Breaking News Woodyard joins Braintree on loan

[undercovershrimper]

Young Blues midfielder joins BSP side Braintree Town on loan until April 20th according to Twitter/Facebook

 

[chapperzUK]

Good for him. Hopefully he can show want he can do when he is given regular first team football, otherwise he will be off in the summer.

 

[DTS]

Good for him. Been impressed when I have seen his - Very tenacious little player. I think that he needs games to bulk up so I can see this being a good move for him.

Braintree boss Alan Devonshire may or may not have said

"I am proper **** a hoop to get Alex in. He is a proper nauwty footballer and I am bang on getting him in. He is a fella we have watched for a while you get me. Sweet as a nut mate. Keep your alans on".

.....

Good luck Woody.

 

[South Bank Hank]

Always 'looked like' a great footballer rather than actually being one. Shapes well, strikes the ball well, finds space, appears steady and composed, makes himself available, and just generally looks the part. But sadly, for me, he does all of it without being able to materially affect a game. I think he'll end up being a tidy little player in the Conference but feel that League 2 may well have been his pinnacle. A drop down might do him the world of good a la Kightley.

 

[DTS]

Always 'looked like' a great footballer rather than actually being one. Shapes well, strikes the ball well, finds space, appears steady and composed, makes himself available, and just generally looks the part. But sadly, for me, he does all of it without being able to materially affect a game. I think he'll be a tidy little player in the Conference but suspect League 2 is his pinnacle at the time being. A drop down might do him the world of good a la Kightley.

Think this is often true of the youngers players. I think if we can bide our time with him he could be a really good holding player as he is as brave as they come and his distribution I think is ok. He makes a few errors at the moment (foul vs Cheltenham to give away the pen) as does Bentley (throw out on Saturday to oppo) but cant help but think both could be real assets if we give them time to develop. Chance are with Woody we will throw him away and he will either drift of into obscurity or do a Kightley once he bulks up a bit.

 

[dingleydangley]

Good for him. Been impressed when I have seen his - Very tenacious little player. I think that he needs games to bulk up so I can see this being a good move for him.

Braintree boss Alan Devonshire may or may not have said

"I am proper **** a hoop to get Alex in. He is a proper nauwty footballer and I am bang on getting him in. He is a fella we have watched for a while you get me. Sweet as a nut mate. Keep your alans on".

.....

Good luck Woody.

I can't believe you're not allowed to say c*ck. Will someone please start a thread on the breeding of chickens, just to see what it looks like.

Oi oi, you muppett, Woodo, get that ball off the flawer! Hoof! (Good luck, Alex)

 

[EastStandBlue]

Always 'looked like' a great footballer rather than actually being one. Shapes well, strikes the ball well, finds space, appears steady and composed, makes himself available, and just generally looks the part. But sadly, for me, he does all of it without being able to materially affect a game. I think he'll end up being a tidy little player in the Conference but feel that League 2 may well have been his pinnacle. A drop down might do him the world of good a la Kightley.

Nail on the head there, pretty much. A very tidy player, but one that needs the right characters around him, typified by his contrasting performances in the two Orient games. He was partnered by Timlin in the first leg and he was the perfect compliment to Timlin's tenacity with his calm and measured approach, but was seriously overwhelmed in the second leg when the game was shoved down his throat. Young and worth persevering with though, as he certainly has some attributes. Just not the complete package yet.

 

[danburyshrimper]

Best Wishes Alex Woodyard. You are miles better than Spillane. Better than Spicer. Better than Lund. Better than Leonard or Hirst when they play in the middle. Better than Reeves(controversial i'm sure, but my opinion) But not as strong as Mkandawire,Laird or Timlin.
I hope you get your head down + impress at Braintree , who i also watch sometimes ... and maybe you will bounce back to be a big player for us next year. You deserve a good run of games but sadly have suffered from being ex youth team as opposed to being an ex premier team reserve.

 

[Mick]

Best Wishes Alex Woodyard. You are miles better than Spillane. Better than Spicer. Better than Lund. Better than Leonard or Hirst when they play in the middle. Better than Reeves(controversial i'm sure, but my opinion) But not as strong as Mkandawire,Laird or Timlin.
I hope you get your head down + impress at Braintree , who i also watch sometimes ... and maybe you will bounce back to be a big player for us next year. You deserve a good run of games but sadly have suffered from being ex youth team as opposed to being an ex premier team reserve.

You really think Woodyard is better than Reeves ? Okay, it's all about opinions and it's my opinion that I'm glad you're not picking our team :winking:

 

[Jai]

You really think Woodyard is better than Reeves ? Okay, it's all about opinions and it's my opinion that I'm glad you're not picking our team :winking:

Amen to that! He's tidy enough on the ball, but that's it at the moment. Games should help his development.

 

[Ricey]

Best Wishes Alex Woodyard. You are miles better than Spillane. Better than Spicer. Better than Lund. Better than Leonard or Hirst when they play in the middle. Better than Reeves(controversial i'm sure, but my opinion) But not as strong as Mkandawire,Laird or Timlin.
I hope you get your head down + impress at Braintree , who i also watch sometimes ... and maybe you will bounce back to be a big player for us next year. You deserve a good run of games but sadly have suffered from being ex youth team as opposed to being an ex premier team reserve.

I want some of what your taking! Personally I don't rate him at all think he is very light weight and looks out of place. I haven't seen a great deal of games but that's my opinion on what I have seen so far. He is young so may get better but think he will join the likes of Ademeno and Asante etc. Who knows he may prove me wrong, Prosser certainly has.

Good luck to him hope it works out and he comes back a better player.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Best Wishes Alex Woodyard. You are miles better than Spillane. Better than Spicer. Better than Lund. Better than Leonard or Hirst when they play in the middle. Better than Reeves(controversial i'm sure, but my opinion) But not as strong as Mkandawire,Laird or Timlin.
I hope you get your head down + impress at Braintree , who i also watch sometimes ... and maybe you will bounce back to be a big player for us next year. You deserve a good run of games but sadly have suffered from being ex youth team as opposed to being an ex premier team reserve.

Interesting that you should mention Woodyard being better than Leonard in the middle. Leonard's only a year older than Woodyard, but in my opinion looks substantially better equipped for senior football physically, mentally and technically. Leonard's more physically imposing at 6'1, which could have a lot to do with it, and he's also had the luxury of more senior football, but he just looks like a more natural footballer at this level. Perhaps this loan spell and a string of games during pre-season could propel Woodyard's development, but I know who I'd rather have in my side at the moment.

Don't buy the "better than Reeves" notion at all, Reeves is a supremely gifted footballer in comparison and will play at a much higher level than Woodyard can hope to aspire to.

 

[Evening Echo]

Devonshire strengthens his midfield options with Southend United loanee

Braintree Town manager Alan Devonshire has strengthened his midfield options ahead of a busy run of Blue Square Bet Premier games with the loan signing of Southend United youngster Alex Woodyard.

More...

 

[Westcliff Shrimper]

Is Woodyard contracted for next season? If so, wouldn't it be an idea to loan him out for the whole season to someone like Grays or Canvey as a make-or-break test for him? Knightly went to Grays, and within a year of playing at that level, had gone to Wolves as he had a change to step up to the next level.

There are some decent lower-league clubs in the area, and we should try and use these as a finishing school for our talented youngsters. That's exactly what Watford and Southampton are doing with us...

 

[sufc_dave]

Tidy little player, looked like one of our better players during his stint nearer the start of the season. Good luck to him.

 

[Welly7]

Games will do him good. I like him and worth having around next season. Hope he stays.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Best Wishes Alex Woodyard. You are miles better than Spillane. Better than Spicer. Better than Lund. Better than Leonard or Hirst when they play in the middle. Better than Reeves(controversial i'm sure, but my opinion) But not as strong as Mkandawire,Laird or Timlin.
I hope you get your head down + impress at Braintree , who i also watch sometimes ... and maybe you will bounce back to be a big player for us next year. You deserve a good run of games but sadly have suffered from being ex youth team as opposed to being an ex premier team reserve.

Woodyard's suffered by not being very good.

He's nowhere near as good as Spillane, Spicer or Lund. That's nothing to do with where he came from (Kane Ferdinand was a regular) and everything to do with how limited he is as a player.

I can see him sinking without trace because he doesn't seem to read the game at all. Someone like Spillane will spot an attacker making a run into space and go and plug that gap. Woodyard can't do that. He doesn't see the danger develop. He's mechanical, playing by numbers rather than any feel for the game. Sure he runs about - when he's got into the team he's played on adrenaline but you can't make a career of playing on adrenaline - and maybe his running sticks out more because he's reacting and having to run rather than anticipating and getting there before to snub danger out.

Other than energy and adrenaline I don't see a single facet of his game that is better than any of Spillane, Spicer or Lund.

If he wasn't a youth team player would there be this clamour to play him?

 

[Welly7]

Woodyard's suffered by not being very good.

He's nowhere near as good as Spillane, Spicer or Lund. That's nothing to do with where he came from (Kane Ferdinand was a regular) and everything to do with how limited he is as a player.

I can see him sinking without trace because he doesn't seem to read the game at all. Someone like Spillane will spot an attacker making a run into space and go and plug that gap. Woodyard can't do that. He doesn't see the danger develop. He's mechanical, playing by numbers rather than any feel for the game. Sure he runs about - when he's got into the team he's played on adrenaline but you can't make a career of playing on adrenaline - and maybe his running sticks out more because he's reacting and having to run rather than anticipating and getting there before to snub danger out.

Other than energy and adrenaline I don't see a single facet of his game that is better than any of Spillane, Spicer or Lund.

If he wasn't a youth team player would there be this clamour to play him?

I like Woody and think he's worth keeping around next year. His best games for us were without doubt when he was holding with Timlin, Laird & Hurst a narrow three in front of him. The discipline required to play that role really benefited him and his tackles, simple passing proved effective (albeit he was helped by those in front of him.)

At Oxford he started in a traditional 442 and I doubted whether he would have the quality on the ball to be effective in that role. It's fair to say he struggled as the game passed him by. Yet when it was changed and Woody sat in front of the back four his performance improved. Hopefully these games at Braintree earn him another year because, imo, he's more than able to do a job in the holding role should we use one. Good enough for every week? Unlikely, but time will tell.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Record in their league starts for Southend

Woodyard

W 0 D 2 L 5 Pts 2 (from 7)

Spillane

W 3 D 1 L 5 pts 10 (from 9)

Spicer

W 4 D 2 L 4 pts 14 (from 10)

Lund

W 1 D2 L 3 pts 5 (from 6)

Reeves

W 0 D 2 L 2 pts 2 (from 4)

Can't be bothered to work out Leonard, but we've won loads with him in the team.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Woodyard's suffered by not being very good.

He's nowhere near as good as Spillane, Spicer or Lund. That's nothing to do with where he came from (Kane Ferdinand was a regular) and everything to do with how limited he is as a player.

I can see him sinking without trace because he doesn't seem to read the game at all. Someone like Spillane will spot an attacker making a run into space and go and plug that gap. Woodyard can't do that. He doesn't see the danger develop. He's mechanical, playing by numbers rather than any feel for the game. Sure he runs about - when he's got into the team he's played on adrenaline but you can't make a career of playing on adrenaline - and maybe his running sticks out more because he's reacting and having to run rather than anticipating and getting there before to snub danger out.

Other than energy and adrenaline I don't see a single facet of his game that is better than any of Spillane, Spicer or Lund.

If he wasn't a youth team player would there be this clamour to play him?

Some of your posts I find hard to take because you think you know it all but in this situation you are 100% correct. Woodyard is probably the worst CM we have. As other have said, he makes himself look good by shaping his body when he passes the ball, makes space for himself but never actually does anything of note.