Ciaran Clark: The new/next David Platt?

[CheeriOneill]

Platt - No

Townsend - Maybe?

[Mazrim]

If the team has badly missed anyone it's Petrov. He kept the midfield ticking over and rarely if ever lost possession of the ball. Now we give it away left right and centre.
He's easily the biggest miss of this injury crisis we find ourselves in this season.

Cant agree with that at all.
He would have just been outmanouvered by Arsenal. As he has been regularly against most teams.

I like Stan, he's a model pro, he does his best but he just isnt mobile enough or naturally fit enough to play the position he plays any more. Not week in, week out.

Dont get me wrong, we could do with him right now but I think we've missed NRC far more. Albrighton is now a critical miss too.

[saunders_heroes]

If the team has badly missed anyone it's Petrov. He kept the midfield ticking over and rarely if ever lost possession of the ball. Now we give it away left right and centre.
He's easily the biggest miss of this injury crisis we find ourselves in this season.

Cant agree with that at all.
He would have just been outmanouvered by Arsenal. As he has been regularly against most teams.

I like Stan, he's a model pro, he does his best but he just isnt mobile enough or naturally fit enough to play the position he plays any more. Not week in, week out.

Dont get me wrong, we could do with him right now but I think we've missed NRC far more. Albrighton is now a critical miss too.

Reo Coker's barely contributed anything to Aston Villa in his career so far. Yep, I'd rather him in the team than Clarke at the moment but to say he's more of a miss than Petrov is confusing to say the least.

[pablopicasso_10]

i think he is more of a miss than petrov... reo-cokers energy and breaking up play is something we simply dont have when he isnt available...

petrov, as neat and tidy as he is, lacks the mobility and energt to play the holding role... i have always said it, but i think he would be much better suited to la liga or serie a...

as mentioned above though, the one player we are desperately missing, is albrighton... thats how big his impact has been this season... he is now an integral part of our creative side... without him, there isnt much else other than watch downing lose the ball on his wrong foot, and young fall over and complain at the referee... (an exaggeration, i know, but they can be so frustratingly hit and miss)

[LeeB]

Clark has that hallmark of a great player, namely that he looks like he's got ages on the ball.

Look at that first goal, and ask yourself how many of our squad would have had the inclination to attempt it, let alone execute it.

 

[Mazrim]

I dont see what's confusing. Reo Coker has been our most consistent central midfielder this season before his injury. Petrov by contrast has looked barely fit and off the pace, plus Reo Coker is exactly the type of player who would get about and help cover the kids whilst they are learning. Thats why I think we've missed him more than Petrov. We dont have another player like him at the moment. His strength, energy and mobility. He covers up a few sins to be honest. Yes, I know he's no Merson in the passing stakes but he's not as bad as made out either and actually, I think started to accept his limitations this season and kept it simpler and thus more effective.

As for contributing to the club. I dont see what Petrov has contributed that NRC has not. Both have done their best when called upon and both have been leaders but its NRCs attributes and qualities I think we miss most right now.

[dave.woodhall]

Ciaran Clark aged 21 - playing for Aston Villa.
David Platt aged 21 - playing for Crewe.

[Chris Smith]

If the team has badly missed anyone it's Petrov. He kept the midfield ticking over and rarely if ever lost possession of the ball. Now we give it away left right and centre.
He's easily the biggest miss of this injury crisis we find ourselves in this season.

Cant agree with that at all.
He would have just been outmanouvered by Arsenal. As he has been regularly against most teams.

I like Stan, he's a model pro, he does his best but he just isnt mobile enough or naturally fit enough to play the position he plays any more. Not week in, week out.

Dont get me wrong, we could do with him right now but I think we've missed NRC far more. Albrighton is now a critical miss too.

Reo Coker's barely contributed anything to Aston Villa in his career so far. Yep, I'd rather him in the team than Clarke at the moment but to say he's more of a miss than Petrov is confusing to say the least.

I agree.

Petrov plays the holding position well, he's also more of an organiser than NRC and that's the thing we've been lacking most in recent weeks.

[Mazrim]

I dont agree that Petrov plays the defensive role particularly well. I dont think its really natural to him. Not in this league anyway. He doesnt have the physical authority or even the raw mechanical ability for it.
I would also question whether one of these players is a better organiser than the other.
They're both natural leaders in my opinion. Both vocal and demanding.

[JJ-AV]

I know I'm in the minority but I'm far from convinced. I fancy Albrighton and Bannan much more than Clark to make it at Villa.

[Chris Smith]

I dont agree that Petrov plays the defensive role particularly well. I dont think its really natural to him. Not in this league anyway. He doesnt have the physical authority or even the raw mechanical ability for it.
I would also question whether one of these players is a better organiser than the other.
They're both natural leaders in my opinion. Both vocal and demanding.

Being vocal is not the same as being an organiser it's to do with having tactical nous. Reo Coker's a bit of a headless chicken, charging about banging into people whereas Petrov has more discipline which is why I used the description 'holding' rather than defensive. He's also 10 times better with the ball. Based on what we've seen of the type of player GH prefers my bet is that if both were available our captain would be the one getting a start.

[Mazrim]

Neither will have anything to do with tactics. That's the managers job.
I wouldnt call Reo Coker a headless chicken either. He reads the game far better from a defensive point of view than Petrov who just seems to get bypassed rather too easily.

So if you're looking for a defensive midfielder, one is and one isn't. If you're not, well, neither are attacking midfielders and Petrov doesnt have the energy to be box to box.
One could have a future for the next few years here and the other is no longer up to being a starting XI player as far as I'm concerned and most likely should be sold as soon as we have enough cover. You can guess which I think is which.

Both can and most likely will be improved upon.
Anyway, Ciaran Clark...

[Concrete John]

I think in that position of DCM there are a few traits which go together to make a great player:-

Reading of the game/positional sense* - Petrov is better.
Tackling - NRC is better.
Energy - NRC is better.
Passing - Petrov is better.

So it's not a matter of which is better, but rather which is more needed.  Right now the answer is 'both' and if I had to jump either way I'd say NRC.

I do also think Clark could have all these traits, but right now the one he's most missing is the positional sense.

(*This is also key when we have position as the man in that anchor role needs to be able to back up the attacking play by providing an out ball for the man in possession.  Keane was exceptional at this.)

[Risso]

I dont agree that Petrov plays the defensive role particularly well. I dont think its really natural to him. Not in this league anyway. He doesnt have the physical authority or even the raw mechanical ability for it.
I would also question whether one of these players is a better organiser than the other.
They're both natural leaders in my opinion. Both vocal and demanding.

Being vocal is not the same as being an organiser it's to do with having tactical nous. Reo Coker's a bit of a headless chicken, charging about banging into people whereas Petrov has more discipline which is why I used the description 'holding' rather than defensive. He's also 10 times better with the ball. Based on what we've seen of the type of player GH prefers my bet is that if both were available our captain would be the one getting a start.

Totally agree Chris.  NRC has lots of energy, but bugger me, he has no footballing brain whatsoever.  He makes the wrong decision more often than he makes the right one, and seems to think he's a much better footballer than he really is.  Saying that, I'd quite like to see him next to Bannan, as I think he'd allow wee Bazza to play more football and worry less about the defensive side of things.  Petrov's a much better player than NRC, I just do worry about his ability to last a full 90 minutes these days.

[sfx412]

Reo Coker's barely contributed anything to Aston Villa in his career so far. Yep, I'd rather him in the team than Clarke at the moment but to say he's more of a miss than Petrov is confusing to say the least.

Why is that do you think, anything to do with  the previous manager?

He's been nearly an ever present until his injury under Houllier and has offered a competitiveness lacking since his exit.
Petrov is just Petrov, and I'm sure any of the kids who have replaced him do as good a job. Clarke has scored and done a sterling job for a cb, Bannan has become a media favourite and a Scottish cap and done more or less all Petrov does.