Phillips

I think Adam Phillips needs reminding as to why were still in this division - it was because of his poor challenge at Wembley - the reality is he owes us big time. Another player with ideas above his station - we've given hm the platform to showcase his talents and yet again a player has seemingly got an inflated opinion of their ability - I would prove a point with him as I said years ago with Yiadom, let him rot for the remainder of his contract - he cost us very little (unless I'm mistaken), so if he goes on a free we lose very little. Is his deal up this year anyway? If it is I'm surprised we havent cashed in already!

Players need to understand that we can as easily break them as make them. Clubs should hold the power , but unfortunately until clubs prove a point, players will run the gig

 

I agree. If Phillips can't be arsed turning up to meetings he should be called out for it and disciplined. I have no problem with Hourihane doing this publicly. If its true then say so - it might also give the rest of the players a kick up the bottom. Players who dont want to be here, dont want to fulfill their duties can all bugger off for me. The club is better off without them. That's if I'm reading the situation correctly of course.

 

We wouldn’t have got to Wembley without his contribution. I also don’t think it was a red card. The VAR failed to overturn it, soon after refusing to give us a penalty for a clear foul on Kitching. And Connell missed from five yards out. Loads and loads went on that day. To blame Phillips is daft. Especially two years down the line. Another 40 goal contributions later.

He’s under contract until 2026, and the club holds a further 12 month option.

I’d assume he will be sold this summer, considering there have been bids in every other window for him. Been a great player for us. One of the last great signings we’ve seen in fairness.

 

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spo...ll7GbkPKt3w#8ccreh19fhrab1lywc6r2a3qe8q8mu4if

 

I think youre right that we shouldn't hold grudges about things from 2 years ago but Phillips is not a great signing. He's a 'decent' player at this level. But that's when he can be bothered. When he can't be bothered and when he also doesn't adhere to club policy/commitments off the pitch then he's a liability and he should be called out for it. All these players are on several thousands a week, money that most working-class supporters can only dream about. If they can't be bothered on the pitch and/or they cant be bothered fulfilling obligations off it they are effectively sticking two fingers to those same working-class supporters. If you dont agree with me on Phillips then of course we'll have to agree to differ.
Edit: Just seen the Yorkshire Post article. If Phillips pulls his socks off and works hard for the supporters I'll certainly cut him some slack. I still maintain he's not a 'great' signing however.

 

Philips is a decent League One player. Will score 10 / 12 goals a season in batches and then go missing for the rest of the games. If he is causing un rest or failing to do as instructed, like any other job in life he needs to be dealt with. I would just cut our losses with him. He obviously wants out and so does Connell in my opinion so move them both on. Rest of the squad, if any money of any significance gets offered for anyone just take it. No one really worth holding on to except DKD. Squads a shambles and off the pitch were a shambles. Needs a complete reset and the board and fans resign themselves to a few more seasons in league one.

The board don't help themselves with comments before and during the season about promotion, top 4 squad, aims etc etc that are total dream land comments.

 

same with Connell missing a half open goal in that game

 

He cost a nominal fee and only Conor Hourihane has a better goal contribution per game record in the last two decades. For example, DKD cost about four times the money. Another great signing.

 

I get your point, but unfortunately we wouldve likely won that game with a full compliment of players - I agree it wasn't a red, but it was a stupid challenge in a nonsense part of the pitch and he gave the ref a decision to make, which he had no need to do.

My point is down to his attitude and he has alot to be grateful to us for - the reality is with Phillips is that if he doesnt score or assist he is a very weak midfielder who lets the game pass him by - he's the sort that if things are going badly he's as bad as the rest - which sums up the problem with the spreadsheet and why we need a DW / MM type person at the back of the data - from what I'm told, an ex pro should got the job over MS but this aspect of actually scouting players was allegedly a sticking point.

Unless Phillips does the dirty side of the game, he is a decent league 1 footballer and no more than that - he doesn't even come close to ranking near the top of the midfield players I've seen over the last 40 years

 

What I would say on that though is that CHs influence , application and all round play was streets ahead of what AP is ever likely to achieve. I am not watching a championship footballer thats for sure

 

Apart from directly contributing to around 20 goals every season, from midfield, he lets the games pass him by. Make it make sense.

Of course he’s not perfect. He wouldn’t have gone from Liverpool to Oakwell via Morecambe otherwise. But he cost us barely anything, he’s signed contract extensions and in the three years he’s been here, he’s been the club’s outstanding performer. That’s a great signing by any measure. So the fact he doesn’t do Maël’s defending for him as well, or win as many duels as a defensive midfielder, is completely irrelevant. He’s there to score and make goals. And he’s still managed to do so this season even though he’s been played wide right bizarrely, and in what is up there with one of the worst sides I’ve ever seen represent BFC.

But I agree on your final point. He isn’t near the top of my list of the midfielders I’ve watched for the club over the last 37 years. Mainly because he’s not done it in the second tier, or Prem in the case of Redfearn for example.

 

He’ll be a Championship player in the summer.

 

Maybe I'm just daft but given our paucity of options upfront I'd have tried Phillips up there. His movement is decent, he can finish, he can head the ball, he can pick a pass but he doesn't have a tackle in him (like most of our midfielders).
Surely he'd be worth a try. He can't be any worse up there than Max xG.

 

In relation to it making sense it does. You can't afford to have passengers - that probably represents around 20 - 40 seconds a season out of around 248400 seconds a season using very basic figures. It's about his all round contribution for me. Everyone is entitled to an opinion - whether you agree with it is another matter.
Corey O keefe has one of the highest number of assists in the division - but he's a crap defender - does that make sense and mean he should be the first on the team sheet
Devante Cole is a championship player on paper - it doesnt make him a good one.
The club that AP will probably go to is PNE as PH knows how we tick and will probably pick him up for £750000 as a squad filler
Andy Payton was a good finisher etc and had a decent goals to games ratio - did it make him a good team player etc?

Just quoting AP goals and assists highlights the problem with our strategy of stats as a club - taken in isolation and used to fit a narrative they do a job - they don't tell the full story though do they? You are doing what the club do to identify a target. If he's (allegedly) rocking up late for everyhting and doing what he wants (allegedly) then he's bad for team morale and this impacts on the pitch and other players' mindsets

A CB in the PL might have a 95% pass completion rate - aye, because he's passing 2 yards to his right all the time - I would be up there based on that - it doesnt make them the next defensive version of Lionel Messi.

My take on it generally is this, if you're playing in L1 in your mid to late 20s its generally because you are decidedly average at your profession - the reason they carry on in it is because of the riches it brings at the minute - if they were this average in another line of work they'd be working until they were 80

 

There is of course an element of truth here. There is a glaring issue though. Are you suggesting that Phillips’ competitors for a shirt are less ‘passengers’ than him? And that they’re all better pros and work harder? Cobblers.

He puts a lot more bloody graft in defensively than Jon Russell; Kelechi Nwakali is a fantastic passer of a ball (on his day), but that is all as his positional awareness and running is non-existent. Josh Benson has an addiction to the physio’s treatment table.

Only Luca Connell does the defensive side off the ball remotely competently - and even then he’s fell off a cliff in terms of form when on the ball, though looked ok second half last night to be fair and the team looked hugely better with him rather than Nwakali sitting.

Calling out Phillips for ‘going missing’ is all well and good, but who else is available that is present and competent throughout a full game? Absolutely none of them. It’s a crazy argument you make. And calling him out for having ideas above his station, how do you know? Do you know him? Or are you basing it in the knowledge that he was late for one team meeting - without knowing why or any of the background?

Phillips has again scored double figure goals in all comps this season, plus provided several assists, despite playing in an at times complete garbage team, being shoe-horned wide right for large periods, and having no proper centre forwards to play off (or create for).

DKD aside (and I think he’ll likely be sold too sadly), he will command the biggest fee of anyone we have this summer. And his treatment at the hands of a coach who will most likely not be our head coach next season is idiotic. Airing dirty linen in public is rarely wise - and doing so, as well as very clearly damaging the reputation of the player (whether deserved or not), is only weakening the team each matchday and lessening his value this summer.

Saying we lose nothing by doing so as he cost us little is also incorrect. Of course we lose. He’s a tangible asset. Our whole business plan is to raise values of players and sell them on to stay afloat. It hasn’t worked too well recently and the owner is having to plug the gap. Doing anything to detriment the potential value of the player - given the season is dead as a doornail, is mind numbingly naive. What we paid for a player isn’t relevant to what we might achieve as a sale price - and failing to maximise that (let’s face it, we know some players have to leave given Neerav’s statement and Phillips is absolutely top of the list of those likeliest to go), is absolute folly. But over and above that, we are a worse team without him, even if he doesn’t score or assist. Hourihane flexing his muscles and proving a point isn’t working by any measure.

Who in the last two games has come in for him and shown that they have a better attitude and more likely to contribute to positive results?

 

I think the length of his contract means that what is going on now won't have any effect on our position in the summer re negotiating his leaving. So if CH thinks it best to discipline him, then so be it.

 

With his contract length I would expect between 2 and 3 million for him.Clubs are always on the look out for goal scoring midfielders.
The obvious club would be Preston based on him living there and Hecky being in attendance the other week.

 

Stats and facts back up my opinion of Adam. But regardless of them, my opinion would still be that he’s our best player and most productive. And I’ve explained why in other posts. You disagree, that’s fine. We can end it there without the need to play tennis with the topic. I’m just thankful that he’s contributed to so many goals because we’d be looking at the bottom four very closely right now.

 

And that’s an opinion I’ve no issue with. I’ve seen some agree with me that it shouldn’t have been made public. Others agree with yours. But anyone suggesting he’s not been a great signing needs to take up a different hobby.

 

How much we get for him is immaterial. We've a £9 million short fall on running costs. If we sell everything that isn't nailed down (players, sporting equipment, IT equipment, stationary, pots and pans,) we couldn't raise 9 million quid so there'll be no money from sales available for signings.

If we sell everyone then running costs obviously reduce, buy we've still got fixtures to fulfil so we have to sign other players who we have to pay wages. And if we're getting them for nowt and paying them less then they're likely to be much worse.

If we sell Phillips we just lose a player who scores and creates lots of goals. There will be no benefit to us at all. The owners won't have to put quite so much in to meet the shortfall, but that's it. Doesn't help the team.