Tonge the dilema

[silverfox]

Watching Tonge yesterday we saw all the old traits.

Taking no chances, no thrusting runs and poor play generally.

Made some mistakes and the head goes down.

Now don't get me wrong I think he has the ability and fitness to be a great player I think he just doesn't have the personality, the passion and the desire to take chances.

It was interesting yesterday, not at the match myself, but found myself drinking with a school mate of the said Tonge.

His description of Tongey knocking about on the streets was about the same as his on field displays at times......quiet, not wanting to take chances and not wanting to get into any scrapes, too nice for his own good.

If only the lad could learn to be mean and nasty eh?

 

[Bladesman]

True he has potential but it seems like no matter what manager we get seems to be able to help him re create the form he showed 3-4 years ago.

Its probably time to sell him especially while we can still get money for him. A fresh start for him and money towards getting that creative midfielder we need.

Sad to say because I do actually like Tonge but there is no point keeping him especially if he continues to put performances in like yesterday.

 

[jodman]

He is the epitome of a confidence player; if things start badly for him they tend to continue downhill for the remainder of the game. Nothing went right for him yesterday and that seems to have been the case more often then not over teh past couple of seasons.

Personally i think he feels the weight of expectation more then most and would benefit from the introduction of more creativity in the middle of the park; either by giving him a challenge for his position or by taking some of the limelight from him.

 

[beightonblade]

He needs a new club.

 

[happyhippy]

He is the epitome of a confidence player; if things start badly for him they tend to continue downhill for the remainder of the game. Nothing went right for him yesterday and that seems to have been the case more often then not over teh past couple of seasons.

Personally i think he feels the weight of expectation more then most and would benefit from the introduction of more creativity in the middle of the park; either by giving him a challenge for his position or by taking some of the limelight from him.

Pretty much agree with that.

He was still a pretty well guarded secret as well when he first came onto the scene as well. Maybe that sort of 'unknown factor' helped him to be more creative, or we perceived him to be more creative because of it.

A shedload of exposure, and a lot more pressure on him to create, not to mention becoming a marked man, won't have helped his head any, either.

I'm a Tonge fan, and I'd certainly rather keep him, but I can understand why a change of scenery could provide a bit of a spark for him. I just hope that Blackie might be able to coax that spark out for us.

 

[Kev Gee]

You can tell hes struggling badly in terms of confidence.

He needs a new club TBH.

Give Hendrie a chance in the Cup & see what he does.

 

[Bladesman]

You can tell hes struggling badly in terms of confidence.

He needs a new club TBH.

Give Hendrie a chance in the Cup & see what he does.

Well thats one problem if we get rid of Tonge then we have put up with Hendrie until we find a replacement.

 

[keenzy]

Drop him? Has worked before and might give him a boot up his arse he needs

 

[Lee_Blades89]

Drive him to next club that want him( If some clubs are that daft)... And pick Brian howard up on way home

 

[beightonblade]

Ben Watson ?

 

[Linz]

Well thats one problem if we get rid of Tonge then we have put up with Hendrie until we find a replacement.

But if Hendrie can perform, why will we be "putting up with him"?

 

[keenzy]

If being the hurdle. he can be a good player given the chance, but its up to him to do it.

 

[happyhippy]

If being the hurdle. he can be a good player given the chance, but its up to him to do it.

Well, exactly. He sulked a lot last year. As we said on another thread, if he knuckles down and gets on with it, he could be amazingly effective. It's a bloody big 'if' though.

 

[Robbie]

I just hope that Blackie might be able to coax that spark out for us.

How long have we said this though?

When Robbo joined it was "perhaps Robbo can get him back to his best with what he knows"

Beighton blade put it perfectly, and no more words are needed than "He needs a new club. "

 

[blade from rotherham]

Tonge was absolutley useless at Brum,he needs to be dropped to get his confidence back we all know he is a confidence player.

There was no body language from him at all,have to give Spring a chance on sat imo.

 

[Linz]

Tonge was absolutley useless at Brum,he needs to be dropped to get his confidence back we all know he is a confidence player.

There was no body language from him at all,have to give Spring a chance on sat imo.

The problem is, if he does get dropped, is his confidence going to dip even further?

A loan somewhere might be good for him, but again, is he going to view it as a slight against him and perform badly when he gets back?

I'm glad I'm not manager

 

[blade from rotherham]

The problem is, if he does get dropped, is his confidence going to dip even further?

A loan somewhere might be good for him, but again, is he going to view it as a slight against him and perform badly when he gets back?

I'm glad I'm not manager

Catch 22 Springs to mind (excuse the pun)

 

[Robbie]

he needs to be dropped to get his confidence back.

Quote of the century

 

[DazBlade88]

Michael Tonge NEEDS a change of club.

He has to make a move and resurrect his career, he's gone stale here and everyone knows it. He needs to find a new club and re-discover the form of 5 years ago.

It would benefit all involved if he were to do so in my opinion.

 

[keenzy]

last time he was benched it worked wonders. Hopefully it might happen again.

so we have spring and hendrie, who do you pick?

 

[Bladesman]

last time he was benched it worked wonders. Hopefully it might happen again.

so we have spring and hendrie, who do you pick?

That would have to be Spring.

 

[keenzy]

play him tuesday?

 

[Greasy Chip Butty]

play him tuesday?

Or Wednesday

 

[The One]

He bought Spring to do the job Tonge does I would imagine. He'll play him wednesday I reckon.

 

[happyhippy]

How long have we said this though?

When Robbo joined it was "perhaps Robbo can get him back to his best with what he knows"

Beighton blade put it perfectly, and no more words are needed than "He needs a new club. "

Not that long with Blackie

I don't think anyone expected anything with Sornob; I know I didn't. As I said, I can understand how pastures new could really help him, but I'd rather give him one final chance.

 

[happyhippy]

He bought Spring to do the job Tonge does I would imagine. He'll play him wednesday I reckon.

Every chance. It's an ideal opportunity.

 

[RaWW]

With just 1 game gone it's plain to see that Tonge hasn't improved at all.....again.

Same old same old...going missing for the majority of the game and hardly doing a thing with it when he gets the ball.

Squad player at best, why the fuck we haven't made a new MF player a priority is beyond me.

 

[Come from away]

As someone said on the Radio, give Tonge a couple of speedy wingers to work with and you will see a different outcome. Right now Halford and Quinn don't offer much of an option other than a crossfield pass so the weight is on Tonge to do something. Halford and Quinn are no threat to the fullbacks so they can focus on covering the centre backs and jam up the middle. So somehow Tonge needs to create space by beating a man (drawing one of the fullbacks), which is unlikely. With Cotterill and Mr X on the wings the fullbacks now have a problem and Tonge has an opportunity. If Cotts plays on the weekend, bet we will see a different outcome with Tonge.

 

[TonyAgana]

As someone said on the Radio, give Tonge a couple of speedy wingers to work with and you will see a different outcome. Right now Halford and Quinn don't offer much of an option other than a crossfield pass so the weight is on Tonge to do something. Halford and Quinn are no threat to the fullbacks so they can focus on covering the centre backs and jam up the middle. So somehow Tonge needs to create space by beating a man (drawing one of the fullbacks), which is unlikely. With Cotterill and Mr X on the wings the fullbacks now have a problem and Tonge has an opportunity. If Cotts plays on the weekend, bet we will see a different outcome with Tonge.

Completely agree. Tonge was doing well for the 2nd half of last season, but he needs to have an outlet. He played one superb through ball on Saturday and made plenty of interceptions, broke the play up well, but faded into oblivion later on. I don't think his performance was as bad as many fans are making out but he'd better start showing more starting this Saturday or else the fans will be on his back more and more - which we all know is the perfect way to ruin any chance of getting anything good out of the lad.

 

[Sharpy]

He was very poor, but come on. Its the first game of the season, Paul walker was spot on with what he was saying on the radio. Its not the end of the world.

Also, Im fed up of hearing about Tonge and the 02-03 season, just drop it, if Tonge hadnt of had that season he wouldnt be getting anything like the stick he gets now. The following season he was again excellent, 04-05 season not so good, 05-06 season excellent when he came back into the side after christmas, premiership season IMO was one of our better performers in most games, and then last season he was no worse than anybody else under robson and then again excellent when blackwell was in charge.

He isnt kaka, he's michael tonge a championship player.

People expect too much of him, he is very inconsistent we all know that, the stick doesnt help.