ferrarilover wrote:We'll lose him soon enough to a team who will use him sensibly then pick up three or four hundred grand for him.
I know NC isn't at Eunan's level yet, but all this old bollocks about not being able to do the ugly work didn't seem to affect us during our run to the playoff final with Manse and Eunan in a two man midfield. With the ability and pace of our wide men, we need someone who can pick a pass to find their clever runs. Add in Hawley and his ability to find space (already the best I've ever seen at L2 level. Opposition defenders simply haven't a clue where he is for the vast majority of the match) and we are wasting 80% of our attacking potential by playing two central midfielders who couldn't pick a pass to save their lives.
We aren't a big, physical team. We aren't going to bully and muscle others for 90 minutes a la Southend and Northampton. We need to do something different from that. Swindon and Gillingham have proven that it is possible to football your way out of L2. Equally, Stevenage and Shrewsbury have shown that being very good at one thing is also enough to see you promoted. Neither of the latter are especially good footballing sides, but Stevenage kill you with work rate and Shrewsbury kill you with sheer size and brute force. This isn't the Premier League, you don't have to be good at everything, you simply have to pick one thing and get good at that. We were hopeless going forward three years ago, but we were exceptional at the back, which is why we made the playoff final.
We need to sack this daft idea of trying to be both swift in attack and menacing in the middle and start focusing on one or the other. Either sign five 6'6" goliaths and sack off pretty football altogether, or give Craig a chance to show what he's got and start footballing teams to death.
I happen to think Nathen Craig is a good footballer with a great left foot. I would gamble on Downes scoring 10 headed goals from corners if Craig took all the corners.
Last season in the PSF at Exeter every corner and free kick from Craig was like an exocet missile. Very hard to defend against.
However Alan Knill is an experienced manager and clearly at this point in time poor old Nathen is well and truly out in the cold. Alan Knill seems a very good communicator and I am sure Craig knows why he cannot even get on the bench.
His only hope is a change of formation but this seems unlikely.
portugull wrote:I would gamble on Downes scoring 10 headed goals from corners if Craig took all the corners.
A very good point. Nicholson's corners are either too long or too short. When Craig (had the chance of playing) took the corners last season, they were much more dangerous.
Managers always go with experienced players at the start of the season - Ian Atkins spent all summer chasing Jamie Ward and then left him out for the first 3 games because he wanted to get off to a solid start. It's a long season, I expect Craig, Yeoman and a few others will get a chance as the season progresses.
a professional footballer, playing in midfield especially, should be able to perform at least a minimum level of all the basic aspects of the game. to be a pro in whichever division is an exceptionally high standard and i can never understand it when a player is deemed unable to do certain basics, if they cant, then how the hell did they make it as a pro.
Because they excel at one thing, but lack in others, which is why they only make it to league two instead of higher.
im not disputing the fact that many of them have got that one thing they are good at doing, but as i said professional football is a very high standard which is very hard to reach. i dont expect league 2 players to be able to do all aspects of the game perfectly or be absolutely amazingly brilliant because then they would be playing at a higher level.
but all pro's should have a minimum level of skill and technique in the fundamentals and the basics.
to make excuses for a midfield player, like, "oh he cant pass to the wing or to his forward, but we dont expect him to, he can only run about, tackle and graft, but thats his job", is not acceptable. it might be what he's best at but he should be able to do other things. like i said anybody in midfield should be able to pass the ball about at least a bit.
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dannyrvtufc4life wrote:
A very good point. Nicholson's corners are either too long or too short. When Craig (had the chance of playing) took the corners last season, they were much more dangerous.
Nico doesnt seem to be taking them this season. The gaffer obviously prefers inswingers so Manse does the left side and Harding from the right (or so it appears)
Apathy Rules...............it's ok though, nobody's that fussed about it........
jonnyfive wrote:
The nail's head has been squarely hit.
I only saw the bloke on a handful of occasions last season and in every game I thought he was pants. Not reserve team games, not pre season friendlies which are even less competitive than reserve games but actual league games the bloke looked average personified. Played over 30 games last season, 1 goal which was a fluke and barely a few assists. Can't pick a central midfielder just to take dead balls.
He is still young so may have a future but the way some go on about the bloke is embarassing. He can't get in our 18 man squad, there are reasons for that. If he was anything like what people think he is he'd be playing every game for us.
Agree Ian (royal) No doubt Nathan Craig has potential and can play a pass/dead ball, however we are a professional League 2 team, it's not enough even at our level.
If I was given £1 for every time Craig played a first time blind lofted ball forward, into the corner, to no one. I would be a rich right now.
He's good, but calm down, he really is not that good.
Some people thought the same about Eunan not too long ago.
I keep making the same point, we have a crop of young players, that is exactly what happens with the majority of them.
Personally I like Craig and have seen some good performances from him, probably while Royalgull was looking at pictures of Martin Rice on his phone and playing with himself and obviously not watching the game
Craig reminds me very much of a player we had a few years back called Mick O'Brien.
Great left football, great dead-ball specialist but unable to dominate or and run the midfield in open play. This type of player always seems to be a crowd favourite but this is not wholly shared by the management and coaching staff at the club.
Nathan has a little time to grow into this capability bracket (as Eunan did) but the fact he is not in or around the first team indicates he is not showing this currently.
I wonder whether Nathan Craig would benefit from a loan spell with a conference club, where he would be playing every week, and it give a better chance to develop along the lines as Eunan did.
There is no doubt in my mind NC has the potential, needs time though, and from what I have read it appears Joe Oastler is already benefitting from a drop in level, so as said a loan move could do the same NC,
With a long trip and physical battle in store next weekend at Fleetwood, surely it would make sense to make changes to the central midfield against Portsmouth? Mansell would benefit from the rest (I'm sure I saw him briefly hold his hamstring after stretching in the second half today), and Lathrope did everything at least as well as Harding after he came on. Time to give Damon and Nathan a go.
I would be very disappointed if Knill does not at least give this a go on Tuesday.
EDIT - Just heard Knill's interview. Forgot about the selection restrictions for JPT + Knill says he is only likely to change one or two so this is probably more unlikely now.
Last edited by taunton_gull on 31 Aug 2013, 22:02, edited 1 time in total.
