Stephen Warnock

[Aston Manor]

Ineptitude indeed. but for the large part of his first season with us he was fantastic and was justifiably called into the England squad in 2010. Sort out whatever went wrong  and there is still a good player there. It may simply be that he wants to move back into a position he prefers -midfield- and is struggling for consistency at left-back.

[Rigadon]

He was solid at first, then caught whatever it is left backs catch at Villa Park and was utterly inept.  Then Houllier came along and he went from inept to invisible.

I'd forget the ineptitude and sulking if he gave us a solid season at left back because for a while we had a very mean back 4 wit him in it.  No excuses though. 

[Surrey Villain]

He also linked up well with Ashley Young when Young played as a left winger.  Warnock's form dropping could have something to do with Young becoming a midfield player or player in the 'hole' and Warnock not having a left winger in front of him.

[Concrete John]

He also linked up well with Ashley Young when Young played as a left winger.  Warnock's form dropping could have something to do with Young becoming a midfield player or player in the 'hole' and Warnock not having a left winger in front of him.

When you factor in Ash's workrate and the fact that Warnock has some defensive frailties, this could be quite true.

[Quiet Lion]

He was great for us when he first joined. God knows what went wrong after the Carling Cup, but he was terribad after that. Much like Dunne at the start of last season, just completely inept all of a sudden.

[Villanation]

The problem for Warnock was that he got utterly frozen out by Houllier, I think the same happened at Anfield, part of Houlliers management that was totally lacking, take Gabby, season after season, led the line, mostly on his own and for that incredibly and almost unbelievably consistent in that he kept that going, and helping the club achieve what it did in that period, lucky if we see that again anytime soon.

Lasts season injury aside Gabby got pretty much sidelined and virtually played out of position for the whole season, Warnock vanished altogether, by far the best thing is for Warnock to move on unless he can get some guarantee he will get a lot more match time. He can't afford another season in obscurity.

[ASHTONVILLA]

He was absolute rubbish for a good six months before Houllier appeared and rightly dropped him. Hopefully can show the form he had during his half a good season with us, otherwise I'd rather he displayed his new found good attitude on the bench.

Now we have had OS snippets of praise for Ireland and Warnock, I fully expect an article to appear headed 'Beye Pele-esque in training' next week.

I will reserve judgement till I see them do it on the pitch, and I really hope they do, but meanwhiles I will not be holding my breath in anticipation.

[Villanation]

He was absolute rubbish for a good six months before Houllier appeared and rightly dropped him. Hopefully can show the form he had during his half a good season with us, otherwise I'd rather he displayed his new found good attitude on the bench.

Now we have had OS snippets of praise for Ireland and Warnock, I fully expect an article to appear headed 'Beye Pele-esque in training' next week.

I will reserve judgement till I see them do it on the pitch, and I really hope they do, but meanwhiles I will not be holding my breath in anticipation.

Maybe so, but you don't resolve that by deafing the player out for 12 months, that's just madness. Fact is we do know Warnock can play football.

[brontebilly]

He was beyond awful last season, hard to know which of Ireland and him were worst. In there somewhere is a solid enough left back but with his injuries problems and his diabolical attitude I'm not sure he can turn it around.

[TheSandman]

I don't give a fuck if he's sorry or if he is getting a clean sheet. He was utterly shocking and not just under Houllier but under MacDonald and under O'Neill half the time.

He has diabolical positioning sense, makes poor tackles and for me lacks strength. Basically as a full back he is a car crash waiting to happen.

[not3bad]

That tackle against Man City stands out for total inpetness. 1-0 up on top in the game, seconds before half time and he does that!

That tackle infuriated me beyond the ability to express myself.

[SoccerHQ]

I can't think of many players who went from being so good (his first 4-6 months with the club) to so bad (his impression of a pub player ever since) almost overnight.

He was a liability before Houllier arrived IMO.

Yep he was really poor from the Carling cup final right through to Man. City away in the 2010 run in.

Not sure what's gone wrong really but like Ireland, he certainly will get a second chance.

[Toronto Villa]

Maybe he's a confidence player. He had a very poor run of form, and you wonder if he needs to have someone encourage him as AM seems to be doing. As with all of us, every person is different and they react differently to praise, criticism etc. You have to wonder that once his confidence took a hit, did it just go quickly downhill from there. Did then the change of manager, and GH not having the time, patience, whatever, to deal with make it worse?

What I do know is that when we bought him he was highly thought of and playing well. There's no reason to think that player doesn't exist anymore. The big question is does Stephen Warnock believe it, and can AM help him to that end?

[Percy McCarthy]

Ah, some man-management. I remember that.

I think we can trace his loss of form back to the Carling Cup Final, I seem to recall that most of us hoped he would recover for that. Maybe part of that was down to the prospect of Shorey playing.

As for the bad attitudes that beset us last season, there were a few guilty of that. Did Houllier actually improve anybody's attitude?

[UsualSuspect]

I bet the groundsmen are already having nightmares.

They have ordered extra turf and have extra staff ready at half time to replace the divots