Jonjo Shelvey (now playing for Çaykur Rizespor, on loan from Nottingham Forest)

[Ronaldo]

He's not been nearly as good for us with Gayle out of the side. Now he's back I expect him to finish strongly. Definitely a player who relies on very good movement in front of him to be effective.

[magorific]

Didn't impose himself at all today which was the cause of us being pretty poor imo. Needs to improve.

 

Came into his own the longer the game went on. Not uncoincidentally, when Hayden's arrival meant he didn't have to worry himself so much with what ginger Jack was up to.

[joeyt]

Didn't impose himself at all today which was the cause of us being pretty poor imo. Needs to improve.

 

Came into his own the longer the game went on. Not uncoincidentally, when Hayden's arrival meant he didn't have to worry himself so much with what ginger Jack was up to.

Yeah I don't think it helps him that 3 of our back 4 today aren't that comfortable with the ball at their feet, as well as Colback and Gouffran offering little threat.

 

So teams man mark Shelvey very closely because they know we're unlikely to create much if Dummett, Colback,  Gouffran and our two centre backs have a lot of the ball

[Mattoon]

Didn't impose himself at all today which was the cause of us being pretty poor imo. Needs to improve.

 

Came into his own the longer the game went on. Not uncoincidentally, when Hayden's arrival meant he didn't have to worry himself so much with what ginger Jack was up to.

 

This is the key factor for me, I think playing along side Captain Ginger bollocks has really affected his game.

[Leazes_End_Mag]

He's been poor since he came back from his ban IMO.

[Mr. Snrub]

He's comfortably the best player in the league and has took the piss at this level for about 80% of the season ffs.

[ponsaelius]

Not even been our best player, tbh.

[Guest neesy111]

Not even been our best player, tbh.

This.

[Wallsendmag]

Not even been our best player, tbh.

 

Not sure about that. It's a toss up between him and Richie. Richie is playing better at the moment but Shelvey looked on a different level to anyone during the first few months of the season and we really missed him over the Xmas period when he was suspended.

[STM]

Richie and Clark have been the most consistent. Shelvey and Gayle were brutal for a time though.

 

I think overall, Richie has been our best player. Assists, goals, graft, leadership, and he's not missed any significant amount of time due to injuries and suspensions.

[Guest neesy111]

Not even been our best player, tbh.

 

Not sure about that. It's a toss up between him and Richie. Richie is playing better at the moment but Shelvey looked on a different level to anyone during the first few months of the season and we really missed him over the Xmas period when he was suspended.

Him, Ritchie, Clark or Gayle.  We've missed all of them whenever they've been missing.  I think Ritchie's our most key player as we would have almost nothing on the wings to drive the team forward without him.

[Leazes_End_Mag]

He's comfortably the best player in the league and has took the p*ss at this level for about 80% of the season ffs.

He's definitely not mind.

[jimmymag]

Since Jonjo's been playing further forward, and not coming back as often to pick up the ball from the back 5, we've looked really poor, especially at home.

 

Rafa must want him to play further forward where his quality can hurt the opposition but, with the players we've got, we can't get a move started and we resort to punting it long to Gayle, Gouffran (short arses both) or Diame (who is shite in the air) hoping to nick the second ball.

 

Turgid is the word to describe it.

 

 

[DJ_NUFC]

He'll be back to his most productive with Hayden behind him.

[Ryan]

He'll be back to his most productive with Hayden behind him.

 

 

It's obvious but we're a much better team with them two in the centre of the park.

[Tiresias]

I agree Hayden being back will help a lot. I think he's been caught between two stools of trying to dictate the rhythm of our game and keep us in possession and attacking, and being a dynamic attacker less worried about the whole team and more about goals and assists. He's not the brightest spark so isn't able to switch between those two modes always appropriately.

[tmonkey]

With a couple of months left, and despite the recent dip in form/suspension/poor tackles, Shelvey for me should be nailed on for Player of the season, unless he gets a suspension or something that causes us to miss out on automatic promotion. His ridiculous form from close to the start of the season till the suspension is comfortably two or three levels above anyone else's in this squad - he was absolutely running games with everything flowing through him, strolling around the pitch spraying ridiculously good passes at will that really did hurt the opposition, and making it all look effortless. That period of peak form is what will ultimately (hopefully) get us promoted as it helped us established a gap at the time that the chasing pack now can't close despite our poor results/team form since Shelvey's suspension and return. Additionally, this team looked utterly clueless and bottom half material when Shelvey was out of the side for a month.

 

In terms of competitors, Clark has been very solid but unspectacular, although he looks to me like a Premiership ready centre back. It's hard to give a "solid" centreback too much credit as he hasn't stood out in many games defensively. Although I dislike Lascelles as a player (think he's a flawed liability to some extent like Steven Taylor was), he's probably had a couple of standout defensive games that were better than anything Clark has put in, so there's room for Clark to have more imposing defensive games at this level.

 

Ritchie has a good goals return overall but hasn't really looked like a top class Championship winger or creative player at any point (minimal pace/trickery), and has had lengthy poor spells where he's done very little to the extent that plenty on here blamed the role Rafa had him playing in (i.e. "he's being held back, needs to play like a traditional winger like he did at Bournemouth" comments). I think he's overrated personally, and that there's a limit to the usefulness of a "graft, layoff to fullback and get into the box/hope something falls his way" type winger as opposed to a winger with genuine quality/threat on the ball. If Ritchie is still in the team next year he'll be the equivalent of a Dirk Kuyt / Freddie Ljungberg type who'll look to graft and get into the box from wide, i.e. his attacking contribution is primarily going to be goals, so it'll be essential to get a pacey creative winger on the other flank to carry the attack and unlock defenses.

 

For this season I'd put Yedlin ahead of Ritchie in terms of impact, ability, and usefulness in games, and the same for Gayle given his pre-injury form and goalscoring streak. The one upside with Ritchie is his playtime and lack of injuries, but that is offset by the periods poor form. So players of the season so far, in order:

 

1) Shelvey.

2) Gayle.

3) Clark.

4) Yedlin / Ritchie.

6) Hayden.

7) Murphy.

 

Everyone else has been mediocre or a bit s***. Or really s***, in Colback's case.

[xLiaaamx]

Murphy 7th? He's had a few good games here and there, but he's had a couple stinkers in his relatively few appearances. Atsu's done more, as has Perez. Even Gouffran and Diame.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Gouffran has actually done a fair bit, despite doing nothing in most games. He's a contradiction this season.

[Yorkie]

Ritchie has a good goals return overall but hasn't really looked like a top class Championship winger or creative player at any point (minimal pace/trickery), and has had lengthy poor spells where he's done very little to the extent that plenty on here blamed the role Rafa had him playing in (i.e. "he's being held back, needs to play like a traditional winger like he did at Bournemouth" comments). I think he's overrated personally, and that there's a limit to the usefulness of a "graft, layoff to fullback and get into the box/hope something falls his way" type winger as opposed to a winger with genuine quality/threat on the ball. If Ritchie is still in the team next year he'll be the equivalent of a Dirk Kuyt / Freddie Ljungberg type who'll look to graft and get into the box from wide, i.e. his attacking contribution is primarily going to be goals, so it'll be essential to get a pacey creative winger on the other flank to carry the attack and unlock defenses.

 

I think the part in bold is definitely true; I think his impact will be a lot less next season because he simply doesn't have the pace or flair to consistently worry Premier League defenses. I think the part that precedes it though is very harsh indeed; 14 goals plus several assists and a constant voice and driving force in the team, whilst also just generally being one of the most talented players in the squad... he's been absolutely massive for us this season, particularly since Christmas. To put him on a par with Yedlin who's only played a handful of games (and played well, certainly), is a bit barmy imo.

[Parsley]

He was one of our best players at the weekend like. Not as dominant as he was in the first half of the season but barely misplaced a pass and was still the one instigating the majority of our attacks.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Made a few good runs as well, he tends to do that when he realises his team are on top of the game.

[Lush Vlad]

Since Jonjo's been playing further forward, and not coming back as often to pick up the ball from the back 5, we've looked really poor, especially at home.

 

Rafa must want him to play further forward where his quality can hurt the opposition but, with the players we've got, we can't get a move started and we resort to punting it long to Gayle, Gouffran (short arses both) or Diame (who is shite in the air) hoping to nick the second ball.

 

Turgid is the word to describe it.

 

I agree with this. We struggled to create anything once Hayden came on against Wigan. We were hardly great before that. But at least Shelvey was getting on the ball a bit.

[TRon]

Gayle's been player of the season for me but Shelvey is probably up there as well. I just think we'd have struggled to be in an automatic promotion spot without those goals.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Shelvey has had more average games than great games. He's not the best player in the league nor the best performing player in our team.