Petrov - ups and downs (and backwards !)

[hawkeye]

i am generally reassured by Petrov being on the pitch, but as the game wears on i get less and less comfortable, GH has not founfd the right centre midfield combination yet which is a worry

[eamonn]

Can't believe he was given a career-ending contract under O'Neill on the back of one good season.

[Dave]

Can't believe he was given a career-ending contract under O'Neill on the back of one good season.

He's been with us for five years and has had one below-average season.

Everything else has been perfectly good.

[WikiVilla]

At the height of MON's reign, Petrov was a joy to watch week in week out, his composure and the way he made time with the ball was excellent

[jeowje]

As he gets older he is always likely to end up lacking mobility.  He's our very own Bulgarian Xavi, but in the same way that we aren't quite Barca, neither is he.  He does a job, and he won't start every game, but he does still have something to give imo.

[Ad@m]

Can't believe he was given a career-ending contract under O'Neill on the back of one good season.

Agree 100%.

That season was very good but the rest has been average at best.  Now he's just a passenger.

[eamonn]

Can't believe he was given a career-ending contract under O'Neill on the back of one good season.

He's been with us for five years and has had one below-average season.

Everything else has been perfectly good.

Four and a half years, and this season, injuries aside, he's been average. In fact he's generally been ok. Maintains possession, decent touch, great at drawing fouls etc. But his lack of pace and energy late in games really hampers us at times. And for a player with a knack for scoring consistently earlier in his career you'd think he would be somewhat adept in the role of a midfielder arriving late into the box to score. But he doesn't, and when he does shoot, invariably it's wayward.
 I just think back to his debut or even his goal against Sheff Utd in the cup last month and think of the player he could have been for us.

[SoccerHQ]

I thought he was pretty good last season, taking over the Barry role well and combining nicely with Milner.

However this season even before the injury he didn't look right.

Still good for the odd game as against Man. City he was excellent but next season I expect Makoun, Bradley, hopefully Delph and maybe somebody else we sign to be ahead of him in the pecking order.