Jamie Ward

[LittleEatonRam]

I think Ward flatters to deceive.  One good game in every 6, and most of the time his runs and deliveries have no end product.

[sausagemeat]

We've com a long way in a short period if Ward is seen as a weakness in the team. not so long ago he was our only creative plater.

[Asanovic]

He wins us points. We wouldn't be in the top six without him.

 

There are harder workers but I thought that 'work rate' argument got a bit tired under Clough? Lots of people said they'd rather see a show pony who won a few points and had a bit of arrogance than a work horse who battled their way to mid table.

 

Well, we have him. He scores goals, wins us points. I don't think we can afford not to have him, at the moment.

[Mostyn6]

He wins us points. We wouldn't be in the top six without him.

 

There are harder workers but I thought that 'work rate' argument got a bit tired under Clough? Lots of people said they'd rather see a show pony who won a few points and had a bit of arrogance than a work horse who battled their way to mid table.

 

Well, we have him. He scores goals, wins us points. I don't think we can afford not to have him, at the moment.

 

Whilst true, somewhat misleading. As if we might not get the points without him.

[RodleyRam]

Ward is frustrating. Sometimes he's really good, others he's distinctly average or worse! I didn't think he was that bad against Chelsea, looked a threat in the first half, wasn't great in the second.

 

I guess that's why there's such a swing in the opinion of what to do with him, his performances can be so contrasting. Lately though, I think he's been poor, aside from a few important goals.

 

For my tuppence worth, I would prefer to see him out of the starting 11 for a little while to make him ask himself a few questions about how he approaches the game. I prefer him playing closer to Martin than stuck out wide, he's good at getting himself in the right positions to score, not entirely dissimilar to Bryson in that respect.

 

Beyond that, I don't see him as a particularly 'creative' player, he makes the wrong decisions too often for me and I would much prefer to see Russell playing ahead of Ward because I think he's much better overall team player. He seems to have lost a little bit of pace, as he's not beating his man as much this season.

 

I think Ward is the type of player who could do with the occasional kick up the backside and a short spell out of the team and a couple of last 20 minutes in games to force him to prove his worth wouldn't do him any harm at all.

 

I don't think he lacks desire or effort, like others have suggested, he does work hard for the side. He is however, in my eyes, guilty of being a bit greedy in possession and trying to be top dog. Our success this season has largely been built on playing a team game, where each man feeds off the other. I think it's hard for others to feed off Ward because he gets in good positions and then tries to do too much, rather than playing someone else in or keeping the ball.

 

Judges verdict - has ability, needs to get back to doing the simple things well. A spell out of the starting 11 to reassess his approach.

[Asanovic]

Whilst true, somewhat misleading. As if we might not get the points without him.

 

Maybe, but suggesting he should be sold is a bit harsh, IMO.

 

Never happy are we.

[Mostyn6]

Maybe, but suggesting he should be sold is a bit harsh, IMO.

 

Never happy are we.

 

Whilst we are in the period of 'improvement' with the assumption money is there to be spent and we are building a side capable of both promotion to and consolidation in the Premier League, there are people (myself included) who thinks the steady way of doing this is by identifying your 3 weakest starting XI players and improving them, and that Ward is far too inconsistent and anonymous at this level in recent months. If he's so inconsistent at this level, he's not going to be more influential in the Premier League.

 

I think it's a sign of fans standards and expectations being raised.

[Curtains]

He drives me mad at times but I really like the lad.

Never forget his goal at City Ground.

He drives Forest fans mad LOL

Got to Perch ex Forest just love fishing.

[TigerTedd]

He wins us points. We wouldn't be in the top six without him.

 

There are harder workers but I thought that 'work rate' argument got a bit tired under Clough? Lots of people said they'd rather see a show pony who won a few points and had a bit of arrogance than a work horse who battled their way to mid table.

 

Well, we have him. He scores goals, wins us points. I don't think we can afford not to have him, at the moment.

 

I see what you're saying. Under Clough we had a lot of hard workers who would huff and puff to mid-table. And, yes, we were all looking forward to that creative European, Stefano Eranio type to add some spark and score a few wonder goals out of nothing to turn draws into wins, and losses into draws.

 

Ward isn't that player though. He used to be one of our better players, and had some creativity about him, and he was forgiven a bit of laziness. But in the mean time, all those hard-workers have actually turned into good players too. Bucko, Bryson, Forsyth (to name but a few) all fit that Clough model of hard-working honest players, but they are also all brilliant. Ward has been left behind a bit.

[Curtains]

I see what you're saying. Under Clough we had a lot of hard workers who would huff and puff to mid-table. And, yes, we were all looking forward to that creative European, Stefano Eranio type to add some spark and score a few wonder goals out of nothing to turn draws into wins, and losses into draws.

 

Ward isn't that player though. He used to be one of our better players, and had some creativity about him, and he was forgiven a bit of laziness. But in the mean time, all those hard-workers have actually turned into good players too. Bucko, Bryson, Forsyth (to name but a few) all fit that Clough model of hard-working honest players, but they are also all brilliant. Ward has been left behind a bit.

I don't agree he's still top notch . But needs to practice dead balls.

[Asanovic]

Whilst we are in the period of 'improvement' with the assumption money is there to be spent and we are building a side capable of both promotion to and consolidation in the Premier League, there are people (myself included) who thinks the steady way of doing this is by identifying your 3 weakest starting XI players and improving them, and that Ward is far too inconsistent and anonymous at this level in recent months. If he's so inconsistent at this level, he's not going to be more influential in the Premier League.

 

I think it's a sign of fans standards and expectations being raised.

 

Not sure I agree with this. Martin and Buxton had arguably their most assured appearances in a Derby shirt against Chelsea, IMO. Not saying he'd set the world on fire a division above but the logic that inconsistency at this level = less influential in the Prem doesn't always stand up. Dean Moxey didn't have a storming season last year but Palace fans rave about him now.

 

I guess I think the same about Ward as I do about everyone at the club - get someone better within our budget and I'll be fine with it. Maybe we can, but until it's under my nose I'm fairly happy with what we have. For what it's worth (tin hat on) I'd get shut of Dawkins tomorrow if it was a shoot out between the two.

[Duracell]

I don't think there's such a thing as form with Ward. He just gets the ball and tries to run forward - even if it hasn't worked for 90 minutes, he'll still be plugging away in injury time. It will work for a good few games, then nothing will come off for a bit, and he'll have a dry spell.

 

I don't want to compare him with Gary Teale, but the one similarity they have is their bravery. Teale, for all his faults, never tried to shirk his responsibilities and some his poorest performances were also the most courageous, because he always took the ball on, even though it clearly terrified the living day lights out of him. Like a matador that hasn't got the hang of it yet.

 

Ward is slightly different, because there's always the possibility he could do something special. I disagree that he's predictable - there's plenty of times when even Jamie Ward doesn't know what he's going to do next.

 

But he's our only true "something out of nothing" player, and it that sense he really does live up to being Kris Commons' replacement - and that's really important for the team.

[Derbydave96]

I don't think there's such a thing as form with Ward. He just gets the ball and tries to run forward - even if it hasn't worked for 90 minutes, he'll still be plugging away in injury time. It will work for a good few games, then nothing will come off for a bit, and he'll have a dry spell.

 

I don't want to compare him with Gary Teale, but the one similarity they have is their bravery. Teale, for all his faults, never tried to shirk his responsibilities and some his poorest performances were also the most courageous, because he always took the ball on, even though it clearly terrified the living day lights out of him. Like a matador that hasn't got the hang of it yet.

 

Ward is slightly different, because there's always the possibility he could do something special. I disagree that he's predictable - there's plenty of times when even Jamie Ward doesn't know what he's going to do next.

 

But he's our only true "something out of nothing" player, and it that sense he really does live up to being Kris Commons' replacement - and that's really important for the team.

agree that hes our only something out of nothing player, but he doesnt do that often enough any more, if we're going to push on i think we need another player that aswell to a more consistent level aswell

[ronnieronalde]

agree that hes our only something out of nothing player, but he doesnt do that often enough any more, if we're going to push on i think we need another player that aswell to a more consistent level aswell

 

We're the Championships top scorers by a mile and Jamie Ward is more than playing his part in that. We've just won a miliion games in a row and jamie Ward was part of that as well.

 

We're the only club in the Championship with 3 players in the top 30 scorers charts and jamie ward is part of that as well.

 

http://espnfc.com/stats/scorers/_/league/eng.2/english-league-championship?cc=5739

 

 

What more are we looking for?

[Derbydave96]

We're the Championships top scorers by a mile and Jamie Ward is more than playing his part in that. We've just won a miliion games in a row and jamie Ward was part of that as well.

We're the only club in the Championship with 3 players in the top 30 scorers charts and jamie ward is part of that as well.

http://espnfc.com/stats/scorers/_/league/eng.2/english-league-championship?cc=5739

What more are we looking for?

I'm not knocking what we've achieved and our scoters, however ward isn't a team player and so he has to pull his weight in other aspects

I think his role within the team is to pull us out of trouble and create something from nothing, which we could certainly have done with against Wigan, and he hasn't been producing in that respect

I also think we need a better free kick taker, which would give us even more of a threat from corners and freekicks, we're not a small team any more and we don't provide a real threat from set pieces

I'm not saying ward is a bad player, but I think there's only space for one selfish player in our team, and as ward isnt delivering in the other aspects, I would like to see a fresh face come in and give us the edge in a tight game