why is safri so tall? oh wait its his pedestal!

[kick it off 1,948]

Safri was never a creative midfielder - he was the holding midfielder

which allowed the "more creative types" such as Etuhu to get forward.

Why Saf has suddenly been elevated to this pedestal is beyond me, and I

can only see that it''s because people have acknowledged there are sides

in this debate and have picked Saf''s due to their unfounded animosity

towards PG.

This pre-season is the first since we came back down when there has

been a buzz about the club. This is due to the players Granty has

bought in, not neccessarily the talent, but the fact they want to be

here. THEY CARE. look back on promotion season - does anyone really

think we had the strongest squad in the league? we didn''t but the

players cared, and worked as a unit and that is what Grant is trying to

build here.

Whatever the doom merchants who refuse to back Grant say, is utterly

irrelevant at this stage, as this is his team who''ve played a maximum

of 5games together. We have got a decent side here, but to have a

decent side capable of winning anything we need the fans backing. If

people choose to doubt Grant on the basis of half a season with

Worthy''s team then so be it, but I have more sense and more pride in

the club than that. I would much rather have supported Grant and been

proved wrong than have doubted him and been proved right.

So, much as the players and Grant do, I CARE enough to back them to the hilt and see where it takes us, do you?

[Shack Attack 0]

[quote user="bromsgrove canary"]

Safri was never a creative midfielder - he was the holding midfielder which allowed the "more creative types" such as Etuhu to get forward.

[/quote]

Nonsense. It''s possible to be the deep lying midfielder AND be creative you know. If you honestly think the Etuhu is a more creative player than Safri then I think you need help.

I think Safri will be sorely missed but this has nothing to do with any "unfounded animosity towards PG" as you rather childishly suggest.

[Temp the Revelator 0]

[quote user="Shack Attack"]

[quote user="bromsgrove canary"]

Safri was never a creative midfielder - he was the holding midfielder which allowed the "more creative types" such as Etuhu to get forward.

[/quote]

Nonsense. It''s possible to be the deep lying midfielder AND be creative you know. If you honestly think the Etuhu is a more creative player than Safri then I think you need help.

I think Safri will be sorely missed but this has nothing to do with any "unfounded animosity towards PG" as you rather childishly suggest.

[/quote]

However, the rest of bromsgrove''s post makes a whole lot of sense to me.

[kick it off 1,948]

If you care to notice the exclamation marks around "more creative types" you will find it infers this is not my belief:. maybe i didnt make that clear enough though, so i can see where you''re coming from. But Safri was there primarily to break play up and protect the defence. His creativity was somewhat limited at best. The point i was making was that suddenly after he''s left, Safri seems to have been elevated in the minds of some to levels that his performance and attitude never warranted. They are using this lofty status that they seem to be conjuring, to slate Grant as it is apparently his fault that Safri who now appears to be the best player we''ve ever had, judging by the comments of some has gone and PG is slowly destroying the team. (this is not a dig at you shack attack, more at the likes of smudger etc)The fact remains - that an overpaid, underperforming, player with a lot of quality but a poor attitude has been forced out the door by Grant because Safri could not do what was expected of him. He was always injured/tired/busy picking up agents/flouncing around in morrocco to bother with norwich, the club that paid his wages. he missed 10games a season! (thats an average)Everyone else managed to make training and the photo session, why should Safri be allowed to do what he likes?

[Le Juge 0]

[quote user="Shack Attack"]

[quote user="bromsgrove canary"]

Safri was never a creative midfielder - he was the holding midfielder which allowed the "more creative types" such as Etuhu to get forward.

[/quote]

Nonsense. It''s possible to be the deep lying midfielder AND be creative you know. If you honestly think the Etuhu is a more creative player than Safri then I think you need help.

I think Safri will be sorely missed but this has nothing to do with any "unfounded animosity towards PG" as you rather childishly suggest.

[/quote]To be honest, neither were particularly creative. Dickson got himself forward and attacked the ball (which doesn''t make you creative, just attacking) Safri sat back and played the ball around trying to break up play. He played nice passes and retained possesion but that doesn''t make you creative either. A creative player is Huckerby, Koumas, Rooney, Ronaldinho etc. Someone who is capable of running at a defender, commiting him and either passing/crossing the ball to someone else to create an opportunity or to take him on, beat him and make an opportunity for himself. Someone who you can give the ball on the halfway line with nothing on and suddenly you''ve got a good chance of a goal from nothing -That really doesn''t describe Dickson or Saf. You exceptionally rarely get a creative player like Crook or Hoddle who can''t beat the man but is so exceptional at passing he can play everyone else in but they are so unbelievably rare I can''t think of anyone in the modern game who does this like they did.

[Pete Raven 276]

[quote user="Le Juge"][quote user="Shack Attack"]

[quote user="bromsgrove canary"]

Safri was never a creative midfielder - he was the holding midfielder which allowed the "more creative types" such as Etuhu to get forward.

[/quote]

Nonsense. It''s possible to be the deep lying midfielder AND be creative you know. If you honestly think the Etuhu is a more creative player than Safri then I think you need help.

I think Safri will be sorely missed but this has nothing to do with any "unfounded animosity towards PG" as you rather childishly suggest.

[/quote]You exceptionally rarely get a creative player like Crook or Hoddle who can''t beat the man but is so exceptional at passing he can play everyone else in but they are so unbelievably rare I can''t think of anyone in the modern game who does this like they did.[/quote]

Tom Huddlestone has the potential to be such a player, if his performance in the recent England U21 game at Carrow Road was anything to go by, admittedly though that is only one game!

[Shack Attack 0]

[quote user="bromsgrove canary"]If you care to notice the exclamation marks around "more creative types" you will find it infers this is not my belief:. maybe i didnt make that clear enough though, so i can see where you''re coming from. But Safri was there primarily to break play up and protect the defence. His creativity was somewhat limited at best.

The point i was making was that suddenly after he''s left, Safri seems to have been elevated in the minds of some to levels that his performance and attitude never warranted. They are using this lofty status that they seem to be conjuring, to slate Grant as it is apparently his fault that Safri who now appears to be the best player we''ve ever had, judging by the comments of some has gone and PG is slowly destroying the team. (this is not a dig at you shack attack, more at the likes of smudger etc)

The fact remains - that an overpaid, underperforming, player with a lot of quality but a poor attitude has been forced out the door by Grant because Safri could not do what was expected of him. He was always injured/tired/busy picking up agents/flouncing around in morrocco to bother with norwich, the club that paid his wages. he missed 10games a season! (thats an average)

Everyone else managed to make training and the photo session, why should Safri be allowed to do what he likes?
[/quote]

Fair point, I''ve always rated Safri and I think he''s a lot more creative than a lot of people are giving him credit for. I think he was one of our most creative players purely because he was the bast passer of the ball at the club and for me that''s what being creative is all about.

I don''t see too much evidence of people using Safri as a stick to beat the club with as, unlike Etuhu, he was always fairly highly rated by most on here.