So considering our defence is now tighter than Anne Wiidecombe's clunge (take Bellend Road out and we have conceded 2 in 6. TWS is the only away game in which we have conceded and the only game in which we've let in more than 1), are all the Hobbs detractors presently stuffing their faces with humble pie? And dont hide you lot - there were SH1TLOADS of you.
Hobbs is 25% of a decent back four. Gulacsi must take the blame for the shakey start we made, soon as Basso came in we look organised. Its hard to concentrate as a defender when you know one slip or short pass can let the opposition in, add to that the fact you don't have confidence in your keepers ability. Basso has given the defenders the confidence to get on with defending and not to worry about out else.
Not convinced. Already said on another thread how Benjani beat him to every ball, and he still cant pass to one of his own. If Portmsouth were any good it may have been different. How he got MOTM i dont know.
Humble pie ? I don't mind if i do,large slice please. When it's a City player that proves me wrong,i couldn't be happier ! Hmm,that's unless iv'e said he's gonna be a world beater and he turns out to be **** !
If you had to edit that well thought through post, how come you didn't change the spelling of Wiidecombe?
Haha I was the original defender of Hobbs, was ridiculous how some people were slating him after one game into the season.
Wish you would do one mate, start getting behind the lads instead of picking faults with nothing, its PORTSMOUTH by the way
This is a fair comment Percy, the problem I had was before people saying he's '****', not exactly the most intelligent analysis was it. Anyway I did my rant back then!
I think part of the problem with Hobbs is that he plays next to Chester. They are different players and the calm, collected, thoughtful way one of them plays amplifies the lesser ability of the other in that area. However, that does not mean that Hobbs doesn't have his own attributes, not that he is incapable of learning and improving as the season progresses. Hobbs is improving as he learns how to play in partnership with Chester, and vice versa. Credit to them both for that. People saying that Hobbs was shyte were way out line, but the fact remains he is not as good a defender as James Chester at this moment in time.
I think he is to Hobbs how Percy is towards Barmby, nothing they do will ever be right. An improving player who will hopefully keep getting better. I also agree with Geo's comment, Basso deserves credit for allowing the defenders to have confidence in the keeper.
The points about Basso settling his defence is very true - it's a 5 man unit & not 4. Hobbs is a consistent defender & an improvement on the recent likes of Zayatte, Sonko & Gardner. It's all about partnerships at CB too, 4 seasons ago Wayne Brown & Michael Turner are a good example.
obviously eyes full of that jack**** during games, you wanna actually sit and watch him like i do , i wouldnt comment if i didnt, funny how many people sat around me also see the same as i do, makes you wonder how many of you go to the games. Chester was far superior and has been virtually all season.
Think what we`re witnessing is a developing partnership between Hobbs and Chester. For me this season Chester has been the stand out performer, and Hobbs is getting used to playing alongside him, knowing each others strengths and weaknesses is all part of the process, how long we`ll be able to hold onto Chester remains to be seen though.
I'll have you know i've been to all the home games this season and have seen Hobbs improve game by game. I agree that Chester is the better of the 2, but Hobbs is not the far inferior player you make him out to be and the 2 are forming a good partnership, the best we've had since Brown/Turner. Aside from Leeds away (down to a Gulasci horror show), our defence has only conceded 2 goals in 6 games. You can't knock that in a competative league such as this.
