Have We Ever Had Such A Limited Set

Of midfield players??

Perkins, Dawson, Etuhu and now Fox. Modern day footballers who do not have single attribute between them.

I'd rather see Mitch Ward and Alex Neil in there.

 

Apart from Fox, they all have very good stamina and high work rate. That why we need to play with an attacking midfielderwho adds creativity down the middle, with our central midfield pressuring the opposition and our hard working strikers.

 

You mean they run about a bit? That doesn't win football matches.

 

I never said that. They can get the ball off the opposition quickly which means the opposition doesnt get as many chances to score, and when they get the ball they can start attacks. It worked last season.

 

They don't have a tackle between them though.

 

The players mentioned are woeful.

My biggest criticism is their total lack of ability in moving the ball at any sort of acceptable pace.

Simply put, they are no threat to the opposition, at all.

 

Run run run pass sideways eventually lose the ball none of them are good enough. Otherwise we wouldn't need to play two at once. Worst central midfield I can remember. Absolutely woeful.

 

Aren’t these the same midfielders that many people were waxing lyrical about in pre season claiming them to be the best midfield in the league? How quickly times change. In my opinion some of them are being played out of position, some are out of form or can’t be arsed and need a good shake and some just aren’t good enough or are being told to play in way that doesn’t suit them.

 

Perkins - energy yes, skill no. Very busy and more often than not, likes to wave his arms around as though nothing is ever his fault.
Etuhu - playing way below the level he showed last season.
Mellis - mixture of poor effort blended with playing out of position.
Dawson - not had that many games recently, but not exactly an attacking midfielder is he?
Fox - not sure what he brings to the team.
Digby - all of a sudden, he's not experienced enough but still continues to play at international level......and score.
JOB - bit part player, so not really had a consistent run, but his final ball is disappointing.
Cwyska - not enough games to really make any assessment; doesn't seem to fit with Flicker's plans.
Jennings - not worth passing comment, yet.

The only midfielder to gain credit this season is McCourt; skill beyond anything we have seen at Oakwell (in a red shirt) in many years.

Summary being our midfield is very very poor but Flicker keeps persisting with the same players who simply are not creating enough. I would drop Fox and Perkins immediately and give these places to Digby and Etuhu (who I believe van and will raise his game).

 

Perkins = overrated in my opnion ... hes doing just what many other teams fans said about him last season when all the barnsley fans were raving about him
he runs around and puts 100% in but has very little end product... hes easy to defend its seems ... give him time on the ball and it seems to confuse him and he makes wrong desisions

The rest = all on the head of flitcroft im afraid... playing out of posistion and not settled... in my opnion cwyska is by far one of our best midfielders but needs a good run none are given enough time

we started the season of badley by not having a settled side... now results are poor the players dont have the luxury of a long stint to settle before the pulled out and swapped again

 

2001-2002


Mitch Ward, Gary Jones, Chris Lumsdon, Steve Hayward, Peter Sand, Alex Neil, Kevin Donovan.

 

Perkins is a good footballer.
the only weakness hes got, he doesn't use is right foot to pass the football but this isn't a new thing.
He can get the ball back, he doesn't need to tackle as such he can read the game and he gets in and around players and takes the ball of them that way.
He can go past a player and he can pick a pass and as a decent shot on him.

These comments about Perks are so silly, it's like people can;t wait to get on at him all the time. Hes one of the most appreciated players for away fans.

I remember going to the King Power stadium when we won 2-1 and just after that they bought Drinkwater for around a million I think from Manchester United. The player they were talking about wasn't Drinkwater if you looked on their forums and listen to what they said outside of the ground it was actually David Perkins.

Etuhu just isn't playing like last season for me. I didn't go on Saturday but he seems very flat to me. Last season he can with the ball and used lots of energy, this season hes flat. Little movement...

Dawson, he can have a good games but hes all about energy. when it goes well for him then it goes really well.

Fox, he started quite well at Leicester and at oakwell against Reading but since hes done little for me

 

The players weren't merely fighting for the club last season, many were fighting for their careers, a contract.

It's not the first time that players have looked a lot worse once they're signed up for two years.

 

Surely the current lot aren't as bad as what we had under Spackman and Parkin? Although without looking I'm guessing our win ratio for this reason isn't as good as even then.

The frustrating thing is these midfielders were doing well last season, what's changed? It's got to be the formation, we seem to have reverted to the style of play that got Hill the sack - dominating possession to some extent but still losing.

I'm not at the point where I want to drive Flitcroft anywhere he wants away from Oakwell but what did it for me was the substitution on Saturday - one nil down and a midfielder with limited creativity comes off for a midfielder with no creativity, especially poor when we had a lad ready and waiting to come on who is capable of hitting those speculative shots that go in and get you a point or better at the death. If I was Dawson I'd have been saying, "why are you putting me on?".

We're only still in this league because of Flitcroft, he'll be remembered for that run and I thank him for it, but for me it's win or bust for him this Saturday.

 

It's not the players. It's the way they're being asked to play.

 

We've changed from a system that worked - that saved us, and got him the job - to a system we've never ever succeeded in playing in my 25 years as a supporter.

 

You not see the S****horpe game or Southampton game this season or the other times we played it and lost at start of the season.
It didn't work.

 

That's your opinion Hemmsy.......my opinion is Perkins has been woeful this season.

Sorry mate, our opinions are wide apart.

 

No, I was working for both of them, thankfully.

But it worked in the LEAGUE against Huddersfield. Worked perfectly well last season, too, and in the 90's.

You say it doesn't work, after two cup games (one that we drew, one that we lost to a top four Prem club). I'd say that 4-4-2 and whatever it was that was played on Saturday doesn't work. 10 defeats suggest that.

 

Perfection in one line.