I may be doing the guy a disservice but do I recall correctly that not long after he signed he came to the POTY dinner and got wankered? Not sure it was great first impression. Another one who won’t be in danger of having a statue erected.
It does say something about the level of the Scottish Premiership, that Hearts the team comfortably in 3rd, are loaning a player from a midtable English 3rd division side.
He had his moments last season, but he never convinced me. Technically he's not bad, but he's a bit flaky and prone to going missing and I never felt his technical "strengths" were good enough to make up for the weaknesses. You could always see why Ipswich (a team whose success we should be aspiring to emulate) deemed him surplus to requirements. A mid-table League One player who we can hopefully move beyond.
I was in the crowd at the Madejski earlier this season and saw him shoulder barge a much larger Reading player off the ball. My jaw nearly hit the floor.
Not exactly a midfield dynamo, but a lovely passer of the ball. Best of luck Scott. Glad you got the move you wanted.
It does say something about the level of the Scottish Premiership, that Hearts the team comfortably in 3rd, are loaning a player from a midtable English 3rd division side.
On a plus side frees up his wages, or some of them, and hopefully means an effective No.10 coming in tomorrow as I'm not convinced that is L. Watson or Fiorini (yet)
On a plus side frees up his wages, or some of them, and hopefully means an effective No.10 coming in tomorrow as I'm not convinced that is L. Watson or Fiorini (yet)
Think you hit the nail on the head, hasn't looked the same since he came back from injury.
Last year he had 9 goals and 5 assists in 42 league games. That's a really good return for a central midfielder at this level and in a team last season that didn't always score many goals. At his best he was good at picking his moments to run beyond the striker into the box, or arriving late on the penalty spot. The midfield that has played the last couple of games could desperately use someone like that, but that form has been nowhere to be seen this season.
I do think some of it is playing him in a deeper midfield role in the 4-2-3-1. I thought his best games this season came as a 10 with two midfielders behind him. The problem is because of injuries and an imbalanced squad we haven't had the players to play alongside him in midfield to get the best out of him. Camara and Taylor, I assume, were supposed to be that, Camara box to box, Taylor holding, and Dobbo as the defensive midfielder. But we've seen almost none of those two.
His stats for this season in L1 Avg Mark: 5.63 Started: 767 mins Sub: 178 mins Bench: 1 Injured: 8 Fouls: 7 Yellows: 2 Shots on: 2 Blocked: 5 Missed: 3 Goals: 0
Had it in for him this season but that was because I had such high hopes for him, the sort of player I love but just didnt happen enough or when it really mattered against the big teams. For me, the most disappointing signing we've made in recent seasons.
I can understand a player wanting a move nearer home for personal reasons, it is annoying though if WE'RE still having to pay some of his wages when the move is entirely for his benefit.
We never saw the player that tore us a new one against MK Dons.
Was that a regular performance from Fraser though, or a rare game for MK Dons as well? - Remember Pratley marked him out the game, when we won the reverse 1-0
If we signed everyone who tore us a new one, we'd be in triple figures with a squad.
Not fussed that he has gone;however, his stats suggest maybe I should be. Twenty eight contributions out of seventy eight appearances is not bad considering he would have created a good few chances that were not converted, etc. He seems like a player that when we are playing poorly we have to carry him. If we were playing well he is heavily involved. As it is generally the latter I guess this is for the best regrettably.
We never saw the player that tore us a new one against MK Dons.
Was that a regular performance from Fraser though, or a rare game for MK Dons as well? - Remember Pratley marked him out the game, when we won the reverse 1-0
If we signed everyone who tore us a new one, we'd be in triple figures with a squad.
I suspect the latter. Our scouting and recruitment has been poor for a while now.
Was so excited when he signed, struggled when he first came in (think he got COVID and was asthmatic already?) then we saw the best of him last season and then this season with injuries and off the field things we just haven't seen the best of him, he's never going to be someone that could operate deeper alongside Dobbo, that's just not his strength.
Wish him all the best for the future though, hopefully he can get things back on track for his sake.
Been here though the worst of it and has directly attributed to the loser culture that has run through the squad the entire time. Unlikable and overpaid as well. Good riddance.
Comments
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/scott-fraser-joins-hearts-loan
Not exactly a midfield dynamo, but a lovely passer of the ball. Best of luck Scott. Glad you got the move you wanted.
We are terrible at moving players on.
Looked very sharp last season and this pre-season until he got injured.
Not looked the same player since him came back from injury.
Glad he got to move home.
@UEAAddick will be devastated
On a plus side frees up his wages, or some of them, and hopefully means an effective No.10 coming in tomorrow as I'm not convinced that is L. Watson or Fiorini (yet)
Last year he had 9 goals and 5 assists in 42 league games. That's a really good return for a central midfielder at this level and in a team last season that didn't always score many goals. At his best he was good at picking his moments to run beyond the striker into the box, or arriving late on the penalty spot. The midfield that has played the last couple of games could desperately use someone like that, but that form has been nowhere to be seen this season.
I do think some of it is playing him in a deeper midfield role in the 4-2-3-1. I thought his best games this season came as a 10 with two midfielders behind him. The problem is because of injuries and an imbalanced squad we haven't had the players to play alongside him in midfield to get the best out of him. Camara and Taylor, I assume, were supposed to be that, Camara box to box, Taylor holding, and Dobbo as the defensive midfielder. But we've seen almost none of those two.
Avg Mark: 5.63
Started: 767 mins
Sub: 178 mins
Bench: 1
Injured: 8
Fouls: 7
Yellows: 2
Shots on: 2
Blocked: 5
Missed: 3
Goals: 0
However I wish him well and hopefully it becomes permanent.
Good luck to him though.
If we signed everyone who tore us a new one, we'd be in triple figures with a squad.
He seems like a player that when we are playing poorly we have to carry him. If we were playing well he is heavily involved. As it is generally the latter I guess this is for the best regrettably.
Wish him all the best for the future though, hopefully he can get things back on track for his sake.
Hopefully does mean we can get someone else in though.