Birdyabroad

2 minutes ago, Russell Ram said:

Is it me, I don’t see the Sibley factor? For me he is a poor player severely overhyped.

Yes, in agreement here, I have high hopes, but it is that word ‘hope’ rather than sound judgement.

For such a (supposedly) good player, his first touch is awful, the ball bounces off his knees and shins, he can’t seem to trap the proverbial bag of cement.

I’ve decided to watch the rest of this game without the commentary turned on. It’s nothing to do with perceived commentator bias, it’s just that it’s banal poo.

Everyone keeps talking about Sibleys potential and I have high hopes for the lad myself, but bloomin hell, he’s done nothing; three touches, all poor. He may feel he’s being muscled by these Birmingham defenders but, yes, that’s going to happen week-in-week-out in the Championship. 

You think he’s bad, check out this guy

What’s not to love about fan ratings.

As someone who wasn’t at the match last night and only listened to the match on and off due to ferrying my kids around, I rely on this to get a good idea of how the players fared.

So what am I to make of Kelle Roos’ performance ?‍♂️

He’s got a few 7’s, a few 6’s, a 4, a 5, some 5.5’s and a 6.5…

Any takers on an 8, or a 3?

Will the real Kelle Roos please step forward.

?

I was born and bred in East Ham, East London. I should be a West Ham fan, like most of my mates and, indeed, I grew up watching the ‘ammers at the Boleyn ground.

However, my grandad had other ideas for me.

Hailing from Burton and from a family of Derby fans, he was old school, had the Derby tie, Derby tea cup, he grew my roots in the Rams and when they came to West Ham, I knew where my loyalties lay.

So, other than a dozen or so visits to the ground, I know nothing about Derby as a city; I grew up in London, migrated to Sydney and then moved back to the U.K., where in now live in Torbados, Devon.

So, I’m not from Derby, but I bleed Derby! ?

Looks like our first couple of free signings, Wayne is clearly adding much needed experience for the young guns! ?

The issue I have with Sibley is that, from what I’ve seen (I have watched most of the U23 games for the past couple of seasons and pretty much all of the first team games) he has a terrible first touch. 

For all of his dribbling ability, the first touch when the ball comes to him very often bounces off him and he has to make a dangerous lunge to try and win it back.

Without analysing videos of all his fouls, I’ll wager a fair few come from this moment where he’s desperate (probably frustrated) to win the ball back.

It’s ridiculous for me to say it, cos he’s light years ahead of me as a player, but anyone with a keen eye can see that, unless he can learn to cushion a ball in the frenetic pace of the Championship, he’s going to struggle to get to the next level.