How on earth...

[shrimper4life]

Thought it was funny how 2 of the top 3 players were defenders of one of the worse defences in the league. Would have thought macca, gower and barnard would have been in front of AB and Clarke

 

[Stats]

Anyone remember few years back when Keith Dublin picked up player of the year award, rigged by the fans who thought it be a laugh to give it to one of our worst players.

Do you think people have voted for Clarke, for a laugh?

 

[ashingdon shrimper]

lets get to the end of the season before slagging all the players off, they have all played very good football to get us into the playoffs, we looked like we had no chance in jan, so lets just enjoy the final few games and look at the positives not the negatives, the team should be player of the season as they have achieved what many of us thought could never happen this season, we have now been given a slim chance of getting into the championship so just enjoy, have fun, and stop f****** slagging the players off

 

[OldBlueLady]

Didn't surprise me at all to see Peter Clarke as the runner up, and I can't understand how people are suddenly advocating Barrett, Gower or Macca had more right to finish higher than him. It was only four months ago that the vast majority on here were absolutely slating these three players and had been for a while. All three of them went through a very, very poor patch lasting a couple of months or so, and I think supporters have tended to remember that it was Clarkey that held the defence together around that time. Apart from Bailey (and let's not forget he's had a couple of poor games recently - but the votes had probably all been cast by then - way to go Bails!), Clarke has been our most consistent and reliable player over the whole season, no doubt about that.

I don't doubt that if Francis, Mulgrew or Barnard had played a whole season then they may well have featured, but I have no problem in Clarkey finishing 2nd.

 

[* ORM *]

I'd prefer to ask how the heck Barrett got 3rd. If we were to go up he is definitely high on the list of players that failed to cope last time and needs to be replaced.

One keeper, one left back (assuming no Mulgrew), a centre half, one winger in place of Black, a centre mid as this is one area we have light coverage on and assuming we out some of the current no-hopers another forward.

 

[DTS]

I personally think Clarkey is a class act and a worthy winner of 2nd spot.

Macca has been good but gets booked and sent off too much, Gower great in spells but bit inconsistant, Barrett no better than Clarke but still done well, Barney cant get it after only playining 15 odd games.....

More than happy with Clarke - think he has come on in leaps and bounds...

 

[SUFCLiam]

i agree that clarke came 2nd he has had a great seson

 

[Shrimper2thecore]

I also could not believe Clarke was 2nd, joke!!

 

[Angell Delight]

Must admit i was suprised..thought Macca would have been 2nd with Gower / Barrett there or there abouts

No way has Gower been consistent enough to be in the top 3 for PotY this season.

Personally I expected Clarkey to pick up 2nd, IMHO he deserves it - one of the best centre-backs in the division.

 

[BaileytheQuitter]

Bailey
Barrett
Macca
Clarke
Gower

That's my top 5.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Bailey
Barrett
Macca
Clarke
Gower

That's my top 5.

Like I said earlier though, three out of those five were getting completely slated on here for some time during those dark winter months when we couldn't play for toffee. That's why it had to be Clarke for runner up.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

If Barnard and Mulgrew had been here from the start of the season my top 3 would of been.

3rd Mulgrew
2nd Barnard
1st Bailey

 

[ElstreeBlue]

How did Macca not cope at Championship level last season? Before we signed him, we were awful. It was only his arrival that kept our fate undecided for so long.

I also think Clarke was absolutely fine in the Championship last season. Problem was, Barrett was miles out of his depth, and we had full backs who were being skinned alive week in, week out.

Could Daryl cope in the Championship? Yes, very easily.

Bailey and Barney are unproven at a higher level, and certainly it is no given that they will cope - the same applies to Mulgrew.

I happen to think most of our current squad would cope well in the Championship. We need improving in some areas (eg defence, where we are very light on players), but we now have a much better squad than two years ago, when we were too reliant on Eastwood - something which backfired when he lost interest in trying.

Would have to disagree on your analysis of Clarke in the Championship. Our entire back four of Francis, Hammell, Barrett and Clarke looked at sixes and sevens when defending for much of last season. Ipswich at home in particular springs to mind. We conceded way too many goals, and indeed we did again for the first half of this season. However, I personally think Francis has improved and developed immensely (both as a defender and a footballer generally), Hammell has been upgraded (hopefully permanently please Mulgrew) and Barrett had been playing through an injury for most of the first half of last season which was why he was slow and couldn't jump well. (I agree Barrett went through a very shaky patch this season around November to January and you couldn't tell whether Clarke or Barrett was worse defensively at times, but Barrett has since re-discovered the form we knew he was capable of.) Unfortunately, whilst Peter Clarke does look good defending at times, he gives the ball away a huge amount (which you can do in League One but not in the Championship) and if you watch him closely and who he is meant to be marking he really does go to sleep an awful lot and doesn't mark-up (which gets punished by Championship strikers more regularly than in League One). He also gives a huge number of needless free kicks away - which as we all know we're not very good at defending!

For the record (in answer to another poster), I'm not "slagging off" any of our players. I can't stand it when our fans boo our own players who give 100% for the Blues (and I think T&B have got 100% commitment from everyone at the moment), and I also hope I am objective enough to say when I think someone has had a good game even if I don't rate them (eg Clarke was excellent against Walsall - he even passed to blue shirts regularly!) rather than just take a dislike to someone (a la Harrold) and pick on them. However, this is a forum, and I think it's open for us all to have a debate about the strengths and weaknesses of our team - eg why did some people rate Clarke better than Bailey (which they must have done in order for him to have picked up any votes at all)?

 

[shrimpfan]

I happen to think most of our current squad would cope well in the Championship. We need improving in some areas (eg defence, where we are very light on players), but we now have a much better squad than two years ago, when we were too reliant on Eastwood - something which backfired when he lost interest in trying.

Would have to disagree on your analysis of Clarke in the Championship. Our entire back four of Francis, Hammell, Barrett and Clarke looked at sixes and sevens when defending for much of last season. Ipswich at home in particular springs to mind. We conceded way too many goals, and indeed we did again for the first half of this season. However, I personally think Francis has improved and developed immensely (both as a defender and a footballer generally), Hammell has been upgraded (hopefully permanently please Mulgrew) and Barrett had been playing through an injury for most of the first half of last season which was why he was slow and couldn't jump well. (I agree Barrett went through a very shaky patch this season around November to January and you couldn't tell whether Clarke or Barrett was worse defensively at times, but Barrett has since re-discovered the form we knew he was capable of.) Unfortunately, whilst Peter Clarke does look good defending at times, he gives the ball away a huge amount (which you can do in League One but not in the Championship) and if you watch him closely and who he is meant to be marking he really does go to sleep an awful lot and doesn't mark-up (which gets punished by Championship strikers more regularly than in League One). He also gives a huge number of needless free kicks away - which as we all know we're not very good at defending!

For the record (in answer to another poster), I'm not "slagging off" any of our players. I can't stand it when our fans boo our own players who give 100% for the Blues (and I think T&B have got 100% commitment from everyone at the moment), and I also hope I am objective enough to say when I think someone has had a good game even if I don't rate them (eg Clarke was excellent against Walsall - he even passed to blue shirts regularly!) rather than just take a dislike to someone (a la Harrold) and pick on them. However, this is a forum, and I think it's open for us all to have a debate about the strengths and weaknesses of our team - eg why did some people rate Clarke better than Bailey (which they must have done in order for him to have picked up any votes at all)?

im not slagging off any off our players!!!---go to sleep---doesnt mark up---needless free kicks---gives the ball away----he even passed to blues players more than once!!! u cant stand it when our players get booed,yet u put a post out about 1 of our players[which he might well read this as he was voted second by the supporters but obviously not u] who will be doing his best for the team and supporters over the next 2 weeks ,at least it shows that u do slag off blues players or should that be a blues player .

 

[ElstreeBlue]

im not slagging off any off our players!!!---go to sleep---doesnt mark up---needless free kicks---gives the ball away----he even passed to blues players more than once!!! u cant stand it when our players get booed,yet u put a post out about 1 of our players[which he might well read this as he was voted second by the supporters but obviously not u] who will be doing his best for the team and supporters over the next 2 weeks ,at least it shows that u do slag off blues players or should that be a blues player .

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone, but I thought the purpose of the Zone was to be a forum so we could debate. If we all agreed with each other, would it not be boring?

I will not boo Peter Clarke - certainly as long as he is in the Blue shirt giving 100%. That should not stop us debating whether he is 2nd best player at the club or not. Or does anyone disagree with what the Zone is all about?

I think I gave fair criticism. That's just my view; others may take a different view. And I will always will him on to do well and cheer a good pass or tackle (unlike some other fans who were willing Harrold to fail and booed when his name was announced or after he missed the target). I just happen to think Peter Clarke is not our 2nd best player. I have given my reasons why. Sorry if anyone is offended.

PS - If you are reading this, Peter, I've seen what you can do sometimes and want to see more of it - concentrate for the full game, don't give needless freekicks away and try to pass as much as possible on the ground to a blue player. Just watch the Walsall video! And keep giving your all for the Blues.