Lavery & Sharp?

[Fraggle Blade]

I still think midfield is the issue. If we create good enough chances then our forwards will finish them, but the quality is missing from the final ball far too often so far this season.
If the quality of the chances created gets better and Sharp misses them, then fair enough slag him off.
I'm not a Done fan, think he's a more reactive player than someone able to read the game and get into good positions........that lack of knowledge always means he needs a bit of pace to try and get on the end of things, which is why i think he rarely gets away from defenders....thought he was shocking against Warsaw.
I've not seen enough of Lavery yet to form a proper opinion on his finishing or movement.
I thought Clarke was an excellent signing, but have been disappointed with what i've seen so far and i'm hoping it is just the injury he has been carrying and he'll start to knock some in when fully match fit.

 

[joshua thompson]

Agree with Sharpe, he does not contribute enough in the game for me and never really has done for us, lost that bit of pace he had to get ahead and never jumps for ball instead goes for the defender. But, as you said he scores goals, so why take him out of the team if he scores 20 for us, penalty or in-game play, goals is what a striker is meant to get and be doing and 20 a season is no doubt something we need.

Id keep Sharp in the side so long he keeps scoring, a run of 3 games or more without a goal id take him out. When Lavery is fit, stick him up top as he is our best striker just problems with injuries, Clarke is a good utility for height and ideal for us and again can score goals and then done is for a brilliant player, never stops, high energy id personally play him and demote duffy to the bench as he can play on the wing also, or bring him on when defenders are tiring.

 

[DronnieBlade]

Agree with Sharpe, he does not contribute enough in the game for me and never really has done for us, lost that bit of pace he had to get ahead and never jumps for ball instead goes for the defender. But, as you said he scores goals, so why take him out of the team if he scores 20 for us, penalty or in-game play, goals is what a striker is meant to get and be doing and 20 a season is no doubt something we need.

Id keep Sharp in the side so long he keeps scoring, a run of 3 games or more without a goal id take him out. When Lavery is fit, stick him up top as he is our best striker just problems with injuries, Clarke is a good utility for height and ideal for us and again can score goals and then done is for a brilliant player, never stops, high energy id personally play him and demote duffy to the bench as he can play on the wing also, or bring him on when defenders are tiring.

So to be clear Sharp does not contribute enough to the team but you would keep him in the side if he gets 20 goals ?

Oh and Lavery is our best striker ?



UTB

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

Like RodCurrie says on BM, "Its all abart opinions".

Funnily enough, I really rate Done and think he's our most natural fox in the box. You always think something will come of him being in the goal mouth. He just has a knack about him.

This video backs me up.



Plenty of sides would give owt for the options we have up front, Done included.

 

[Tyler Durden]

My two penneth... I think Matt Done is a little underrated. Comments that he "lacks quality" and "isn't a natural goalscorer," just don't ring true to me. His work rate is exceptional, his high pressing up field leads to several mistakes by the opposition and occasionally leads to chances. When he first joined us he was bagging every other game and most of those goals were from in and around the six yard box which shows good strikers instinct.

Billy Sharp. I completely despair at our fans who slate him. His ratio, yet again, is roughly 1 in 2. His link up play is exceptional at this level, he plays some role in most of our goals that he doesn't score himself. He does miss chances, but it's his intelligent movement that gets him in those positions in the first place. He's a threat that other teams are wary of. At times he does fade out of games, but he's a 30 year old striker playing in League 1 - I just don't understand what is expected. The point that has been alluded to several times is that any other team in this division would take him in a heartbeat and he would start every week. I agree with that. He's just captained us through a turbulent time and we seem to have come through the other side. He's not shy in taking on interviews after defeat and he's clearly a leader who has this club's best interests at heart. If he's misfiring a little, the answer isn't dropping him. We need to get behind him, he'll come good, he's too good not to.

Up top, with a fit Lavery and Clarke in reserve we're fine. Our issues are midfield.

FINALLY a bit of clarity. Thank you.

 

[coolhandluke]

FINALLY a bit of clarity. Thank you.

Agreed

Spot on that summary Morgs .

 

[s35blade]

Imagine Done will feel quite hard done by to lose his place, unless he gets put on the wing, but he's never impressed there.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Like RodCurrie says on BM, "Its all abart opinions".

Funnily enough, I really rate Done and think he's our most natural fox in the box. You always think something will come of him being in the goal mouth. He just has a knack about him.

This video backs me up.



Plenty of sides would give owt for the options we have up front, Done included.

Those of us who value Done's contribution (that's you too Kozzy) appreciate the way he doesn't allow a defender to settle on the ball. When he first came here we saw what he's capable of, but only if you play him upfront. Subsequent attempts to play him out of position have proved futile, and in turn it seems to have contributed to the view that he's a lesser player than he really is. The great Colin Morris was as good a winger as we've had in the last 50 years, but if he'd been asked to play a role that suppressed his natural instinct to attack some of us would have complained about this, not making allowances for this type of change. Sometimes what's before the eyes of some Blades passes them by while all they think about are negatives, rather than the misused potential that's not helping the team. Fortunately Wilder seems to recognise Done's strengths and what he's most effective at.

 

[Grecian2000]

Good Pele, it's not only me who realises that Bladey-Bladism is crass, parochial nonsense and that players should be judged on their merits. There is intelligent life in S2.

Well done Grizzly and Cerebus. Thank you for intelligent, common sense comment that looks beyond our own back yard. You have restored some of my faith in my fellow Blades.

So let me get this straight. Your faith is restored because someone thinks we only put up with our top scorer because he's a Blade?
It doesn't register (or is against the agenda) that people tolerate him because he IS our top scorer then. Personally it makes me despair.

Did we all want Ched (and by all I mean the majority who cared to opine on the situation at the time) to not get sent down because we've all got a soft spot for Plaid Cymru or because his goals were quite useful to us?

 

[Tyler Durden]

So let me get this straight. Your faith is restored because someone thinks we only put up with our top scorer because he's a Blade?
It doesn't register (or is against the agenda) that people tolerate him because he IS our top scorer then. Personally it makes me despair.

Did we all want Ched (and by all I mean the majority who cared to opine on the situation at the time) to not get sent down because we've all got a soft spot for Plaid Cymru or because his goals were quite useful to us?

Spot on.

Logic prevails again, and yes logic does go against certain peoples narrow and warped agendas.

 

[Pinchy]

So let me get this straight. Your faith is restored because someone thinks we only put up with our top scorer because he's a Blade?
It doesn't register (or is against the agenda) that people tolerate him because he IS our top scorer then. Personally it makes me despair.

Did we all want Ched (and by all I mean the majority who cared to opine on the situation at the time) to not get sent down because we've all got a soft spot for Plaid Cymru or because his goals were quite useful to us?

Sharp has looked lethargic all season. Top-scorer; captain; penalty-taker; Blade. Doesn't matter. Suggesting he's struggling a bit is not some sort of football blasphemy..

 

[bartman]

Sharp has looked lethargic all season. Top-scorer; captain; penalty-taker; Blade. Doesn't matter. Suggesting he's struggling a bit is not some sort of football blasphemy..

Agree re Sharp's form but Done's has been even worse so far (apart from he 'runs around a lot' ). Surely Done's place is the most in danger at the moment once everyone is fit

 

[HoodedClaw]

Agree with Sharpe, he does not contribute enough in the game for me and never really has done for us, lost that bit of pace he had to get ahead and never jumps for ball instead goes for the defender. But, as you said he scores goals, so why take him out of the team if he scores 20 for us, penalty or in-game play, goals is what a striker is meant to get and be doing and 20 a season is no doubt something we need.

Id keep Sharp in the side so long he keeps scoring, a run of 3 games or more without a goal id take him out. When Lavery is fit, stick him up top as he is our best striker just problems with injuries, Clarke is a good utility for height and ideal for us and again can score goals and then done is for a brilliant player, never stops, high energy id personally play him and demote duffy to the bench as he can play on the wing also, or bring him on when defenders are tiring.

It's all about opinions but, can I ask, what have you based this on?

 

[Tyler Durden]

Like RodCurrie says on BM, "Its all abart opinions".

Funnily enough, I really rate Done and think he's our most natural fox in the box. You always think something will come of him being in the goal mouth. He just has a knack about him.

This video backs me up.



Plenty of sides would give owt for the options we have up front, Done included.

Correct.

But sadly, Matt Done is the next one that the angry villagers will be sharpening their pitchforks for, once they get bored of sniping at the current top goal scorer Billy Sharp.

 

[Grecian2000]

I think Sharp is ready for the knackersyard personally. He's slow and unfit and if it wasn't for the fact "he's a Blade" you'd all be booing him off the pitch every week.

Sharp has looked lethargic all season. Top-scorer; captain; penalty-taker; Blade. Doesn't matter. Suggesting he's struggling a bit is not some sort of football blasphemy..

Suggesting he's struggling is one thing (and something I could go along with). The quote above that you seem to find so impressive (i.e. getting booed off the pitch every week - as seen in black and white) is going way further than that and is just bollocks.

 

[BushBlade]

Correct.

But sadly, Matt Done is the next one that the angry villagers will be sharpening their pitchforks for, once they get bored of sniping at the current top goal scorer Billy Sharp.

He just needs a good half season in a side that wins a lot and does well at home. Then he can go out and rape someone and he'll still be a hero.

 

[Revolution]

Sharp has looked lethargic all season. Top-scorer; captain; penalty-taker; Blade. Doesn't matter. Suggesting he's struggling a bit is not some sort of football blasphemy..

And Clarke and Lavery have looked injured or unfit all season. What do you suggest we do? Put Coutts up front?

 

[Champagneblade]

Feel free to shout me down, but regardless of how he does at Bradford, even if he just remains match fit, I'd take McNulty back in Jan.

Him and Lavery are probably the only proven partnership we have to an extent. The rest are all strangers who have individual attributes but for whom none have really forged any great understanding.

They say strikers hunt better in packs.

As a duo, based on how they did as a pairing before, they could be The Best Bet. They might not be everyone's cup of tea individually but isn't Wilder about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts? Let's be fair the recent games and injuries have shown we would have benefited from having an additional fit striker.

 

[Ricky]

Correct.

But sadly, Matt Done is the next one that the angry villagers will be sharpening their pitchforks for, once they get bored of sniping at the current top goal scorer Billy Sharp.

You exaggerate the amount of fans criticising players and the extent of the criticism they get.

Should we not want the team to improve and look for areas where it can? If this involves pointing out players' shortcomings, so what? If this is done despite being on a decent run of form, so what? You've always got to look to improve, whether you're winning or losing matches. We're certainly a team who have plenty of room for improvement.

I'm surprised someone as opinionated as yourself seems so opposed to people posting honest thoughts about players on a forum. You disagree, fair enough, but it seems to upset you!

 

[Tyler Durden]

You exaggerate the amount of fans criticising players and the extent of the criticism they get.

Should we not want the team to improve and look for areas where it can? If this involves pointing out players' shortcomings, so what? If this is done despite being on a decent run of form, so what? You've always got to look to improve, whether you're winning or losing matches. We're certainly a team who have plenty of room for improvement.

I'm surprised someone as opinionated as yourself seems so opposed to people posting honest thoughts about players on a forum. You disagree, fair enough, but it seems to upset you!

There have been valid criticisms, yours for instance are at least fair and I've known you long enough on the forums in various guises to know that you know your stuff. His pace and fitness I take on board for sure.

Pointing out shortcomings is fine. The sustained and at times plain spiteful crap that has endured from some since pre-season is another thing entirely.
To suggest as some have that he's been crap not only this season but last season too? Sorry, but that just points to an agenda as far as I'm concerned. As I said further up the page, a strikers remit is to score goals and he has done that consistantly, no matter how those goals have come about.

 

[Pinchy]

Suggesting he's struggling is one thing (and something I could go along with). The quote above that you seem to find so impressive (i.e. getting booed off the pitch every week - as seen in black and white) is going way further than that and is just bollocks.

Well, you should really take that up with the author, but you are misquoting both his words and meaning. He's saying any non-Bladey favourite might be getting some stick, not advocating that Billy should get some.

I would not agree if that were the suggestion, if it were made. I say my piece on here but give full support at the match. Far more so than many who never miss a game home or away but spend the entire match spitting drunken abusive vitriol at their own team...

 

[coolhandluke]

Well, you should really take that up with the author, but you are misquoting both his words and meaning. He's saying any non-Bladey favourite might be getting some stick, not advocating that Billy should get some.

I would not agree if that were the suggestion, if it were made. I say my piece on here but give full support at the match. Far more so than many who never miss a game home or away but spend the entire match spitting drunken abusive vitriol at their own team...

So basically it's

Sharp has looked lethargic all season. Top-scorer; captain; penalty-taker; Blade. Doesn't matter. Suggesting he's struggling a bit is not some sort of football blasphemy..

5 in 11 and he's a long way off a bit of form ?

Keep the fucker in then , he'll tear the league a new arsehole when finds form ..... again

 

[Ricky]

There have been valid criticisms, yours for instance are at least fair and I've known you long enough on the forums in various guises to know that you know your stuff. His pace and fitness I take on board for sure.

Pointing out shortcomings is fine. The sustained and at times plain spiteful crap that has endured from some since pre-season is another thing entirely.
To suggest as some have that he's been crap not only this season but last season too? Sorry, but that just points to an agenda as far as I'm concerned. As I said further up the page, a strikers remit is to score goals and he has done that consistantly, no matter how those goals have come about.

I don't think there's been anywhere near as much spiteful stuff on here as you suggest, there's certainly been no witch hunt of anybody.

I don't agree with anyone who says he was crap last season - I'd give him about 7/10 - but they say that because they expect more from him, and I don't think it's unfair to expect more. He's scored regularly at Championship level, been prolific in L1 previously and has only just gone 30. Then there's the wages we're paying him.

 

[Nick Jansky]

I don't think there's been anywhere near as much spiteful stuff on here as you suggest, there's certainly been no witch hunt of anybody.

George Long may disagree, some disgusting bile has been directed in his direction.

 

[Ricky]

George Long may disagree, some disgusting bile has been directed in his direction.

Of course, I forgot about him. Suppose I was focusing on the outfield/current first team players. There was certainly some unpleasant things said about Long but more than anything it was a case of the majority having a very strong opinion that he wasn't good enough. Those opinions have since been validated after we replaced Long and immediately saw an upturn in results.

 

[Nick Jansky]

Of course, I forgot about him. Suppose I was focusing on the outfield/current first team players. There was certainly some unpleasant things said about Long but more than anything it was a case of the majority having a very strong opinion that he wasn't good enough. Those opinions have since been validated after we replaced Long and immediately saw an upturn in results.

Don't disagree about the opinions being validated, but it is the way they are expressed that is often disgusting, and as long as I have been watching (1960s) we always seem to need a scapegoat. A section of our support is borderline psychotic, without a doubt.

 

[seanbeenstattoo]

Don't disagree about the opinions being validated, but it is the way they are expressed that is often disgusting, and as long as I have been watching (1960s) we always seem to need a scapegoat. A section of our support is borderline psychotic, without a doubt.

Actually it isn`t. Given your age you should have seen enough away games or read enough to know football fans are exactly the same irrespective of what club they support. The reason I know this,apart from having seen it countless times firsthand is that,and this might come as a shock to you,people in this country that follow a team are of exactly the same molecules,atoms,history,culture,basically the same DNA ;ipso facto they behave the same way.
If your point had any credibility it would be like me saying a bloke in Newcastle or Plymouth for example is fine with me boning his gert whereas in Sheffield he gets a monk on.

 

[coolhandluke]

Actually it isn`t. Given your age you should have seen enough away games or read enough to know football fans are exactly the same irrespective of what club they support. The reason I know this,apart from having seen it countless times firsthand is that,and this might come as a shock to you,people in this country that follow a team are of exactly the same molecules,atoms,history,culture,basically the same DNA ;ipso facto they behave the same way.
If your point had any credibility it would be like me saying a bloke in Newcastle or Plymouth for example is fine with me boning his gert whereas in Sheffield he gets a monk on.

There are followers of other clubs up and down the country who are at their happiest hurling vile abuse at players ..... but that doesn't mean that it's right to do it .

Theres a line that shouldn't be crossed and all too often " fans " up and down the country quite happily cross it .

Bryan Robson was unquestonably the worst manager it's ever been my misfortune to witness at the Lane . But when some of our " fans " decided to give members of his family a hard time in the South Stand car park that was bang out of order .

There's just some things the shouldn't be said or done .

 

[seanbeenstattoo]

There are followers of other clubs up and down the country who are at their happiest hurling vile abuse at players ..... but that doesn't mean that it's right to do it .

Theres a line that shouldn't be crossed and all too often " fans " up and down the country quite happily cross it .

Bryan Robson was unquestonably the worst manager it's ever been my misfortune to witness at the Lane . But when some of our " fans " decided to give members of his family a hard time in the South Stand car park that was bang out of order .

There's just some things the shouldn't be said or done .

My point was explanatory,not judgemental mate.

Sadly,when people are paid relative to fans obscene amounts of money to do a job most fans would actually pay to do,the reality is there ain`t much room for being utter gash.
I don`t set the patterns of behaviour,just observe what is.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Why the sudden downer on Matt Done ? His work rate is a vital part of the way we play ,just because hes missed a couple he should be 4th choice striker ? Sometimes players are much better when they aren't playing in some peoples eyes ,instead of looking whats in front of you. Done is working his balls off and deserves a bit of praise.

I thought he was excellent v Peterborough and praised him for that. I thought he was superb in his first hal-season for us and praised him for that as well. But if it was my job on the line this season to get us out of this league would I rely on Done? Honestly no. Because he's never been a prolific scorer. The most he'd ever scored before his first season with us was 6. He's a midfielder by trade - who has had a bit of success in one season as a striker. We need proven strikers up front - that's my opinion. He can run around and work his socks off (which he does - and I appreciate the effort) but do you think defenders are scared when he's got the ball at feet? That's what we are missing and when we find that player you'll realise (maybe) what I'm on about.

Nothing against him or Sharpy - we don't have any other options at present but we should have soon.