Clinicality The Key!

Posh faced another side in the top eight and suffered yet another defeat!

After an excellent first half performance which should`ve yielded more than one goal, Posh were undone by the changes made to the Gillingham side at half-time.

The Gills came out all guns blazing and backed by a vociferous crowd once they`d equalised early in the second half and by a homer referee, Posh were really up against it.

With a side featuring two debutants, Posh started off really brightly. Defender Harry Toffolo gave Posh a much better balance down the left while forward Shaq Coulthirst was a surprise starter but boy, did he cause the home side problems!

Facing a side with the best home form and who are the highest scorers in the League, Posh had to be at their best and in the first half, that`s exactly what they were.

Defensively, Posh were string although they did have their moments! Michael Smith did well both attacking and defending as was debutant Toffolo. Ricardo Almeida Santos had his usual mixture while Jack Baldwin again showed the class that will eventually earn him a move to a Premier League club.

In midfield, Chris Forrester and Erhun Oztumer both played well while Jon Taylor caused a few awkward moments for the home side with his direct running. West Ham loanee Martin Samuelsen had his second quiet match in a row. Yes, he has a lot of skill and can create something out of nothing but when teams can stop him playing making him in-effective in the match then surely Graham Westley must take him off? After two poor games in a row from Samuelsen, he must surely be looking over his shoulder and be wondering whether he`ll start the match against Burton on Tuesday evening.

Up front, we had the chance to see a new partnership in Souleymane Coulibaly and newcomer Shaq Coulthirst. Coulthirst was very lively, direct and played off the defenders shoulder which always causes opposition defenders problems. He had a few good attempts at goal but sadly he couldn`t get that debut goal he deserved. He looks like a player that should come good with the right coaching and on first impression, he should be another player who is destined for higher things.

Coulibaly though had another poor match. Whether he is lacking in confidence because of his lack of goals or is just in a run of poor form is anyone`s guess but he was rightly taken off in the second half. He also needs to learn the offside rule as it`s so frustrating to watch when time and again he is caught offside when it is so easy to look at where you are in comparison to defenders!

Another newcomer, Adil Nabi, came on as a second half substitute and nearly scored with a spectacular striker from around 30-yards. He was neat in possession and will surely grow in more confidence the more match time he gets.

Lee Angol must`ve been mightily disappointed to have been dropped but you can understand that if Westley wanted his newcomers to play, that it made sense to split their time on the pitch. With Coulthirst having played with Coulibaly at Spurs, it was obvious that the former Tottenham strikers were partnered together. However, after Coulibaly`s performance, Angol should expect a recall to the starting line-up on Tuesday.

With a lack of matches, it was no surprise that Coulthirst eventually conceded to cramp and was replaced by Marcus Maddison. Maddison has been a frustrated figure in recent weeks having been confined to the bench but he needs longer to make a difference in a match rather than coming on for 10 minutes!

Graham Westley obviously wanted to give all three newcomers some time on the pitch at Gillingham and you can understand why he went with the front pairing to start the game and also Toffolo at left back. However, he also needs to see when players aren`t producing and no matter how skilful they are, they should be replaced rather than taking a player off who is making a difference on the pitch just so he can bring a debutant on. This match was also another example of when things aren`t working out on the pitch, Westley has been unable to affect things! Westley has been brilliant in his time at Posh, but he must also look at things like this to improve as well.

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