Give Clarke a chance!

[Jonboy60]

This was when I first began to question Wilders judgement and Clarkes value to a high pressing, quick tempo style of play.
For anyone who hasn't seen him play, transfer this level of enthusiasm onto the pitch and you've pretty much nailed it

Is the paint dry yet.

 

[Chief_Froley]

a decent Michael Higdon.

Great chant idea that...

Decent Michael Higdon
He's just a decent Michael Higdon
Decent Michael Hiiiiiigdon
He's just a decent Michael Higdon....

 

[SteveBlade]

If Billy snaps his shit up at some point and can't play for a few weeks then Clarke might thrive stepping up and being the main man.

That's his role, keep him around until the end of the season.

 

[Blade for Sale]

I for one particularly like the four camps we have:

1. Billy isn't shit, he's our captain and main goalscorer
2. Done isn't shit, he brings a lot to the team
3. Lavery isn't shit, he brings something different to the team
4. Clarke isn't shit, he needs to be given a chance.

Pick yer group, Bladeys! Which is it gonna be? We're nothing if not a positive bunch, bigging up our favorite front men!

None of those are mutually exclusive! I actually agree with all 4 statements.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

None of those are mutually exclusive! I actually agree with all 4 statements.

Quite, dear boy, quite.

You swing multiple ways. Ooh, err!

 

[sheffielder]

I'm of a mind that we should probably leave the front two as is. Done's efforts and runs creates chances for us, and so he shouldn't necessarily be judged on goals alone. Particularly when we're scoring from all over the pitch.

Lavery on the other hand is definitely forcing Wilder's hand with some impressive stuff off the bench.

Finally, I still think it's folly to write off Clarke given how many wrote off the likes of Coutts and Freeman. And for that matter, Duffy, Wilder, Fleck and more at the start of the season.

I am in good company in regards to Coutts and Freeman, as Wilder didn't fancy them either at first. Maybe we should stick Clarke on the bench?

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Alex Revell - hasn't scored for going on 3 months
Lee Novak - perpetual sub, scored just twice for Charlton so far.

Look like none of the big men we were linked with in the summer have set the division alight. But Clarke's at least got the excuse of having been injured for most of the season up to now.

Still think he'll play a useful part between now & the end of the season though.

 

[coolhandluke]

You know, I've always been one to weigh in and criticise the team selection on message boards when I think it's merited, but I tend to do that when the team is not doing so well. I was doing it at the start of the season, for example.

But I genuinely can't understand why people keep banging on about bringing in Clarke and signing Evans when the Sharp-Done partnership is going so well and this manager has proved to us all that he knows what he's doing. I think it's odd.

I fully concur with your views on the Sharp/Done partnership . But to be fair , its CW himself who is looking to strengthen in this area . Baring in mind hes very much a Blades player of the Deane/Agana era , its not really surprising that he wants his front pairing to both be prolific .

On the Leon Clark situation i think hes a better player than a lot give him credit for . Sadly , i also believe that hes always going to struggle to make a really positive impact here . Quite why that is ive absolutely no idea . Lavary , on the other hand , is a great signing . Quite why the pigs let him go and froze the guy out in the way they did is beyond me . He'll be a cracking player for us but i dont think we'll see the best of him as part of a front two . I see him more in the Duffy/Chapman role . And whilst this poses the question of just how he'll replace Duffy with the form hes in i genuinely believe he'll show real talent whenever hes on the pitch be it as an impact sub or part of the starting eleven .

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Haha, couldn't be arsed to edit. Best stepoverer in years.

The lad has definitely got a bit of the Danny Webbers about him. Likes to pick up the ball in that slightly deep left position, cut in past his man onto his right foot and get a shot off. That was always Webber’s go to move and was very effective for us for a while including the goal that all but sealed our promotion at Cardiff.


As for the rest of the striking options I see it like this. Sharp and Done works best at present from what we have. Stick with that for the next couple of games to get to January, then it’s a case of assessing what we have and where we can improve. If we can bring in a striker with Done’s qualities but fewer limitations (Evans?) I’d be for it. If we could get a big striker who is more mobile and younger than Clarke (Bogle?) I’d be for it. Same as anywhere else on the pitch, if we can improve within our means then we should look to do it. If not, what we have is reasonably healthy (subject to keeping EEL) and should be enough to challenge if we get a bit of luck with injuries.

 

[BigBed]

Leon Clarke.............NO!

 

[BLADES1988]

 

[Fulwood Blade]

not talking about Wilder - but some of you lads on here. Some seem to have made their minds up he's no good already. Based on what? A few games at the start of the season when he wasn't full fit and the team wasn't playing well?

When he's played as many games as Matty "mad dog" Done we'll be in a better position to judge him.

Until then...

Play Lavery instead of either of them!

I have nothing personal against any player - but if they are not good enough for the team, then I expect the right to comment, although still undecided as to whether he is good enough.

I am not bothered either way who plays, just that the team works as a unit - or the group as CW seems to like to call them.

Clarke does not appear to work with Billy, and if Billy is first on the team sheet (if fit and he is captain after all), then I question whether Clarke is the ideal striker.

At season start - our defence (including George) was useless, our midfield nothing better than average to poor, meaning Billy and Leon were just none functioning in a formation of a flat 4-4-2.

As for Lavery - after his 30 minutes last time out, it is a toss up as to whether he will start v Oldham instead of Done. Done causes havoc, but doesn't score many which is a problem.

Our S6 neighbours mostly rate Lavery and he seems to be getting ready fitness wise - so you may get your wish v Oldham. My guess is Lavery will now start and a couple of goals (but not off his shin as happened v Swindon!) is just what his confidence needs.

UTB

 

[DronnieBlade]

Give Clarke a chance. Interesting.

Just exactly how long did y'all have in mind ?

Another 13 games with just one goal and no assists to show for it ??

Give it up fellas !!

UTB

 

[Cerberus Blade]

In case you hadn't noticed, Clarke started 3 games recently. We lost 2 and drew 1 and he didn't score and played poorly in each match.

We still haven't won with him starting.

Whereas our record with Done starting is superb.

Do you not understand that at this point it may be more than a co-incidence?

I do understand, to a point, statistics. Do you?

It's part of the work I do in a scientific field. So, I do a lot of research looking at various data and have to understand whether something is statistically significant, or down to pure chance, or even somewhere in between. The way this is usually done is by applying probability values to it and looking at things like "Confidence Intervals". A confidence interval is a range of values so defined that there is a specified probability that the value of a parameter lies within it.

It does get very technical because essentially you need to establish a probability value of p > .05 to be sure that the result you are looking at is statistically valid. In simple terms, this means that if you repeated a test over and over again, then for the result to be statistically significant the p value of >.05 means you would need to get the same result 95 times out of a 100.

That's how "probability" works in science.

Of course, football isn't science, but there's an important analogy to draw here. If you are going to try and establish a relationship between "cause" and "effect" that goes beyond "co-incidence", then you really do have to apply a bit more rigor to the data you are looking at. Otherwise, it's meaningless.

To suggest that having any one player, including Mr Done, not just taking part in a match, but actually "starting" a match has a direct effect on the outcome of those matches is a massive claim to make. It's huge and it couldn't be validated statistically. The reason why? There are too many other variables.

If you have a basic understanding of statistics you'd know that this could easily be coincidence. At best, it might be that there's some sort of "emerging trend" towards better results when he starts. (Apart from those first 5 games at the start of the season - of which we lost 4 - or should we take them out of our analysis in case they spoil the figures?).

 

[Snowman]

I do understand, to a point, statistics. Do you?

It's part of the work I do in a scientific field. So, I do a lot of research looking at various data and have to understand whether something is statistically significant, or down to pure chance, or even somewhere in between. The way this is usually done is by applying probability values to it and looking at things like "Confidence Intervals". A confidence interval is a range of values so defined that there is a specified probability that the value of a parameter lies within it.

It does get very technical because essentially you need to establish a probability value of p > .05 to be sure that the result you are looking at is statistically valid. In simple terms, this means that if you repeated a test over and over again, then for the result to be statistically significant the p value of >.05 means you would need to get the same result 95 times out of a 100.

That's how "probability" works in science.

Of course, football isn't science, but there's an important analogy to draw here. If you are going to try and establish a relationship between "cause" and "effect" that goes beyond "co-incidence", then you really do have to apply a bit more rigor to the data you are looking at. Otherwise, it's meaningless.

To suggest that having any one player, including Mr Done, not just taking part in a match, but actually "starting" a match has a direct effect on the outcome of those matches is a massive claim to make. It's huge and it couldn't be validated statistically. The reason why? There are too many other variables.

If you have a basic understanding of statistics you'd know that this could easily be coincidence. At best, it might be that there's some sort of "emerging trend" towards better results when he starts. (Apart from those first 5 games at the start of the season - of which we lost 4 - or should we take them out of our analysis in case they spoil the figures?).

No, you just stick with your sigma's and we will look at reality.

 

[blade67]

Based on this fella. Not great is it !!

UTB
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so he's our second best striker, based on goals per game.

 

[Ted Hemsleys chads]

Clarke's fucking gash. Slow, crap control, bad attitude and not what we need. Get rid please.

 

[DronnieBlade]

so he's our second best striker, based on goals per game.

Yes. Exactly.

UTB

 

[spongebobblade]

Agree with the OP in that Clarke may end up playing a bigger role than at present so let's not write him off just yet. If Billy picked up an injury he may end up a far more prominent player for us and he certainly has the track record. If we are being realistic though he doesn't look capable of forming a partnership with Sharp and has, so far offered us little. Lavery has shown some real glimpses and must be above him in the pecking order but for me we have to stick with Done for now. He knows he needs to up his goal tally but he brings so much more to the team.

 

[1889]

If Sharp gets injured and Clarke is the replacement we can forget about the Championship next season.
I'm sure Wilder knows that, he's shown he's too shrewd to let that sort of situation occur. If I'm right, then we will sign another striker in January.
Let's wait and see