Midfield - a huge problem!

[Pabs 0]

I am sorry to say this, but a club that once prided itself on having a great stream of successful midfielders now finds itself with a distinct lack of decent players in that area.  We used to have the likes of Crook, Sherwood, Phillips in the successful era of the Nineties and even recently Gary Holt and Damien Francis have provided us with some great midfield performances.  And we had some superb natural wingers too - Fox and Eadie spring to mind.

Unfortunately for Holt, he left a legacy - being that he impressed Worthington so much with his ''workmanlike'' performances, that it seems Worthington only wants clones of him - leading to a distinct lack of creativity.

The signings of Jarrett, Hughes, Etuhu and potentially Robinson prove this.  I do not actually think any of them are terrible players, but do we need all 4?  I would be happy with just two of them - maybe Etuhu and Hughes if i was to choose 2 (although again, im sure we could get better for a combined £1m).

There is no intricate passing or inspiring football - just four players who work hard and ''get a foot in.''  We need to ''get a foot on'' the ball in my opinion - someone of the ike of Jason Koumas would be perfect for around £1.2m.  I know he has had some attitude problems, but if Worthington is a great mananger he should be able to get the best out of him.  His form for Cardiff at this level has been outstanding and he really SHOULD be a premiership player.  I''m sorry but signing Robinson is certainly not the answer.

If we signed Koumas, i would have he and Safri as our first choice midfield, as Safri''s defensive work would be compatible with Koumas forward leanings.  I would then keep Hughes and Etuhu as back-up, as Hughes is versatile and shouts a lot, and Etuhu looks useful.  I would sell Jarrett to Plymouth for a nominal fee and not sign Robinson.  If we had major selection problems (as we do now with Saf away and Hughes injured) i would call on the likes of young Rossi Jarvis and Michael Spillane, who look very very promising. Their wages are cheap and they will be full of enthusiasm.

As for wingers...dont get me started!

[gazzathegreat 0]

[quote user="Pabs"] am sorry to say this, but a club that once prided itself on having a great stream of successful midfielders now finds itself with a distinct lack of decent players in that area.  We used to have the likes of Crook, Sherwood, Phillips in the successful era of the Nineties and even recently Gary Holt and Damien Francis have provided us with some great midfield performances.  And we had some superb natural wingers too - Fox and Eadie spring to mind.

Unfortunately for Holt, he left a legacy - being that he impressed Worthington so much with his ''workmanlike'' performances, that it seems Worthington only wants clones of him - leading to a distinct lack of creativity.

The signings of Jarrett, Hughes, Etuhu and potentially Robinson prove this.  I do not actually think any of them are terrible players, but do we need all 4?  I would be happy with just two of them - maybe Etuhu and Hughes if i was to choose 2 (although again, im sure we could get better for a combined £1m).

There is no intricate passing or inspiring football - just four players who work hard and ''get a foot in.''  We need to ''get a foot on'' the ball in my opinion - someone of the ike of Jason Koumas would be perfect for around £1.2m.  I know he has had some attitude problems, but if Worthington is a great mananger he should be able to get the best out of him.  His form for Cardiff at this level has been outstanding and he really SHOULD be a premiership player.  I''m sorry but signing Robinson is certainly not the answer.

If we signed Koumas, i would have he and Safri as our first choice midfield, as Safri''s defensive work would be compatible with Koumas forward leanings.  I would then keep Hughes and Etuhu as back-up, as Hughes is versatile and shouts a lot, and Etuhu looks useful.  I would sell Jarrett to Plymouth for a nominal fee and not sign Robinson.  If we had major selection problems (as we do now with Saf away and Hughes injured) i would call on the likes of young Rossi Jarvis and Michael Spillane, who look very very promising. Their wages are cheap and they will be full of enthusiasm.

As for wingers...dont get me started!

[/quote]

Pabs

IMO a great post and one subject which a lot of posters on here will agree with.  You mention the names of Crook, Eadie, Phillips etc and it all seems a long, long time ago.....  You are correct IMHO about the lack of creativity in midfield and of Worthy''s passions for cloning Holt.  Yes, we don''t need more than another of him.  Playing them altogether has only stunted our ability to get the ball to our strikers (Ashton) and turned our attention to pumping balls to his head, not his strongest asset.  Where we get another midfielder of Crook''s ability is a mystery, I suppose we can''t afford one, but it would be great, for my peace of mind anyway, to know Worthy was actually looking for one.  I don''t personally think he is and that workrate scores more highly with him than flair and the ability to pass the ball forwards and more importantly to someone in the same colour shirt.  Safri is pretty good at passing, but teamed with a Koumas type player we would have the midfield to start creating some chances for Deano to put away.  It''s not rocket science to me anyway that he scored twice as many goals (at the same stage of the season) for Crewe playing to feet than with us, playing mainly hoofball. 

Koumas is labelled someone with bad attitude, but half the team this season haven''t had the right attitude in some games and not turned up, as mentioned by the manager. Whether anyone in the youth squad is capable will only take time to work out, sadly and we can look forward, this season anyway to a pretty dull and utilitarian midfield containing (but not creating).  As for right wingers, no, don''t get me started on the subject either......

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

you just dont get it pabs and gazza.... Worthy was a left back thats why he hates right wingers so. He cannot get those memories of players skinning him time and time again out of his head. It has left him mentally scarred.

Its the *Only* possible reason I can think of... considering he has NEVER signed a real one...