Spot on. If you look at his performance and pick out the worst 3 moments, as V-a-V has done, it doesn't give a true reflection of his contribution over 90 minutes. I'm reminded of the Kishishev arguments, when he got described as a "headless chicken" by some forum experts, who couldn't see why Curbs kept picking him.
Considering Pritch came in from Hayes and Yeading and was courted by Fulham in the summer, I believe we have a real gem on our hands. I have emailed the fellow to congratulate him on his fine showing against Leicester. Playing a three man midfield allows BP to play his natural game of disruption, tenacity, energy and pure 100% commitment. These qualities are more than enough to paper over any slight concerns regarding passing and shooting. I would much rather have a worker like Pritch, than a gifted-yet-lazy git.
On a different note, the poor crowd was worrying yesterday. With 2,500 Leicester in attendance, it confirmed the trend from the Boro and Donny games. Have we really only got a hardcore of 13,000 now Its the first time since we went back to the Valley that i heard the opposition fans singing "Your grounds too big for you"....really embarrassing. I know we are in an economic recession, but i despair at the fairweather nature of some football "supporters" these days.
Kish was awesome, one of my fave players, same as Pritchard in gave his all despite possibly lacking the ability of his team mates. I like Pritchard as long as he's not played at RM
Getting down to brass tacks about BP...apart from scooting around like Road Runner avoiding Wily Coyote, what does he actually bring to our team ? Football isn't about power running, and who can cover every blade of grass on the pitch whilst having a back story that makes Billy Elliott look like a Carry On Film. Surely at Championship level its about being able to do the technical basics like trap the ball, take a touch, and pass to a team mate on a regular basis ?All of which BP is very poor at I maintain that Cousins can and in time will play the "Pritchard role" to much better effect, leaving BP himself to go and ply his trade at his natural level of League One-League Two football, where he can be judged on his footballing attributes and not on the guff faux sentimentality of the "we love an underdog" Charlton brigade who are clearly already hell bent on voting him POTY.
Pritchard has proven himself to be a Championship player. Cousins has more potential but at the moment Pritchard is a key player and fully deserves his place in the team. When you him closely rather than pick out his mistakes, he keeps possession well and is often involved in good moves. Watch our goals from last season - 11 assists, often from good passes or crosses in and around the box. Sure he hasn't got as good a touch as say Stephens or Jackson, but he's fitter and quicker - we've seen how poor we are when too many slow but technical midfielders play together. Footballers need to be good athletes and hard working as well being good with the ball. Otherwise Danny Green would a regular and Pritchard and Wagstaff would have never got in the team. His intelligence and technical ability is underrated by anyone that calls him "technically very poor" or "non-league".
You ask any centre midfielder who they would least want to play against in midfield, and I reckon most would say Pritchard (or someone of his ilk). He does not stop running, harassing, and tackling his opponents, and against the sides who try and outpass us that is invaluable - they thrive on being given time to play, and Pritchard denies them that. Plus, his energy frees up Stephens and Jackson to do what they do best, and unleash creative havoc. Hughes is much the same, and we all saw how we improved last season when he came in to the team. Pritchard's 11 assists last season made him the 9th in the Champioship assists stats, above the likes of Bellamy, Coutts, Tomlin, Leadbitter, Whittingham. So I'm afraid the stats are against you Vol. In any case, it's a rather strange time to pick on a player who by all accounts played a key role in our best performance of the season. For what it's worth, I really rate Cousins as well, and it may be that he establishes himself in the side at Pritchard's expense. But right now, as Scoham says, Pritchard is the better option of the 2.
My view 100% Captain. There were those who thought Jensen was a luxury player who would'nt tackle enough, but you don't need all the players to do all the things, and Jensen provided quality and control, with deadly passing. Moving on to the present, pritch is a bit of an antithesis of this, but equally valid. Having a harrying, chasing, tackling player in the middle, is a good thing to have, as it gives the opposition less chance to settle, and provides time for our players to do their stuff. I know you don't mean it like this VaV, but honestly, your assessment of a fine 2-1 win yesterday gives the impression that having Pritch there was about equal to us starting with ten men. I don't know about POTY, as. like a managerial sacking, it's way too son to tell, but on yesterdays showing, Pritch certainly played a big part, and deserves a bit more credit than you are giving him.
What's wrong with chasing and harrying? Watch Barcelona as soon as they lose the ball, they're not too proud to do the dirty work necessary to get the ball back. He doesn't just run around aimlessly (that's what I used to do as a player because I couldn't read the game), he runs into positions where he receives the ball and helps his team-mates out, especially Wiggins and Wilson. When no-one is prepared to make themselves available like this that's when you get the long-ball stuff. If the team had been winning without him he wouldn't have got back in the team.
Nothing wrong with it Forest, I'm quite happy for someone to do it, my point being that if he does it well, it frees up other players to develop attacks.
Another point is that when you provoke this sort of argument about a player, as V-a-V has done, you will inevitably want to be proved right. This logically means wanting to see your own player make mistakes, or poor judgements. That's why when I report the under-18 games I focus on the players who I think will make it, like Diego Poyet, or Archie Edwardes. If I think a player won't make it and he does I can enjoy the fact that I've been wrong without losing face. The players who do deserve criticism are the ones who don't try, we've had a few of those in recent years and we all know who they are.
He currently is the most effective in what he does from the players we have in the squad, but he does need protection with certain formations. In a two man central midfield he will often cause a lot of pressure on his partner as he does chase the ball and lose positioning. This was evident when he played with either Stephens and Hollands and we were horribly overrun in midfield. With the Barcelona comparison it's fine if you are going to pressure as a team as you are hoping to hound out and pick up any lose ball. In a 3 man central midfield you will hope with more bodies that you can have the same outcome. When you have one man beside you you do have to communicate non stop and decide between the both of you who exactly is doing what and what space you should be covering. Technically he isn't great. He's fine if he has a bit of time on the ball but when moving forward quickly he sometimes appears to look as if he is falling over himself and the power in his passing is lacking. That said, his worth is there as he is one of the few who seem to want to keep the ball moving forward. I respect that when he has it he looks up and forward, rather than to the side. I don't need to go in to detail about his industry etc as that side of his game is evident. He is also happy to receive a pass and actively seeks possession, which you do want from a midfielder. He has some glaringly obvious pro's, some glaringly obvious cons - it's why he will always divide opinions.
If we had signed Pritchard for £250,000 from another Championship club, and he was 24 and not 29, we would be judging his performances in a different light. I accept that he is good at breaking the play up. The problem is, he often breaks up our play as well. And for someone with a much trumpeted good engine, shouldn't he be weighing in with more goals if he gets in the box so often ? Even during his brief cameo on Saturday, you could once again see that Jordan Cousins has the attributes to go right to the top. That is not hyperbole IMO. A couple of times he took lovely touches or played classy passes. Like all good players, he instinctively looks like he has time on the ball. Pritchard off loads it like a hot coal. I know a midfield is made up of many parts, but I simply don't see how you can have a successful one at this level with a player who struggles to do the basics. Football is not about running. If it was, Mo Farah would be captain of Man Utd. Every semi pro club in the country is swarmed all over by scouts, and he was at Hayes and Yeading for that long for a reason.
Yet a pretty successful and equally industrious midfielder in Vinny Samways was lambasted for always looking to the side and not ahead - hence his moniker Vinny Sideways. It's funny how different fans see different players.
Well done lads, we were always going to lose eventually, and I'd rather lose to you and Mr Powell than most other clubs/managers in this league Good luck for the rest of the season Where do you see yourselves finishing?
As long as we are not in the bottom three I think we will be happy, this season is one of cost reductions (under the guise of FFP) and I think we are one season in front of most other Champ clubs with this. 7/8ths of our first team squad are out of contract next summer together with our management team
Firstly he's 27. Secondly where he came from has nothing to do with it. It's a great story but he's won a place in the team with his performances. I judge on what I see, not the players age or history. He offers something very important that our other midfielders don't. I'm looking forward to seeing Cousins become a regular. If we continue a 3 man central midfield I can see them playing together. Jackson picks up injuries, Stephens is inconsistent, Hughes and Gower are in their mid 30s. Remember it was Pritchard that stayed on and Jackson and Stephens that were taken off. As for "he breaks up our play", does he do it any more often than the technically better Stephens, Green or Harriott? They make more poor decisions and despite better technique mid control the ball at times. He generally keeps it simple and retains possession. Goals? Think he may well score more than the 3 he got last season if he stays in the team. Add to those 3 goals he got 11 assist - very good for a player that apparently loses the ball and has the control of a pub league player. Did you notice how he created the chance for Cousins? If Green, Harriott or Stephens had done that it would an example of their technique and creativity.
