[frearsghost]

O.K. the signings are not over and I'm not one to judge a player without having seen him first, but on paper, at present, we do seem to have one of the weakest midfields I can remember for a long time. One question that nobody has asked about the new lad from Port Vale is, how does he fit into Rico's perception of midfield? This is the intriguing question Geoff Mitchell failed to ask last season and one which, therefore, may have to wait until the next question and answer session. But it is a question Rico needs to address.

By all accounts he's no ball player and not terribly highly regarded at Port Vale but is young, energetic, a leader, certainly what we need and will run and run giving 100%. He may well be very good at what he does and I hope he is, but is this a signing that indicates a midfield which is going to offer, 'more of the same?'

Has Rico bought the lad because he gives 100% and is fit, and therefore able to run and lump it for longer than Leven could? I don't know and we won't know until all the signings have arrived. As yet, though, as a few others have pointed out, we still have no playmaker, no-one who can put his foot on the ball and dictate the play. Without that inspiration in the middle of the park I assume Rico's midfield philosophy has not changed. I'm desperate for him to prove me wrong and looking forward to him signing the spark in midfield that can drive us on to promotion.

This post has been edited by frearsghost: 09 June 2008 - 07:43 PM

[Ernie Ernie Ernie]

frearsghost, on Jun 9 2008, 08:23 PM, said:

O.K. the signings are not over and I'm not one to judge a player without having seen him first, but on paper, we do seen to have one of the weakest midfields, at present, I can remember for a long time. One question that nobody has asked about the new lad from Port Vale is how does he fit into Rico's perception of midfield?

By all accounts he's no ball player and not terribly highly regarded at Port Vae but is young, energetic and will run and run giving 100%. He may well be very good at what he does and I hope he is, but is this a signing that indicates a midfield which is going to offers, 'more of the same?'

Will the lad, because he gives 100% and is fit, be able to run and lump longer than Leven could? I don''t know and we won't know until all the signings have arrived. As yet, though we still have no playmaker, no-one who can put his football on the ball and dictate the play. Without that inspiration in the middle of the park I assume Rico's midfield philsopospy has not changed. I'm desperate for him to prove me wrong.

He was highly regarded enough for them to make him capatin at Port Vale

[frearsghost]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on Jun 9 2008, 08:28 PM, said:

He was highly regarded enough for them to make him capatin at Port Vale

You mean like Downes was Captain of Chesterfield?

[Ernie Ernie Ernie]

frearsghost, on Jun 9 2008, 08:34 PM, said:

You mean like Downes was Captain of Chesterfield?

and also kept the captaincy then

[mr warf]

frearsghost, on Jun 9 2008, 08:34 PM, said:

You mean like Downes was Captain of Chesterfield?

well AS much as like downes hes not captain material in my opinon , unfortuanatly it seems alot of his mistakes stem from him and have led to leaking goals , if hes not sure put it in row h

[frearsghost]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on Jun 9 2008, 08:37 PM, said:

and also kept the captaincy then

I'm not having a go at the lad Ernie. I wish him well. At this early stage this a paper excerise if you like. I'm just trying to get behind Rico's 'psyche' and work out what kind of football he's going to give us this season.

[Ernie Ernie Ernie]

frearsghost, on Jun 9 2008, 08:40 PM, said:

I'm not having a go at the lad Ernie. I wish him well. At this early stage this a paper excerise if you like. I'm just trying to get behind Rico's 'psyche' and work out what kind of football he's going to give us this season.

I would guess at duncanesque, tigth and grind em out type results with what we have so far. Mate at work used to watch him regulalry when he was at scunny and although it was soem time ago he said he was good and not bad on the ball without being over creative. I think it's one of those signings because he isn't well known it is sort of uninspiring, but he could well turn out to be a good acquisition

[frearsghost]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on Jun 9 2008, 08:44 PM, said:

I would guess at duncanesque, tigth and grind em out type results with what we have so far. Mate at work used to watch him regulalry when he was at scunny and although it was soem time ago he said he was good and not bad on the ball without being over creative. I think it's one of those signings because he isn't well known it is sort of uninspiring, but he could well turn out to be a good acquisition

Let's hope he turns out to be a star!

[azul]

frearsghost, on Jun 9 2008, 08:23 PM, said:

O.K. the signings are not over and I'm not one to judge a player without having seen him first, but on paper, at present, we do seem to have one of the weakest midfields I can remember for a long time. One question that nobody has asked about the new lad from Port Vale is, how does he fit into Rico's perception of midfield? This is the intriguing question Geoff Mitchell failed to ask last season and one which, therefore, may have to wait until the next question and answer session. But it is a question Rico needs to address.

By all accounts he's no ball player and not terribly highly regarded at Port Vale but is young, energetic, a leader, certainly what we need and will run and run giving 100%. He may well be very good at what he does and I hope he is, but is this a signing that indicates a midfield which is going to offer, 'more of the same?'

Has Rico bought the lad because he gives 100% and is fit, and therefore able to run and lump it for longer than Leven could? I don't know and we won't know until all the signings have arrived. As yet, though, as a few others have pointed out, we still have no playmaker, no-one who can put his foot on the ball and dictate the play. Without that inspiration in the middle of the park I assume Rico's midfield philosophy has not changed. I'm desperate for him to prove me wrong and looking forward to him signing the spark in midfield that can drive us on to promotion.

[azul]

frearsghost, on Jun 9 2008, 08:23 PM, said:

O.K. the signings are not over and I'm not one to judge a player without having seen him first, but on paper, at present, we do seem to have one of the weakest midfields I can remember for a long time. One question that nobody has asked about the new lad from Port Vale is, how does he fit into Rico's perception of midfield? This is the intriguing question Geoff Mitchell failed to ask last season and one which, therefore, may have to wait until the next question and answer session. But it is a question Rico needs to address.

By all accounts he's no ball player and not terribly highly regarded at Port Vale but is young, energetic, a leader, certainly what we need and will run and run giving 100%. He may well be very good at what he does and I hope he is, but is this a signing that indicates a midfield which is going to offer, 'more of the same?'

Has Rico bought the lad because he gives 100% and is fit, and therefore able to run and lump it for longer than Leven could? I don't know and we won't know until all the signings have arrived. As yet, though, as a few others have pointed out, we still have no playmaker, no-one who can put his foot on the ball and dictate the play. Without that inspiration in the middle of the park I assume Rico's midfield philosophy has not changed. I'm desperate for him to prove me wrong and looking forward to him signing the spark in midfield that can drive us on to promotion.

When asked about the likely loss of Kovacs and Leven, Rico acknowledged he'd have replace at least one of them.

That was after the latest signings, so its fair to assume he meant Leven. Hopefully this one might be able to run.

He also acknowledged the need for a wide player and a target man.

[Bugerov]

frearsghost, on Jun 9 2008, 08:40 PM, said:

I'm not having a go at the lad Ernie. I wish him well. At this early stage this a paper excerise if you like. I'm just trying to get behind Rico's 'psyche' and work out what kind of football he's going to give us this season.

I think you raise a good point in your initial post. We have grafters so far and Rico must bring some quality and creativity into midfield

[Aspire_webby]

Bugerov, on Jun 9 2008, 11:01 PM, said:

I think you raise a good point in your initial post. We have grafters so far and Rico must bring some quality and creativity into midfield

Richardson has dealt with the main problem first - we weren't exactly brimming with creativity in midfield last season yet scoring goals wasn't the problem. Conceding them was and I think the signings so far should go a way to putting some steel into the defence and the midfield in front of them.

To finish the job Richardson will need to sign two wide midfield players. With 4 central midfield players in the squad I really can't see him signing any more players in that position. I'll be interested to see if Winter makes any progress. He looks like a very similar player to Leven in theory though in practice he was inconsistent, unfit and his passing was woeful at times. He did show some signs of a passing game last season but if you spent much time queueing for pies or pees you could have missed it.

This post has been edited by Aspire_webby: 10 June 2008 - 10:01 AM

[Skywalker]

frearsghost, on Jun 9 2008, 08:23 PM, said:

O.K. the signings are not over and I'm not one to judge a player without having seen him first, but on paper, at present, we do seem to have one of the weakest midfields I can remember for a long time. One question that nobody has asked about the new lad from Port Vale is, how does he fit into Rico's perception of midfield? This is the intriguing question Geoff Mitchell failed to ask last season and one which, therefore, may have to wait until the next question and answer session. But it is a question Rico needs to address.

By all accounts he's no ball player and not terribly highly regarded at Port Vale but is young, energetic, a leader, certainly what we need and will run and run giving 100%. He may well be very good at what he does and I hope he is, but is this a signing that indicates a midfield which is going to offer, 'more of the same?'

Has Rico bought the lad because he gives 100% and is fit, and therefore able to run and lump it for longer than Leven could? I don't know and we won't know until all the signings have arrived. As yet, though, as a few others have pointed out, we still have no playmaker, no-one who can put his foot on the ball and dictate the play. Without that inspiration in the middle of the park I assume Rico's midfield philosophy has not changed. I'm desperate for him to prove me wrong and looking forward to him signing the spark in midfield that can drive us on to promotion.

I think like others have pointed out, Rico's main task was to address the defensive woes and lack of experience which in Page, Harsley and Austin I think he may well have done. The fact that these 3 players are highly regarded proffessionals with leadership qualities also is a bonus.

As far as the midfield is concerned I'd be inclined to say Lowry will play on the right and he is more than capable of doing a good job there. As for the centre, it is 2 from Niven, Harsley, Winter and Kerry. The LHS seems to be an area that needs strengthening and I'm sure Rico will be looking to add a player who can occupy this position on a regular basis, although Robertson and Algar can provide support there too.

I'd like to see the club get Dowson back on a season long loan and hopefully we will be looking for a target man too.

[dazcarrlegend]

Aspire_webby, on Jun 10 2008, 11:00 AM, said:

Richardson has dealt with the main problem first - we weren't exactly brimming with creativity in midfield last season yet scoring goals wasn't the problem. Conceding them was and I think the signings so far should go a way to putting some steel into the defence and the midfield in front of them.

To finish the job Richardson will need to sign two wide midfield players. With 4 central midfield players in the squad I really can't see him signing any more players in that position. I'll be interested to see if Winter makes any progress. He looks like a very similar player to Leven in theory though in practice he was inconsistent, unfit and his passing was woeful at times. He did show some signs of a passing game last season but if you spent much time queueing for pies or pees you could have missed it.

If you were queuing for pies you would have seen Winter

[Wooden Spoon]

Ernie Ernie Ernie, on Jun 9 2008, 08:44 PM, said:

I would guess at duncanesque, tigth and grind em out type results with what we have so far. Mate at work used to watch him regulalry when he was at scunny and although it was soem time ago he said he was good and not bad on the ball without being over creative. I think it's one of those signings because he isn't well known it is sort of uninspiring, but he could well turn out to be a good acquisition

With Lester up front I have no problem at all with that. Points make prizes