Baxter

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

KingSlayers

KingSlayers

New Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Messages
97
Reaction score
63
I'm sure most of us thought that his ban would be define this squad as a squad that either needs him, or doesn't. Who can make a case for him?

I do think he was missed Saturday for Done's runs and nobody was able to play him in like Baxter could have.

I'm undecided, possibly in denial and hoping he settles it with a moment of magic and 110% effort and dedication.
 

I'm not undecided, Baxter is one of our best players make no two ways about it. We have nobody who can do what he can do. The only thing that suprises me is that some of our fans struggle to see that he's one of our best players, maybe they think it's still 2006/07 season:rolleyes:
 
Why would he need a case? he's not going anywhere.
Before they all start, lazy/pie muncher/overweight/slow and the others are?
 
Its interesting to see how certain players seem to be fair game and others are untouchable. Basham, for example, had a pretty dire start to his blades career and was panned for it, but was rescued by a positional change which to my mind better fits his abilities - he has the makings of a good centre half. Sicknote Wallace has drawn wages for relatively little return on the playing field (as have Higdon and Porter). Scougall has had a disappointing season and seems to have gone backwards.

Incidentally, looking on the club website Baxter is 1 cm taller than Kennedy and 8 lb lighter than him - that must make Kennedy totally obese then, surely? God help Sicknote - he is 21 pounds heavier than Baxter and a whopping inch taller. (mind you the club site does say that Higdon is only 12st 8lb so there must be doubt on those figures :p)

To my mind Baxter is still relatively young (just 10 months older than Scougall and 7 months older than McNulty - the ones for the future ), something a lot seem to overlook. There is development to be done with him in terms of improving his game but if you look at who our opposition fear it is usually him and Murphy mentioned. I don't subscribe to the theory that if you run around like a headless chicken then it doesn't matter if you have limited abilities. Its easier to fix application problems than address lack of talent.

Baxter has talent and can pass a ball forward (unlike our midfield against Crawley). Louis Reed will develop into an outstanding midfielder but he is still a raw talent and had a mare against Notts County. The side needs someone who can feed the forwards and chip in with a few goals otherwise we are a one trick pony - shove it out to the Murphy on the wing. The arrival of Brayford has provided better penetration on the right but, to me, we lack forward penetration in the centre when Baxter does not play and, with the exception of Reed, no-one else seems capable of feeding the ball through for Sparky and Done - so we end up with hoofball or everything down the wing. Here's hoping that Coutts can still remember how to pass forwards after he has been to the Michael Doyle School of Passing.:D
 
Jim Chimmerney said:
On what basis ?

Good technical player, where to play him is the problem, he's not a midfielder and not a striker.
Click to expand...
His best position is behind the striker, as he's shown on the rare occasions he's played there e.g. Peterborough, Colchester.
 
Massively missed on Saturday, offers a link between midfield and forwards that few else can. As said above he's one of our best players and he'd get in my starting side every week.
 
Baxter will always be Marmite won't he. He has no pace and can disappear for too long in a game but he does have technical nous but ... and it is a big but ... if you are comparing like-for-like, Michael Brown was aggressive, saw space and ran into it with or without the ball and could definitely score goals from any position. I can't really recall a game Browny had where he wasn't heavily involved or at least a 7/10. Can you say that for Baxter? Aside from the occasional flashes of brilliance, he is indulged and even people in my office who recall him from former clubs say he is a lazy (but gifted) individual 'who can turn it on'. In the current climate, we can't afford players who show this when it suits them, or we will be in this division forever.

I have no doubt about his abilities - I have seen him on telly and at the occasionally rare live game put some superb football in but this needs to happen more often. And he wasn't missed at Crawley. I feel he would have been wandering around midfield again wondering what to do. What was needed was for Clough to drop Doyle and Basham into central and push Coutts on (or bring Reed on in his place or for Flynn) to plug the gap. No one seemed to be looking at the runs Done was starting (save for McNulty who knocked the ball on for him for the penalty)

pommpey
 
Whenever people not associated with United talk about our players they highlight him as good. Ask Jermaine Jenas.
 
MBoreman said:
and he'd get in my starting side every week.
Click to expand...

Unless he only lasted 20 mins of the previous game, and then missed the next three suspended

Odd player to build a side around, init ?

Cos he has just fucked up 4 of your game plans
 

MBoreman said:
His best position is behind the striker, as he's shown on the rare occasions he's played there e.g. Peterborough, Colchester.
Click to expand...

and that's the problem, that's not a position Clough favours. I think he wants to play him in midfield but as debated previously, his cons outweigh the pros when he plays there.
 
We need him, he is the one with the quality, and vision out of all we have in midfield. The rotund scouser owes us though, big style.
 
SwissBlade said:
Yeah he's had a few injuries like every player
Click to expand...
Fair enough, maybe they should try scaffolding around his legs, to protect his knees and ankles and to support his midrift

I bet he is on Cloughs shit list ..................... and does anyone ever get off it ?
 
Worksop II said:
Fair enough, maybe they should try scaffolding around his legs, to protect his knees and ankles and to support his midrift

I bet he is on Cloughs shit list ..................... and does anyone ever get off it ?
Click to expand...

Having played 60 games in the last two seasons he's clearly not got an issue with his knees and ankles. Not really sure why he'd need support for his midriff, unless there is an underlying back injury which we've not heard of publicly.

I'm sure Clough wasn't happy with him after his poorly timed tackle. He said as much after the game that Jose cost us two points. That said though, he's welcomed Doyle, Basham and Higdon back following their poor tackles this season and last. Clough is professional enough to know that players sometimes make mistakes, but it's how they recover the situation which is perhaps more important to him.
 
Worksop II said:
Fair enough, maybe they should try scaffolding around his legs, to protect his knees and ankles and to support his midrift

I bet he is on Cloughs shit list ..................... and does anyone ever get off it ?
Click to expand...
Clough has played him so many times when he is off form ,has bent over backwards to try and find his best position ,we don't lose when he doesn't play ,Southampton ,Spurs ,Rochdale ,Crawley , you can count his good games and passes on one hand this season ,he is hardly on the shit list. He is on mine.
 
if Louis Reed was 2 years older, Baxter probably wouldn't get a game.

How long do we wait for Baxter to galvanise Blades support?

He is an inconsistent talent where virtually no one on here can agree what his best position is - that in itself leads to the team being inconsistent.
As for being fat - he is not, as for being unfit, he is not.

For anyone who has played any kind of physical sport at a decent level you need various attributes and my opinion of Baxter is that he has a strange running style, that looks very laboured, and lacks stamina to last 90 minutes in the way "football" generally is played these days. Everton probably sussed this out, and even though he has the talent to play above this league, other attributes stop him from being better. His talent is undeniable, but is that enough?

With Baxter we see the reasons he is at this level - inconsistent - brilliant one day, poor the next and it must be a managers nightmare.

What will happen? Inconsistent players will NOT last with NC.

Nothing personal with any player who pulls on a R&W shirt - you could play 11 girls for all I care - just want to see consistent players who do their job - sadly we haven't seen enough consistency from Baxter or a number of others.

UTB
 
sitwell said:
Clough has played him so many times when he is off form ,has bent over backwards to try and find his best position ,we don't lose when he doesn't play ,Southampton ,Spurs ,Rochdale ,Crawley , you can count his good games and passes on one hand this season ,he is hardly on the shit list. He is on mine.
Click to expand...

Can't argue with those facts Sitters. It's true that he can do things others can't sometimes but you can't really afford to wait every 4 or 5 games for that bit of magic.
 
Fulwood Blade if reed were two years older he'd probably still be a different player to Baxter. There's definitely a place for both in the squad
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Back
Top Bottom