning 7.2, Azaz 6.1 (last 10 only), Bazunu an unused sub (and McCarthy man of the match)
Swansea 1-3 Leicester - Idah 6.4 (last 25 only - scored a penalty, one of only five touches he had while on the pitch)
Watford 2-1 Oxford - Abankwah 7.8

SPL
Celtic 3-2 Motherwell - Scales 6.4
Dundee United 1-1 Livi - Carey and Blaney unused subs
Killie 2-0 St Mirren - Brown 7.9 (and an assist), Phillips 6.0, Idowu 5.8 (hooked at half-time)
Hearts 1-0 Hibs - McEntee 7.5, O'Hora 6.3, McGrath 6.0 (last 15 only)
Aberdeen 4-0 Dundee - O'Hara an unused sub

Other
Fiorentina 1-2 Roma - Ferguson an unused sub
Strasbourg 5-0 Angers - Omobamidele 6.2 (last 15 only)
PEC Zwolle 0-4 PSV - MacNulty 5.8
Alkmaar 2-1 Telstar - Parrott 6.2 (last 20 only)
Goztepe 1-0 Basaksehir - Ebosele 6.5 (last 15 only)

Champions League
Union St Gilloise 0-4 Newcastle - Murphy an unused sub

Europa League
Roma 0-1 Lille - Ferguson 5.6
Celtic 0-1 Braga - Scales 6.1
Genk 0-1 Ferencvaros - O'Dowda 6.8


So very good weeks (8.3+) for McLoughlin
Good weeks (7.3-8.2) for O'Brien, Cullen, Vata, Dunne, Abankwah, Brown, McEntee
Poor weeks (5.3-6.2) for Cashin, Molumby, Ogbene, Phillips, Idowu, Ferguson, Scales, MacNulty
And very poor weeks (<5.3) for no-one

[Trequartista20]

Vata started against Oxford Utd and played 70 minutes. Got a rating of 7.0 on Sofascore for what it's worth.

Ndaba came on as a late substitute for Lecce in their away win over Parma that took them off the bottom and up into 14th.

Moran made his first start for LAFC in midweek (he came on in the 65th minute tonight). Ronan also started for Colorado.

[pineapple stu]

Don't know how I missed Vata - but Ndaba is a good spot. 7.2 and 6.2 on whoscored respectively.

I haven't included MLS players in this although the ratings are there - it's not really on the radar for our players.

I could include Obafemi too (in the Bundesliga 2), though he's not been involved since one 15-minute sub appearance last month, when he got a 6.2

[pineapple stu]

I see Will Ferry not on the list above - marked as English on whoscored. 8.7 his rating against Livi, with an assist. Seems to be in very good form this season - average rating 7.5. But it's at a mid-table SPL team, so I won't be getting too excited yet

[pineapple stu]

Last night's ratings FWIW -

Kelleher 8.0
O'Shea 6.1
Collins 6.3
O'Brien 7.4
Coleman 6.7
Manning 6.8
Molumby 6.5
Cullen 6.2
Ogbene 6.3
Ebosele 6.2
Ferguson 5.8
Egan 6.1 (last 5 only)
Johnston 5.8 (last 25 only)
Smallbone 5.9 (last 15 only)
Parrott 5.9 (last 15 only)

[pineapple stu]

Suppose we can put in the ratings from last night too -

Kelleher 6.5
O'Shea 7.2
Collins 7.4
O'Brien 6.6
Coleman 6.8
Manning 8.2 (man of the match)
Smallbone 8.1 (assist for the goal)
Molumby 6.6
Azaz 6.6
Ebosele 6.7
Ferguson 7.1 (and scored - but did little enough apart from that)
Ogbene 6.4 (last 25 only)
Idah 6.2 (last 10 only)
Taylor 6.3 (last 10 only)
Parrott 6.3 (last 25 only)

Was surprised to hear Festy named as man of the match - thought he had a bit of flair but no real end product.

[pineapple stu]

May as well give this a go now the site is back up again...!

Premier League
Burnley 0-2 Arsenal - Cullen 6.3
Palace 2-0 Brentford - Kelleher 6.2, Collins 5.7 (and an own goal)

And I think that's it! Everton play tomorrow, and Doherty is injured for Wolves I think.

Championship
Wrexham 3-2 Coventry - McClean an unused sub
WBA 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday - Johnston 7.8, Otegbayo an unused sub
Leicester 0-2 Blackburn - McLoughlin 7.3
Norwich 0-2 Hull - Duffy 6.9 (just can't get rid of him!), Egan 7.1, McCarthy an unused sub
Oxford 2-2 Millwall - Emakhu 6.5 (last 30 only)
QPR 1-4 Ipswich - Dunne 6.3, O'Shea 6.7, Taylor 6.5, McAteer 6.1 (last 20 only)
Charlton 1-1 Swansea - Coventry 7.3 (and an assist), Idah 7.2 (and scored)
Sheffield United 1-3 Derby - McGuinness 6.6 (subbed off just before the hour - not sure if he's injured?), Ogbene 6.8, no sign of Cannon or Barry at all
Southampton 0-2 Preston - Manning 6.5, Azaz 6.0 (hooked at half-time), Bazunu an unused sub
Stoke 5-1 Bristol City - Armstrong 5.8, Sykes 7.2 (and scored), Bonham an unused sub
Watford 3-0 Boro - Vata 6.8, Browne 6.6
Birmingham 4-0 Portsmouth - Cashin an unused sub

SPL (including midweek games)
Celtic 4-0 Falkirk - Scales 7.5, Kenny 8.5 (scored twice, though just missed out on man of the match)
Hibs 0-1 Rangers - McGrath 6.4 (missed a penalty)
Killie 0-1 Aberdeen - Brown and Molloy unused subs
St Mirren 2-2 Hearts - Phillips 6.6, Sobowale 6.1 (last 5 only), Idowu an unused sub, McEntee 7.5
Falkirk 3-1 Killie - Brown 6.5 (second half only)
Hearts 4-0 Dundee - McEntee 8.6 (an assist and man of the match), O'Hara an unused sub
Livi 2-2 Hibs - Carey 7.1 (last 25 only, but scored from the spot), McGrath 7.1 (scored, but taken off before the half-hour, possibly injured?)

Other
Roma 2-1 Parma - Ferguson 6.0 (subbed off after 6 minutes of course)
Lecce 0-1 Napoli - Ndaba an unused sub
Fiorentina 0-1 Lecce - Ndaba an unused sub
Strasbourg 4-0 Auxerre - Omobamidele 7.4 (but no sign of him today, so presume he's also injured)
Sparta 0-1 AZ - Parrott 6.7 (despite missing a penalty)
Heracles 8-2 PEC - MacNulty 5.1
Istanbul Basaksehir 1-0 Kocaelispor - Ebosele 6.0 (injury time only)
Bochum 2-0 Magdeburg - Obafemi an unused sub


So very good weeks (8.3+) for Kenny, McEntee
Good weeks (7.3-8.2) for Johnston, McLoughlin, Scales, McEntee, Omobamidele
Poor weeks (5.3-6.2) for Kelleher, Collins, Azaz, Armstrong
And very poor weeks (<5.3) for MacNulty