Minhosa

Aye, granted, he did and he was a canny player but you're not telling me he was THE BEST opposing player you've ever seen at St. James' are you?

I love Riise's attitude and attacking instincts. But his defending gives me the shakes a lot of the time bluebiggrin.gif He's one of these players you can't help but like (which is why I find it incredulous a so called Liverpool fan calls him a tosser), but defensively he isn't all that. He gets away with it a lot in the Prem, but sometimes he gets in trouble cos of it. Basically, he's a player with a spot-on attitude, he's a workhorse, doen't get many injuries, he's good for a few goals a season, but he isn't the best defensively. That is how I'd sum him up! Cheers Mate. I'd often wondered what the 'Pool fans view of him was. He always chips in with goals but I wasn't sure if that hid other elements of his game that weren't as strong. Anyway, question answered, cheers.

yes, but im not sure about Preston Preston were in the Championship last season

Good shout. Yeah, it is a good shout. I had a few players in mind when I posted this topic but I'd forgot about Schmeichal. I did think that Cantona would have been posted by someone though.

You are a Liverpool fan, yet you can't even spell his name right? :roll: Maybe it's you that's the tosser eh. Rafa, Out of interest, what do you think of Riise? Are you a big fan? Cheers in advance.

Nugent for me for two reasons;- 1) He's proved at a higher level than Eastwood and; 2) He seems a bit stronger and has more ability to hold the ball than Eastwood who always looks a bit lightweight to me.

It was nice for him to be part of the World Cup winning side this year I thought. A player who has stuck with (largely) one club throughout his career and given his all for the national side, with that much talent, and opportunity deserves a bit of luck. I dunno why but I always had a feeling he would sign for us one day, especially during the Keegan era. Funny. So did I, one of my fav players of all time, the Italian Beardsley, i'd still take him now, could do a job like Zola did at Chelsea. I'm sure we were linked with him quite a bit during Keegans era in the press. It would be really interesting to know if they actually made a move for him. I'm not sure how he would cope with the pace and physical nature of the Premiership at this stage of his career but, most people would probably take a chance on him if he was cheap/Bosman, thats for sure.

UNBELIEVABLE how much he was sold for from Barca isn't it? I can understand how someone with natural ability just doesn't fit into a side or just generally fit into a club but HOW can you let someone that good go on the cheap? Its defies logic.

NSG - I'd forgot about that mate. Yeah, he was fucking awesome that night. Another player who would really grace the Premiership. Not many people notice this about Nedved but he's a hard little fucker. He gets kicked through a load of matches without reacting.

Yeah, its a shame about the timing of Kluiverts move to us really. The cross over with Shearers impending retirement/desire to get the goalscoring record and the sacking of SBR only for the daft jock to come in all went against him to be honest. He did, on occasion, show some glimpses of the real Kluivert and the player we all hoped he would be. Having said that, I'm surprised he's not done more since leaving us. Undoubtedly a waste of talent. Still scored around 14-15 goals as well. Imagine what a fully-fit Kluivert would have done? Agreed. He was one of those players who needed a brave manager if you know what I mean? He needed a Manager to change the shape of the side, to make him the main-man, to publically support him and big him up. We let him down on that front IMO. Partly due to the Shearer effect and the timing of his signing.

It was nice for him to be part of the World Cup winning side this year I thought. A player who has stuck with (largely) one club throughout his career and given his all for the national side, with that much talent, and opportunity deserves a bit of luck. I dunno why but I always had a feeling he would sign for us one day, especially during the Keegan era. Funny.

Aye, I remember that TKON. Any idea how he's doing for Celtic?

Yeah, its a shame about the timing of Kluiverts move to us really. The cross over with Shearers impending retirement/desire to get the goalscoring record and the sacking of SBR only for the daft jock to come in all went against him to be honest. He did, on occasion, show some glimpses of the real Kluivert and the player we all hoped he would be. Having said that, I'm surprised he's not done more since leaving us. Undoubtedly a waste of talent.

Ok, you can name one player and one player only. Who is the best player you've seen at St James' not wearing a home strip? For me, it was Tony Adams about 2 years before he retired. He put on an absolute masterclass in defending and reading the game. I was also really impressed by Sol Campbell playing for Spurs in his final year before leaving for Arsenal. Fucking man mountain at the back for Spurs. Another player on my shortlist was Scholes who never seems to have a bad game at our place. Anyway, as we're only allowed one, its got to be Tony Adams for me. You?

If this is the kind of player we are planning on signing (otherwise why would we be 'trialling' him?) I reckon the transder budget might be more limited than we think.

I'd be happy to have a nasty bastard in the side but Diouf? He's a total cock man. Why would we want a fucking wife beater in the side? Jesus, theres being nasty and just being a plain old prick.

We should email Sky and ask them to analyse the numbers of corners that have failed to beat the first man over the last few years at our club Vs other sides. I bet we'd have miles more than anyone else. Not sure about that. I can remember Shearer on the near post heading loads of corners away as the first defender. Most (by a large percentage) of Roberts were cleared from the front post and a lot of Emre's are too. If you compare us to say, Bolton, whose biggest threat comes from their aerial presence/strength in the box I bet they are far far far more effective than us from set pieces, but corners specifically. Is there a site where we can compare this over the last few seasons?

There isn't just one sweet spot though. Thats my point. Granted, theres a preferred 'area' to connect with the ball. I think even if the taker doesn't connect 100% the way they want to, they should still be beating the first man more often than not. If the number of shite corners are down to our players not being able to hit the 'sweet spot' then perhaps we need to get someone in, along with Gordon Bloody Lee for throws, to show them where it is. :wullie: Another point is, if a player isn't the most proficient corner taker, run-ups and stance can be adjusted to compensate, surely? and surely this is what training is for? We should email Sky and ask them to analyse the numbers of corners that have failed to beat the first man over the last few years at our club Vs other sides. I bet we'd have miles more than anyone else.

Optimistic, Take for example the Drogba strike last night and the recent Essien strike. Both players hit the ball at completely different points (Drogba curled the ball by striking the bottom right whereas Essien smashed the ball right through the middle). Both were damn good shots and both struck the ball in the manner which they intended - which one hit the sweet spot?

Your mistaking beating the first man and having to float the ball in. You don't have to float the ball in just to simply beat the first man and you don't have to hit the ball in the same spot everytime to guarantee a good delivery.

Great post. I've thought about this for ages.......................How can I, playing for a shite Sunday League side, whip in a cross to the Penalty Spot or back stick (virtually) every time when I don't train, don't practice, don't even do it in the f***ing warm-ups? These lads are paid handsomely to train and play yet they can't even cross a decent ball. I used to say that all the time about Robert who's corners were DREADFUL - he rarely beat the first man. Granted, we've got no height compared to most teams, but all the same, surely they could work out a routine to compensate for it? I bet defenders at the top level would gobble them up for breakfast though. Thing with the new ball is, there's a small sweet spot where if you hit it dead on, it's undefendable...hit it slightly out and it's mishit. Robert would be like that. 8 out of 10 he'd hit wrong, but 2 out of 10 he'd hit it perfectly and it would go right in the penalty spot area with whip and pace. That's my explanation for it anyway. I accept that most decent Defenders would eat the Sunday League corners up, of course they would, but how is that an excuse for not being able to beat the first man FFS? I don't think Robert achieved anything like 2/10 - not in the games I was watching.

Certainly was...................even if he did wear a shredded Zebra around his neck.

Cheers MJ. Have a good break.

Quoted for truth. Only a matter of time...............................

Great post. I've thought about this for ages.......................How can I, playing for a shite Sunday League side, whip in a cross to the Penalty Spot or back stick (virtually) every time when I don't train, don't practice, don't even do it in the f***ing warm-ups? These lads are paid handsomely to train and play yet they can't even cross a decent ball. I used to say that all the time about Robert who's corners were DREADFUL - he rarely beat the first man. Granted, we've got no height compared to most teams, but all the same, surely they could work out a routine to compensate for it? 5 A Side? No BUT I can reach the pen spot in that too