Simon Francis - Carlisle

[wiggy]

Eh? Defensively he was awful in the Championship as well! :stunned:

You seem to be doing a fair amount of defending Negative Norman, are you related?

 

[madaboutblues]

Class act today, superb. Forget your Sanks Ricey, this guy is the real deal.
His set pieces were spot on and that free kick that hit the bar was a great effort.
Was nice and tidy at the back, while being a great threat going forward. Also those sublime cross-field balls to him where he pulled out some outstanding touches so that he could whip in one of his awesome crosses.
Viva la Franno!

P.s - Macca should have been MOTM ;)

I have to say Francis played really well today, His free kicks were excellent.
He must have been practicing them over the past six weeks though because wasn't that one of the reasons he was dropped - his corners and free kicks weren't up to scratch. Even you have to admit that Ozzy :unsure:

 

[Kris]

You seem to be doing a fair amount of defending Negative Norman, are you related?

Read my posts again and tell me exactly what it is you disagree with.

 

[jamesmut2000]

Read my posts again and tell me exactly what it is you disagree with.

I hope you're not expecting a reasoned argument to come from Wiggy!!! Just remember Daryl is GOD and thats the end of it!!!:p

 

[Kris]

I hope you're not expecting a reasoned argument to come from Wiggy!!! Just remember Daryl is GOD and thats the end of it!!!:p

Well, she needs another scapegoat now that Mildy has proved her wrong.

 

[fbm]

Francis did some things very well today... but he also did some things not at all well. MOTM was surprising. Not all of his free kicks were spot on with their delivery either - but it was better than the last time he played at full back.

 

[OldBlueLady]

His crosses are quality. He's an awkward player, doesn't really have the atributes to fit into a position.

Played well today, not quite MOTM for me, but not far off, Macca would have got it if I was choosing.

Playing against a 4-5-1 did help him today, if he can play like that against a 4-4-2 I'd be interested. Sanks deserves his spot, although he wont get in on Friday after that showing.

Agree with every part of that post Fred mate ;) (rep owed)! Sankofa will play Friday though as Dervite is on international duty, so Franno wil switch to central I'd expect. He had a very good game, Macca was delivering him some great passes and he was using the ball very well.

yeah but he is so hot!!!

Mind you, also agree with that bit!

 

[SportBilly]

I have to say Francis played really well today, His free kicks were excellent.
He must have been practicing them over the past six weeks though because wasn't that one of the reasons he was dropped - his corners and free kicks weren't up to scratch. Even you have to admit that Ozzy :unsure:

I would have thought that would be the last reason he would be dropped for.

He was dropped because he couldn't defend for toffee.

 

[BlueBeard]

Francis did some things very well today... but he also did some things not at all well. MOTM was surprising. Not all of his free kicks were spot on with their delivery either - but it was better than the last time he played at full back.

Actually MOTM was quite hard to pick as no player stood out as head and shoulders above the rest. McCormack was a strong contender but being women we used our hearts as well as our heads and decided Simon had taken alot of abuse from the West side this season and he had returned to the side without sulking or throwing a strop and played well. He takes a decent free kick as well something we have lacked recently Also his little face when he got the award was a picture Ah bless.

 

[SportBilly]

Actually MOTM was quite hard to pick as no player stood out as head and shoulders above the rest. McCormack was a strong contender but being women we used our hearts as well as our heads and decided Simon had taken alot of abuse from the West side this season and he had returned to the side without sulking or throwing a strop and played well. He takes a decent free kick as well something we have lacked recently Also his little face when he got the award was a picture Ah bless.

I have heard it all now :doh:

 

[A Century United]

I have heard it all now :doh:

I've agreed with a lot you've posted so far, Sportbilly, but can't agree with that. When there isn't a clear winner of MotM, then I think it is perfectly reasonable, in fact laudable, to award it with the intention of giving a player's confidence a boost.

Isn't that what man-management is all about?

Anyway, if you don't like Bluebeard's choice, you pay next time so you can show her how it's done.

:)

 

[chapperzUK]

I will admit that he can cross a ball but he still can't defend...

Can't agree with that. He made a few good tackles and one great tackle in the area. Got skinned only once. If he can't defend then why did he play so well at centre back?

 

[shrimpfan]

The trouble with Simon Francis, why he gets so much stick on here, is the way he carries himself on the football field. He seems to play like he is not interested, could not care less and he is lazy. Every time he makes a mistake people jump all over him on here. If you compare the way Macca carries himself on the football field, he cares and always looks interested, and is certainly not lazy. When he makes mistakes they are forgiven. That is why Macca often gets (nearly always) a standing ovation when he is taken off or comes on the pitch.

 

[ozzy-shrimper]

The trouble with Simon Francis, why he gets so much stick on here, is the way he carries himself on the football field. He seems to play like he is not interested, could not care less and he is lazy. Every time he makes a mistake people jump all over him on here. If you compare the way Macca carries himself on the football field, he cares and always looks interested, and is certainly not lazy. When he makes mistakes they are forgiven. That is why Macca often gets (nearly always) a standing ovation when he is taken off or comes on the pitch.

Macca plays in a position where he has to be moving non-stop chasing players down, helping out the defence and then running up the pitch to start and support an attack, so this makes him look a lot more interested because he has to be everywhere. Whereas Francis plays in a position where he is only needed when we are moving down that flank or they're attacking down his side so you can't really compare that.
I admit he does tend to look a bit lazy sometimes, but I believe he's not the kind of player to panic if he's beaten or has a player running at him, he keeps his composure and doesn't do anything too rash. I think his composure is why when he's played at centre back, he does so well. The next game should be interesting.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Completely different temperaments anyway, you'd never expect Franno to behave like Macca does, it just wouldn't be dans son characteur. Franno, incidentally, made Team of the Day in the NotW team.

 

[manor15]

Completely different temperaments anyway, you'd never expect Franno to behave like Macca does, it just wouldn't be dans son characteur. Franno, incidentally, made Team of the Day in the NotW team.

He played well but not that well to get in team of the week

 

[SportBilly]

I've agreed with a lot you've posted so far, Sportbilly, but can't agree with that. When there isn't a clear winner of MotM, then I think it is perfectly reasonable, in fact laudable, to award it with the intention of giving a player's confidence a boost.

Isn't that what man-management is all about?

Anyway, if you don't like Bluebeard's choice, you pay next time so you can show her how it's done.

:)

Fair point, all players need a confidence boost at times, but yesterday, McCormack was a clear and worthy winner of MOTM. It seems that Francis got it more because the girls fancied him. That was more what I was getting at.

 

[OldBlueLady]

So, what actually does this "sponsorship" involve then................? ;)

 

[Beefy]

Francis can defend. That's the frustrating thing about him. He's got all the attributes to de a good defender. In fact as a player he's one of the most talented we've got. Which makes him all the more frustrating.

I think it's concentration. When he was right back earlier in the season he was deservedly dropped because he made mistake after mistake. He actually played better at left back where he had to think about what he was doing rather than playing the game on auto-pilot.

For me, he's a centre-half and a very good one at that. In the middle he's more involved in the game so is less likely to nod off and he's got the ability to play the ball out of defence because he's got a very good range of passing. But as a right back, he's not for me I'm afraid.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

He played well but not that well to get in team of the week

If it's the sister newspaper of the Sun, then it must be true :doh:

After all these years I really shouldn't be surprised by the number of people who completely ignore the defensive side of the game. Francis got away with one howler when Dervite bailed him out, but I think Francis remains good for at least one bad mistake per game.