I sometimes think it's not so much the opinions that are the issue, but the often misplaced certainty of them.
I'm surprised we haven't tried off loading them and bringing in some new defenders. We shipped so many goals last season. I'm not sure what MDG brings to the team at center half, he's not strong, poor in the air, no pace and he scares me to death when he brings the ball out.
Midfield was poor at times, I agree. Which perhaps made it all the more reckless of him to rampage forward, lose the ball and be completely out of position so many times.
And you don’t think that the two Head Coaches he played under before Hourihane were not encouraging him to carry the ball forward? Same with Earl? Perhaps because we didn’t have a ball carrying midfielder? Just a thought.
I expect there may have been some aspects of encouragement. The problem was, he’s done that under multiple coaches to the same degree. You have to learn from your mistakes, that goes for everyone in their careers and in life. DeGevigney doesn’t seem to have learned. I think he’s impetuous and repeatedly makes bad decisions. From losing the ball so high up the field, to diving in, to doing that crazy body roll where he gets outmuscled by so many and ends up with the attacker through. I want my defenders to be able to defend, and my eyes tell me he’s not equipped in body and mind to do that regularly enough to help us be successful. It’s no scapegoating. There are many reasons we did poorly last season. But he is most certainly one of them.
He has done it under two different coaches, and that’s my point. If he was doing it just because he wanted to, and was as bad at it as you say, do you honestly think he would be a virtual ever-present? Anyway, like you I’m hoping we sign a proper right back, and that MDG reverts to his proper position. In which case it will be interesting to see if Hourihane thinks he can play in a back four. If Roberts is fit then presumably he’ll go with him rather than the Frenchman. Which will presumably be a relief to many.
I have seen many worse than him. And many better. I think he makes the odd mistake, but looks comfortable on the ball and is a decent defender. Like the rest of last season’s defence he was, in my opinion, exposed too often by a midfield that didn’t put the required effort in to provide cover. As has been pointed out, we tended to be winning games until the latter stages, when an apparent lack of fitness resulted in us capitulating. To me, that lack of fitness points firmly at midfielders not covering. Only my opinion mind.
I’m not sure the instructions were maybe orchestrated correctly. It certainly wouldn’t have been the idea to lose it so high up the pitch. And nobody will have asked him to do that crazy body roll that failed so many times. Coaching wasn’t great. Tactics weren’t great. Individual players weren’t great. We obviously differ on our view of DeGevigney. Which is fine. I’d like him to be solid. But what I’ve seen doesn’t give me that impression at all and as others have said, he lacks some of the basic attributes you’d hope a centre half would have. We’ll see how the rest of the window pans out, but I’d be very surprised if he was trusted in a back four unless we absolutely had no other choice.
But all players lose the ball. Surely the problem was the lack of cover when he and Earl were ball carrying? Anyway, I agree. Let’s see what happens over the next few weeks. I certainly thought that young Barrett looked very comfortable when he deputised.
Let's be honest here there's one reason only why he is still playing for BFC. If he was any good he would be playing elsewhere. So maybe it's a case that we P!ss with the pr!ck that we got.
The ball carrying was but one issue. He looked ok at times, but often got carried away and went too far or tried it too often. I thought Earl got the balance better when he brought it out, but I don’t think we can blame the midfield for a defenders individual mistakes repeatedly. I liked the look of Barratt on the glimpses I’ve seen, hopefully he gets some opportunities.