NRC Happy In Vancouver

[eamonn]

Did he ever give his side of the MON Reo-Choker incident or did O'Neill have him gagged?

[Rudy65]

Have to agree with Paulie

NRC was a total crock of.....

Couldnt pass, couldnt shoot but could occasionally tackle. Very, very limited footballer.

In terms of value for money probably the worst signing of the MON era.

Bizarrely enough, as proven in this discussion, some thought him quite good. Not being able to secure a contract in this country says it all

[Holte L2]

I rated NRC despite his limitations. He kept shape, got stuck in and always did the simple things well. He let the Barry's, Youngs and Milners play while NRC was the grafter, and every midfield needs one player to break up play and keep it simple. Was disappointed to see him leave, and wish him all the best. Shame his agent shafted him. Would I have him back? Not now, we've moved on and out style of play has changed. But I'd have certainly have him in the same above Herd - who for me is a poor mans NRC.

[SoccerHQ]

We've tried a lot of midfield players since he left in 2011.

Makoun (probably his replacement at the time)
Michael Bradley
Jenas
Delph 2011-2013 (before the new improved version kicked in from February onwards)
Bannan
Herd
Ireland

Obviously not all the same sort of midfielder like NRC but my word we've had some very mediocre and poor performers in there.

It's still a bit underwhelming now to me but at least we have some decent passers and defensive able players in there.

[joe_c]

I am happy that Nigel is happy.

I am happy nigel is happy and not here

And if young Nigel says he's happy, he must be happy in his world.

[pauliewalnuts]

He was alright. Not shit, not spectacular. He did okay, earned a fortune in four years then walked away to earn another fortune. It says everything about the insanity of both the Premier League and our transfer policy under O'Neill that 'okay' can cost the best part of £20 million.

That's exactly what I was thinking but failing to communicate.

20 million pounds to have had a player as limited as NRC playing for you for four years. 20 million pounds. Christ.

I don't mind when huge money gets spent on really, really good players. It is when it goes on utterly average ones that it annoys me.

[Dave]

He should've played more games for us than say someone like Sidwell but obviously there was a personality clash with him and MON.

I don't know about that, wasn't our best run of form in the last decade when we had Petrov, Barry and Sidwell in midfield, Young and Milner on the wings and Gabby up front?

That's not to say that Sidwell was the integral cog in that formation (as he clearly wasn't), when Reo-Coker had those six around him we didn't do anything like as well.

[supertom]

He should've played more games for us than say someone like Sidwell but obviously there was a personality clash with him and MON.

I don't know about that, wasn't our best run of form in the last decade when we had Petrov, Barry and Sidwell in midfield, Young and Milner on the wings and Gabby up front?

That's not to say that Sidwell was the integral cog in that formation (as he clearly wasn't), when Reo-Coker had those six around him we didn't do anything like as well.

The weird thing about that run was that Sidwell wasnt exactly brilliant during it. He never stood out, he looked pretty mediocre with and without the ball. But at the same time we seemed to look better having him in there. Whether that was merely just having the extra bod in midfield I don't know, or maybe our expectation of Sidwell was different to the type of player he actually was. I expected him to be a pretty decent footballer when he signed for us, on the basis or a couple of impressive games when we played Reading a year previously. He came here but on the ball he was desperately mediocre. Just another player who can run solidly for 90 minutes and disrupt the opposition.

That said I still think Coker proved better value than Sidwell. Just.

[not3bad]

Though NRC was very effective at what he did best - play deep in midfield breaking up attacks and putting himself about.  When Stan Petrov played alongside him as his 'minder' he had an outlet to play the simple ball to.  NRC also could go on some very impressive runs with the ball at his feet, but as has been pointed out there was rarely if ever any end product to these runs.

But I saw the feature of him at Vancouver and he seemed very happy and settled so fair play.

[not3bad]

I am happy that Nigel is happy.

I am happy nigel is happy and not here

And if young Nigel says he's happy, he must be happy in his world.

Good thing about him is that he likes to speak and he loves to be spoken to.

[Concrete John]

Have to agree with Paulie

NRC was a total crock of.....

Couldnt pass, couldnt shoot but could occasionally tackle. Very, very limited footballer.

In terms of value for money probably the worst signing of the MON era.

Bizarrely enough, as proven in this discussion, some thought him quite good. Not being able to secure a contract in this country says it all

There are worse players who have.  Is he, for instance, any worse than Cattermole?

[glasses]

He was alright. Not shit, not spectacular. He did okay, earned a fortune in four years then walked away to earn another fortune. It says everything about the insanity of both the Premier League and our transfer policy under O'Neill that 'okay' can cost the best part of £20 million.

Why is it that whenever fans are analysing a players value, if you think he's rubbish, you include the wages in the total cost, but when the transfer is considered a success, it's always, 'he only cost £500k, fantastic business!'

There are lot worse players to have played for Villa in the last few years than him. I always thought as a team we looked better with him in it despite his limitations. Sometimes a team is greater than the sum of its parts.

[pauliewalnuts]

He was alright. Not shit, not spectacular. He did okay, earned a fortune in four years then walked away to earn another fortune. It says everything about the insanity of both the Premier League and our transfer policy under O'Neill that 'okay' can cost the best part of £20 million.

Why is it that whenever fans are analysing a players value, if you think he's rubbish, you include the wages in the total cost, but when the transfer is considered a success, it's always, 'he only cost £500k, fantastic business!'

Because players who cost £8.5m tend to have significantly higher wages than those who cost 500k?

[glasses]

He was alright. Not shit, not spectacular. He did okay, earned a fortune in four years then walked away to earn another fortune. It says everything about the insanity of both the Premier League and our transfer policy under O'Neill that 'okay' can cost the best part of £20 million.

Why is it that whenever fans are analysing a players value, if you think he's rubbish, you include the wages in the total cost, but when the transfer is considered a success, it's always, 'he only cost £500k, fantastic business!'

Because players who cost £8.5m tend to have significantly higher wages than those who cost 500k?

So players don't ever sign new contracts with higher wages? I think you know what point I was making, don't pretend you don't.

[pauliewalnuts]

I'm not pretending anything. I don't really know the point you're making, to be honest.

If a transfer is a success, people don't complain about the cost - because it has gone well. If a transfer is iffy, people are more likely to complain about the full costs, especially when it is an expensive player on big money.

What's controversial about that?