Nathan Baker

[tomd2103]

“I went in for challenges I shouldn’t have, because I was never going to win them and I was always going to give a free kick away.

"But you just back yourself and think ‘I’m going to win it’ – and then think ‘I wish I hadn’t gone in now’.

The game has changed since Shaun Teale's playing days though.  In the modern game, if a player is thinking "I wish I hadn't gone in now", he is invariably doing so walking down the tunnel after receiving a red card.   

[martin o`who??]

I like the kid, cut out the rushes of blood and we may have a genuine quality CB on our hands there.

[Tuscans]

When people say I don't think Clarke is a defender, I don't see Clarke as a footballer at all, more a Secondary Schools Teachers Assistant or Call Centre Worker.

I liked Baker ever since he came onto the scene...Nathan over Ciaran for me.

[Mister E]

I like the kid, cut out the rushes of blood and we may have a genuine quality CB on our hands there.

I think that Okore's signing could be a massive vote of confidence in CC and NB: Vlaar and Okore are rightsided CB, the other two are leftsided.

Unless Lambert has another unknown signing up his sleeve - a leftsided CB - our two homegrowns are going to be pressed into service again next season.
And we have Williams and Donacien lurking in the background as well.

[KevinGage]

Clark has the more potential to be a better player. Baker probably won't get much better, though if he eliminates silly errors he could prove useful to us over the next 3 years. He's a back up for me. I wouldn't want him to be playing 30 games a season.
In terms of last season, Baker made errors but Clark was our worst center half. He was nightmarish at times. All over the shop. He needs to improve his upper body strength to make him better aerially, and his concentration a lot.
 

Those things are pretty key for a centre half, though. 

So he just needs to improve his heading, not getting bullied off the ball, how he times his tackles and his marking (the latter two being linked to concentration, obv).  If he doesn't already have that in his locker, it's a lot of ground to make up.   

Not impossible, I suppose.  But tough. 

Personally, I think he's more likely to end up as a centre half lower down the leagues or as a defensive midfielder - for us, or for somebody else. 

Baker is not without his deficiencies either, most notably his passing. But in the primary things you look for in a centre half, he is sound enough. The other things can be worked on, but the raw attributes are there.