Defensive Midfielder

Ramage has been here for 3 months or so, Phil. And in that time he's took a wage, started 7 games and we've lost 5 without keeping a clean sheet. That's not a stat I'm throwing around, it's pretty much the best evidence I can go on.

Of course all goals conceded aren't the defenders/keepers fault (unless your name is Bobby or Luke..).


I rate Etuhu. I think there's a player in there. Just needs the right mentor.

Not having that, re Paddy. Without him, we'd not have beaten Boro or Brighton and we'd be about 12 points adrift. He, Mellis and COG are our best players. They affect games.



What did you think of Butland yesterday? My friends tell me his kicking was poor. And I know how important kicking is. You taught me that.

 

He was doing his best that year against African Footballer of the Year, Michael Essien..

 

He's not a really good player. He's a headless chicken at best.

 

Whenever okay goes through him it slows down thus ending any advantage we might have had.

 

Really?

The game is about goals. Owt else is window dressing and airtime filling for Sky

 

Aye. In his pocket.

 

His kicking was shocking to the point he started to kick with his left foot which was better.
Ramages been injured. New teamamtes too.

In the first half he was great, whitey but in the second he started to take longer on the ball which got the fans shouting pass it.... He did some amazing one touch flicks and with Mellis that takes 2/3 players out of the game.


I rate Etuhu. I think there's a player in there. Just needs the right mentor.

Not having that, re Paddy. Without him, we'd not have beaten Boro or Brighton and we'd be about 12 points adrift. He, Mellis and COG are our best players. They affect games.



What did you think of Butland yesterday? My friends tell me his kicking was poor. And I know how important kicking is. You taught me that.[/QUOTE]

 

Perkins is an interesting player. He has tenacity and drive yet seems to lose this in and around the penalty area. Played in a midfield with creative players around him rather than toilers he can contribute effectively. I would like to see him mentoring Digby so that Digby can eventually replace him give Perkins age. If we play other defensive midfielders in midfield then Perkins deficiencies become more focused and important.

Tudgay is an intelligent player with a much better record at this level than Dagnall. Who I rate for his overall contribution to the team but who does not have the quality to trouble championship defences regularly. Again If possible it would be good to see Tudgay mentoring Danny Rose as I see them as somewhat similar types of player. Even if he went back I can't see a logical argument for the retention of Dagnall

Retaining players who for all their qualities lack quality at Championship level such as McNulty, Dawson, JOB, Cofie, Kennedy limits us and will always keep us near the bottom of the league. It would boost their careers to be transferred to a lower level where they may well shine whilst freeing space up in the match day squad for RNL, Rose and Digby. These players may or may not be good enough but we need to give them a run of games to evaluate. This approach would also save money.

Loanees. Fox I think is maligned. He is a neat player just not the sort of player we need and at the end of his loan period it should be thanks for all your efforts. Ramage seems to lack fitness but offers a physical presence. I would evaluate his performances over the next few weeks and I hopefully he will kick on. If not I would be looking at the small print of the loan agreement to see if he can be returned. If we exclude GOG then Pedersen is definitely an improvement on the other forwards we have unless we can build a time machine and make Scotland 10 years younger. Butland is a good keeper it would be nice to have him for longer but not going to happen.

I think the new managers has some big decisions to make whoever they are. It's an exciting time. Despite our awful form we are not adrift. In Mellis, O'Grady and McCourt we have players who can create and score goals if used correctly. We have amassed some decent players in our army of players and should be good enough to finish between 18th and 16th if moulded correctly.

Onwards and upwards.

 

No he wasn't. He started that season in midfield because ADS was still injured and, if I recall right, was ****. He had a great game but Davey got absolutely hammered for playing him there.

I think he'd do a job. He'd do a job in most positions but people say they want more from the midfielders and the advocate putting Bobby in to just do nothing but sit and defend?

If we're doing that, put him in defence to do it.

 

The thing for me with Bobby is that he can become the 3rd CB meaning our FBs can push on a bit more. There would be no need to play another dm with him either. He reads a game so well, ia vastly experienced, we should be using him.

 

Won't have the legs? If the benchmark is Perkins I could do it.

 

I agree. But as a back 3 to do that. Kelvin can do the stuff that folk are saying Bobby does in midfield because he offers nothing going forward.

 

Kelvin had all on staying on his feet yesterday. Like a softer version of Bambi

Another one too soft this season

Booby has been known to score now and again too.

 

I think it shows just how bad we are when Bobby is actually a far better midfielder than people like Perkins.

Better tackler
Better reader of the game
Better passer
Better leader

I look at Perkins and can't see a single thing that he does better than Bobby and that's quite sad as as you said, he wasn't setting the world alight 5 years ago in midfield but he's still far better than what we have there now

 

Etuhu can't put a tackle in. Just like the other toilers.

 

I think Bobby would do a job, but if you're frustrated with all those midfield players because of the lack of goals and assists then I don't know why you want Bobby. He'd sit deeper than any of them and be even less likely to score or create goals (apart from headers at corners/free kicks). If that's how we're going to play, with one midfielder just sat in front of the defence, fair enough, play Bobby, he probably would be superior to the others at just doing that. But I didn't think we wanted our midfield players to just sit there. I thought that was the problem.

The midfield that Mellon has picked for the last two games looks OK to me. A victory and a narrow defeat against the top of the league is not too shabby as far as I'm concerned. Take three points from every two away games and we'll be looking at promotion, not relegation. Quite happy for us to continue with this side for the next few games and see how it goes.

 

Absouloutely spot on. Well said that man.

 

"Defensive midfielder" (noun) - A midfielder who can't pass or shoot. A defender without positional sense but who can run around a lot.

 

Correct.

 

To be honest Jay I'd like someone who can do a bit of both - put their foot in, move the ball forward, create a bit and maybe even score every now and then. Failing that I'd like someone who can just put his foot in and give it to the two talented players. Something that Hassell would do better than the toilers.