Jamie Ward to Derby

[Kenilworth]

I found it astonishing that wing play can be so widely misinderstood.

Wingers WILL lose the ball more often than not, it's those 2 or 3 moments in a game that they produce a telling cross that they need to be judged on. If a winger is so consistent that he's beating his man every time and putting in match winning crosses then he should be playing for a top 4 team!

All I ask is for a winger to make a couple if chances per game and to chip I with the odd goal now and again.

Very well put Wards. Wingers have to take a chance to beat a defender but they will not beat them every time. It's also very difficult to track and defend when you are expcected to drive forwards at every opportunity and be the creative spark. Much easier for a full back / wing back to do this becuase they generally see what's going on IN FRONT of them and they can overlap, when a wide midfielder has the ball, with relatively little pressure on them. Wingers have to use their close control skill sto weave some space and deliver a killing pass. A full back has to bomb on and then canhit the thing first time or take a touch before delivering the cross. Unless, of course, they wear a red and white striped shirt - then all you have to do is hit row Z.

 

[MunXy]

as stated, ward was never a winger, he was an attacking midfielder/striker, maybe thats what the falling out was about?
as for wingers, in a previous post someone stated wingers are misunderstood, i totally agree, doesnt matter who it is, beckham, giggs even woodward and devlin had their knockers, but to me a good winger gives the ammo to strikers, if strikers fail to score thats theiir problem.
we have no proper wingers, cressy(striker) shit winger, too slow and crosses like my granny, willo (central midfield) plenty already said on this point.
how bad has it got when we have to play a 30+ year old average striker on the wing or better yet a bloody full back?
the same has to be said for billy blade, a 18 yard box striker, as proved against us twice, did we play him in position, NO we played bigger rep players with half the talent.
it sickens me our/board manager cant buy players or loan players for positions, not just get in players then play them out of position so they look crap and get fans on their backs, knocking confidence and making a good player into a shattered confidence player, no wonder players like cotts, ritton et al couldnt wait to leave the lane

MunXy

 

[SteelCity Blade]

Although when asked he said he prefers to play in te right...

Players dont always know what's best for them wards. Take Michael Tonge for example, he was always adamant that the centre of midfield was his best position and he preferred to play there.....where did he actually play his best football for us? I seem to recall him looking like a world beater on the left hand side.

I used to have a team mate who was convinced he could play in midfield and he was useless there. He was however a very good centre half but wouldnt have any of it even though the rest of us told him it was his best position.

Being good in a position and preferring to play in a position are totally different things.

 

[Robbie]

Being good in a position and preferring to play in a position are totally different things.

Totally agee with that.

However, Jamie Wards finishing is nowhere near good enough for this level on a regular basis. He's not clever enough with his runs either for a striker.
For me, Ward is a luxury player who can't really be attached to any specific position, who would be free to roam around the wings and up front causing mischief.

 

[beechblade]

He wasn't proven as a striker in our division, so we can't really say thats his position, by all accounts Jamie started his career as a RM/W so thats probably why he prefered that position. However it would have been nice to see him play as a striker with someone like Henderson more regular, when he could be arsed and had the pace he would have been able to get in behind defenders. But I'd also say he's still very naive in a strikers positions, his finishing for one on ones is bloody shocking.

 

[Revolution]

For me, Ward is a luxury player who can't really be attached to any specific position, who would be free to roam around the wings and up front causing mischief.

I used to say Jamie Ward was the Stuart Broad of football, in that he was young, highly rated and did many things well...but there was little end product.

This comparison fell away, because Broad improved. Ward got worse, although in fairness to him this is due to injury in the main.

There are a number of good points made in this thread highlighting one big problem with our squad. In addition to Ward, we have a lot of players who can play in more than one position - Cresswell, Ertl, Nosworthy, France for example - but none of them play those positions very well. Jack of all trades, master of none. With the enormous holes in the squad it would have been nice to sign players who do one thing well, rather than scrappy utility players.

The only disappointing thing about this is that it didn't get done in the transfer window, so we could have brought someone in permanently in Ward's place who might have been useful, but I know that joined up thinking is not a Bramall Lane strength.

As for letting him go to a relegation rival, David Unsworth says we're worrying about nothing on that score

 

[TopBoy]

His main assets were his willingness to run at defenders with pace but even a blind man on a galloping horse can see he's not suited to the wing. I think if he'd been given a decent run in a central striking role his goals to games ratio would've been okay. In summary, no real loss if he's continued to be selected in a wide position.

 

[SwissBlade]

His main assets were his willingness to run at defenders with pace but even a blind man on a galloping horse can see he's not suited to the wing. I think if he'd been given a decent run in a central striking role his goals to games ratio would've been okay. In summary, no real loss if he's continued to be selected in a wide position.

And his main asset up front? Perhaps his inability to finish?

 

[TopBoy]

And his main asset up front? Perhaps his inability to finish?

Who knows, if the lad had been given a run up front in a central role with a strike partner I'm sure he'd be no worse than the current crop.

 

[SwissBlade]

Let me get this right, Micky said on FH there was no problem with any one player, and wouldn't name Ward, then he did. The OS says he isn't playing as he hasn't had much sleep due to the recent birth of his first child, yet now he's off, are we being fed a load of rubbish as per usual ie Beattie not very well, not a problem here......oh yes we've now sold him etc etc, why can't they just be honest with us. They can't expect us to give them full backing and support if we are constantly lied to can they???

Are you questionning that we've given him leave because of his missus having a baby? Jeeeezzzz we'll clutch at anything nowadays.


McCabe Out, Birch Out, Adams out...

---------- Post added at 01:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 PM ----------

Who knows, if the lad had been given a run up front in a central role with a strike partner I'm sure he'd be no worse than the current crop.

Didn't he play up front a fair bit in the Play off Final season? I seem to remember him squandering lots of chances. Wither that or he was coming in from the wings and creating havoc.

I've said before that a lot of the arguments for him playing through the middle have been based on his ability to come inside and lose his fullback. This is not the same as playing through the middle, it just shows that he's clever enough to come inside when he's getting nowt out wide.

 

[Balham]

As for letting him go to a relegation rival, David Unsworth says we're worrying about nothing on that score

Fortunately, as he'd technically be on loan, we could include a clause preventing him from playing against us.

 

[Kenilworth]

Fortunately, as he'd technically be on loan, we could include a clause preventing him from playing against us.

From what I have seen of him this season by picking him he has technically been prevented from playing for us.

It's just the home game versus Derby - probably our only chance of a double this season. It's if he starts gaining any form and begins to hit the net. Derby are one of the clubs we have a realistic chance of overtaking, IF we get our act together.

 

[Toronto Blade]

Should let him play against us he would either get injured or get sent off.