Hammond

[BushBlade]

He was absolutely garbage today. For all the fuss that was made about him coming I for one cannot believe how poor he looks. Rusty maybe , not fully match fit maybe ... But he offers absolutely nothing that we don't already have ( as others have posted ).
I was hoping for a box to box type midfielder who could chip in with goals as well - how wrong.
He is literally a clone of coutts - in fact based on the first few games he is a poor mans coutts .
His touch is awful, his timing seems all out so he is going for challenges you can see he won't make , he only has one gear that's reverse .
he won't be cheap and now the problem is Adkins HAS to play him .
Very disappointing signing indeed

I didn't go today but isn't what you've described typical of a player who's not really played this season? We just have to hope so and hope he improves.

 

[Smirth]

How depressing that our landmark signing is a player we have signed on an emergency loan for 3 months.

 

[SandyMcBlade]

How depressing that our landmark signing is a player we have signed on an emergency loan for 3 months.

What makes you think he's got the legs to last that long ?

 

[Blade56]

He was absolutely garbage today. For all the fuss that was made about him coming I for one cannot believe how poor he looks. Rusty maybe , not fully match fit maybe ... But he offers absolutely nothing that we don't already have ( as others have posted ).
I was hoping for a box to box type midfielder who could chip in with goals as well - how wrong.
He is literally a clone of coutts - in fact based on the first few games he is a poor mans coutts .
His touch is awful, his timing seems all out so he is going for challenges you can see he won't make , he only has one gear that's reverse .
he won't be cheap and now the problem is Adkins HAS to play him .
Very disappointing signing indeed

Yet nearly every fan knew the answer was just down the road in Chesterfield, Morsey

 

[Woodwardfan]

I.E. Can't run, can't tackle, can't shoot, goes sideways and backwards.... In summary, piss poor.

Xavi played like that for years. If the system invites it then it's fine. I can see a future for Coutts and Hammond anchoring our midfield and building play slowly and surely with such as Adams, Baxter, Sharp, Done and maybe Scougall taking it on, plus Brayford and Harris bombing on from full back.

Seems a way off yet though.

The manager has to be certain how he intends us to play and that has to be right for this league. Then he stands or falls by his decision but we desperately need a settled formation and side very soon.

 

[GB10]

I didn't go today but isn't what you've described typical of a player who's not really played this season? We just have to hope so and hope he improves.

I hope you're right and he steadily improves. My point is that even if he is rusty etc you would expect to see aspects of quality in his play .. And I don't at the minute !!

 

[Bladeloyal]

He needs to improve sharpish ,and coutts needs putting down ,how he gets a game over the dropped from the squad Reid I'll never know .hammond coutts busted flushers

 

[finlaytheblade]

Xavi played like that for years. If the system invites it then it's fine. I can see a future for Coutts and Hammond anchoring our midfield and building play slowly and surely with such as Adams, Baxter, Sharp, Done and maybe Scougall taking it on, plus Brayford and Harris bombing on from full back.

Seems a way off yet though.

The manager has to be certain how he intends us to play and that has to be right for this league. Then he stands or falls by his decision but we desperately need a settled formation and side very soon.

The idea behind keeping the ball and that does mean sideways and even going backwoods is to probe for gaps in the opposition ,but to make that happen there has to be plenty of movement amongst the midfield and attacking players the responsibility then lies with the player with the ball to try and find the runner ,if no one shows or the player with the ball chickens out of trying a positive pass the opportunity is gone and then it becomes frustrating and the ball tends to be thrown away.In our case which is it ? in my opinion it's a bit or a lot of both
when you look at it like that it is simple where we are going wrong yes some times we start brightly but if we don't score (and Crewe played to this tactic today)the players lose confidence ,the fans get frustrated (teams in this division use this to there advantage)and we stop doing the good things.Now you can't blame the fans so the players have to show more bottle to carry the fight on,sadly we don't have enough with the bollo ks to do this (losers).Adkins for now has to make do with what he has got none of his signings so far have really improved us I think given time that will change .The need for a couple of really aggressive players is as strong as ever,come on Nigel find them!!.

 

[Ricky]

Hammond just looked like every thirty something we've signed in recent times - slow and past it.

We've spent months chasing him, throwing away points in the process, we finally do get him and he doesn't improve us at all. What else would happen?

I just hope this isn't all we're going to see with him but his apparent lack of quality on the ball is surprising and concerning.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Rubbish, we've got a player who gives us nothing different to whats Coutts does. Playing them together is a big mistake. We need central midfield players who are going to get into the box to score goals, not sit and pass it sideways and backwards to keep the ball at all costs.

I don't want Adkins out but you've got question his signings they are not very good. Hamming may have been good when he was at Southampton but that was 4 years ag0.

We are desperate for an injection of pace in all departments the team is just too slow. You very rarely see a united player putting the ball past an opponent and out pace them, that's why they always double and pass backwards or sideways.

I think he was too nice with the squad in the summer, he should have had a massive cull of Cloughs squad.

I think he may been shackled by our board not wanting to pay players off from their contracts.

We'll have to see what happens in January if he's still here! Hopefully we might sign the players we need to get out of this fucking desperate league. UTB

Agree about us being four years too late, he's yet another taking his pension off us.

We need to stop signing these has beens who are on the way down and get some hungry (no not Higo) fuckers in (like Adams and Wallace) who want to progress.

And the first two hungry ones should wear 4+ 5.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

When Mr Fox Is negative about a player it must have been provoked by some seriously high-end shitness.

It's noticeable that Foxy has been critical of a few things this season it's that bad at times.

 

[Woodwardfan]

The idea behind keeping the ball and that does mean sideways and even going backwoods is to probe for gaps in the opposition ,but to make that happen there has to be plenty of movement amongst the midfield and attacking players the responsibility then lies with the player with the ball to try and find the runner ,if no one shows or the player with the ball chickens out of trying a positive pass the opportunity is gone and then it becomes frustrating and the ball tends to be thrown away.In our case which is it ? in my opinion it's a bit or a lot of both
when you look at it like that it is simple where we are going wrong yes some times we start brightly but if we don't score (and Crewe played to this tactic today)the players lose confidence ,the fans get frustrated (teams in this division use this to there advantage)and we stop doing the good things.Now you can't blame the fans so the players have to show more bottle to carry the fight on,sadly we don't have enough with the bollo ks to do this (losers).Adkins for now has to make do with what he has got none of his signings so far have really improved us I think given time that will change .The need for a couple of really aggressive players is as strong as ever,come on Nigel find them!!.

In football it really is amazing how footballers grow "balls" when the tide turns and confidence grows. Fans need to grow a pair each too, but frankly that's much harder than just sounding off at the team when the chips are down. Let's face it, they are all great players and we are wonderful fans when we are winning rather than losing.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

It's noticeable that Foxy has been critical of a few things this season it's that bad at times.

The thing is like the rest of us Foxy has eyesight, was it Sam Allardyce who once said you can't keep fooling thousands of fans.

 

[Angef1Blade]

It would be polite of me to say that he wasn't very good today.

Very diplomatic Mr F -

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Yet nearly every fan knew the answer was just down the road in Chesterfield, Morsey

true and most fans could have told Adkins most of the squad was poor.
Adkins decided to evaluate the whole squad - a job that he is STILL doing to this day judging the team he played today.

UTB

 

[JohnDenver]

The thing is like the rest of us Foxy has eyesight, was it Sam Allardyce who once said you can't keep fooling thousands of fans.

He wasn't at Wet Sham when he said that.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

The idea behind keeping the ball and that does mean sideways and even going backwoods is to probe for gaps in the opposition ,but to make that happen there has to be plenty of movement amongst the midfield and attacking players the responsibility then lies with the player with the ball to try and find the runner ,if no one shows or the player with the ball chickens out of trying a positive pass the opportunity is gone and then it becomes frustrating and the ball tends to be thrown away.In our case which is it ? in my opinion it's a bit or a lot of both
when you look at it like that it is simple where we are going wrong yes some times we start brightly but if we don't score (and Crewe played to this tactic today)the players lose confidence ,the fans get frustrated (teams in this division use this to there advantage)and we stop doing the good things.Now you can't blame the fans so the players have to show more bottle to carry the fight on,sadly we don't have enough with the bollo ks to do this (losers).Adkins for now has to make do with what he has got none of his signings so far have really improved us I think given time that will change .The need for a couple of really aggressive players is as strong as ever,come on Nigel find them!!.

The big problem with modern football is that every one who's been on a UEFA course (and they can't have the job without that crap) think we should all play like Barcelona, great if your players are worth paying £300K a week but a load of bollocks if your paying £8K.

Bit like asking the nurse (nowt against the highly qualified, very capable nurses) to do the brain surgery.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Hammond is Adkins' landmark/signature signing. He has to succeed, for Adkins' sake.

It is hard on a man to come to a club, heralded as the "main man" , not match fit and used to playing in a totally different Premier League environment. He has joined a squad which has a lot of uncertainty in it; a number of players have not been able to play at a sufficient level to impress the manager and his coaches and they will be uncertain about their personal futures under this manager.

There's so much uncertainty at Bramall Lane at the moment; no consistency of selection or formation, no players in good enough form to feel happy about themselves, poor results, hostile crowd, etc.

It's going to be very hard to mount a promotion challenge from where we are now. When Clough's team lost at Crewe he gave them all an almighty bollocking and we went on a run for the rest of the season. Who knows what happens next but we are still in there no matter how it feels tonight - and I'm really down too.

Perhaps we need to get Clough in on a one day contract, can't take more than one day to administer an almighty bollocking?

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

In football it really is amazing how footballers grow "balls" when the tide turns and confidence grows. Fans need to grow a pair each too, but frankly that's much harder than just sounding off at the team when the chips are down. Let's face it, they are all great players and we are wonderful fans when we are winning rather than losing.

So it's the 18000 fans fault, un fer fuckin believe able.

 

[Woodwardfan]

true and most fans could have told Adkins most of the squad was poor.
Adkins decided to evaluate the whole squad - a job that he is STILL doing to this day judging the team he played today.

UTB

Agree. He needs to get a settled formation and settled team selection sooner rather than later though. 4 months since appointment he should be nearer than he appears to be as yet.

 

[Woodwardfan]

So it's the 18000 fans fault, un fer fuckin believe able.

Sorry Grumps, I'd just read the "Moronic Fans" thread and thought I was still on it !!!

 

[LSF]

Xavi played like that for years. If the system invites it then it's fine. I can see a future for Coutts and Hammond anchoring our midfield and building play slowly and surely with such as Adams, Baxter, Sharp, Done and maybe Scougall taking it on, plus Brayford and Harris bombing on from full back.

Seems a way off yet though.

The manager has to be certain how he intends us to play and that has to be right for this league. Then he stands or falls by his decision but we desperately need a settled formation and side very soon.

Whilst I admire, in some ways, your level headed, analytical summary and hopeful outlook, I can't help but think after witnessing yesterday, we are doomed to fail once again this season.
Comparison with Barca players is slightly up with the fairies and I saw no improvement from the darker days of Clough.
Im just wondering how long it will be before you turn on Adkins as you did so vehemently on Clough.
Managers are only as good as their players. Need I say anymore....

 

[Latters]

When I see Hammond play I think back to Kevin McDonald and remember how clean, well weighted and direct the vast majority of his passes were. I look at Hammond and see the polar opposite. Most of his passes are under hit, bobble off the ground more than once before reaching their final destination (whether the intended one or not) and look like they've come off his shin. McDonald used extremely good balance to hold off two and three players at a time and maintain possession. Hammond always looks like he's over stretching, making him easier to dislodge.

This is basic technique. I'm hoping for, rather than expecting better, because surely simple passing is not down to match fitness, but just basic ball control.

 

[Wards]

Yet nearly every fan knew the answer was just down the road in Chesterfield, Morsey

Absolutely correct. And for the money we must be shelling out on Hammond I can't believe he was out of reach either. Not only that but you have a player for the future in Morsey too whereas Hammond is what, 32?

 

[Woodwardfan]

Whilst I admire, in some ways, your level headed, analytical summary and hopeful outlook, I can't help but think after witnessing yesterday, we are doomed to fail once again this season.
Comparison with Barca players is slightly up with the fairies and I saw no improvement from the darker days of Clough.
Im just wondering how long it will be before you turn on Adkins as you did so vehemently on Clough.
Managers are only as good as their players. Need I say anymore....

I'll give the manager a year like I did Clough. My "signature" on here for the last year of Clough's era was " When we sign better players and play progressive football let's look for stability".

I do not judge players on their first few games, whether they have good or bad starts. I remember sticking up for Murphy who was lambasted, even by Deadbat. Murphy took months to settle down and find his form but he always had those quick feet and that surge.. Conversely, we do not know how good a player Adams is until he has played enough games to find his level and develop or otherwise. Adkins is being bold to play him every game because he is raw and switches off a lot and is over-ambitious time and again when he gets the ball.

The reference to Xavi was not about quality, it was about a way of playing. It has to be debatable whether the slow build-up, tappy-tappy football is appropriate for League 1.

The reason everybody should give Adkins a year is because any manager is only as good as the players he signs. No Board would judge him in his first year on the players he inherited, would they?! However he has not seemingly improved them much as yet or inspired them. It's not enough to say "we'll lose more because we are trying to win games, not grind out results" - we aren't scoring many are we?

The other angle on that scenario is that so many players will have grave doubts whether Adkins wants them next summer, especially if we go up and wonder why they should play for him.

The Board has to appraise all these factors. Good luck to Adkins though, at this stage his signings have made poor starts and are inspiring nobody, players or specators alike. I'd even include Sharp in that, not in general play, but just the 4 goals in open play is modest IMO.

 

[Captain]

I.E. Can't run, can't tackle, can't shoot, goes sideways and backwards.... In summary, piss poor.

Thought we were on about Hammond , not Baxter!

 

[wizadry]

Thought we were on about Hammond , not Baxter!

Baxter had a few good efforts saved brilliantly yesterday, which is more than what can be said for some of them.

 

[Cutbush City Limits]

Cant play Hammand and Coutts together...Baxter is not a right winger....Sharp should not play behind Done.....Flynn should not have to patrol whole right flank by himself 1st game back after injury....and at the end when you need a winger....Scougall isnt the answer with JCR on the bench...16 games in and its back to the drawing board.....AGAIN!!

 

[Trigger Blade]

Hammond got caught in possession a few times, as well as giving the ball away. For me though, the most worrying thing was that he didn't look interested. At one point in the first half, we had a throw in in the right back position. He walked away, back to the thrower, when he was in the best position to receive the ball. Flynny ended up throwing the ball up the line and we lost possession. It was only a small thing, but looked to me to be indicative of a poor attitude.

 

[Houston_Blade]

We should have signed Elvis.