[Walton Spireite]

Whelan for me. I thought he was excellent last night. I think a mistake has been made letting him go tbh. As for Mandeville he's a passenger in the majority of games. As for adding goals the stats speaks for themselves.

[Goku]

Not to focus on the negatives after a well ground out victory but Mandeville really needs to start contributing. As I said on another thread, 0 goals and 0 assists in the league for a 10 in our team is poor. James Rowe has pointed this out already so it’s not a harsh opinion, our own manager thinks it. Jack Clarke is streets ahead but we are where we are, hopefully he bags one soon. Would I take Whelan over him? I had Whelan down as more of a CM than a 10 but yes I think I would.

To balance the negativity I’ll say that Loach, Maguire, Grimes, King and Oyeleke were excellent last neet.

[Westbars Spireite]

Whelan would still have been here if he'd done as he was asked. He looked miles fitter last night than he ever did for us but suspect in the long run he'll regret his exit more than we will regardless of whether he'd do better than Mandeville right now.

This post has been edited by Westbars Spireite: 27 October 2021 - 07:00 AM

[HoneyTrippa]

Whelan was their man of match last night and caused us quite a few problems in midfield and also with his dead ball kicks, (corners and free kicks). Was an unfortunate situation that he lost his Uncle whilst playing for us and he never seemed to recover from it. Put weight on, lost his sharpness and he didn't seem to be in the zone so inevitably that came to a head with JR. Shame we lost him as he looked back at his best last night.

[dtp]

I think Whelan performed quite well last night in a game he was obviously pumped up for but, in the end, he was not a threat. Yes, he took a direct free-kick from a dangerous position and didn't bring a save from Loach. Most of his work was in central midfield not as a No10 or even attacking midfielder where he was used by JR. He played his better games for us when Asante was playing then his game dropped off and was affected more following the death of a close relative. Must admit, he did look slimmer and fitter than he did when he made his cameo appearance against the Daggers last season though.

Mandeville seemed to play more in central midfield last night and, for me, was the regular Mandeville we've seen over the last 2 seasons - ineffective. One good pass into the area last night added to one good shot hitting the bar on Saturday is not the mark of a decent creative player. He has the capability to do better, he needs to do better, but has he got the determination and willpower to do better? As Khan's fitness improves and when Clarke returns Liam will not be able to take his place in the team for granted so needs to step his game up now if he wants to remain in the team.

More importantly, I do not judge a player based on one game, and with these two they have both impressed and disappointed when I've seen them.

[Spire-Power]

Whelan for me too. Mandeville will be where he should be when Khan and Clarke are fit, and that's on the bench. He has looked better coming on as sub, possibly when opponents are tiring. I don't want to minimise bereavement but an uncle isn't the closest relative, in normal circumstances obviously. Maybe Whelan didn't settle here for a variety of reasons.

[Search & Destroy]

It’s not Whelan or Mandy though was it?

It was Whelan or Clarke with Mandy as back up

[Bankrobber]

The last three managers have all either signed or retained Liam Mandeville. What are they seeing that we aren't?

I remember JD getting rid of Phil Robinson for being a disruptive influence, or something similar. Perhaps similar applied to Tom. If we know anything about JR he will always put the team first. Maybe Mandeville is just more of a team guy.

[Spire-Power]

Maybe he plays better in training

[JonB]

It wasnt just an on pitch decision that led to him leaving from what i'm led to believe, there were other things that led to him being let go. Yes he has talent on the pitch and he had a good game last night but as mentioned he will may well look back and realise he made a mess of things here.

[monte]

Westbars Spireite, on 27 October 2021 - 07:00 AM, said:

Whelan would still have been here if he'd done as he was asked. He looked miles fitter last night than he ever did for us but suspect in the long run he'll regret his exit more than we will regardless of whether he'd do better than Mandeville right now.

Agreed, reports of poor attitude / training once he lost his place. It's a shame cos I thought he'd have been worth keeping but Clarke is better.

I'm glad he has a new club but I'm glad we have a stronger squad this year

[Fit as a Nelson]

Westbars Spireite, on 27 October 2021 - 07:00 AM, said:

Whelan would still have been here if he'd done as he was asked. He looked miles fitter last night than he ever did for us but suspect in the long run he'll regret his exit more than we will regardless of whether he'd do better than Mandeville right now.

Agree completely. His fat bottom wasn’t on show last night where it stood out a mile for us. I took a bit of stick on here for saying I didn’t rate Whelan as highly as some however I thought he was good last night. He was tidy on the ball when for us he seemed to do a lot of tripping over it. I also mentioned on a few occasions he’d be a much better central midfielder than a ‘10’ and I think last night that showed. Rowe could only judge on what we saw last season and for the run in Mandeville was probably playing the best football of his town career whilst Whelan was miles off it for whatever reason. I think we all agree Jack Clarke is ahead of both Whelan and Mandeville and I’m looking forward to seeing him back in our team.

[h again]

dtp, on 27 October 2021 - 07:08 AM, said:

I think Whelan performed quite well last night in a game he was obviously pumped up for but, in the end, he was not a threat. Yes, he took a direct free-kick from a dangerous position and didn't bring a save from Loach. Most of his work was in central midfield not as a No10 or even attacking midfielder where he was used by JR. He played his better games for us when Asante was playing then his game dropped off and was affected more following the death of a close relative. Must admit, he did look slimmer and fitter than he did when he made his cameo appearance against the Daggers last season though.

Mandeville seemed to play more in central midfield last night and, for me, was the regular Mandeville we've seen over the last 2 seasons - ineffective. One good pass into the area last night added to one good shot hitting the bar on Saturday is not the mark of a decent creative player. He has the capability to do better, he needs to do better, but has he got the determination and willpower to do better? As Khan's fitness improves and when Clarke returns Liam will not be able to take his place in the team for granted so needs to step his game up now if he wants to remain in the team.

More importantly, I do not judge a player based on one game, and with these two they have both impressed and disappointed when I've seen them.

I said at one point that Mandeville was playing too deep, but it was a midfield battle and Eastleigh seemed to be winning it. Plus Miller was virtually taken out of the game by that RB of theirs, who they ought to be playing much more as a wing back - frightening pace. That leaves the rest of midfield outnumbered, without JR having the option to change it, and without Gav to keep them in order. So we go to long ball stuff which wasn't going to work with two smallish strikers aginst big defenders.
Last throw of the dice was Khan, who Rowe obviouisly didn't want to bring on, but had no choice. Just hope he came through with no more problems.
In retrospect it was a brilliant performance for a team so hampered by injuries. At the time it seemed just a ground-out result.
Mandeville continues to divide opinion, and probably always will. Last night's was not a game he was ever going to influence much. Me, I'm still on the fence about his qualities.

[Dougspireite78]

The problem with Mandeville is is that we saw the best of him last season when he was playing for a new contract and doubt we will again see the best of him uptil around march time when he will be pushing for a new one.

[jack bauer]

mandeville is just one of those players who continues to frustrate, the talent is clearly there and to be honest i do think he tries a bit more these days but he never really bosses a game, last night he played a fantastic ball through to Tshimanga in the box 2nd half but that's about all i remember him doin in 99 minutes of play. whelan did look lively but no major threat and i admit to being a bit decieved as another of their players looked like his twin so for a while i thought he was everywhere until i realised there were 2 of them (silly me).
clarke miles ahead of both and i'd imagine will be the most succesful of the 3 in the longer term.

[Lincs Spireite]

I think it was obvious Mandy's improved performance happened around contract renewal time. He tends to drift in and out of games and is not consistent enough. Can't see him being here next season.
Regarding Whelan I seem to remember some sort of argy bargy that he was not getting enough game time when his performance dropped and JR said he couldn't guarantee him a regular first team place. He obviously wasn't happy with that hence the move. Shame I thought he was significantly better than Mandy.

[Mr_Tall]

Whelan over Mandeville all day long. We all seem to agree that Mandeville does some good stuff in patches. Sadly, that's all it is, patches. There's no consistency at all. I'm sure if you stuck one of us on the pitch for long enough we'd eventually do something worthwhile.

He probably can't help it, but his body language looks terrible and I've never known a player fall over as much when tackled (excluding the high profile experts of 'simulation'). I'm sure a good gust of wind could blow him over.

I hope I'm wrong, but I also seemed to detect a slight lack of effort from him last night. There were a number of times when we lost the ball and he just seemed to casually saunter back aimlessly towards our goal rather than trying to win it back or break up play. Perhaps our more creative players coming back from injury will give him fresh impetus.

I'm not purposely trying to slate him BTW - they're just my opinions. I hope he comes good. Eventually.

[jack bauer]

Mr_Tall, on 27 October 2021 - 12:52 PM, said:

Whelan over Mandeville all day long. We all seem to agree that Mandeville does some good stuff in patches. Sadly, that's all it is, patches. There's no consistency at all. I'm sure if you stuck one of us on the pitch for long enough we'd eventually do something worthwhile.

He probably can't help it, but his body language looks terrible and I've never known a player fall over as much when tackled (excluding the high profile experts of 'simulation'). I'm sure a good gust of wind could blow him over.

I hope I'm wrong, but I also seemed to detect a slight lack of effort from him last night. There were a number of times when we lost the ball and he just seemed to casually saunter back aimlessly towards our goal rather than trying to win it back or break up play. Perhaps our more creative players coming back from injury will give him fresh impetus.

I'm not purposely trying to slate him BTW - they're just my opinions. I hope he comes good. Eventually.

i don't disagree at all with what you're saying here, what an opportunity he has at the moment, he has no real challenge to his position and should be doing all he can to really stake a claim for that spot and then the thought occurs, perhaps he is doing all he can and that this is it with him, i always think he's better in the last 20 minutes when space opens up but in tight games like last night he really doesn't show.

[lindave]

Goku, on 27 October 2021 - 06:42 AM, said:

Not to focus on the negatives after a well ground out victory but Mandeville really needs to start contributing. As I said on another thread, 0 goals and 0 assists in the league for a 10 in our team is poor. James Rowe has pointed this out already so it's not a harsh opinion, our own manager thinks it. Jack Clarke is streets ahead but we are where we are, hopefully he bags one soon. Would I take Whelan over him? I had Whelan down as more of a CM than a 10 but yes I think I would.

To balance the negativity I'll say that Loach, Maguire, Grimes, King and Oyeleke were excellent last neet.

I love to see okeleke and khan playing in the same team, manderville's problem is his inconsistency, however he has put in 2 good shows in the last few days. Kellerman is doing a good job but will he be fit for Dagenham game. Hope Danny Rowe is back to replace Payne.