If we keep Petrov we will be paying him 50k+ per week to sit on our bench.
Stan does an important and much under-estimated job for the team. Its no surprise to me that his first game back in the team coincided with our first clean sheet since the Man City game (when he also played). He may not be the fastest player around the pitch, but his footballing intelligence is absolutely vital, and something that NRC simply doesn't possess (despite his committed hard work). I'd be pleased for our younger players to learn from him over the next couple of years even if he doesn't play every game.
Opinions opinions.Poor old Stan - he's never been loved at Villa Park - yet the numbers show that we do better with him on the pitch than without him. NRC is indeed an energetic - pacy - hard tackling dynamo - sadly finding a colleague with a pass is his big weakness. Combine this with his Vassell-like ability to sprint forward and then fall over or generally lose the ball and he becomes very one dimensional. Especially as we are talking about horses for courses. NRC may well be a better player (though I don't think he is) - but what he isn't is a playmaker. We have Jean Makoun to do the hussling and hassling and to play the simple pass - we have wide talent - and striking talent - but we need that central midfield vision also. That's why we went sniffing round Charlie Adam. This is GH talking about the Newcastle game and Petrov to Teamtalk. "When you are in the position we are in, you need experience... I knew we needed someone who could make a long pass to switch play because Newcastle are very good at defending and squeezing up."That is the only criterion on which to have this discussion. It's not Petrov or NRC. It's Makoun or NRC because they are the going to do the digging work. We need a visionary central player - Scott Parker would have been ideal and I would have loved it to be Barry B - but that is for next year. Our attacking pace needs a good ball to thrive - and whatever qualities Mr Coker does have - silky passing skills and the sublime long ball are not among them. He may not be the world's greatest playmaker - but right now Stan is the best we've got and he's served our club well.So UTV and another win at Upton Park.