Worthy's comments are just amazing

[silver fox 0]

I cannot believe the latest comments from Worthy re Huckerby''s defending.  If he knew the guy was recovering from a virus, had not trained all week, and was playing in a high tempo game on a hot day, what did he expect from the player.

Instead of having a go at Huckerby he should be having a go at his captain Fleming and his midfielder Francis.  I watched both players closely during the game and afterwards on MOTD, and neither of them contributed much to the game. 

Fleming was all over the place and caused numerous problems for his fellow defenders who frequently had to pick up the players Fleming should have been marking. From the sidelines it must have looked to Worthy and his coaching staff that Fleming was having a great game, covering every inch of the park.  This is not new because it is exactly what Holt used to do in most games.

Francis strolled around the park for most of the game, never picked up any runners, hardly got a tackle in, and at times I thought Holt was back on the pitch. 

Loyalty to your club captain may well contribute to us possibly going down Nigel.  You were happy to drop Drury, Charlton, Edworthy, Doherty, but you haven''t been brave enough to drop our worst defender all season.  If I were in your shoes Nigel I would drop Fleming and Francis for the Birmingham game and replace them with Charlton and Brennan.

[Robbo007 0]

I agree with your comments about Fleming, However Francis played one of his better games, and always adds more of a goal threat.

What exactly would be the point in swapping Brennan for Francis?! Brennan is what you''d call a tidy player, rarely gives the ball away, but doesn''t add much to the team.

[king of latvia 0]

fleming was all over the place because is was covering for other players who were not getting back to defend ie-huckerby .he has got away with not defending for to long.

[AJ 1,359]

[quote]I cannot believe the latest comments from Worthy re Huckerby''s defending. If he knew the guy was recovering from a virus, had not trained all week, and was playing in a high tempo game on a hot day, ...[/quote]

you know what i mean.........

its pathetic......

he should have let brennan have a go...................

 

Also, he obviously knew what was gunna happen, so why did he chance it, we are fighting for our lives here!

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

If you were at the game Sliver Fox you would have realised that Hucks tracking back was appalling.  I know he''s a striker but so many times Southampton broke down our left leaving Drury exposed.  When you looked where Hucks was, he was strolling back on the half way line.  I know the guy has been ill but we were just too exposed a lot of the time on Saturday.

[Northern Canary 0]

Huckerby did deserve telling. He doesnt defend

[Creative Midfielder 2,203]

Sorry DD but as you say yourself Hucks is a striker. He wasnt fully fit and was risked because of the problems he would cause their defence which he did.

To start blaming him for our defensive shambles is pretty pathetic IMO. Drury would look at lot less exposed if he actually tackled his man occassionally instead of just showing him a channel to run into.

Fleming, although he is a weak link, seemed to me on Saturday to have been told to stay with Philips which is why he got rather pulled out of position but was probably doing the job he was asked to. Unfortunately Shackell isnt experienced enough to really cater for that and Helveg who should be, just isnt up to it. IMO Eddy is still a better right back and if we have to play Helveg at all it should be in midfield, preferably in place of Francis who was completely useless and simply doesnt look interested.

 

[BedsCanary 0]

Worthy''s comments probably have more to do with next Saturday than anything else. Afterall, Hucks has always been the first name on the team sheet and he could be getting complacent. It looks to me like he''s just trying to fire him up

[Rasputin was a C... 0]

[quote]Sorry DD but as you say yourself Hucks is a striker. He wasnt fully fit and was risked because of the problems he would cause their defence which he did. To start blaming him for our defensive shambl...[/quote]

Are you serious about Helveg!? Have you been to the last few games where he has played in place of Edworthy??? To say that you would much rather have Edworthy back in the team... I can''t believe to be honest. You must be joking!!!

[Campbell 0]

[quote]Sorry DD but as you say yourself Hucks is a striker. He wasnt fully fit and was risked because of the problems he would cause their defence which he did. To start blaming him for our defensive shambl...[/quote]

Huckerby was to blame for two of our goals...watch the Manchester United game and see how determined Huckerby was to get back and help Drury. Watch the Southampton game again, and you''ll see more often than not, he''s nowhere near close enough to Drury to provide cover. Deny players space, then they can''t hurt you...we gave Southampton space and we got punished. We need the same desire to close people down and run until we cannot run anymore that we had against Manchester United.

Back to Southampton: Either Huckerby felt he didn''t need to work as hard defensively against a lesser team, he wanted to spend as much time as he could attacking as he felt he could destroy a weak Southampton back line all on his own...or he just wasn''t fit enough to do what he did against Manchester United. If it''s the first two, it''s Huckerby''s fault...if it''s the latter, then it''s Worthington''s.

I personally would have started Jonson on the left, especially after Worthington publically said for him to be more positive...and his natural game is to work hard and be solid, so it would have been logical to start him, regardless of whether Huckerby was 100% or not. Darren Huckerby against a tiring Southampton defence in the last 25 minutes would have been devastating. But anyway, it wasn''t to be.

As for Edworthy being a better right back than Helveg, you are having an absolute laugh. Edworthy is probably the weakest Premiership right back I have ever seen...Out-tackled by Joe Cole wasn''t it?! If we could just get rid of Fleming, we''d have a whole team full of players who are composed on the ball and that is very important.

I just wonder whether we might see Huckerby on the bench for the next game...hopefully Fleming will join him!

[Helsinki canary 302]

[quote]I agree with your comments about Fleming, However Francis played one of his better games, and always adds more of a goal threat. What exactly would be the point in swapping Brennan for Francis?! Bren...[/quote]

I personally felt Francis didnt perform to his full potential on Saturday and basically lost alot in the midfield and failed to create any real opportunities for the front players - he looked clumsy. Hucherby WAS knackered and needed to be substituted.

[AJ 1,359]

[quote]Huckerby did deserve telling. He doesnt defend[/quote]

he does and does bloody well aswell.

remember our winning streak, well huckerby played his heart out either defending or attacking. Obviously you must be thinking of someone else, probably scowcroft

[We need a Manager 0]

Huckerby is not and never will be a player that is defensively minded , if you want somebody in your team to attack and cause the opposition trouble you pick Huckerby , if you want somebody more defensive you select somebody else. Worthington gets paid good money to make those decisions no good  him opting for the attacking option then moaning about Huckerbys defensive abilities. As for Charlton coming on as a replacement , a player who hasnt even figured in his own position for months , astounding.

[BedsCanary 0]

I think it''s unfair to criticise Hucks - despite the fact that he cost us goals on Saturday. For anyone who was at the match it was plain to see that he simply wasn''t fit enough

[Morph 31]

Beds, you have to wonder whether Hucks was best used in the first 60 minutes or whether he would have been better on the subs bench and used for the last 30 minutes. By the half time scoreline of 3-3 it would be difficult to tell. If he was knackered by the 66th minute then taking him off was the right thing to do, but was Jonson a better substitute selection than Charlton. We could only guess. If Charlton had stuck in the header there would be no discussion going on at all.

Hucks is one of these players that you have to accept will always be better going forward. If in doing that he provides you with a two/three goal headstart over the opposition then he''s always worth a starting place. Worthy clearly set out on Saturday to win the game and Hucks inclusion from the off would back that up. However, if you''re trying to play a tight game then unless you''ve got Hucks mentally set up for a more defensive game, he''s probably better used as a substitute when the game can still be won in the second half.

...

[sheded 0]

I found Worthy`s criticism of an , obviously unfit, Huckerby ,totally bewildering !  is he THAT desperate to seek a scapegoat ? ....  even in his unfit state Hucks  manufactured   what should have been a goal awarded to him , and had plenty  of say in our other goals ...  Worthy , it was YOU that  put a half fit man into the field !!!    deal with it like a man  for crise sake !!

[ZLF 335]

Hux is and remains a striker - he tackles and defends like one and I am just amazed that worthy has taken this long in the season to realise/admit it.  IMO putting the blame on Hux is accepting personal responsibility for the earlier loss of form by Drury due to overexposure and the result of this game - it was Worthy who put Hux in that role without the right skillset.

Hux has been learning - the manure game and his closing down of Ronaldo was good but that is one good defensive game all season.

The bloke is a striker and we need a left sided midfielder.

OTBC

[Old Boy 0]

I was shocked when I heard that Charlton was coming on for Huckerby. But he went to do a good job there, and I hope that wins him back a place in the team. In central defence though...

I would like to have seen Svensson on for Huckerby and Jonson on for Ashton. You''ll all say that Jonson couldn''t hit a banjo with a barndoor (or whatever the saying is), but I think he would have been a genuine threat upfield, and always willing to close down defenders too.

IMO the big problem was the hole in midfield, with Huckerby and Bentley not doing the defensive business like they did against ManU, and Francis, who was the only player who had a mediocre game against ManU, no better than he was then. No team can defend against a good target man like Crouch with that sort of midfield.

[Saint Canary 0]

Firstly I think Worthys comments have been taken out of context and the headline of "Boss Raps Huckerby Defence" is mis-leading when you actually read what he says.  He simply made observations and also made allowances for Hux.  At no point in those comments does he have a go at him.

For me it was clear from the kick-off he should not have started and at the very least should have been replaced at half-time.  It was obvious that after making forward runs he just didn''t have the energy to track back.  He should have been on the bench from the start.

Fleming from kick-off was awful and I lost count how many times in the game that Shackell had to tell him who to mark or where to go.  If Fleming needs to be told how to defend by a player who has hardly played first team football, it just highlights how seriously lacking he has been at this level.

[Francesco Volpe<P><BR><EM><FONT size=3><STRONG>A<STRONG><FONT>wesome<STRONG><FONT size=3>S<FONT><STRONG>ublime<STRONG><FONT size=3>H<FONT><STRONG>onest pro<EM><EM><FONT size=3><STRONG>T<STRONG><FONT>alented<STRONG><FONT size 0]

Everyone on here slating Worthy for having a go at Hucks need a reality check.

Just remember this, You attack as a team and you DEFEND as a TEAM.

The fact that hucks is a striker is irrelevant. If deano can help out by tracking back and defending then why can''t hucks???

If he''s playing in a certain position he''s got to play to that position, and being a midfield winger you need to track back and help defend. So worthy is right to criticise him, so stop criticising worthy.

[Pudd 1]

His comments are that he had to sub huckerby because we were getting skinned on the left. He didn''t say "I blame hucks for the result" - he was defending his decision to sub Hucks.

[rich 0]

I''m not sure about making it public, but then we''ll see the result saturday. I do agree though you need to defend as a team, note joe cole recently for chelsea, a similar creative player to hucks but not afraid to track back.

[sheded 0]

[quote]Everyone on here slating Worthy for having a go at Hucks need a reality check. Just remember this, You attack as a team and you DEFEND as a TEAM. The fact that hucks is a striker is irrelevant....[/quote]

You don`t appear to have read  the health reports on Hucks ! ... it wasn`t just the injured ankle ,  it was this virus attack  , which can be a far more serious problem !! ....  as somweone who can say my body succumbed to a virus  ,which , despite many tests , still wasn`t identified  I was transformed from full vitality to  an energy drained zombie in a matter of days ! ....and thats the size of it ... Worthy may have had his remarks taken out of context ,  so I take back my criticism , but other posters have accused  Hucks of not backtracking defensively  as if he was 100% fit ......  I don`t know what their problem is !!

[Jim Smith 2,610]

In my opinion Francis has lst himself the Player of the Season title with his lacklustre performances of late. He was particularly poor against Charlton where he just strolled around in midfield and wasn''t a lot better on saturday or against Newcastle. The cynical amongst us might think that his mind was elsewhere having lined himself up a nice move back to London in the close season.