Baird

[jono]

I thought he did a good job. No he didn't raid forward in the same way Fozzy does / did but certainly in the first half he ventured forward with Ince a couple of times and look as positive as he needed to be in the circumstances.He looked very steady throughout the game ( 1 backpass apart ! )

In general terms It does strike me sometimes ( particularly on the right )  that when we do overlap .. the overlaper is providing a distraction and rarely gets given the ball back to go to the byeline which ( as a someone of a certain age ) I like to see

[Lord_Ram]

thought he was solid, it was reminiscent of the wembley season, wisdom so strong and defensive would stay back with the defensive midfielder while fozzy would rampage forward and cause chaos on the left hand side 

[Sexydadbod]

I'm happy with Baird. He is exactly like Wisdom but more experienced. 

[B4ev6is]

I think he was very poor on saturday to slow releasing the ball which stoped our free flowing football.

[RiddingsRam]

I'm still on the fence with Baird!  Had an average game at best at pompey ! Looked OK Saturday little shake your at times but someone with that much experience is surely going to come good !

[Ambitious]

I really like Baird. I think he's an incredibly intelligent player, who rarely loses the ball and leads the team by example. 

He was always going to be made a scapegoat by a select few because he doesn't take players on and hit countless crosses into the box. 

I just think he's figured out that passing a ball tends to move play on quicker than running with the ball. 

[RamNut]

its refeshing to have a defence who look comfortable and a keeper who looks reliable....famous last words.

baird has a calm experienced air about him and looks at this stage like a key member of the new back four.

he is reluctant to overlap, but then i don't think many 30+ full backs do bomb up and down. They save their energy.

i'm not so keen on him in midfield.

I think we have better options. his passing is a bit one dimensional. Doesn't have the range of passing that thorne and hanson can demonstrate.

the most frustrating thing - esp v pompey - was when we worked hard to get the ball out wide to him or hendrick and then they immediately belted it straight back....which should be an immediate yellow card in my book.

[Kernow]

Can you imagine the uproar if Keogh had tried the move against Charlton, where if it wasn't for some good keeping they'd have scored?

[SaintRam]

I watched the full 90 on RamsPlayer yesterday, was kinda focusing on Baird after the criticism I read about him after the game and to be honest I don't really understand it. He overlapped Ince quite a few times, put first time crosses into the box every time and some times when the ball was laid back to him, did very little wrong defensively and when not attacking was pulling players to him, then giving the ball back to Thorne so he had space to do his thing.

Watched the full 90 again figuring I'd obviously missed something, but still no idea what people are harping on about to be honest.

If anyone in that game was guilty of not making his mind up quickly and getting rid of the ball it was Hendrick. He lost the ball more than anyone else.

[Rampage]

Shackell is clearly the captain on the pitch and Baird is there to keep it all laid back with the media and to balance the egos of the other strong characters in the team.

[SaintRam]

Shackell is clearly the captain on the pitch and Baird is there to keep it all laid back with the media and to balance the egos of the other strong characters in the team.

Not sure that Shackell stands out more than others in terms of actions. He shouted (presumably good things) a lot during the game, but not noticeably more than Keogh or Thorne. I agree with your reasoning for why Baird is Captain though definitely.