All this talk of "never rated him" seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Seems to be about a third of Charlton fans saying this at the moment. No doubt they were chanting his name loud and proud when he was in a Charlton shirt though.
If you honestly didn't rate him when he was scoring a bucketload of goals from midfield for us then we really do have some supporters who are impossible to please.
All this talk of "never rated him" seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Seems to be about a third of Charlton fans saying this at the moment. No doubt they were chanting his name loud and proud when he was in a Charlton shirt though.
If you honestly didn't rate him when he was scoring a bucketload of goals from midfield for us then we really do have some supporters who are impossible to please.
Short memories are very common at the valley. There was a disturbing number of people calling for powell's head last season at certain times.
All this talk of "never rated him" seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Seems to be about a third of Charlton fans saying this at the moment. No doubt they were chanting his name loud and proud when he was in a Charlton shirt though.
If you honestly didn't rate him when he was scoring a bucketload of goals from midfield for us then we really do have some supporters who are impossible to please.
To be fair we all see games differently. I liked Bailey when he first signed but I soon became frustrated by his play acting and (more importantly) his propensity to give the ball away in midfield or give away free kicks in dangerous positions or penalties.
He was not the worst player in our squad the year we went down, but to be honest that doesn't say much does it? Also if one took away his goals he was, actually, a bit of a liability.
There is a lot of talk about him being great on the left, but the way he played (cutting inside where the central opposition midfielders were already busy with our three in the middle) left the left back very exposed. Grant Based was heavenly critisiced during this time but I believe if Bailey had not been rushing inside to shoot there would have been a lot more protection down the left.
I think Bailey was a very instinctive player, and he did have some talent, but I don't believe he was intelligent enough, and in the modern game, at the level we are at, you need to be.
Ironically I don't think I'm that difficult to please, I'm more than happy to accept that most players we have have limitations but I thought Bailey was more limited than most of the current squad, and he was, in my view, not looking great in a team that was relegated from the Championship and then failed to get out of it.
However, what really made my mind up was the way he seemed most keen to get away from us when we were relegated. I'm sure some one will correct me, but the impression I get from his behaviour at most of his clubs is that he has very little loyalty, and that probably taints my view of him.
However, I can honestly say that by the time we were relegated I was more than happy to see him leave, and nothing hie did for us in the third division changed my mind about him.
I which him no ill (except every time he pulls on that blue shirt I hope he loses) but I would never want him back.
He made more tackles because the rest of the midfield could do fook all. Watching Zheng Zhi watch balls go over his head, and arrive too late for 50-50's was hilarious. I for one will clap him when he comes back. As I would Lloyd Sam, pretty much the only two midfielders I would out of the most incompetent unit in our woeful years.
The thing that struck me when reading that article was how bad is their new kit?! That shirt is absolutely terrible, looks like some cheapo sh*t that a school team would have.
Lets face it he couldn't get into a Middlesbrough team that despite lots of finance and an experienced manager finished below us in the table. When he was with us Bailey had a good engine and as others have pointed out an eye for goal. There is a huge BUT with him though (and I don't mean his arse), he looks to me like he could have been a very good player if he had had the coaching in his early years, he just has too many bad habits and makes far too many mistakes. He is an asset and a liability all at the same time, the unpredictable nature of his mistakes unsettles people, players and crowd alike.
In that playoff game, it was not the penalty he missed that lost us the game, he gave away the ball in a dangerous area for their equaliser when all he had to do was pass it back to the keeper, instead he tried to spin and got caught. After that his head went, as it did whenever he made a crucial error. He ran around chasing the game so much after that, we lost our shape. His intelligence as a player was poor, his overall awareness likewise.
That is the sort of mistake he made all the time and the sort of reaction we got all the time. I'm glad he's gone to Millwall it'll make them that bit easier to beat. Put a man on him and wait for the mistake and the consequential loss of any positional sense he may have had. I don't dislike him as a person or as a player I just don't rate him.
Didn't want him then, don't want him now. He scored some good goals for us, and I'm not playing down the significance of that, but his all round game was very weak imho.
Comments
If you honestly didn't rate him when he was scoring a bucketload of goals from midfield for us then we really do have some supporters who are impossible to please.
He was not the worst player in our squad the year we went down, but to be honest that doesn't say much does it? Also if one took away his goals he was, actually, a bit of a liability.
There is a lot of talk about him being great on the left, but the way he played (cutting inside where the central opposition midfielders were already busy with our three in the middle) left the left back very exposed. Grant Based was heavenly critisiced during this time but I believe if Bailey had not been rushing inside to shoot there would have been a lot more protection down the left.
I think Bailey was a very instinctive player, and he did have some talent, but I don't believe he was intelligent enough, and in the modern game, at the level we are at, you need to be.
Ironically I don't think I'm that difficult to please, I'm more than happy to accept that most players we have have limitations but I thought Bailey was more limited than most of the current squad, and he was, in my view, not looking great in a team that was relegated from the Championship and then failed to get out of it.
However, what really made my mind up was the way he seemed most keen to get away from us when we were relegated. I'm sure some one will correct me, but the impression I get from his behaviour at most of his clubs is that he has very little loyalty, and that probably taints my view of him.
However, I can honestly say that by the time we were relegated I was more than happy to see him leave, and nothing hie did for us in the third division changed my mind about him.
I which him no ill (except every time he pulls on that blue shirt I hope he loses) but I would never want him back.
http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/24570/bailey#latest
The thing that struck me when reading that article was how bad is their new kit?! That shirt is absolutely terrible, looks like some cheapo sh*t that a school team would have.
Fair play on the sponsor though.
In that playoff game, it was not the penalty he missed that lost us the game, he gave away the ball in a dangerous area for their equaliser when all he had to do was pass it back to the keeper, instead he tried to spin and got caught. After that his head went, as it did whenever he made a crucial error. He ran around chasing the game so much after that, we lost our shape. His intelligence as a player was poor, his overall awareness likewise.
That is the sort of mistake he made all the time and the sort of reaction we got all the time. I'm glad he's gone to Millwall it'll make them that bit easier to beat. Put a man on him and wait for the mistake and the consequential loss of any positional sense he may have had. I don't dislike him as a person or as a player I just don't rate him.