Edgar's "bad day at the office"

[wizadry]

He's not that bad at all, his performance at the Lane last season when they beat us was superb. If he can perform like that it's then about consistency. Got a decent appearance and scoring record for a defender/midfielder who's 'shit at football' too...

Tbf I'm only basing my opinion on what I've seen of him live which is probably about ten games, he was shite in most of them.

 

[Slim Man]

Tbf I'm only basing my opinion on what I've seen of him live which is probably about ten games, he was shite in most of them.

I'll give you your due, at P'Boro this season he was shit, but last season when they beat us he was fantastic and for Stevenage he always was their best player.

Put it this way I would love to see him and Basham protecting Jose as the playmaker, or him and Edgar at centre half - much over what we've got now.

There were a few rumours of us signing him this summer and I'm a tad gutted we didn't pull it off to be fair.

 

[MobileBlade]

biting my bollocks,

I think Darren might be asking you for her phone number.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I thought the first goal was definitely a mistake from Edgar but the sort of freak mistake that happens rarely with the way the ball came off his head.

The 2nd goal was just horrendous. Edgar and Howard hesitating, no communication, nobody taking responsibility. I think both deserve criticism for that.

That being said, I think the headphones/girlfriend analogy previously offered sums up why Edgar is not being crucified like McEveley would be.

Edgar was very good for his first few games and we looked solid. Since the international break, he and the rest of the defence have looked shaky and they need to put that right. If Edgar put in performances like the Bradford one the majority of the time, he would become a “scapegoat” or as I prefer to call it “poor player who fans don’t want in the team”. If he plays the majority of his games at the standard he previously set, he will be considered a good player for us.

The “scapegoats” don’t just come about because the majority of the crowd dislike the player’s face or hairstyle or just randomly decide to pick on him. They come to be “scapegoats” by being consistently amongst the worst performers in the team and being identified as the position where the team needs to be strengthened.

I don’t put any blame at the door of McEveley or Woolford for the goals conceded on Sunday. That doesn’t mean that I think they are good enough to be first team regulars for Sheffield United.

I acknowledge fans get it wrong sometimes and might not appreciate what a player brings to the table when they might be doing a job the manager requires of them but usually, when it’s as near unanimous as it is in the case of Jay-Mac, they’re not that far off the mark.

Re Bostwick, a fairly big, strong unti who could add competition at CB and CM but overall, an ordinary footballer IMO. He was very good at the lane last year but that's the only time I've been really impressed with him having watched him about 8 or 9 times. Other times he's looked pretty mediocre.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

My only criticism of Edgar is that he's not enough of an arsehole.
We're crying out for some bastards in the team to show a bit of a spine. Especially defensively.

Agree with ya. Same goes for Collins too. Both decent enough centre-halves in their own way (especially in the air), but neither of them a leader & neither a brute (unlike Terry Kennedy, who is on both counts). It's beginning to seem that both of them are very similar sorts of player.

There was a ridiculous moment in the 2nd half of the Colchester match. A long, high ball was pumped from the back to the isolated Sordell, who was being shepherded by both Edgar & Collins. Not only did they both let the ball bounce before attacking it, not only did Sordell somehow retain possession when it was finally decided which one of them would go for the ball, but a very dangerous free-kick was then given away right on the edge of the box. Cue despairing "'you're to blame'; 'no, you're to blame'" session between Collins & Edgar.

We need a leader, & a bit of a nasty one, in there to play alongside one or the other of Collins or Edgar. Either of them would be capable enough alongside a centre-half whose first instinct was to take full responsibility.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I've liked most of what I've seen of Edgar so far but..... On that 2nd goal, could anyone see Tel letting that happen? He goes through his own players to take the ball so don't think he would have hesitated waiting for Howard to come. Sometimes, you just need old fashioned no-nonsense defending.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Sorry, but if McEv had perpetrated those crimes he would have been hung out for them, vilified, ridiculed, slated for breathing.

Edgar has looked decidedly dodgy since returning from international duty
Maybe it's a virus and Edgar has contracted it. That's as good an explanation as any, isn't it?

The curse of the red and white shirt, usually takes hold after half a dozen games.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I thought the first goal was definitely a mistake from Edgar but the sort of freak mistake that happens rarely with the way the ball came off his head.

The 2nd goal was just horrendous. Edgar and Howard hesitating, no communication, nobody taking responsibility. I think both deserve criticism for that.

That being said, I think the headphones/girlfriend analogy previously offered sums up why Edgar is not being crucified like McEveley would be.

Edgar was very good for his first few games and we looked solid. Since the international break, he and the rest of the defence have looked shaky and they need to put that right. If Edgar put in performances like the Bradford one the majority of the time, he would become a “scapegoat” or as I prefer to call it “poor player who fans don’t want in the team”. If he plays the majority of his games at the standard he previously set, he will be considered a good player for us.

The “scapegoats” don’t just come about because the majority of the crowd dislike the player’s face or hairstyle or just randomly decide to pick on him. They come to be “scapegoats” by being consistently amongst the worst performers in the team and being identified as the position where the team needs to be strengthened.

I don’t put any blame at the door of McEveley or Woolford for the goals conceded on Sunday. That doesn’t mean that I think they are good enough to be first team regulars for Sheffield United.

I acknowledge fans get it wrong sometimes and might not appreciate what a player brings to the table when they might be doing a job the manager requires of them but usually, when it’s as near unanimous as it is in the case of Jay-Mac, they’re not that far off the mark.

Re Bostwick, a fairly big, strong unti who could add competition at CB and CM but overall, an ordinary footballer IMO. He was very good at the lane last year but that's the only time I've been really impressed with him having watched him about 8 or 9 times. Other times he's looked pretty mediocre.

One aspect of scapegoating is when a player's errors (and who's perfect?) or shortcomings are viewed with little or no proportion or perspective.

Once the idea sets in that McEveley, say, is the epitome of evil and the Angry Mob set off on the rampage then it's easier to go along with it than challenge it, and the effect snowballs.

There was at least one ridiculous post which blamed him for all three goals against Bury.

One rule of thumb would be if someone thinks he was to blame for the first goal against Bury then that's scapegoating.

And fwiw this is not about defending McEveley, it's about looking for the real shortcomings in the team and using what is seen there as a base to work from.

Even if he is the weakest link then how do repeated attempts at public humiliation benefit the team?

One "fan" at Bradford boasted to his mates that he was trying to get Adkins' attention at the and of the game to tell him at the pitch of his lungs that, "McEveley is fucking shit."

Afaics that sort of public abuse is about the ego of that individual.

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

We've had a bad spell with hardly anyone looking good and it's been a good chance for everybody to throw some extra abuse at their least favourite player.

Again, people are far too harsh on individuals. We have to get our rhythm back, we have to get the team balanced in such a way that we're looking strong defensively and offensively. Hard to create against, difficult to defend against. We've lost that and swapping one current pet hate figure for one of the lads on the bench won't necessarily do much to turn it around.

For me our formation has become a big problem of late. Our four selected midfielders have struggled to cover enough space defensively and have looked too static and rigid going forward. In the last three matches our opposition have seemed to figure us out, both our weaknesses and what we're trying to be good at. When it's like that you end up with situations where opposition players get too much time on the ball - to play a through ball, to make a cross, to have a shot - with a little more accuracy, a little more power, and then you also get the slip ups.

The formation change at Bradford made a difference. It's not always a good idea to stick with a team that have succeeded in getting back into a game (Sammon, Sharp and McNulty may be a tad too attacking), but there were elements that we can bring with us, as we prepare for the next game.

Top post. I've said a couple of times on here the tactics and formation need looking at - we dont have the players to play 4-4-2 at the moment. The 4-4-3 let Bash and Reed do some of the dirty work and kept Baxter free to play the ball. The manager got in wrong in thinking that Baxter can be a tackler, he cant-and it makes him look much poorer - he needs to play the ball. The manager also needs to take the blame for persisting with McEverley (and making him captain).

 

[1danewhitehouse]

One aspect of scapegoating is when a player's errors (and who's perfect?) or shortcomings are viewed with little or no proportion or perspective.

Once the idea sets in that McEveley, say, is the epitome of evil and the Angry Mob set off on the rampage then it's easier to go along with it than challenge it, and the effect snowballs.

There was at least one ridiculous post which blamed him for all three goals against Bury.

One rule of thumb would be if someone thinks he was to blame for the first goal against Bury then that's scapegoating.

And fwiw this is not about defending McEveley, it's about looking for the real shortcomings in the team and using what is seen there as a base to work from.

Even if he is the weakest link then how do repeated attempts at public humiliation benefit the team?

One "fan" at Bradford boasted to his mates that he was trying to get Adkins' attention at the and of the game to tell him at the pitch of his lungs that, "McEveley is fucking shit."

Afaics that sort of public abuse is about the ego of that individual.

Some valid points there WHF re scapegoating. However, I think the ridiculous overreaction is from a minority. I think most just think he’s a poor player who makes too many costly mistakes and want him replacing. I didn’t blame him for the 1st against Bury as I thought it was a foul. I did blame him for the 3rd though. I thought that was piss weak defending and would have said the same if it was anyone else. However, the difference is, if it was someone else, I might put it down to an error which has now gone and be willing the player to put it behind him and move on. With McEveley, the errors have been consistently appearing for so long that I’ve lost all faith in him and really don’t like to see his name on the team-sheet. For any decent defender, they might make a mistake like that once or twice a season but with McEveley it feels like (I haven’t done the research to back this up, just gut feeling) he makes a ridiculous error once every 2-3 games which is just unacceptable.

I don’t believe in getting on his back at matches. Nor do I have a personal problem with him. But I do feel strongly that what he brings to the table is not good enough for SUFC. I’m beginning to feel the same way about Woolford but am hoping he can turn it round as it’s relatively early days and we’ve seen it with Bash and Murphy that it can be done. But if he carries on the way he is going, I will despair at his name on the teamsheet the same way I do with McEveley.

 

[Ricky]

For that first goal all three of them were to blame but Howard was an absolute disgrace.

He must have known that if Meredith got to that ball first there was a very good chance it would end up in the back of his net but he made a less than half arsed attempt to get to it anyway. Any proper goalkeeper goes with his hands first and gets his body in the way, not feet first to avoid getting hurt. Probably thought he could get away with it because the other two fucked up. Nope, sorry Mark.

I can forgive the occasional slow response from a goalkeeper but I can't forgive sheer cowardice.

He proved in that one action why he's not fit to wear the shirt. Maybe one day we'll actually try to replace him. Never been good enough and never will be. He doesn't possess one outstanding attribute.