Makoun. Next season.

[paul_e]

Clampy: even when they were all fit, the manager who bought him (and his assistant) prefered Petrov and NRC. Like I said, I like him, I like neat and tidy footballers, but I think that's pretty damning, and I'm willing to accept that maybe he's not as good as I thought he was after that Man U game.

BTW it's clearly bollocks that he only attempted one tackle. What about the penalty at Everton?

Most signings from abroad made in January tend to need a few months to settle in to the league.  It really hard to judge a player like him on the timespan we saw.  Man U was enough for me to think him, Ireland and a holding player (Herd/Clark/New signing) could form a very strong 3, with makoun and ireland well capable of setting the tempo and getting the team playing exciting football.

[eamonn]

Please let us keep him.

You're begging for Emile to stay on the other thread...do you want a squad of countless shiny, happy footballers?

[Louzie0]

Please let us keep him.

You're begging for Emile to stay on the other thread...do you want a squad of countless shiny, happy footballers?

I just want players who work for the Villa to stay.  Like Emile! He gets the ball and holds it up, or heads it on.  He is superb.

And I don't think that Jean was given a fair crack of the whip before being loaned out.  I loved him when he was in the team. (Like against Man Utd)  He is a little cracker, and he deserves another run-out or at least, several.

[tomd2103]

Needs to be given an opportunity and if he isn't up to it then can be moved on in January.  I just don't think we can afford to write off players with that kind of pedigree at the moment without having a real look first.  It was pretty clear that McLeish wasn't having him from the off, so I think he will definitely be gone if he stays.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Wow it got to the fourth post before spurious "can't tackle" fallacy was wheeled out again.  Bases, once again, no doubt, on one bad challenge that got him red carded at Blackpool.  And nothing else. 

That tackle at Blackpool was his only tackle in a Villa shirt. You do the math.

Hyperbole is a wonderful linguistic tool but it doesn't really help this particular argument.

No hyperbole at all, it's a fact. He made (or attempted to make) one tackle.

Unless you can come up with something pretty conclusive to back that up then I'm going to assume that it's a silly statement like "Heskey always falls over" or "Collins always hoofs it".

For the hard of reading: The Guardian's Chalkboard stats. How silly they are I've no idea.

There's no need for the pissy attitude - I can't help if you're going to edit your posts after I've posted mine.

And as they don't really exist anymore, I'm guessing the rather outlandish claim that a central midfielder only attempted one tackle in 700 or so minutes of football is something that's exaggerated.

I'd expect Darren Bent will have attempted more tackles in that time on a pitch. I'm not saying that Makoun is Roy Keane, but let's be serious.

I'm afraid I also find it very hard to believe he only attempted to make 1 tackle in 7 games.  And in any case, if you want to be pedantic about it, it's invalid to draw a conclusion like "he can't tackle" based on a single example.  You might have a case for  "he doesn't tackle" assuming those dubious sounding stats are accurate.

You're right on that point, I should have said he "doesn't tackle" rather than "he can't", ignoring his one tackle that saw him sent off. He prefers to track the player with the ball rather than stick a foot in. Dubious or as outlandish as the stat may appear, it was there in black and white, it's not the kind of stat you forget.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Makoun has plenty of other talents to compensate his non-tackling approach but the question is could be have afforded such a luxury this season? I'd like to think he'll be given a new clean slate by the incoming manager, whoever he will be. Makoun is a technically gifted footballer and the type of player we should be looking to accomodate. There's also the option of working on his tackling, something I'm sure he would have developed given more game time.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

There's no need for the pissy attitude - I can't help if you're going to edit your posts after I've posted mine.

I get get pissy with no man, Dave. The stats don't lie. You posted after my edit. It's there in black and white. The fact is was 4 seconds later is neither here nor there. *winky*

[Concrete John]

Makoun comes from a school of football where tackling is becoming outdated and rather you cover runs and limit the man in possession's passing options as a holding player.  In order to win the ball back, you read and intercept rather than force the issue. 

I genuinely feel he's been taught that way.

[Risso]

Please let us keep him.

You're begging for Emile to stay on the other thread...do you want a squad of countless shiny, happy footballers?

I just want players who work for the Villa to stay.  Like Emile! He gets the ball and holds it up, or heads it on.  He is superb.

Bloody hell, can I have some of those drugs?

[nick harper]

The last thing we needed this season was a midfield player who passed to his own team mates and helped us keep the ball.

All those second halves at Villa Park this season where I've watched the opposition camped in our half and we can't lay a foot on the ball - even Stoke having better posession stats.

No-one will convince me that a technically gifted ball playing midfield player was not worth perservering with. The decision got worse as the season went on particularly after we lost Petrov.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Just maybe the club officials forgot that we still hold his contract ..nothing surprises me at B6 these days.

[l_mckay]

be a shame if he leaves without having a fair chance,surely a player with champions league experience must have some quality!

[rutski]

The last thing we needed this season was a midfield player who passed to his own team mates and helped us keep the ball.

All those second halves at Villa Park this season where I've watched the opposition camped in our half and we can't lay a foot on the ball - even Stoke having better posession stats.

No-one will convince me that a technically gifted ball playing midfield player was not worth perservering with. The decision got worse as the season went on particularly after we lost Petrov.

a good post! Makoun is a good player and someone who retains and passes the ball well!

[Dave]

The last thing we needed this season was a midfield player who passed to his own team mates and helped us keep the ball.

All those second halves at Villa Park this season where I've watched the opposition camped in our half and we can't lay a foot on the ball - even Stoke having better posession stats.

No-one will convince me that a technically gifted ball playing midfield player was not worth perservering with. The decision got worse as the season went on particularly after we lost Petrov.

a good post! Makoun is a good player and someone who retains and passes the ball well!

Very much so.

I don't think anyone on here is claiming that he is going to be the new Gordon Cowans. Or the next James Milner.

Or even the next Nigel Reo-Coker.

But surely anyone would have to agree that having this player who MIGHT turn out to be pretty good is better than having to put Stephen Warnock in central midfield?

[eamonn]

He had a better passing range than Milner if not the same all-round game.

[Vanilla]

Can't see him coming back under the current manager, and if he does he won't be played.