I'm another who thinks McShane and Hobbs are not up to Premier League football, despite their good performances for us this season and I think the complete opposite with Chester. And if we ever play Bruce there, despite him doing a decent job this season, his dad will be wearing my pie.
Mcshane is a more than very competent central defender. He was a not very reliable full back and that as where he played last time in the EPL. He is that bit more experienced and that bit more mature than the last time he was there. Less prone to rushes of blood and thinks clearly under pressure. How many times this season has he made the block or the tackle and timed it perfectly. The first time I saw him play at centre half was that friendly against Liverpool. He was excellent had Carol pretty much sorted. Good enough for the EPL? We will see but I think he will just be Macca that means he wont let anyone down give absolutely everything and he'll surprise a few. He will be okay.
McLame has grown into his role as a Central Defender. I will be surprised if he can cut it in the Premier League.
It got old the first time it was posted. He was never that bad, people were just trained to think that way by Pearson and Pearson. He's proving 'em wrong day in day out.
I hope he gets a run in the Prem alongside Chester and proves people wrong. He's not a full-back though.
We're not in the Premier League, assuming we get there and Macca gets to play, you'll regret this post.
Not the only thing that's "getting a bit old".. I make it 2 years you've been playing that broken record about the Pearsons..
I agree with the first part and posted it countless times on here - yes he has improved massively but he was never as bad as some people liked to make out. Classic case of City fans needing a boo-boy no matter how much they give to the team. Alex Bruce all the way next season....
Not the only things getting a bit old, records went past their sell by date decades ago. Still the best format mind...
I have supported this guy since we had him on loan from Sunderland, many on here who use the HDM would acknowledge that. There are times when he was considered a bit(or a lot) of a liability, but what many forget is he was played as a RB when his natural position is CB. The rest of the team around him was far from settled when we faced our biggest demons. He has always played where and how instructed, even when Brown lost the plot; many supporters forget that players are instructed and heaven help them if they ignore the instruction, no matter how ****e they are. Macca is solid, he binds the backs from the centre (something he never had a chance to do in under Brown) and he puts himself on the line. For me he is a natural skipper; he has a brain, he has ability and he has huge toughness, but most of all he has determination and his team-mates. Injury has been his constant companion of late, so a re-emergence now, with Evans in mid-field and a Boyd with something to prove will be enough. Some of us said it last week and now SB is saying it, look to ourselves, what Watford do is up to them. This is a massive pride game and as long as they turn up and give their all, I will be satisfied.
Every year we have been promoted decent players were written off as having reached their level, but economics kept them and they raised their game and our status; many would have to be embarrassed over some of the things said about Ashbee - now a City Legend. Get behind guys like MacShane, because he cares enough to make a big diffence as we have seen throughout the season. is he PL quality, at CB who really knows?
He's a decent Championship centre back and he's a decent bloke who the other players like, but he was ****e in any position in the Premier League and I don't think that's changed. I've no doubt he'll give 100% every game, but he lacks both pace and quality and you'll never get away with that in the top flight.
That's true, but desire can only take you so far. I think Dawson had more ability than McShane and Ash simply did the dirty work with more passion and desire than the opposition, but things have moved on.
At the start of the season I think everyone expected him to be a squad player. Bruce gave him a chance and he was in the team on merit. Next season I would expect him to be a squad player and I hope that he can do the same again. Also, McShane has been excellent this season when playing as one of 3 centre backs. Has he played centre back in a back 4 this season?
In the same way that your hatred of the Pearsons is unwavering, so is my opinion that McShane is not good enough. It has nothing at all to do with what the Pearsons thought of him, but what I saw with my own eyes. He was hopeless for Sunderland (ask any of their fans) and Eire fans think he is rubbish too. He was shocking for us in the EPL and, in the games he played for us when we came down too. People say he had a great game last pre-season against Liverpool. He didn't. People must be basing that on his decent run mid-way through the first half (I think) and his last gasp tackle on Ngog. The fact is that he only had to make that tackle because he was ball watching, lost his man (Ngog) and let him get goal side. That is the criticism that I have constantly levelled at McShane - he has no positional sense and gets caught ball watching far too often which result in his "headless chicken" routine as he tries to rectify his error. He appears to have improved this season (I haven't seen enough of him to judge but views on here seem unanimous in that). Maybe playing as part of a back 3 helps as there are always 2 other CB's to attone for his lack of position? The fact of the matter is, he wasn't good enough in the EPL for Sunderland, he wasn't good enough for us. I doubt that he's improved sufficiently to cope with the likes of RVP etc. Being the most improved player does not make him good enough. It's not a case of me needing a boo-boy. I would be very happy if McShane proves me wrong. I dont believe that he will.
Personally I'd much rather Hobbs or Faye was partnering Chester (or both of them). I don't really buy into this categorising of players as 'good enough for PL' or 'Championship at best'. The fact is players move clubs all the time and do better or worse than they are expected to do at that level. McShane was alright for us at first in the PL even though he played RB. He only got really poor in my opinion in the 2nd season and then the first two Championship seasons. At the start of this season he did OK and everyone made out he was amazing, then he had a run of good games just before his injury by which time the biblical praise for him had died down. Regardless of the league we're playing in, he's far from perfect but he's an adequate defender for cover.
First season back in the Championship, McShane was getting man of the match every week and was our best player until he was replaced by Rosenior. He was far from terrible, but it's amazing how people's memories can get warped. The only time he was "terrible" was the back end of the relegation season when everybody was.
