The whole midfield (!): Semedo, Racon, Bailey, Shelvey, Sam
The fact that I have one in the first list and five in the second just about sums up the season for me
On Parkinson
On the whole I think we're better off sticking with him. From what I've seen the type of player we need to get promotion are more like those he's signed or brought through (Waggy, Jackson, Dailly, Llera, Burton) than those Pardew-leftovers that everyone raves about. We need to get people who WANT to earn big money rather than those that have it already. We also need players who've come up the English pyramid or through an English youth system, not players who expect to pass the ball around in the sunshine on a well tended pitch.
Really don't get all the negative about Sam, seems to be fashionable to dislike him - set up more goals than anyone else in the side, one of the few we have who's capable of unlocking a defence. People seem not to like him because he's not flying in with crunching tackles - he's not that sort of player, neither was David Ginola or Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Anyway, back on thread -
Youga has gone from being a major liability last season to his absence being a major factor in our loss of form.
Racon - not lived up to expectations
Akpo - I think we can see now that his screamer against Yeovil earlier this season was the exception rather than the rule, had two shots from similar positions on Saturday and both went disastrously high and wide.
On Sam it's the lack of directness and energy I think, more than the tackling, though that doesn't help. He's still better than Ambrose or Rommedahl when it comes to "getting stuck in". I do agree, I've defended him a lot, just hasn't performed recently though. Without Reid he was our main threat, and on form he causes a lot of problems for the opposition.
[cite]Posted By: Scoham[/cite]On Sam it's the lack of directness and energy I think, more than the tackling, though that doesn't help. He's still better than Ambrose or Rommedahl when it comes to "getting stuck in". I do agree, I've defended him a lot, just hasn't performed recently though. Without Reid he was our main threat, and on form he causes a lot of problems for the opposition.
Agree with all that, certainly not at his best recently. Just seems a shame that people are so quick to get on his back. I get the impression he's a quiet sort of bloke who would let abuse from fans effect his game more than most would. Conversely, I think he's also the sort of player who would grow in confidence and stature if he knew the crowd were behind him. Reckon he'll be hugely missed next season if we don't go up.
Elliot I think is coming along quite well, with still plenty of room for improvement. Burton has shown us all that he's a class act, shame he's not a goal poacher to go with the quality touch. Semedo too has been good but I've always liked him known he has it in him - ditto Youga.
I think everyone else has been disappointing at some point during this season; defence has been a problem since Christmas and our striking options are obviously very limited but I think midfield is where the biggest disappointments lie for me - Bailey, Racon, Shelvey and Sam have all gone through patches of very poor form and none have consistently grabed games by the scruff of the neck as we'd hoped.
All that said, we played some lovelly stuff at the start of the season - fingers crossed we can rediscover than form in time for a charge at the play-offs.
REPUTATIONS ENHANCED IN THE COURSE OF THE SEASON: Youga, Basey, Burton, Wagstaff, Solly, Parky
REPUTATIONS DAMAGED: Shelvey (hardly his fault : frustrating lack of opportunity with just six starts in last 24 games), Racon, Sam, Semedo (who flattered at the start of the season but then seemed to go AWOL), McLeod
Have not included players who weren't here last season as it's hard to judge.
The rest, Bailey, Elliot etc. have more or less done what was expected and not let us down...
Comments
Wagstaff
For the worse
The whole midfield (!): Semedo, Racon, Bailey, Shelvey, Sam
The fact that I have one in the first list and five in the second just about sums up the season for me
On Parkinson
On the whole I think we're better off sticking with him. From what I've seen the type of player we need to get promotion are more like those he's signed or brought through (Waggy, Jackson, Dailly, Llera, Burton) than those Pardew-leftovers that everyone raves about. We need to get people who WANT to earn big money rather than those that have it already. We also need players who've come up the English pyramid or through an English youth system, not players who expect to pass the ball around in the sunshine on a well tended pitch.
Anyway, back on thread -
Youga has gone from being a major liability last season to his absence being a major factor in our loss of form.
Racon - not lived up to expectations
Akpo - I think we can see now that his screamer against Yeovil earlier this season was the exception rather than the rule, had two shots from similar positions on Saturday and both went disastrously high and wide.
Agree with all that, certainly not at his best recently. Just seems a shame that people are so quick to get on his back. I get the impression he's a quiet sort of bloke who would let abuse from fans effect his game more than most would. Conversely, I think he's also the sort of player who would grow in confidence and stature if he knew the crowd were behind him. Reckon he'll be hugely missed next season if we don't go up.
WORSE - Dailly, Sodje(s), Llera, Basey, Bailey, Dickson, Mooney, McLeod, Spring,
All the rest my opinion has not really changed
I think everyone else has been disappointing at some point during this season; defence has been a problem since Christmas and our striking options are obviously very limited but I think midfield is where the biggest disappointments lie for me - Bailey, Racon, Shelvey and Sam have all gone through patches of very poor form and none have consistently grabed games by the scruff of the neck as we'd hoped.
All that said, we played some lovelly stuff at the start of the season - fingers crossed we can rediscover than form in time for a charge at the play-offs.
Youga, Basey, Burton, Wagstaff, Solly, Parky
REPUTATIONS DAMAGED:
Shelvey (hardly his fault : frustrating lack of opportunity with just six starts in last 24 games), Racon, Sam, Semedo (who flattered at the start of the season but then seemed to go AWOL), McLeod
Have not included players who weren't here last season as it's hard to judge.
The rest, Bailey, Elliot etc. have more or less done what was expected and not let us down...