Clare POTY so far …. like to see him in as one of the 3 in centre mid alongside Fraser ..
I quite like Clare, but maybe third or fourth. I’d rate Dobbo and Ness above him (and Rak Sak). Definitely above Fraser though. He’s really lost form over the last four or five games.
According to Holden yesterday Fraser has been fighting an injury.
Clare POTY so far …. like to see him in as one of the 3 in centre mid alongside Fraser ..
I quite like Clare, but maybe third or fourth. I’d rate Dobbo and Ness above him (and Rak Sak). Definitely above Fraser though. He’s really lost form over the last four or five games.
According to Holden yesterday Fraser has been fighting an injury.
Then why keep playing him?
He didn’t yesterday
I am aware, but he should not have played in the last few games if not fit and it showed
General a poor footballer who gets plaudits in a lazy, poor team because he makes occasional energetic runs down the touch line. The only reason he looks like one of our better performers sometimes is because the bar is so low. I’d have him as a squad player because he can play in a number of positions but he shouldn’t be starting more than 10 games per season with the quality he has imo
Finding the Clare hate really bizarre when there is an army of better candidates.
Agree there's plenty worse, but what hate? People giving their view that he's a fairly ordinary player but tries his best isn't hate, nor is it making him a scapegoat.
Finding the Clare hate really bizarre when there is an army of better candidates.
Agree there's plenty worse, but what hate? People giving their view that he's a fairly ordinary player but tries his best isn't hate, nor is it making him a scapegoat.
I find the whole idea of hating players because they aren't good enough bizarre. Not trying, refusing to play, forcing a transfer etc etc I get.
He had a ten minute spell yesterday that was among the worst I've seen. Those two free kicks one after the other he played straight to them and their goal, it wasn't even switching off so much as it wasn't even bothering.
He had a ten minute spell yesterday that was among the worst I've seen. Those two free kicks one after the other he played straight to them and their goal, it wasn't even switching off so much as it wasn't even bothering.
One free kick went straight to them, the second went straight out of play for a throw in. To be fair to him that wasn’t like him. He’s been on a good run of form, as shown in the players marks.
He had a ten minute spell yesterday that was among the worst I've seen. Those two free kicks one after the other he played straight to them and their goal, it wasn't even switching off so much as it wasn't even bothering.
One free kick went straight to them, the second went straight out of play for a throw in. To be fair to him that wasn’t like him. He’s been on a good run of form, as shown in the players marks.
That second free kick that went out for the throw, from there they kept the ball and scored.
Looks good on the ball and you think he could be part of something. Not a natural defender though and letting him go would give us a chance to upgrade right back with good competition in Egbo (if budget is there following takeover etc).
It feels like he’s at fault for conceding more than he should be. It would be interesting to know if the stats back that up.
It could be argued we should use him differently at defensive set pieces rather than give up on him completely, but we probably don’t have the players we need for that elsewhere.
hes given a long leash because hes relatively athletic and technically capable. the reality is that hes not good enough to play CM, not quick enough to play on the wing, and not aware enough to play RB. when we signed him Karl Robinson said Oxford Utd must replace him with 'better'. he was spot on really - you don't get promoted with players like Sean Clare in your team on a regular basis. hes positionally woeful, not switched on enough to understand the game around him, and as soon as the ball goes in behind him, hes stuffed.
hes given a long leash because hes relatively athletic and technically capable. the reality is that hes not good enough to play CM, not quick enough to play on the wing, and not aware enough to play RB. when we signed him Karl Robinson said Oxford Utd must replace him with 'better'. he was spot on really - you don't get promoted with players like Sean Clare in your team on a regular basis. hes positionally woeful, not switched on enough to understand the game around him, and as soon as the ball goes in behind him, hes stuffed.
hes given a long leash because hes relatively athletic and technically capable. the reality is that hes not good enough to play CM, not quick enough to play on the wing, and not aware enough to play RB. when we signed him Karl Robinson said Oxford Utd must replace him with 'better'. he was spot on really - you don't get promoted with players like Sean Clare in your team on a regular basis. hes positionally woeful, not switched on enough to understand the game around him, and as soon as the ball goes in behind him, hes stuffed.
An excellent summary.
And still the most entertaining player in a basic team...
Holden was a full back, I hope he is coaching Clare in what remains an unnatural position for him, alongside managing him (two very different things). Could yet help Clare iron out his wrinkles while leveraging his athleticism and willingness to get forward.
On coaching and I have been thinking a fair bit on this, why is our scantly resourced club not leveraging two winger club legends to support/enhance the development of the likes of Blackett-Taylor and Campbell? I have heard the likes of Peacock and Powell are not involved, madness from my perspective - era doesn’t matter the basics remain the same…
hes given a long leash because hes relatively athletic and technically capable. the reality is that hes not good enough to play CM, not quick enough to play on the wing, and not aware enough to play RB. when we signed him Karl Robinson said Oxford Utd must replace him with 'better'. he was spot on really - you don't get promoted with players like Sean Clare in your team on a regular basis. hes positionally woeful, not switched on enough to understand the game around him, and as soon as the ball goes in behind him, hes stuffed.
Good summary though I don't think it's pace holding him back from playing on the wing, he's quick enough, more that his delivery is dreadful.
On Saturday he was the reason for a lot of the good stuff we were doing in the first half, but then he was also the reason for a lot of the bad stuff in the second half
I’d still keep Clare, bar the second half on Saturday he’s been one of our most consistent performers recently. He’s versatile, and showed that again on Saturday playing more as an inverted full back than as a traditional one at times in the first half. This allowed Morgan to play wider and led to an overload that created our first goal
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It feels like he’s at fault for conceding more than he should be. It would be interesting to know if the stats back that up.
It could be argued we should use him differently at defensive set pieces rather than give up on him completely, but we probably don’t have the players we need for that elsewhere.
On coaching and I have been thinking a fair bit on this, why is our scantly resourced club not leveraging two winger club legends to support/enhance the development of the likes of Blackett-Taylor and Campbell? I have heard the likes of Peacock and Powell are not involved, madness from my perspective - era doesn’t matter the basics remain the same…