Jay McEveley

[coaxingstar71]

I'm preparing myself for a huge backlash of abuse and vitriol for this one.....

I can't really understand what everyone seems to have against Jay. I've been quiet about it as I've read many posts scorning him and that in most blades minds, he'd be one of the first out, but I like him (there, I said it). In fact, I'd go as far to say that last season, he was my favourite player!

I went to every home game bar about 2 and 2 away games and overall I thought he was one of our better players. To me, he seems to read the game well and has got good feet so instead of panicking and just booting it in the stand, he's preparing to turn and play the ball. I think he's a decent passer of the ball too, especially for a centre back. Ok, he has made a couple of mistakes but who didn't in the team last season? I was on the Kop for home games last season and most of the fans around me appeared to be appreciative of his play too, applauding as he regularly turned an oncoming forward and played a good ball.

What I do think, is that we didn't defend well as a UNIT, particularly at set pieces, a crime in this league, but I blame the coaching and tactics for that, certainly not one player.

So there you have it..... feel free to abuse, but please don't tell me I know nothing about the game having played it for over 25 years.

 

[RealMcCoy]

Good post.
I found him really frustrating, just too many mistakes. Made me nervous most of the time. But does look as though there might be a good player in there, and on more than one occasion turned defence into attack.
Hope you're right about the frailty of the "unit" and that he turns into a hero next season.

 

[Blade56]

For a while his name was first on my team sheet. Looked tired, injured and nervous as the season progressed.

 

[Jon Bon]

What I do think, is that we didn't defend well as a UNIT, particularly at set pieces, a crime in this league, but I blame the coaching and tactics for that, certainly not one player.

Bring back Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. It's not nearly as effective with his daughter in charge.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Played for only 25 years coaxingstar71? Pah, a mere novice compared to the likes of silverfox or bartman, now we're talking, straight out of the golden age of football the pair of 'em. Between 'em they've notched up a couple of thousand games, ambidextrous too, at least that's what SF claims.....

 

[Fulwood Blade]

I'm preparing myself for a huge backlash of abuse and vitriol for this one.....

I can't really understand what everyone seems to have against Jay. I've been quiet about it as I've read many posts scorning him and that in most blades minds, he'd be one of the first out, but I like him (there, I said it). In fact, I'd go as far to say that last season, he was my favourite player!

I went to every home game bar about 2 and 2 away games and overall I thought he was one of our better players. To me, he seems to read the game well and has got good feet so instead of panicking and just booting it in the stand, he's preparing to turn and play the ball. I think he's a decent passer of the ball too, especially for a centre back. Ok, he has made a couple of mistakes but who didn't in the team last season? I was on the Kop for home games last season and most of the fans around me appeared to be appreciative of his play too, applauding as he regularly turned an oncoming forward and played a good ball.

What I do think, is that we didn't defend well as a UNIT, particularly at set pieces, a crime in this league, but I blame the coaching and tactics for that, certainly not one player.

So there you have it..... feel free to abuse, but please don't tell me I know nothing about the game having played it for over 25 years.

Seeing as I banged on about centre halves for most of the season, i'll answer your post - without vitriol.

None of our present centre halves can defend balls into the air. It was the main issue last season - not even Collins, or Maguire that left pre-season.
As for McEv - he is comfortable on the ball
He always looks for a midfield player, and generally passes the ball well - that is as long as a midfield player "shows" for the ball, which they generally do not.
By L1 standards, he isn't quick, but isn't slow.
He tries hard - but apart from one or two think the trying is generally very good across the whole squad.

For me, and again I like you have watched/played for donkeys years - my pre-requisite, is that they are big, strong and can head a ball. Being quick is a bonus and you need this the further you go up the pyramid. Reading the game (like Rio Ferdinand, coupled with everything else makes you a prem player).
A centre half should anticipate (due to playing that position for years) where a ball will come and attack it - ie: you make it yours - just like Chis Morgan used to do. If you don't get there then you challenge (fairly or professionally) and you put your attacker off. The example of this was how Gibbs (for England) was badly beaten in the air for the second goal recently against them - now that is what you get with a left back needing to head a ball.

They should not get "turned" easily - when Oldham came down here - Forte "turned" McEv easily - too easily. Again that's because he isn't a centre half.

He is not now and never will be a centre half - never in a million years. He may be a decent left full back, yet we are still to see him play more than a couple of games there. He was supposed to be competition for Harris.

I don't blame McEv for trying to adapt to CH - entirely CLoughs fault.

To summarise: no football club in any professional division should play square pegs in round holes on a regular basis - fill in, yes, permanent, no.

For me, there in lies the answer to Mceverly.

UTB

 

[Bergen Blade]

I'm preparing myself for a huge backlash of abuse and vitriol for this one.....

I can't really understand what everyone seems to have against Jay. I've been quiet about it as I've read many posts scorning him and that in most blades minds, he'd be one of the first out, but I like him (there, I said it). In fact, I'd go as far to say that last season, he was my favourite player!

I went to every home game bar about 2 and 2 away games and overall I thought he was one of our better players. To me, he seems to read the game well and has got good feet so instead of panicking and just booting it in the stand, he's preparing to turn and play the ball. I think he's a decent passer of the ball too, especially for a centre back. Ok, he has made a couple of mistakes but who didn't in the team last season? I was on the Kop for home games last season and most of the fans around me appeared to be appreciative of his play too, applauding as he regularly turned an oncoming forward and played a good ball.

What I do think, is that we didn't defend well as a UNIT, particularly at set pieces, a crime in this league, but I blame the coaching and tactics for that, certainly not one player.

So there you have it..... feel free to abuse, but please don't tell me I know nothing about the game having played it for over 25 years.

Good post, although I agree with Blade56 that he wasn't as good at the end of the season, possibly because of his shoulder injury. His composure from centre half was excellent overall and vital to us in some of the big games we played. He oozed class even against Premiership strikers snapping at his heels. He made some errors, but so did Basham at centre half, though Basham seemed to escape criticism from fans.

Although I think he did well, I would like us to bring in at least two new centre halves this summer, and preferably they should be bigger and more commanding than McEveley, who should be back up at centre half and left back if he stays.

 

[coaxingstar71]

Excellent posts by Bergen and Fulwood (and others too).

FB - I didn't play centre back so would bow to your superior wisdom as to the idiosynchrosies of playing that position, however I would contend he did win most (but not all) ball in the air.

I'd also agree he was obviously playing whilst injured for the latter part of the season and that undoubtedly affected his performances.

I'm also not suggesting for one minute that we don't need to sign a couple of centre backs, I think that much is obvious. However if the likes of McCarthy is the best we can get, then we might as well not bother. I'm hoping Tel Kennedy can overcome his injury problems as I thought (and I'm sure FB might put me right) he is/could be a terrific defender.

 

[SUFC Handsworth]

For most of last season I was a massive critic of McEveley at centre half. If he started games at centre back then I feared the worse and I wasn't usually disappointed. Technically a good player but far too casual to play centre half and seemed to drop a big b0ll0ck every game. Proper, good centre halves might drop a rick 2 or 3 times a season, every game for me isn't acceptable.

At times I did feel sorry for him as he was played out of position usually alongside another player at cb who was also played out of position. I wouldn't mind him staying at the club provided Adkins plays him at left back.

 

[BushBlade]

Can't really add too much to this. Good assessment of McEv, very good thread.
I'm happy that he's staying as he can cover both left back and ch but I'm not convinced I'd have him as first choice at either position.

I agree about the defensive unit. Far too much chopping and changing, not all Clough's fault but a lot of it was. I think he thought with Basham and McEv, he'd got two players who could play as well at ch as any of the centre halfs he could attract at the time. As it turned out, they couldn't sustain their form and injuries etc led to more chopping and changing. If you think how many different back fours we had, it was ridiculous really.

 

[sitwell]

I like him ,his confidence took a knock after his daft penalty give away at Spurs ,and some fans decided he should be scapegoat from then onwards.

 

[coaxingstar71]

I like him ,his confidence took a knock after his daft penalty give away at Spurs ,and some fans decided he should be scapegoat from then onwards.

Sitwell - you've just inspired me to start a new thread! (I agree with you by the way)

 

[metalblade]

I'd let him fight for the left back spot with Harris who does not convince me he is good enough either, no way is McEveley a CB he seemed to give a goal away every game towards the end of the season. This to me is where Adkins will make players more comfortable they will no longer be played when clearly not 100% fit and they will not be played out of position which to me are the reasons for his poor form at the back end of the season.

 

[Gee]

I too thought he looked good and comfortable on the ball, had a few blips but who didn't last season. Not one player stood out as being great last season.
The goal he scored was a screamer where he ran from defence and scored a net buster, it certainly made me sit up and take note. If he has that in his game he could be great one day, who knows, but surely he's worth a punt.

 

[Worksop II]

[QUOTE="sitwell, post: 780553, member: 2101"his daft penalty give away at Spurs[/QUOTE]

Ah yes, the winner of the "Biggest Bollock of the Season Dropped Award"

Panicked like a 16 year old .......................

 

[Barney]

He started off looking promising, still not good enough for the type of player we ought to have been getting in, but promising nonetheless. He then rapidly deteriorated, frequently becoming quite lazy in his approach regarding positional sense and on the ball ability, often resulting in daft mistakes and penalty giveaways. His negatives and the consequences the negatives had on our season, far outweighed anything positive he did for us. I can't understand for the life of me why NC gave him another contract, that just confirmed to me that NC didn't really have a clue after all and also that a managerial change was absolutely the best option.

 

[Bert]

For a while his name was first on my team sheet. Looked tired, injured and nervous as the season progressed.

Your team would have been crap with him as goalkeeper.

 

[Jehovah]

I am nervous whenever he is involved. Always a bad sign aka Claude Davies.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Excellent posts by Bergen and Fulwood (and others too).

FB - I didn't play centre back so would bow to your superior wisdom as to the idiosynchrosies of playing that position, however I would contend he did win most (but not all) ball in the air.

I'd also agree he was obviously playing whilst injured for the latter part of the season and that undoubtedly affected his performances.

I'm also not suggesting for one minute that we don't need to sign a couple of centre backs, I think that much is obvious. However if the likes of McCarthy is the best we can get, then we might as well not bother. I'm hoping Tel Kennedy can overcome his injury problems as I thought (and I'm sure FB might put me right) he is/could be a terrific defender.

In terms of the centre halves - one of my favourite sayings last season was "we've been done again by a simple ball into the box" - sure not all Mcevs problems - Basham was equally culpable. Think both Bash and Mcev tried hard and didn't play too bad, but the jobs of being centre halves was thrust upon them (we all know the reasons).

As some have said, he appeared to be carrying the remnants of the shoulder injury - so fair do to his commitment.

I thought (unlike most) that Paddy wasn't that bad - he was seriously unfit and would have been fine, if he had spent ALL week with the squad and then built up a reputation with who ever at the side and the relevant full back. Spending 1 day on the training pitch was another of Cloughs strange schemes.

As for Tel (and I might get a bashing here) - don't think he is good enough. Tries hard, but he always seems to be playing at his maximum. If we are to get out of this division we need a strong core, to then take up a division. If others think Tel is capable of playing a higher level, then fine - I don't. Being a footballer is not just about 100% (aka Monty) - you need other attributes. It isn't anything personal - not bothered which 11 play in the R&W stripes..............sorry WHITE shirts with a red pin stripe (couldn't resist that one!), I just want them to get better and make the team better and for us to progress. Just can't see that with Tel. The question with Tel is: can he improve? If not then he is not one of the 2 CH's we need - sadly.

As for Mceverly - we need him fit and Harris fit to get more out them both.

As for anyone playing centre half -and yes I did - it's just about learning the position over time and nothing can beat a settled team which is what we all want - except for Nigel Clough, or so it seemed.

To finish - there was no need to be concerned about your opening post, it was good - you will get good debate for well put and meaningful posts - just best not to do them on weekends when some have had a skin full

UTB

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I'm preparing myself for a huge backlash of abuse and vitriol for this one.....

I can't really understand what everyone seems to have against Jay. I've been quiet about it as I've read many posts scorning him and that in most blades minds, he'd be one of the first out, but I like him (there, I said it). In fact, I'd go as far to say that last season, he was my favourite player!

I went to every home game bar about 2 and 2 away games and overall I thought he was one of our better players. To me, he seems to read the game well and has got good feet so instead of panicking and just booting it in the stand, he's preparing to turn and play the ball. I think he's a decent passer of the ball too, especially for a centre back. Ok, he has made a couple of mistakes but who didn't in the team last season? I was on the Kop for home games last season and most of the fans around me appeared to be appreciative of his play too, applauding as he regularly turned an oncoming forward and played a good ball.

What I do think, is that we didn't defend well as a UNIT, particularly at set pieces, a crime in this league, but I blame the coaching and tactics for that, certainly not one player.

So there you have it..... feel free to abuse, but please don't tell me I know nothing about the game having played it for over 25 years.

He was very poor towards the end of the season but he was being played out of position and I think his confidence had gone (see scapegoat).

On a technical level he seemed to get under the ball almost every time it came near him.

On the plus side he made some outstanding recovery tackles and the goal he scored was.not a surprise at all he just distributed it strongly and accurately into the back of the net.

Given Adkins' reputation for positivity we might see a much improved player next year with Jay and (Silent) Bob competing for left back while some actual CBs do that particular job.

 

[BushBlade]

He was very poor towards the end of the season but he was being played out of position and I think his confidence had gone (see scapegoat).

On a technical level he seemed to get under the ball almost every time it came near him.

On the plus side he made some outstanding recovery tackles and the goal he scored was.not a surprise at all he just distributed it strongly and accurately into the back of the net.

Given Adkins' reputation for positivity we might see a much improved player next year with Jay and (Silent) Bob competing for left back while some actual CBs do that particular job.

Do like the Jay and Silent Bob reference

 

[Blade56]

Your team would have been crap with him as goalkeeper.

Wouldn't have put it past his who's name shall not be spoken to have put Mceverly in net tbh B

 

[Leonardo Green]

Utter garbage, one of the worst players to pull a Blades shirt on. No pace, no organisational skills, no awareness, tries to do more with the ball than his ability allows and makes far too many mistakes.

In fact, it shows just how low we have sunk when we have people trying to make a case for such a poor player.

 

[BushBlade]

Utter garbage, one of the worst players to pull a Blades shirt on. No pace, no organisational skills, no awareness, tries to do more with the ball than his ability allows and makes far too many mistakes.

In fact, it shows just how low we have sunk when we have people trying to make a case for such a poor player.

At his worse, fair comment but he's had some good games for us too. (No, I'm not going to name them, I don't care enough).

 

[coaxingstar71]

In terms of the centre halves - one of my favourite sayings last season was "we've been done again by a simple ball into the box" - sure not all Mcevs problems - Basham was equally culpable. Think both Bash and Mcev tried hard and didn't play too bad, but the jobs of being centre halves was thrust upon them (we all know the reasons).

As some have said, he appeared to be carrying the remnants of the shoulder injury - so fair do to his commitment.

I thought (unlike most) that Paddy wasn't that bad - he was seriously unfit and would have been fine, if he had spent ALL week with the squad and then built up a reputation with who ever at the side and the relevant full back. Spending 1 day on the training pitch was another of Cloughs strange schemes.

As for Tel (and I might get a bashing here) - don't think he is good enough. Tries hard, but he always seems to be playing at his maximum. If we are to get out of this division we need a strong core, to then take up a division. If others think Tel is capable of playing a higher level, then fine - I don't. Being a footballer is not just about 100% (aka Monty) - you need other attributes. It isn't anything personal - not bothered which 11 play in the R&W stripes..............sorry WHITE shirts with a red pin stripe (couldn't resist that one!), I just want them to get better and make the team better and for us to progress. Just can't see that with Tel. The question with Tel is: can he improve? If not then he is not one of the 2 CH's we need - sadly.

As for Mceverly - we need him fit and Harris fit to get more out them both.

As for anyone playing centre half -and yes I did - it's just about learning the position over time and nothing can beat a settled team which is what we all want - except for Nigel Clough, or so it seemed.

To finish - there was no need to be concerned about your opening post, it was good - you will get good debate for well put and meaningful posts - just best not to do them on weekends when some have had a skin full

UTB

I didn't think Paddy was bad, he just didn't seem any better than what we'd got already (or fell out with).

The other question over Tel is, can he stay fit enough to aid his improvement? I hope so.

And thanks for the tip FB, guess some responses get more 'colourful' over the weekend eh? I found I was coming on and there wasn't much to debate so I thought I'd try and get a few things going. Anything is better than the utter deluded, juvenile, shite that you find in the Star comments. Utter morons, most of 'em, wouldn't know reason or logic if it smashed them in the face (more's the pity).

I'm warming up to a new 'Bob Harris' thread.....

 

[MalvernBlade]

I think Sandford was the best switch from LB to CH for me. Saw the game at Port Vale & as they scored the first JM was getting pulled all over the place & complaining to the ref. Seemed a bit naive & weak. Warnock used to use 3 c/h's with one at full back to leave 3 at the back and push an extra body forward whilst not looking too 3/5/2 but I think JM would suit that system at left6 c/h with harris at left wing back. A lot of the players we have at the moment don't really suit a traditional 4-4-2. Devlin didn't look a player when we had him as a replacement for Stewart in a 5/3/2 or 3 up front, but thrived in a 4-4-2 so leave it to NA to get the best out of our squad as I'm sure he knows what he's doing & I guess we are all wondering what he's going to do

 

[JohnDenver]

Disappointing lack of vitriol, people.

 

[sheffielder]

For a while his name was first on my team sheet. Looked tired, injured and nervous as the season progressed.

Sounds like them all to be honest

 

[BerksBlade]

McEveley at CB always seemed to me to be operating at the limit of his comfort zone, hence the occasional panic moment like the Spurs penalty. Perhaps some coaching from Adkins will help, but I see him mainly as LB/CB cover this season.
Pundits like Hansen & Carragher always go on about partnerships. You need a settled CB pairing who understand each other's game. We had no chance of that with McCarthy training 200 miles away during the week. Not going to happen with Kennedy either if he can't play twice a week.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

Utter garbage, one of the worst players to pull a Blades shirt on. No pace, no organisational skills, no awareness, tries to do more with the ball than his ability allows and makes far too many mistakes.

In fact, it shows just how low we have sunk when we have people trying to make a case for such a poor player.[/QUOTE

Agree in part , although the players around him , and in front , did not help the bloke on many occasion . Even Franco Baresi would have struggled , with being in the blades continual make shift back four .

This does bring home more and more , that you have to pay a premium for class and quality , and if not ,you get what you pay for.

UTB