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Alex Gilbey - Re-signed for MK Dons (p37)

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Comments

  • He’s a shadow of the player we signed. Proper Charltonised.

    He never had the best first touch or passing but what he was meant to bring was running, tackling and goals. He’s got the first but has lost the other two.

    In fact I can think of a couple of occasions he’s pulled out of tackles that have led directly to goals conceded this season.
    He's never been much of a goalscorer, best return in a season is 5.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Gilbey#Career_statistics
  • Mmmmh, the usual over exaggeration. How can he nearly be a "very good" player because I thought the order to reaching that level were by comfortably passing the categories:

    Poor
    Acceptable
    Average
    Good
    Very good

    You decide where he is amongst that. I think I know what you mean, some players look like footballers. He certainly does. Just like at school how some would have the best cricket bat, pads, cardigan then average 3 all season.
  • mendonca said:
    Mmmmh, the usual over exaggeration. How can he nearly be a "very good" player because I thought the order to reaching that level were by comfortably passing the categories:

    Poor
    Acceptable
    Average
    Good
    Very good

    You decide where he is amongst that. I think I know what you mean, some players look like footballers. He certainly does. Just like at school how some would have the best cricket bat, pads, cardigan then average 3 all season.
    You leave @Henry Irving out of it.
  • edited May 2022
    mendonca said:
    Mmmmh, the usual over exaggeration. How can he nearly be a "very good" player because I thought the order to reaching that level were by comfortably passing the categories:

    Poor
    Acceptable
    Average
    Good
    Very good

    You decide where he is amongst that. I think I know what you mean, some players look like footballers. He certainly does. Just like at school how some would have the best cricket bat, pads, cardigan then average 3 all season.
    Some parts of his game are good enough for a much higher level. Some are barely non league standard. He’s not alone in being like this in our squad. We need more better rounded players in general. I’m not in anyway advocating for Gilbey, he has me hurling expletives at my TV every week and if i could choose to ditch any one player for next season it’d be him. I’m just highlighting him as a poster boy for a wider problem in our squad. You can see why we might have identified him as a target and signed him, but we need to change the type of player we are choosing to sign. It’s not as black and white as this player is great and this player is shit, they all have their strengths and weaknesses, it’s whether or not the strengths out weigh the weaknesses. In Gilbey’s case they do not. 
  • Oggy Red said:
    Finally seeing the player we thought we were getting. More to come from him too, imo, because he's still a bit hit and miss at times. Really deserved his goal tonight. Covers the ground as well as any player I can recall playing for us, has an elegance and efficiency of running that reminds me of Thierry Henry. Forgive me the obviously mental hyperbole - I'm only comparing running styles, not pace or talent, although Gilbey is deceptively quick, especially when running with the ball.
    Gilbs is also deceptively skilfull on the ball.

    Some really tight control, range of short and long passing, quick feet and change of pace.
    His vision and awareness second to none.

    And he can tackle too.

    Proper engine room player. Does the grunt work. Makes thing happen. 
    When some people were busy slagging him off last season, I'd post a different perspective. I'm his number 1 fan. :smile:


    This one. This is the post. Every single word
  • Leuth said:
    Oggy Red said:
    Finally seeing the player we thought we were getting. More to come from him too, imo, because he's still a bit hit and miss at times. Really deserved his goal tonight. Covers the ground as well as any player I can recall playing for us, has an elegance and efficiency of running that reminds me of Thierry Henry. Forgive me the obviously mental hyperbole - I'm only comparing running styles, not pace or talent, although Gilbey is deceptively quick, especially when running with the ball.
    Gilbs is also deceptively skilfull on the ball.

    Some really tight control, range of short and long passing, quick feet and change of pace.
    His vision and awareness second to none.

    And he can tackle too.

    Proper engine room player. Does the grunt work. Makes thing happen. 
    When some people were busy slagging him off last season, I'd post a different perspective. I'm his number 1 fan. :smile:


    This one. This is the post. Every single word
    I stand by what I said in that exchange based on what we knew at the time. He was rubbish when we first got him, supposedly with extenuating circumstances. He got slowly better under Adkins towards the end of last season. I expected him to kick on this season, and for a while it looked like he might during the new manager bounce period under Jackson. He has gone backwards rapidly though and is back to what he was under Bowyer. I maintain he runs with the ball well, but it’s mostly useless because he’ll just give it away at the end of the run. 
  • Tackler? He's got 11 yellows this season and 1 red. Can't tackle for toffee 
  • Gilbey was marking Ipswich's player on their left wing (our right) before their first goal.
    The player started moving forward and Gilbey inexplicably ran away from him to track another player and pointed at the covering Charlton defender to come across and mark the player he originally had covered.

    Maybe I'm being harsh, but it looked to me like he didn't want to tackle/take the responsibility/wanted to hide.
    Did anyone else notice this?
    Does anyone agree?
  • Is he under contract for next season?
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  • se9addick said:
    Is he under contract for next season?
    Yeah. His last year.
  • DubaiCAFC said:
    Reminds me of Scott Parker, and what he brought to the team. All action, driving us forward. God knows why Bowyer didn't like him..
    How exactly?
  • Chunes said:
    se9addick said:
    Is he under contract for next season?
    Yeah. His last year.
    Damn! 
  • I really hope we never see him in a Charlton shirt again. Absolute disgrace
  • You seem very optimistic that he can still 'come good'.
  • How can you defend hiding? It is cheating the fans and his team mates. 
    If that was aimed at me, I didn't defend it.

    I tried to provide an explanation as to why he does it ... and what to do to fix it.
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  • Blucher said:
    Instead of seeking out space and moving into it when we are in possession, Gilbey is an absolute master of ensuring that he's rarely in a position to receive the ball. He shirks responsibility and completely disappears from games. To compound matters, he makes no real contribution defensively and, despite rarely making a successful tackle, his disciplinary record is appalling.

    I know we're not spoilt for choice in terms of midfield options  but, given his lamentable form, particularly in the latter part of the season, I found Gilbey's continued presence in the team completely baffling. His predilection for 'hiding' during games is, quite frankly, an affront to supporters and something that can only serve to undermine team spirit. So much for Jacko's mantra of giving everything for the shirt.

    I would be delighted if we could move Gilbey on this summer but no one is going to be interested after his dismal performances this season. Even if they were, I doubt that there is anyone at our level or below willing to match the wages that he'll be picking up from us during the last year of his contract. 
    Perhaps Neil Harris could build a team round him at Gillingham.
  • edited May 2022
    Absolute pony player. Try and flog him, if not don’t even have him in the match day squad. Or keep him around and watch him get ran past again for a season straight and tweet ‘not good enough from the lads’ etc. I know it’s harsh and I would never abuse a player at a game but I genuinely can’t stand him, shocking player 
  • Can anyone explain how he won POTY at MK Dons? Is he not putting in the same effort? He’s 27, this isn’t like Gunter, Watson, Arter etc who are past their best, he should be at his peak or coming up to it.
  • Some of the earlier comments on this thread haven’t aged well……
  • Scoham said:
    Can anyone explain how he won POTY at MK Dons? Is he not putting in the same effort? He’s 27, this isn’t like Gunter, Watson, Arter etc who are past their best, he should be at his peak or coming up to it.
    Perhaps more a sign of the relative quality of his teammates. He won it back to back seasons for them as they finished 3rd in League 2 and 19th in League 1. Here’s the highlights reel from 19/20 in League 1 a couple of nice goals in there, but overall not a great deal we haven’t seen in, at least, flashes in a Charlton shirt.

    https://youtu.be/9fNXHK9M7oM

    He did have a brief spell where I think a lot of us were looking at him and thinking, okay there’s a player in there and he’s finally starting to come good but that appears to have just been a brief purple patch and he’s not been able to maintain anything like the standard we need.

    I worry Jackson quite rates him though. 

  • Scoham said:
    Can anyone explain how he won POTY at MK Dons? Is he not putting in the same effort? He’s 27, this isn’t like Gunter, Watson, Arter etc who are past their best, he should be at his peak or coming up to it.
    Long COVID maybe?
  • He strikes me as one of those characters who has little self confidence on the pitch despite good natural ability. On the three days a year when his head is right he can be unplayable. The rest of the time he hides (quite literally) and becomes a passenger. Ther is j feed a imager in there but it doesn’t come out much.  
  • I think on the many occasions that others describe him as a passenger I would describe him as a liability.
  • In his first game he played for us he provided a great through ball/assist for Dought and we won 1-0.
    I believe he was the MOM that day and I thought he would be great for us. There is a player there, but he has had a lot of opportunities over the last 1,5 seasons with very little return. We really should strengthen our midfield, but would definitely keep him on as a backup player.
  • Dave Rudd said:
    I like Gilbey.

    I'd have him every time over the lump that is Jaiyesimi ... but Gilbey is clearly underperforming.  And I see two things wrong, although there may, of course, be others.

    First ... his role is not clear.

    In Jackson's preferred 3-5-2, we play lop-sided wing backs.  Typically, we have Blackett-Taylor on the left and he is only interested in going forward.  On the right, we generally have Matthews ... and his main priority is defensive.  Gilbey is supposed to compensate for the lack of attacking flair on the right.  But we end up with Gilbey + Matthews effectively equating to one player.

    We have suffered from this many times over the years.  Think Semedo + Racon.  There are countless examples.  Pardew was exceptionally good at making three players do the work of two or two players doing the work of one.

    Second ... Gilbey hides.  It's a sure sign of a player who is not comfortable.  He has mastered the art of being unavailable for a pass.  So, he goes missing, he has little effect on the game ... he does nothing.  This is a problem inside his head.

    How do you deal with this?  How does rookie Manager, Jackson, fix it?

    You make his role clear.  Gilbey is an intelligent man.  You spell it out to him and tell him to play to his strengths.  He is one of the few players in the current squad who can run at the opposition.  I love this attribute as it is disappearing from the modern game.  Gilbey is a Rolls-Royce when he gets up to speed.  So, forget about trying to support Matthews.  Get Gilbey on the ball (right-side generally) and get him running at players.  Get Matthews close to him, by all means, but give Gilbey licence to do damage in the final third.

    He also needs to work on his finishing.  I suspect that he has missed more penalty-box chances than Washington.  So, get Gilbey on a goal bonus.  It doesn't have to be in his contract.  Get inside his head, Jackson.  Make it a one-to-one wager ... whatever works.  You know him better than I do.

    Now ... the hiding.  What's the problem, Alex?  Scared of making a mistake?  Happy to cruise through games?  I don't think so.

    I think you are unsure what Jackson wants from you.  Here's what you need to know ... you can be 'The Man'.  You and Fraser can absolutely boss this League.  So, do it.

    Don't look back on a career of 'maybes'.  MK Dons Player of the Year?  Great.  Now do it again for us.  You're good enough.

    Did I mention that Curbishley has faith in you?  Take something from that.  Get some honours under your belt.  League 1 Championship is a decent start. 

    But don't leave it there.  Curbs and I want more.   
    Admittedly I may not be the best judge since I can only base this on the games that have been legally streamable here this season, but I'm not convinced that it's a question of not knowing what Jackson wants from him, rather that he is scared of making a mistake because his ball control has gone to shit this season. I've lost count of the times I've typed "Gilbey miscues/loses possession/shoots wide" in the match thread this season, and I don't think it was anywhere near that bad last year. I'm wondering whether Covid has messed with his reaction times slightly.
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