What is it about Emile Heskey?

[The Laughing Policeman]

I know this is a bit like asking "what is the meaning of life"? But what do professional football managers see in Emile that us mere mortals don't?
No matter which club he has played for or under which manager, it seems as if he is always first name on the team sheet. Yet if you talk to fans of those clubs none of them rated him.
And how many England managers has he played for?
Personally I think he has been a distinctly average PL striker. Nothing spectacular, and when he does do something  special it seems to stand out more simply because it is Emile. Plus those special moments are very few and far between.
Hopefully the coaches among us will be able to shed some light on the conundrum that is Emile Heskey.

[Risso]

He's not a bad player, but the elephant in the room is that he just doesn't score anywhere near enough goals, and I can't see that his presence helps others to score more to make up for that fact.  I've seen him described as a "defensive striker" which is the sort of player that will get into an Alex McLeish team every day of the week.

[TimTheVillain]

It really is one of life's mysteries.

All I know is, he isn't right for Villa and my guess is that his wages are the only reason he's still here.

Two very memorable goals; one at Pompey ( his debut I think) and the one at Wolves last season stand out, nothing else of note.

[JJ-AV]

Good team player isn't he? Managers can trust him as he'll do exactly what's told and make himself look even worse for the benefit of the team.

I suppose he was like a breath of fresh air to MON when Carew was around.

[VillaAlways]

Hasn't he recently expressed a desire to extend his contract at the end of the season.I could see AM giving him a years extension

His wages may put the brakes on that however

[Risso]

Good team player isn't he? Managers can trust him as he'll do exactly what's told and make himself look even worse for the benefit of the team.

I suppose he was like a breath of fresh air to MON when Carew was around.

We were much better with Carew in the team than we were with Heskey.  At one point Carew was scoring pretty well every other game or so for us.  Emile just doesn't compensate for that, even with his unselfish play.

[UsualSuspect]

He's not a bad player, but the elephant in the room is that he just doesn't score anywhere near enough goals, and I can't see that his presence helps others to score more to make up for that fact.  I've seen him described as a "defensive striker" which is the sort of player that will get into an Alex McLeish team every day of the week.

Agree with that totally

A striker who doesn't scores but brings others into the game - what sort of statement is that?

he tries most of the time but I find myself just laughing at his mistimed jumps for the ball and his attempts at tackling

He's probably a nice bloke but he shouldn't be anywhere near our first team

[andrew08]

Having seen most of his Villa games I would say he's been one of our better players since he arrived.
We haven't exactly made him welcome have we. He suffers from a couple of oh so hysterical songs so even when he plays well and scores he waves to his family in the stand rather than the crowd. If I was him I'd give a 2 finger wave to the crowd next time I scored in front of The Holte. A classic English centre forward wasted on us lot I'm afraid.
Oh and I've joined in the songs myself... He's bloody frustrating to watch !

[Monty]

He works very hard off the ball, he seems to know his stuff tactically insofar as what he's asked to do, and he does provide a physical presence high up the pitch and attacking and defending set-pieces. However, just as the Michael Owen/Kris Boyd type of finishes-but-does-nothing-else striker is no longer really enough, so is the striker who works hard but never finishes. It worked for Denmark in '92 with Povlsen and Vilfort and for France in '98 with Guivarc'h, but no more. He's not really adequate for the Premier League.

That's him as a striker dealt with. That McLeish is playing him as an attacking midfielder is really quite staggering. In that role you want guile, you want intelligent movement between the lines, you want vision to spot a pass, the technique to make it, skill to make space out of nothing and a totally reliable first touch under pressure so you keep the ball in important areas. Heskey has literally none of these qualities, whereas Bannan has all of them (as does Ireland when playing well). It's indefensible.

[glasses]

The Elephant in the room, is the elephant on the pitch, charging around aimlessly. Saying he holds the ball up well is a terrible cliche. He holds onto it for too long and slows things down. Bannan, Ireland and Albrighton have sat out the last three league games instead. Cant get my head around it.

[Pete3206]

He's OK, but always shagged after 60 minutes. Either take him off or use him as a sub.

[KevinGage]

Hasn't he recently expressed a desire to extend his contract at the end of the season.I could see AM giving him a years extension

His wages may put the brakes on that however

No, no Ivanhoe!

You've achieved so much!  Go out on a high...

[UsualSuspect]

 classic English centre forward wasted on us lot I'm afraid.
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Are you drunk?

A classic English Centre forward was someone like Peter Withe

Would take shit of a centre half and when the ref wasn't look him would give him a slap. Plus he'd weigh in with some goals.

Compare that to scoring goals with your shoulder and falling over a lot because your shorts are too tight

[brice jovial]

Do you remember the time when it was reported  heskey went to the theatre

Whilst the performance was going on apparently emule suddenly got up and walked on the stage!!!

Some guy shouted out at him "Heskey! What are you doing up there?"
Heskey shouted back "Holding up the play."

[Monty]

Terrible, Brice. But not bad.