Sodje/Clarke/Barrett

[number11]

Id say keep with a (reasonably ) succesful line up. Chopping and changing doesnt help or fill the players axed with confidence. Players should know that if they get their chance and seize it then they will keep the jersey until performances drop. This approach didnt do Eastwood any harm last year when he missed much of our 8 on a trot, but still bagged over 20 goals.....

Im in on the Peter Clarke appreciation club thingy ....his confidence must have been shot after the start he made and moving away from the north etc, so I hope everyone gives him some great vocal backing at the games so that he knows we are behind him. He looks to have the makings of a very good, no_nonsense uncompromising centre back......though Tilly may need to have a word to remind him he isnt Franz Beckenbauer and to reign in the attempts at 60 yard passes..

 

[SUFC_Al]

Quote[/b] (number11 @ Jan. 09 2007,11:43)]Id say keep with a (reasonably ) succesful line up.  Chopping and changing doesnt help or fill the players axed with confidence.  Players should know that if they get their chance and seize it then they will keep the jersey until performances drop.  This approach didnt do Eastwood any harm last year when he missed much of our 8 on a trot, but still bagged over 20 goals.....

Im in on the Peter Clarke appreciation club thingy ....his confidence must have been shot after the start he made and moving away from the north etc, so I hope everyone gives him some great vocal backing at the games so that he knows we are behind him.  He looks to have the makings of a very good, no_nonsense uncompromising centre back......though Tilly may need to have a word to remind him he isnt Franz Beckenbauer and to reign in the attempts at 60 yard passes..

yeah his distribution is his weakness, but many a great centre-half couldn't pass to save their lives!

But for out and out defending he's looking very good, throws his body in the way of shots, good in the air, solid tackling

How about a few rounds of 'there's only one Peter Clarke' at Cardiff, anyone?

 

[Einstein]

Quote[/b] (number11 @ Jan. 09 2007,11:43)]Im in on the Peter Clarke appreciation club thingy ....

Pleased to hear it. I felt a bit lonely back there for a second!

 

[SUFC_Al]

Quote[/b] (Einstein @ Jan. 09 2007,11:51)]

Quote[/b] (number11 @ Jan. 09 2007,11:43)]Im in on the Peter Clarke appreciation club thingy ....

Pleased to hear it.  I felt a bit lonely back there for a second!

a guy (w&nker) who sits near me didn't give Clarke a chance this season and I hear, oh Clarke you're sh!t, oh Clarke not again every game.

He had to play out of position and I say fair play to him, he was trying to do a job he's not suited for and he's just joined the club after spending his whole life in the north-west.

Some people are so quick to judge without looking at the bigger picture.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

think of things this way, we're really lucky to have 3 fit and in form centre halfs and we've also got prior back on the way who i think will struggle to get back in the team at this rate! surely this sort of selection trouble is nothing but good news!

based on current form i think it would be best to keep things as they are and have clarke and barrett at the back.

barrett is god!

 

[Beefy]

Barrett has added a hell of a lot from an attacking point of view recently too. I still have a heart-attack every time he charges out with the ball at his feet but those late runs into the box he makes off the ball can be so valuable. He never gets picked up.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

very good point beefy i forgot to mention that, he is very very good in the air especially at corners. her nearly scored at norwich, coventry and west brom, didnt by a whisker. we need that so bad as no one else is really very strong in the air!

 

[SUFC_Al]

good points there Beefy and Matty! He made a few of those runs on Sat, love it!

 

[mattytheshrimper]

you've gotta love those runs where he finds himself in space and strides up the pitch, reminds me of rio ferdinand a little as he does it quite a lot but usually just loses it!

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (Spaceman Spiff @ Jan. 09 2007,09:46)]

Quote[/b] (Einstein @ Jan. 09 2007,09:44)]

Quote[/b] (jamessufc88 @ Jan. 09 2007,09:34)]

Quote[/b] (Einstein @ Jan. 09 2007,09:32)](Is there a Peter Clarke Appreciation Society yet?!! If not then I am copyrighting!)

And I'll gladly be your first member!

Welcome to the club!

I'm in too!

In fairness, the user PeterClarkeAppreciationSociety (formerly known as MarkBentleyAppreciationSociety (also known as the one who always messes up the page alignment!)) might have just snuck in there with the intellectual rights to the name.

Quote[/b] ]shot down in flames

Along with 'rose-tinted specs', this is one phrase I would censor in a Col******r style if I ruled the board!

 

[Jam_Man]

Id like to see Sodje back in but think should probably start on the bench as the other two have played well.

I think Clarke is finally looking like the player Blackpool said he was however I still have doubts if Im honest and if it was a straight choice Id have Sodje instead. However the fact he has been playing well would mean it unfair to just drop him.

Results have improved recently, but they started improving when Sodje came into the side, then again when McCormack joined. I dont think its fair to say Clarkes return is the main reason.

 

[Hong Kong Blue]

Quote[/b] (mattytheshrimper @ Jan. 09 2007,12:19)]very good point beefy i forgot to mention that, he is very very good in the air especially at corners. her nearly scored at norwich, coventry and west brom, didnt by a whisker. we need that so bad as no one else is really very strong in the air!

1. He's far better in the air in the opposition's penalty box than he is in ours
2. He really should have scored at least once from those chances.

I do think he's added a lot to our side attacking wise in recent weeks. Not so much as a goal threat, although he's had a few very good chances, but as a creative threat.

In recent games the only time we seem to threaten as a team is when he steps out from the back. He looks the one player able to release Freddy with a ball over the top (although we really need Freddy to be playing in the hole and someone else providing the threat to get behind the defence), and the only time we seem to get enough men forward to cause problems for a team is when he steps up - for example when he won the free-kick for Freddy's/Gower's goal. Otherwise our attacking play looks pedestrian, it lacks movement and is too reliant on speculative efforts from distance as we lack the ability to prise open defences and get in close. If we go a goal up, its a different story, as with teams chasing the game they leave space for us to exploit, but we lack offensive options in a tight game.

However, first and foremost a defender has to be able to defend. I don't think Barrett is one of our best two central defenders. Ideally the solution is to improve the midfield and attacking options, in particular get some movement from midfield, and we can then pick defenders primarily on their ability to defend, not to initiate attacks.

 

[Angell Delight]

Personally I am of the opinion that throwing all 3 of Francis, Hammell and Clarke into the back 4 for the first few months of the season was always going to cause problems as it was always gonna take a few months for them to settle and more importantly gel as a unit. If we go down I think we may well have paid the price for such a drastic change initially, I think we're now starting to see (from Hammell and Clarke anyway) what good players they are and why they were signed.

Obviously the lack of a decent partner for Maher had something to do with it too, thankfully that's now been sorted and we look a much much better side.