I do wonder if another crofts is what we need, he gives his all for the team but I've wondered a little this year if we've found the upper most levels of his ability. I'm not saying drop him or sell him just that. If the players we want to unearth from league 1 are of that standard then we wouldn't be progressing. It's extremely hard to judge how players from lower league will perform in the prem. if passion alone was enough then a team like Layton orient would be running away with the prem by now. Tbh I'm just glad it's not me who has to sign players.
I agree with Supers, there is far more to whether or not a player is going to be successful at a club than simply looking at his record on paper. Whilst he is clearly bang in form and scoring goals for fun in League One I am personally a bit more cautious about how successful Rhodes would be in the top flight. I watched the game on Friday night when he scored another five goals and I asked myself how many of those he would have scored up against Premiership defenders with better pace and positional sense and the answer was not many as Wycombe were fairly atrocious that night. I read on here that top 6 teams are likely to be looking at him and I personally find that very hard to believe - when was the last time Man Ure or Chelsea dipped into the lower reaches? Arsenal have been known to with Walcott and The Ox, but they were real youngsters who had hardly started any games at so they were plucked purely on their potential rather than what they had achieved at Southampton. Jermaine Beckford is a great example, scored hatful of goals in League One but hardly had a sniff for either Everton or Leicester, whether that's down to his attitude or because him being a 'flat track bully' I don't know, though I suspect it's probably a combination of both. And managers trying to sell players always big them up more than they actually are, remember that "lovely mover" OJ Koroma from Pompey back in the rodent days? Whatever happened to him?
munky, i heard harry redknapp talking about rhodes the other day. he'd had him watched at the wycombe game among others and he basically said he's not going to be good enough for a top team. he did say he could do a job at premier league level in his opinion but it certainly wouldn't be at spurs. i think that proves the point that there's far more to it than simply looking at a players record. he'll probably end up at qpr - absolutely no way they will get drogba, bent and defoe like hughes and their fans are suggesting! maybe they need to learn how to walk before they try competing with usain bolt!!
Probably fair to say that most lower league players won't have the technique to make it at a top club. That's not to say they can't be good players, or that they can't make it in the premier league, but most will be missing that extra ability that top clubs require.
...and when we're talking about smashing our club record with fees of £5/6 million you have to ask if that really is a gamble worth taking. It's slightly different for strikers with a more physical presence such as Holt and Mozza, but for players who rely on pace and technique such as Rhodes it's a whole different ball game.
If I remember rightly, when Ewan Chester left us it was said that he was going to be scouting on the continent, so I am a bit surprised to hear that he is now with Birmingham. I always thought his appointment was the result of our Scottish connexion and I'm just wondering why he moved on and what would be so attractive about Birmingham for him.
Bennet Morison and Pilkington were churning out fantastic performances every week, just watching the weekend goals show was research enough...
I am saying that watching the LG1 and Championship weekend goals round up would be a good indication of form, Rhodes is doing well.. Anyone else picked up on that?
Yes, but not too many League One defenders - certainly none of the Wycombe ones - would be getting minutes in the Premiership would they? And Pilkington didn't play the second half of last season so I think a bit more research than watching a few minutes of highlights from six months previously would have been needed before taking a punt on him
I mean research in terms of his fitness after being out for so long, whether he'd made a good enough recovery to be able to do a job
Not to mention the player's character as well. Prime examples being Berbatov and Anelka. Who will deny they are very good players, but would you really want them in your team, when things might not be going your way? Have they got the bottle to fight when needed? You can't research that on youtube or telly
Remember this as well? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIJk3VoYNHc Not quite as easy as it looks when you're up against half-decent defenders
Schoolboy error, you can clearly see the level that David was playing at by the two white vans parked behind the goal, and no fans.....
Perhaps watch more than the first 40 seconds and you'll see some half decent stadia Here's more from Cody, remind me how many has he banged in this year in Champnionship? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JX6Np9CP7w
there is way more to it than supernorwich is suggesting, way more. in fact, its daft to just say 'watch the football league show' or something like that. you may say that somebody's talent is easily spotted if they smash in a few 30 yarders, but if they have the wrong character, don't work hard or any manner of things aren't right, he isn't the right player! these things all have to be worked on and researched extensively. you cannot necessarily tell on one or two showings if a player has what it takes. i remember watching a certain simon whaley twice about five or six years ago when he played for bury. he was a real prospect. yesterday he retired at the age of 26 cos he couldn't find a club. we all know about his problems but at the time i would have told you the kid would play for someone like liverpool or man united one day. more research needed to be done on him and in the end it was no surprise when he moved to preston for a relatively small sum, despite his obvious talent and his career, although at one point it looked like it would take off, failed to materialise into anything other than a damp squib
