Question Who's going to be better - jack or jack ?

[danburyshrimper]

3 Years ago i watched a few games in which both Jack Payne and Jack Bridge were playing. I said to mates at the time the better player was Bridge. I likened him to Adam Lallana and bet them that in 5 years time Bridge would be playing at a higher standard of football than Payne. Now my mates have reminded me on several occasions that my confident prediction is way off , with Payne somehow clocking up around 50 appearances whereas Bridge has only just debuted.
So despite the OTT adulation for Payne , how do other Shrimperzoners see the match up looking 2 years from now?

I ll grant you that Payne has a sweet left foot and has decent dead ball delivery. He cuts in well onto his left foot and possesses a good strike. Occasionally he picks out a good pass. BUT Bridge , IMHO , posseses that magic ingredient of pace and acceleration that the diminutive and often anonymous Payne lacks. Bridge shows better football awareness -- rarely will you see him running with his head down trying to aimlessly dribble into a crowd of defenders before losing the ball - he has the ability to pass and move and is a team player not a glory hunter. Physically stronger and actually able to win headers, Bridge can compete anywhere across the midfield so you dont need to fix the whole team formation to allow the luxury of a player drifting around in the hole. Bridge is 2 footed and can finish , although i accept Payne is also clinical in front of goal ( on his left foot)

So with Payne set to risk his career progress and to warm the bench somewhere else for a while and with the prospect of Bridge getting a full season ahead in Div 1 ... who do you think will be the better player come MAY 2018 ???????????

I fully expect the Payne lovers to scoff at the question , but i will look back at this in 2 years from now and see who's crystal ball was working best !!!!

 

[Bobby dazzler]

I suspect in 50 years they will not be as famous as Jack Palance.

Or the legend that is Jack Nicholson

 

[southend4ever]

You are Jack Bridge's father, aren't you?

 

[Ricky Otto]

I’ve voted Payne as he has proven himself at a much higher level, I’m sure if bookies were compiling odds he would be the odds on favourite too. I’d love to see Bridge be more successful though. I’ve never really followed a youth prospect before until Bridge and he does genuinely excite me. If I had been watching him and he wasn’t our player I would have been saying “we have to look into signing this kid”. Every game I have seen he is the stand out player for Chelmsford City, I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say he singlehandedly turned their season around. It is a big step up in class to league 1 so we can’t heap too much expectation on the lad but I do think he’ll be a fans favourite, he plays with such tenacity (he may need to reign it in a little) and heart and obviously has talent. I’d love for Bridge to make us forget the other Jack.

 

[Tommy2holes]

Let's see bridge next season and we may have an actual idea

 

[Skyblue]

Let's see bridge next season and we may have an actual idea

I agree, much to early to judge Bridge. I've only seen him on the Chelmsford highlights but he strikes me as a completely different player to Jack anyway. He reminds me of our Peter Butler of a few years ago, always in the thick of things and using his strength to get around the opposition where Jack seems to be the more quick of feet and tricky.

 

[turkishm]

Bit silly really, as we have seen nothing of Bridge to make a judgement.

 

[Jai]

Agree, far too early to be building him up so much. He'll see some action next year though it seems, don't expect him to be a starter straight away though.

 

[rararblue]

From what we saw Sunday, Jack Bridge could well be a starter, next season. Looked very much a man, strong enough and good enough. Obviously, got to do it over a number of games though.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

as he's been playing wide left for Chelmsford i like the idea of him playing similar to Gower on the left with Coker overlapping. McLaughlin is class when he's available so those two on the left would be a good mix and would likely give Bridge opportunities to play and grow into the role at a decent pace