Jordan Rhodes

[TheDeadlySaul]

I accept your opinion, although I disagree with the summary.  Thorne quality, but how you can say he probably won't get as bad an injury again can only be based on hope. I hope you are right. Dawkins is a very good footballer - brutally underrated by too many on this forum. Hughes is an immense talent, but only 20. Too much expectation continues to be put on his young shoulders, and it will again if Thorne should go lame.  I remain of the opinion that midfield is our weakest "collective" and if we lose Thorne again this season we are going to struggle to go up automatically.

Last season we coped fine without Thorne with Eustace and Mascarell stepping into that role, it was only when those 2 got injured that our form collapsed. Of course Thorne could get another knee injury, but it is unlikely as it is hardly a common injury like Wardy with his hamstrings. 

And Hughes is getting better every season and even he does drop in form then Dawkins is a similar player who could fill into that role. 

When Thorne plays Bryson plays better and I'm sure we will see the Bryson that won our player of the year in 2013/14. Hendrick is also a solid player, he can be a bit inconsistent, but he is a very good championship player. 

Baird is the experienced CM that we have, he has played in a UEFA cup final, an experienced premier league player and an experienced international.  

 

[i-Ram]

Did you sleep for the last few months of last season? We are still a Championship club. Why not use a midfield of Thorne, Hughes and Bryson/Hendrick and then look to improve if/when we get promoted when we'll be able to attract a higher calibre of player?

I am unclear of the point you are making Cam, but I do not deal with children often so you must forgive me. 

I am fully aware of our championship status. In fact I have carefully tracked my club's status over the last 46 years.

The reason we are in the championship this season is that late last season our midfield was not able to act as an intermediary between the attack and the defence.

We have now lost Eustace and Macsarell, and whilst I accept Baird has come in, it would not surprise me if he will play at RB.

I hope Thorne will be the man this year, but at this stage none of us can be certain his knees are not made of biscuits.

Which leaves us with Hughes, Bryson and Hendrick.  Hughes, I repeat again, immense talent but only 20. Too much expected of him in my opinion to control a midfield, especially if he has to share it with Bryson and Hendrick. Those two are  able championship midfielders, Hendrick might blossom perhaps, but neither of them has any great positional sense, and in    truth neither if them holds the ball up well.  They are good at attacking Impact play, but when the ball is going the other way I think I could just as well substitute one of them with my Maltese Terrier.

You may not agree with me, and that is perfectly fine. Football is a game of opinions.

 

[Cam the Ram]

I am unclear of the point you are making Cam, but I do not deal with children often so you must forgive me. 

I am fully aware of our championship status. In fact I have carefully tracked my club's status over the last 46 years.

The reason we are in the championship this season is that late last season our midfield was not able to act as an intermediary between the attack and the defence.

We have now lost Eustace and Macsarell, and whilst I accept Baird has come in, it would not surprise me if he will play at RB.

I hope Thorne will be the man this year, but at this stage none of us can be certain his knees are not made of biscuits.

Which leaves us with Hughes, Bryson and Hendrick.  Hughes, I repeat again, immense talent but only 20. Too much expected of him in my opinion to control a midfield, especially if he has to share it with Bryson and Hendrick. Those two are  able championship midfielders, Hendrick might blossom perhaps, but neither of them has any great positional sense, and in    truth neither if them holds the ball up well.  They are good at attacking Impact play, but when the ball is going the other way I think I could just as well substitute one of them with my Maltese Terrier.

You may not agree with me, and that is perfectly fine. Football is a game of opinions.

 

Fantastic, calling me a child because I disagree with you. 46 years + and you're using age as an insult, really? Grow up.

The reason we didn't get promoted isn't simply down to the midfield, it was down to injuries, loss of confidence, defensive mistakes etc. To pin all the blame onto the midfield is just idiotic.

I don't agree with you, but I'm not going to insult you because of it. It's a forum, don't get so sensitive when someone has a different opinion to you.

[needles]

I am unclear of the point you are making Cam, but I do not deal with children often so you must forgive me. 

I don't always agree, but I like you posts. You come the arse like this with folks a bit too much though bud.

[i-Ram]

Last season we coped fine without Thorne with Eustace and Mascarell stepping into that role, it was only when those 2 got injured that our form collapsed. Of course Thorne could get another knee injury, but it is unlikely as it is hardly a common injury like Wardy with his hamstrings. 

And Hughes is getting better every season and even he does drop in form then Dawkins is a similar player who could fill into that role. 

When Thorne plays Bryson plays better and I'm sure we will see the Bryson that won our player of the year in 2013/14. Hendrick is also a solid player, he can be a bit inconsistent, but he is a very good championship player. 

Baird is the experienced CM that we have, he has played in a UEFA cup final, an experienced premier league player and an experienced international.  

1) Chris Baird is a fine footballer at the end of his career, who is an excellent signing for our club. I know him, and have never suggested he is anything but a good signing. I think he will play RB mainly this season.

2) Eustace and Mascarell have gone and not been replaced, although Baird could do a job. I hope not.

3) George is what, 22?, and played how many games in his professional career - 60 or 70. At the present time, Wardy is more comparable to the Bionic Man in terms of durability than George.

4) Hughes is getting better every season - I guess he is, marginally, but has he really kicked on over the last 2 years? Don't really see too many top clubs knocking at our door saying we want him. NOW, that makes me sound like I don't rate him. I DO. I am just saying it is asking too much of the lad to control our midfield this year if we want to go up automatically. I rate Dawkins too, and IMO he could play Will's role almost effectively when required.

5) When Thorne plays Bryson plays better, jeez. Perhaps then we should buy someone even better than Thorne because Bryso might step up a further notch again.  I don't really care how Bryso plays when Thorne plays, because it doesn't overly matter. It is how Bryson plays when Thorne doesn't play that I am most concerned about.

Lets agree to disagree shall we - we both want our club to succeed this year, but we have different views how that is going to be achieved.

 

 

[Gypsy Ram]

Fantastic, calling me a child because I disagree with you. 46 years + and you're using age as an insult, really? Grow up.

The reason we didn't get promoted isn't simply down to the midfield, it was down to injuries, loss of confidence, defensive mistakes etc. To pin all the blame onto the midfield is just idiotic.

I don't agree with you, but I'm not going to insult you because of it. It's a forum, don't get so sensitive when someone has a different opinion to you.

I don't think i-Ram means to be rude or a naughty boy --  he hasn't got that in him.

[i-Ram]

I don't always agree, but I like you posts. You come the arse like this with folks a bit too much though bud.

I appreciate the comment Needles.

[Cam the Ram]

I don't think i-Ram means to be rude or a naughty boy --  he hasn't got that in him.

Nah, he's always seemed reasonable, albeit a bit grumpy, but I didn't see the need to insult someone because of age (even though I'm not a child). Should I apologise because my Mother and Father created me at a later date than his Mother and Father did him? 

[Rev]

Nah, he's always seemed reasonable, albeit a bit grumpy, but I didn't see the need to insult someone because of age (even though I'm not a child). Should I apologise because my Mother and Father created me at a later date than his Mother and Father did him? 

Latecomers?

[Gypsy Ram]

Latecomers?

half-fans.

[Tombo]

Nah, he's always seemed reasonable, albeit a bit grumpy, but I didn't see the need to insult someone because of age (even though I'm not a child). Should I apologise because my Mother and Father created me at a later date than his Mother and Father did him? 

It's nothing personal Cam, we just think we need a more experienced poster in your place. As much as we all admire you as a talented young man, we can't rely on you anymore. We need an experienced Prem quality poster in your place.

[Cam the Ram]

It's nothing personal Cam, we just think we need a more experienced poster in your place. As much as we all admire you as a talented young man, we can't rely on you anymore. We need an experienced Prem quality poster in your place.

Brilliant 

[Ramos]

It's nothing personal Cam, we just think we need a more experienced poster in your place. As much as we all admire you as a talented young man, we can't rely on you anymore. We need an experienced Prem quality poster in your place.

i am the boy to do this 

[i-Ram]

Fantastic, calling me a child because I disagree with you. 46 years + and you're using age as an insult, really? Grow up.

The reason we didn't get promoted isn't simply down to the midfield, it was down to injuries, loss of confidence, defensive mistakes etc. To pin all the blame onto the midfield is just idiotic.

I don't agree with you, but I'm not going to insult you because of it. It's a forum, don't get so sensitive when someone has a different opinion to you.

I suggested you were a child, because you make a childish comment like "did you sleep for the last few months of last season". You then reinforce the offence by suggesting that I might not realise that the team I support is in the Championship. You now tell me I am "idiotic" to blame our lack of promotion being simply down to our midfield.  I didn't say we lost out only because of our midfield, I more simply argued the point that too many on here think our midfield really good where in reality it is a knee injury away from being a serious deficiency for us this year.  

So in summary you you say you are not going to insult me, but you insult me twice in each of your last 2 posts.  That is fair enough. I quite like a bit of give and take. You child.

 

[harryram]

To be fair to you Eddie you did put it in quotes, but his goal today was a good swing of the foot - probably anyone of us on our day have hit one like that (although unfortunately on many of the occasions I did the goalkeeper rarely had his eyes closed). 

Now, I am a big Hughes fan, and I am hopeful this year he really really kicks on. But Super Rams is right in many respects. If we want to go up this year we cannot rely on Hughes to make it happen in midfield, nor gorgeous George (a more complete midfielder IMO) until we know he can play 30 plus games a season.  We really do need a quality experienced midfielder, and for gods sake please don't anyone come on here and try to tell me that Bryson or Hendrick fit that bill. They are able players in the championship but little more; but Hendrick still has time on his side.  The defence is alright now - we will have some squeamish moments out wide this season, but overall we have a top 4 defence.  We are blessed up front in Championship terms, and have a top 2 strike force. But at the moment our midfield is no better than top 8, and probably the reason we finished 8th last season.  Our defence got a lot of stick in the last 15 games of last season, but to be fair the ball was either up front or at the back. It was very rarely in the control of our midfield. 

So for me, I am with Super Rams that another quality midfielder is definitely what we need. The best form of defence is attack. The best way to attack is with a fit and experienced playmaker.  Somewhere out there please let there be another Ace.

completely disagree with this statement. Doubt there is not 1 side in this div that thorne and hughes would not easily walk into and not that many that Hendrick and Bryson wouldn't. 

[i-Ram]

Nice to see Gypsy, Tombo and the Rev on here. Lets have a night in with a few Babychams x 

[Tombo]

Nice to see Gypsy, Tombo and the Rev on here. Lets have a night in with a few Babychams x 

Pass.

[Cam the Ram]

I suggested you were a child, because you make a childish comment like "did you sleep for the last few months of last season". You then reinforce the offence by suggesting that I might not realise that the team I support is in the Championship. You now tell me I am "idiotic" to blame our lack of promotion being simply down to our midfield.  I didn't say we lost out only because of our midfield, I more simply argued the point that too many on here think our midfield really good where in reality it is a knee injury away from being a serious deficiency for us this year.  

So in summary you you say you are not going to insult me, but you insult me twice in each of your last 2 posts.  That is fair enough. I quite like a bit of give and take. You child.

 

"The reason we are in the championship this season is that late last season our midfield was not able to act as an intermediary between the attack and the defence." 

Sure seems like you blamed it all on the midfield to me. And my comment on your statement being idiotic wasn't intended to be an insult so I apologise, it was just me trying to show how strongly I disagreed with that particular statement.

But regardless of that, calling someone a child? As I said in a previous post, I'm sorry my Mum and Dad didn't create me before yours did you. If you being older than me makes me inferior to you then I bow down to your superior knowledge.

I'll say again, sorry if it came across as me insulting you, but I was just trying to spark a conversation/debate and in return was called a child which I didn't really appreciate.

[Gypsy Ram]

Pass.

Douche...

[i-Ram]

"The reason we are in the championship this season is that late last season our midfield was not able to act as an intermediary between the attack and the defence." 

Sure seems like you blamed it all on the midfield to me. And my comment on your statement being idiotic wasn't intended to be an insult so I apologise, it was just me trying to show how strongly I disagreed with that particular statement.

But regardless of that, calling someone a child? As I said in a previous post, I'm sorry my Mum and Dad didn't create me before yours did you. If you being older than me makes me inferior to you then I bow down to your superior knowledge.

I'll say again, sorry if it came across as me insulting you, but I was just trying to spark a conversation/debate and in return was called a child which I didn't really appreciate.

I am always happy to give it out, and happy to take it Cam. Equally I am happy to accept an apology, and to offer one myself.

You would be grumpy too perhaps if you never had a Mum and Dad.

Re. the debate lets just agree you are wrong  - if anything happens to Thorne (or Hughes) and we do not cover adequately then we will not make top two this season.

Edit. Going to bed now.