IMO Macken had his best performance in a Reds shirt on tuesday night..... he has looked revitalised this season and has proved he can still play at this level.......... I feel SD asked to much of Macken and Moore, both experienced pro's and willing to put their bodies on the line were asked to play last season through injury and were never given time to recover as SD had no faith in reserve squad or youth players. If I remeber correctly Moore wasn't expected to be fit and ready for the start of last season. He played through injury and was heavily criticised by fans even though it he cleary lacked match fitness...... He played nearly every game there after and was given little chance to recover as we had few options. Same could be said for Macken, he started season well last year but picked up a knock. He was expected to be out for a few months, and was rushed back after just a few weeks to play against Donny..... He scored and played the majority of games thereafter..... IMO both are great squad players, but we cannot rely on them to play 40+ games as season..... I feel Andy Gray is and Macken will work well. Same could be said in rotation for Moore and Thompson....... It is certainly interesting to see how players have reacted to Robins appointment and competition for places with new arrivals. Thoughts
You could well be right Didn't see Tuesday night's performance, but by all accounts Macken was a revitalised player. Moore was clearly shot to bits at the end of last year and I think Simon Davey would've played him with one leg. There must be few things worse for a professional footballer than playing on an injury that never seems to be getting any better AND getting criticised for not giving 100% or not looking 'up for it' at the same time. I hope that the form continues for both players and that, as you say, we develop enough depth in the squad to give them breathing room when they do need it. Healthy competition is good for any squad - I just hope that Robins can attract the quality of players and walk the fine line of keeping them at the club and motivated when they have to do their time on the bench. I get the impression that these days a footballers life is a bit pampered and from quite an early stage they've made enough money to not worry about falling out with the manager (even at this level). So it seems increasingly difficult to motivate them as professionals and keep them interested if they're not getting football week in and week out. I hope Robins has got what it takes to do that.
Hume certainly helps Macken.. They do seem to have an understanding - they're both intelligent footballers, and long may it continue. With two options like Gray and Bogdanovic as well, I'm finally happy with our strike force.
LOL I get the impression of JCR that he's got quite an opinion of himself (could be wrong clearly) and that he genuinely thinks he could play anywhere on the park at this level. So Simon Davey playing him at centre half would be good for his ego and he'd enjoy that. Bit like when David Beckham decided that he could play centre midfield at Real Madrid and it never really worked. Guess he just listened to too many people telling him that he was the best player in the world at that time. As with Becks, JCR should stick to playing out wide IMHO.
intelligent footballers Germany Gottfried Leibniz Immanuel Kant Georg "Nobby" Hegel (capt) Arthur Schopenhauer Friedrich Schelling Franz Beckenbauer Karl Jaspers Karl Schlegel Ludwig Wittgenstein Friedrich Nietzsche Martin Heidegger Karl Marx - substituting Wittgenstein in the 2nd half (Ludwig Wittgenstein was, of course, Austrian.) Greece Plato Epictetus Aristotle "Chopper" Sophicles Empedocles of Acragas Plotinus Epicurus Heraklitus Democritus Socrates (captain) Archimedes Courtesy of Monty Python
Macken and Ward Macken seemed to be running the sort of lines that Ashley Ward used to run, between CB and Full back, neither of whom knew who was supposed to pick him up, as it meant that the CB was getting pulled out of position or the FB was allowing Da Silva or Hammill too much room. Macken also showed how well he is at judging the long ball, he was much shorter than either CB, but by getting into the right place first, he was able to use his strength to hold off the challenge of their player and then control the ball when it came down. He then has enough skill on the ball to turn his marker or pass the ball onto the winger or Hume or a player rushing form centre midfield. Great stuff, long may it continue.
RE: Macken and Ward That's a good call, but in my opinion that has ALWAYS been Macken's strength. The trouble is, the previous manager used it to the umpteenth degree and the tactics were to play the ball long in the hope that Macken would constantly get the better of centre halves that were bigger, stonger, and quicker than him. All of a sudden, the quality of pass into Macken is better timed, of better quality, and there are players anticipating that he'll win it and making runs off him. Hence on Tuesday, he had his best game in a Reds shirt IMHO. Football really is such a fine line sometimes, but I genuinely think that on Tuesday we played to his strengths and reaped the rewards. To think I walked into the ground and said to the fella next to me 'WTF is Macken playing instead of Gray?!'