Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Iago on November 30, 2011, 01:01:13 PM
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Alex McLeish today insisted Stephen Ireland has a major part to play this season, despite failing to establish himself as a regular starter under the Villa boss.
The 25-year-old midfielder has only started three Premier League games as he looks to recapture form and fitness after being frozen out by former manager Gerard Houllier last season.
And McLeish is confident Ireland – who missed Sunday’s draw at Swansea through injury – will make a significant contribution after he praised his attitude in training,
“He’s worked really hard. He’s always one of the star performers on the training ground because of his touch and his vision. I certainly can’t say that he hasn’t applied himself,” said the Villa boss. “Stevie, like everybody else when we’re 13 games into it, has just got to be patient. Players don’t realise sometimes that it just takes the snap of your thumb and fingers to trigger your form again and you are back on top.”
McLeish believes Villa will start to see the best of Ireland when they find a system which can best utilise his talents.
“I’ve still got hopes for Stevie. We probably need to have the right players to play alongside him,” explained McLeish.
“When you see his breaking and counter-attacking. That’s the Stevie Ireland that I remember.”
Discuss.
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Well you wonder if he's been a star in training what else he can do to get a game? It's not like the midfield is pulling up trees. All that suggests is that Mcleish has his favourites and performance doesn't matter.
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So, forgetting Steven Ireland, we need to find the right system and have the right players. Any chance soon?
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Well you wonder if he's been a star in training what else he can do to get a game? It's not like the midfield is pulling up trees. All that suggests is that Mcleish has his favourites and performance doesn't matter.
Or that Mcleish has a certain way he likes us to play, and Stephen Ireland's touch and vision don't fit in with that.
Ireland and Bannan are comfortably the 2 most technically gifted players in the squad. They need to be playing.
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We've heard all this' plays great in training' bullshit stuff before,its a shame then that when he plays a league he goes missing.
Hopefully it won't be long til he's packed off to Doncaster.
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Well you wonder if he's been a star in training what else he can do to get a game? It's not like the midfield is pulling up trees. All that suggests is that Mcleish has his favourites and performance doesn't matter.
Or that Mcleish has a certain way he likes us to play, and Stephen Ireland's touch and vision don't fit in with that.
Ireland and Bannan are comfortably the 2 most technically gifted players in the squad. They need to be playing.
Well quite either way it doesn't bode particularly well for the style of football we are trying or are going to try to adopt.
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Well you wonder if he's been a star in training what else he can do to get a game? It's not like the midfield is pulling up trees. All that suggests is that Mcleish has his favourites and performance doesn't matter.
It is infuriating to see comments from the manager that recognises touch and vision, yet he persists with Heskey who is the complete opposite from that.
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Well you wonder if he's been a star in training what else he can do to get a game? It's not like the midfield is pulling up trees. All that suggests is that Mcleish has his favourites and performance doesn't matter.
It is infuriating to see comments from the manager that recognises touch and vision, yet he persists with Heskey who is the complete opposite from that.
This is what I find strange about AM. He says all the right things about ability, technique and the like yet he has us playing a style of football and players in position that appears to suggest he actually wants the opposite.
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“I’ve still got hopes for Stevie. We probably need to have the right players to play alongside him,” explained McLeish.
When you pick a midfield that encorperated Heskey and Hutton you make yourself look what you are "A complete and utter uselsss twat"
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This is what I find strange about AM. He says all the right things about ability, technique and the like yet he has us playing a style of football and players in position that appears to suggest he actually wants the opposite.
He is a great politician, I believe that is his biggest quality, especially when you compare with GH's media relationship.
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Ireland could work in the current position filled by Emile Heskey, but I would rather see Bannan given a shot there.
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Well you wonder if he's been a star in training what else he can do to get a game? It's not like the midfield is pulling up trees. All that suggests is that Mcleish has his favourites and performance doesn't matter.
It is infuriating to see comments from the manager that recognises touch and vision, yet he persists with Heskey who is the complete opposite from that.
Exactly, why not give him the same run he has given heskey and we maybe will see a different stephen ireland -the continuing use of heskey is baffling.
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Well you wonder if he's been a star in training what else he can do to get a game? It's not like the midfield is pulling up trees. All that suggests is that Mcleish has his favourites and performance doesn't matter.
It is infuriating to see comments from the manager that recognises touch and vision, yet he persists with Heskey who is the complete opposite from that.
Exactly, why not give him the same run he has given heskey and we maybe will see a different stephen ireland -the continuing use of heskey is baffling.
Unless AM has a thing about players following his instructions, and on this criterion Emule scores 98% while Bald Pink SVU Man comes in around 0%.
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It's all well and good having good touch and vision but it's useless unless he can punt the ball 60ft in the air.
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It's no surprise that we've seen our best football this season with Ireland and Bannan on the pitch. It's clear as fucking anything that Ireland and Bannan should be part of a midfield 3 if we want to control games and play actual football.
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I am imagine that Andy Marshall is the next cab off the rank in midfield if Emile needs a rest.
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I don't understand why he keeps coming out saying these things, when he persists with the team he plays. Like most of you have said, he goes on about touch and vision but plays Heskey?!?!
Ireland is a massive talent, and I feel that if we could fit him and Bannan in the team somewhere, we'd have a lot bigger chance of scoring more and therefore winning more.
Problem with SI is that he can't tackle, so therefore has to have say Herd and Petrov playing behind him.
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I don't understand why he keeps coming out saying these things, when he persists with the team he plays. Like most of you have said, he goes on about touch and vision but plays Heskey?!?!
It's because when a manager is asked the question about a players status in the club, and he has to come out with the usual platitudes. It is fairly evident that if a team wanted him on loan that suited him, he'd be off.
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Problem with Mcshit is that he talks a good game but in reality he hasn't got a tube a glue
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I would play Ireland instead of Heskey all day long.
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Ireland could do a job for us now.
Or anyone else for that matter who prefers a fairy as oppose to a star atop their Christmas tree...
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I would play Ireland instead of Heskey all day long.
One has huge talent but can't be arsed the other is almost the exact opposite, whatever the selection the result is more or less the same.
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I don't understand why he keeps coming out saying these things, when he persists with the team he plays. Like most of you have said, he goes on about touch and vision but plays Heskey?!?!
You are right, it does not make sense. But considering his whole appointment did not have good logic, why do we believe his management would?
I suspect his comments are there to appeal to the fan base, but at this current time, it is having the opposite impact on supporters. The supporters are intelligent enough to see our playing style for themselves.
Ireland is a massive talent, and I feel that if we could fit him and Bannan in the team somewhere, we'd have a lot bigger chance of scoring more and therefore winning more.
Absolutely. I was hoping AM would rebuild SI's career when he first joined, but I have seen nothing to suggest that AM believes in Ireland.
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Personally I'm still amazed at how many Villa fans are willing to pin their hopes and expectations on Ireland coming good. The bloke behind me on Sunday was screaming for him to come on (I don't even think he was a sub, but that's by the by!). What has he done to justify this faith and support? Oh yeah, he played well in the 2nd half at QPR, and that's about it. Pretty much every other time he's played, he's just not performed, and more importantly not looked bothered either.
He's let us down so many times on and off the pitch that he's got a LOT of work to do before he even comes close to winning me over.
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Personally I'm still amazed at how many Villa fans are willing to pin their hopes and expectations on Ireland coming good. The bloke behind me on Sunday was screaming for him to come on (I don't even think he was a sub, but that's by the by!). What has he done to justify this faith and support? Oh yeah, he played well in the 2nd half at QPR, and that's about it. Pretty much every other time he's played, he's just not performed, and more importantly not looked bothered either.
He's let us down so many times on and off the pitch that he's got a LOT of work to do before he even comes close to winning me over.
Give him a decent regular place in the team over a period of time and he will show what he can do, ireland on form and confident would be a revelation in this team , we are crying out for a creative skillful midfielder , give him a fair chance not just a couple of games.
Heskey has had a decent run in the team and delivered sod all , so time for stevie to get a chance.
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I can't imagine Ireland being any worse than Heskey was on Sunday.
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It's no surprise that we've seen our best football this season with Ireland and Bannan on the pitch. It's clear as fucking anything that Ireland and Bannan should be part of a midfield 3 if we want to control games and play actual football.
Who does the tackling in a midfield 3 with those 2 up top? Our midfield is being walked through as it is...
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It shouldn't be an either/or as far as Ireland and Bannan are concerned.
Both linked up brilliantly in the second half v QPR, playing little give and go's and opening up space. They both seem to be on the same wavelength, so lets try it for an extended period.
The nature of those kind of flair players is they won't do it every game, and there will be the familiar cries of 'goes missing,' after certain matches. But Heskey never even arrived in the first place. (I wish he hadn't.) I'll take a mercurial talent who does it sometimes over a lumbering oaf who trips over his own shadow any day of the week.
Injury permitting, give SI a run of 10 or so games, and if he hasn't delivered Big Eck will be well within his rights to say "you're no good to me, you weird baldy bastard" and bench him/ move him on.
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Still has a future in tele sales...
I think the problem is we have far too many samey type midfielders. Herd and Petrov are obviously the water carriers who break up (or at the very least are supposed to) play, get the tackles in, distribute the ball and try and stop the oppositions midfield from having a go. The Zog is the only out and out winger we have, much as I want to see Albrighton have a run and tantalise us with the form he showed early last season, the Eck doesn't seem to fancy him so, unless you want to stick Gabby out on the right and play one up top
This leaves a central pairing of Delph, Jenas, Ireland or Bannan. Barry and Fabian still learning the craft, Jenas when he's not injured and Ireland who doesn't seem to care at all. Makoun doesn't even come into it.
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I think the idea of snapping his finger and thumb is harsh but motivating.
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Ireland is a luxury player, great when the going is easy but the last msn you would want when there is some hard graft to be done. In the situation we're in we cannot afford luxury players because we don't have other players who can cover for him to let him fanny about doing his thing.
It's the age old phenomenon that the longer a player is out of the side the better they become.
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I don't see why any Villa fan would defend Ireland. This guy has done nothing in the club at all. He has had a quite a few chances to step up the plate, but he never does. It's just 'nearly' 'nearly' 'nearly' when it really counts for fuck all. He's also slagged us off and shown a piss poor attitude on the pitch where he'll just jog to the players instead of run at them. Makoun has done more than him but he was sent on loan, why?
What's more troubling is that he is one of the highest wage earners and that pretty much sums up what's wrong with this club. Who authorised to bring him here? He came when there was no manager in place.
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I don't see why any Villa fan would defend Ireland. This guy has done nothing in the club at all. He has had a quite a few chances to step up the plate, but he never does. It's just 'nearly' 'nearly' 'nearly' when it really counts for fuck all. He's also slagged us off and shown a piss poor attitude on the pitch where he'll just jog to the players
instead of run at them. Makoun has done more than him but he was sent on loan, why
What's more troubling is that he is one of the highest wage earners and that pretty much sums up what's wrong with this club. Who authorised to bring him here? He
came when there was no manager in place.
Are you the real Compass?
I like that post and there is no mention of McLeish in it.
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Off the top of my head I can recall the Chelsea game at home last season when he played well, Fulham away when he came off the bench and QPR away this season.
So as far as 'done nothing,' no, I don't think that's valid. Would those performances alone be enough to command a regular starting place? Under normal circumstances, I'd also say no. But our determination to seemingly build a side around midfield general Emile Heskey would indicate normal is a foreign country to us at present. For me, SI would -at the very least- be the least worst option. And might just come good with the same amount of game time Ivanhoe has enjoyed to date this season. I genuinely don't see how he could be much worse, in all honesty.
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I'd put Jenas and Bannan both ahead of Ireland so he's a long way from the least worst option.
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too much of a fanny merchant for AM even if he could get his head straight and find some form. Mebbe he should try and catch the managers eye by scything down some of his teammates in training
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We've heard all this' plays great in training' bullshit stuff before,its a shame then that when he plays a league he goes missing.
Hopefully it won't be long til he's packed off to Doncaster.
Absolutely - the guy's a charlatan in MHO.
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we need a system to allow us playing creative attacking football to benefits Ireland and Bannan and allow us to create plenty of chance for Mr Darren Bent to score goals for fun and discipined defenders to defend and pass the ball to midfield properly. We can't keep playing with Hutton and Heskey in the team.
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I was very suprised when Ireland was dropped a few games back. He was easily one of our better performers in the games he played.
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He's only gonna play one of those types of players(I know he did at QPR,but that was before Jenas was fit) and it should be Bannan,he's shows for the ball far more than Ireland does,never goes missing in games,and apart from the second half at QPR,i cant think of a decent perfromance from him.
If he continues with 4 3 3,the three will come from Petrov,Herd,Jenas and Bannan. Personally i really wish Makoun was still here,as he could sit with Herd deep,Herd doing the running and tackling and as no one from our back four can bring the ball out too well Makoun couldve done this job,playing simple passes,getting things started.
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Stephen Ireland has been one of the biggest let downs I've ever seen at the club. So much natural talent, so much promise, fuck all application.
That said, N'Zig could well outdo him if his form and apparent interest levels keep up (or is it down?)!
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we can only afford one out of Bannan and Ireland and currently although hes been a right numpty Bannan is miles in front of Ireland!
Bannan works at getting into space, Ireland expects the ball at his feet without working for it.
God know what he does in training but its not translating onto the pitch Ive watched him closely and he seems to think hes playing for Barca strolling around like some class player.
What i cant understand is why he played so well for City i mean at the time they didnt have great players
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Stephen Ireland needs to move on, the club needs him to move on, his career needs him to move on and the fans need him to move on.
Its fast becoming a piss take.
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Ireland has been gash in every performance for us, he has a couple of bright moments but he is the laziest player i have ever seen. Even vs Hereford he looked amateur, no energy or drive even then to prove himself.
ANYBODY defending him. Justify him having the wages of probably Gardner, Bannan, Clark, Herd and Albrighton combined. If not more. 70k a week.
Fuck me.
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Anybody else noticed the past couple of weeks AMc has turned into Bullshit Man.
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Anybody else noticed the past couple of weeks AMc has turned into Bullshit Man.
aye. still getting over him admitting he told the players to show "real aggression" in the teamtalk against swansea then telling them not to get booked afterwards!
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Anybody else noticed the past couple of weeks AMc has turned into Bullshit Man.
Faulkner must have started giving him some media training.
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Im still expecting Mcleish to come out with " Salifou has been working so hard in training and will soon be back in the first 11 "
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He's found a club apparently.
In the German third division.
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WE virtually all agreed that when we bought Jean II that he was off the pace of the prem (to be expected) but the guy was an intelligent ball player who also had a tackle in him. There were flashes that he really could be a fulcrum for our midfield with the right blend of players around him.
He was shipped out before the season even started by this clown to be replaced some weeks laetr with a kid from reserves and the most unforgivable team selection i have ever seen - Spurs away
In fact it is almost 2 weeks on and i still am amazed at the Spurs line up - he should have been sacked for that alone
This manager would not know a quality midfielder if one shat in his eye. As long as we have some clogging thugs in there who can hoof the thing 30 ft in the air they will do for him
He is really winding me up now - TNUC
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You really do spout some tripe, Hookey.
Makoun left the fringes of our team to take his place on the fringes of a team in the Greek league. He was a neat, tidy player but totally ineffective. When I first saw him I thought the quick passing was an asset but in dawned on me at Derby in ore-season is that was all he ever did - first time pass whichever way he was facing. He never tried to switch the play, make space or run off the ball. As for having a tackle, he's very, very poor - no timing and doesn't know when to commit or when to stand off. All in all just not suited to English football.
As for sacking him for picking the wrong team then every manager who has ever done the job would be guilty of it.
Which clogging thugs have we regularly played in midfield?
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He never tried to switch the play, make space or run off the ball.
Bannan does that well enough, but gets left on the bench for 82 minutes.
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I liked Makoun, but as Chris Smith said, his little 10 yeard first time pass was all eh could do, and most of the time his pass was to Reo-Coker, who under pressure didn't want the ball and duely gave the fucking thing straight back to the opposition. Our players have never been suited to receiving first time passes, especially with a member of the opposition on their back. He was lightweight, and his tackle at Blackpool showed me he wasn't going to cut it in the Premier League. Nice try Houllier, but no. Wrong.
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As for Ireland, how the fuck does he keep getting these niggling little injuries, the bloke never kicks a ball. Ideally, i'd like to see him given a chance, but it would only work in a 3 man centre midfield, and one of the other 2 needs not be Emile Heskey. Play him with Bannan and we're probably going to be too lightweight, maybe with Herd & Petrov? but that would mean Jenas and Bannan sitting out? Ireland clearly has ability, but for me, he's too high maintenence, and his salary is a joke. Got a feeling we're going to be stuck with him.
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I still think Makoun was sacked off far too quickly. Now I'm not comparing him as a player to Thierry Henry, but Henry was rubbish for his first few months at Arsenal. However Arsenal kept faith with him and he turned into one of the best players in the world. Now I'm not saying Makoun would do that obviously, but if a player like Henry can go from very poor to brilliant after taking some time to settle it's not unbelievable that Makoun could have ended up being good.
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I just don't think McLeish fully trusts Ireland; it's a shame because he was starting to feature and get a bit of form. We're not really set up to start with both Bannan and Ireland in the team, and Bannan has done much more to warrant the shirt. I do think we should be using a three-man midfield - a proper midfield - with Bannan as the most forward of the trio, and Ireland as the option to replace him either during a game or if he's off form/unavailable.
It's not so much that's it about Ireland getting better with every game that he doesn't play, it's more that he's a decent footballer not really getting a look-in: see Albrighton, Clark.
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I just don't think McLeish fully trusts Ireland;
I wonder why? - perhaps because he's unreliable and ineffectual.
Yes, he's shown some touches; but too little without effect. And he's a total mentalist as well.
There are other players further up the pecking order than Irleand and he needs to be shipped out or paid up.
As for the MF selection, if we had two better CB's - players with a football brain, mobility and passing capability - our choice of MF might be dfferent than it has to be currently.
I'm looking forward to getting through December and seeing the likes of Cuellar, Clark, in defence and GG, Johnson and others step up to get some game time in MF: at least we'd be looking forwards.
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I think our best bet for a midfield 3 at present is Herd, Petrov and Jenas with Bannan the next in line. I think that "should" give us the balance we've been looking for since the start of the season.
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I'm looking forward to getting through December and seeing the likes of Cuellar, Clark, in defence and GG, Johnson and others step up to get some game time in MF: at least we'd be looking forwards.
Can you actually see that happening this season? Not so sure I can; cannot envisage McLeish giving the likes of Johnson a run, not even confident we'll see Gardner used anything other than sparingly this season. Cuellar and Clark are very much geared up for coming into a defence when we have injuries, I think - McLeish seems loyal to the Collins-Dunne partnership.
Post-December I think we'll be a few places lower than now and, as such, I expect McLeish, a cautious manager at the best of times, to stick with his tried and trusted.
Ireland hasn't done enough to demand a starting place, I agree. But he can't make an impression either if he's not used in games at all. Same with Albrighton. They are footballers who can play, who can have an impact, but they're very much on the outside at the moment, which I think is a shame.
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Post-December I think we'll be a few places lower than now and, as such, I expect McLeish, a cautious manager at the best of times, to stick with his tried and trusted.
And that, my friend, is a definition of madness: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
But I do agree with you that as performance drops through December against the Big Clubs McGinge will retreat further into a mindset of using experienced / "reliable" players in defence / midfield.
I'd label it the "Blues self-destruct" strategy.
I'd strongly agree that right now the best midfield option is as outlined by Mr Smith. But, as I said earlier, it's somewhat predicated in the choice at CB: Petrov does some great interceptions in front of our CB; Herd does some great covering for the fullbacks (particularly when Hutton goes on the rampage further up the field). With beetter CB, Petrov could be replaced with a more energetic CMF like GG who can provide more attacking prowess as well as covering in front of the CB.
Our immediate problems are- I think - at CB.
I think our best bet for a midfield 3 at present is Herd, Petrov and Jenas with Bannan the next in line. I think that "should" give us the balance we've been looking for since the start of the season.
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Just to clarify, EffDee, when it comes to doing the same thing over and over again, that's what I'm expecting of McLeish - not what I'd do! He doesn't strike me as the kind of manager to stray too far from his default selection and set up.
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Just to clarify, EffDee, when it comes to doing the same thing over and over again, that's what I'm expecting of McLeish - not what I'd do! He doesn't strike me as the kind of manager to stray too far from his default selection and set up.
I think we're in agreement in most of this, Merv, except for the subject of this post.
To clarify, I think Stephen Ireland is a self-obsessed little gobshite who adds no value to the squad and would not be in most people's first-choice MF.
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Quite possibly - I'm not even sure whether Ireland has a future with us or not. I just struggle to qualify the comments that he's performing 'brilliantly' in training with the fact that he's almost totally dropped out of the first team picture.
I guess at the heart of it all is my frustration that McLeish isn't regularly picking the players I'd like to see in the starting X1; I believe we could have a decent footballing side if the manager made different choices.
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Ireland, looking good in training with a few flicks and tricks when there's nobody tackling him isn't the same as doing in the first team. I bet he's a great 5 a side player.
Have we picked the same side 2 games running? It seems obvious to me that he's still trying to come up with the best combination for the midfield which has been hampered by the non-availability of Jenas the only one at the club who McLeish himself chose.
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Ireland, looking good in training with a few flicks and tricks when there's nobody tackling him isn't the same as doing in the first team. I bet he's a great 5 a side player.
Have we picked the same side 2 games running? It seems obvious to me that he's still trying to come up with the best combination for the midfield which has been hampered by the non-availability of Jenas the only one at the club who McLeish himself chose.
He's still choosing to play Heskey in midfield out of the options given to him. You can say he's only made one signing of his own there, you can debate the merits and faults of Makoun and the wisdom of letting him go, but the playing of Heskey in midfield remains unfathomable.
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Ireland, looking good in training with a few flicks and tricks when there's nobody tackling him isn't the same as doing in the first team. I bet he's a great 5 a side player.
Have we picked the same side 2 games running? It seems obvious to me that he's still trying to come up with the best combination for the midfield which has been hampered by the non-availability of Jenas the only one at the club who McLeish himself chose.
He's still choosing to play Heskey in midfield out of the options given to him. You can say he's only made one signing of his own there, you can debate the merits and faults of Makoun and the wisdom of letting him go, but the playing of Heskey in midfield remains unfathomable.
It isn't unfathomable, although I accept that's the fashionable word around here.
It might not be what you or I would do but there's reason to it. With Jenas unavailable and Bannan taking himself out of the picture recently his options weren't great. He adds a physical presence that takes attention away from Bent, he's experienced, he provides a good front post shield when we're defending corners, he's unselfish and he works extremely hard.
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Ireland, looking good in training with a few flicks and tricks when there's nobody tackling him isn't the same as doing in the first team. I bet he's a great 5 a side player.
Have we picked the same side 2 games running? It seems obvious to me that he's still trying to come up with the best combination for the midfield which has been hampered by the non-availability of Jenas the only one at the club who McLeish himself chose.
He's still choosing to play Heskey in midfield out of the options given to him. You can say he's only made one signing of his own there, you can debate the merits and faults of Makoun and the wisdom of letting him go, but the playing of Heskey in midfield remains unfathomable.
It isn't unfathomable, although I accept that's the fashionable word around here.
It might not be what you or I would do but there's reason to it. With Jenas unavailable and Bannan taking himself out of the picture recently his options weren't great. He adds a physical presence that takes attention away from Bent, he's experienced, he provides a good front post shield when we're defending corners, he's unselfish and he works extremely hard.
We still look rubbish at defending corners (I struggle to think of one he's actually headed away, and I do check), he's actually so far removed from Bent and so immobile that his 'physical' attributes and hard work are largely useless, his experience counts for nothing if he's not performing on the pitch, his presence in the team is largely to have a target to hit, which is definitely our number one way of losing the ball, and fundamentally he's a negative selection in a midfield which already contained two holding players and very little link to our forward players, inviting pressure and making the likelihood of scoring less and of conceding greater. Given the at least mobile presence of Delph and Ireland, both with more ability to link with forwards, I find his selection unfathomable (a word I actually took a moment to choose, I hadn't realised it was so fashionable).
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I bet he is. He's a good footballer in that sense but, again, perhaps not the sort that McLeish is readily going to select. I don't think Bannan's being/been used that extensively or effectively yet, he's in and out of the side and always was anyway even before the incident.
The team changes, sure (not always in a good way). But I've certainly seen enough of his selections to worry that perhaps some of the more creative footballers in the current squad aren't getting much involvement. But I'm happy if that's just a concern of mine and others are more optimistic about the general make-up of the team and the style we're playing or heading towards.
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I bet he is. He's a good footballer in that sense but, again, perhaps not the sort that McLeish is readily going to select. I don't think Bannan's being/been used that extensively or effectively yet, he's in and out of the side and always was anyway even before the incident.
The team changes, sure (not always in a good way). But I've certainly seen enough of his selections to worry that perhaps some of the more creative footballers in the current squad aren't getting much involvement. But I'm happy if that's just a concern of mine and others are more optimistic about the general make-up of the team and the style we're playing or heading towards.
Not so much optimistic, Merv, as giving him the benefit of the doubt as he clearly signed Jenas because he identified an issue in central midfield and, as yet, has not had the opportunity to use him.
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He adds a physical presence that takes attention away from Bent, he's experienced, he provides a good front post shield when we're defending corners, he's unselfish and he works extremely hard.
How does he take attention away from Bent? He is in a creative role and should be providing for Bent, he has not done that in the previous games.
Heskey usually falls down under a challenge, so I would question Emile's physical presence.
Sorry Chris, but he needs to be replaced by a player who can create up top.
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He adds a physical presence that takes attention away from Bent, he's experienced, he provides a good front post shield when we're defending corners, he's unselfish and he works extremely hard.
How does he take attention away from Bent? He is in a creative role and should be providing for Bent, he has not done that in the previous games.
Heskey usually falls down under a challenge, so I would question Emile's physical presence.
Sorry Chris, but he needs to be replaced by a player who can create up top.
Not for the first time you're missing the point. I'm not saying I want him in the side just putting forward the reasons why he, sometimes, plays.
Next time he plays watch who picks him up on corners, free kicks, clearances from the keeper etc. It's a centre half thereby taking one of them away from Bent and he does use his strength to hold the ball up. There are plenty of valid reasons to criticise him without making things up because you are unable to accept that he does have some useful attributes.
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Not for the first time you're missing the point. I'm not saying I want him in the side just putting forward the reasons why he, sometimes, plays.
Next time he plays watch who picks him up on corners, free kicks, clearances from the keeper etc. It's a centre half thereby taking one of them away from Bent and he does use his strength to hold the ball up. There are plenty of valid reasons to criticise him without making things up because you are unable to accept that he does have some useful attributes.
I perfectly understood your point, do not demean me. I have watched him play and there is no genuine reason for him starting games.
EH is in that role to provide for the striker(s), not be an extra man for defensive set pieces. And BTW, he was used in that manner for the City game and we still conceded from set pieces. Sadly, Heskey has no purpose other than a squad role. Heskey playing in his current position typifies AM.
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Heskey is ok as an extra striker, he was great for Houiller early part of last season, but as a midfielder he offers absolutley ziltch. I bet Fergie is praying we pick him on Saturday. Man Utd's defenders will have their easiest game for a while if he does.
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Not so much optimistic, Merv, as giving him the benefit of the doubt as he clearly signed Jenas because he identified an issue in central midfield and, as yet, has not had the opportunity to use him.
He signed Hleb and placed him on the bench for the majority of last season.
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I take the point about accommodating two players like Ireland and Bannan in the same side. Common sense tells you that it probably shouldn't work, and having at least two more combative players in the middle of the park would give us better balance.
But what looks fine in theory often falls apart when it's tried on the park. Conversely, something that looks like it shouldn't work sometimes does.
I've heard it mentioned a few times this season that our players haven't been cute enough to read some of Bannan's passes. I heard similar last season on the odd occasions Ireland contributed and looked up for it.
I accept I'm probably reading a lot into one game (not even one full game, more like one half), but there was enough promise there to suggest they are on each others wavelength, and I'd rather persist with that for a period of time than the disjointed mess that has charatersised a large chunk of the season to date.
Go with what seems to work and build from that accordingly. Gabby is in decent form, Bent will -with service- always get goals. Bannan and Ireland look like they could work well together, then fill in the blanks in midfield from there.
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I'd think about playing them either side of a four (with two from Herd, Petrov and Jenas in between) but that lacks natural width and if they are forced wide that may restrict Ireland and Barry from playing to their best. I just don't see how the two of them could work in a three without leaving us too open defensively. As you say it would be a shame to waste the best footballers at the club on the bench.
I do think if Ireland is given a chance he might justify some of our faith. However, I also thought if Luke Moore was given a chance he could be our twenty goal a season man.
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I'm not even sure what the formation was second half v QPR.
I think Bent was out, so it was Gabby up top with Bannan behind and maybe SI coming from wide and drifting in.
Craig Bellamy - that well known tactical genius- said that during his time at Citeh Ireland's best form was on the left of a central three.
In all honesty, unless Gabby or Bent get injured, I'm not sure how we could make it work either. But I'd like to try- and maybe look for one of those mythical Defensive Midfielders in Jan- ideally someone about 6ft4- 6ft-7 and built like a brick outhouse to do all the donkeywork, a bloke so imposing that opposition players just bounce off him.