Kevin Kilbane - Would you sign him?

[Day]

Still early days I know but has he shown enough that says he can do a job for us, would you be happy for Clough to sign him after his loan spell is up or should we still be looking to bring in another left back....

[Gary Teale]

I know some dont rate him but I think he is pretty steady and thats all we need in that postion. I would keep him for the rest of the season at least

[EastKentRam]

Was poor against Shrewsbury and Watford, players with a bit of pace will have the beating of him very easily.

He's ok till January but i'd like us to finally have some sort of long term player for that position.

[the464444]

I have more faith in him than I do in Roberts due to the vast amount of top-level experience he has and the fact that he seems a lot more steady, but I would still rather we invested in players in the 19-26 bracket.

Crystal Palace have a decent left-back, could be worth a look :mad:

[StaffsRam]

Short term solution - as suggested above, keep until January but look for a longer term alternative in the meantime.

[Gary Teale]

Short term solution - as suggested above, keep until January but look for a longer term alternative in the meantime.

Hasnt Clough been looking for pretty much all the time in charge and hasnt found one, Kilbane isnt a world beater at all but I think he has got better and sharper as he has played games. Why are people so obsessed with age of players and anyone over 30 is over the hill. Lets take this season before planning for the next few

[davenportram]

He did well against Blackpool and Doncaster. Don't forget he hadn't played any football reall until he joined and is still getting his match sharpness back.

Keep until January, if we can get better in then do so. If not keep until end of season.

[rsmini]

Sign Him Up, Sign him Up, Sign Him Up,

he will do for me scored against Donny, looked solid and is an old head. over 100 international caps. Give him a year contract

[ianm]

No a definite weak link, expect teams to target him in next few games. At the moment he gets by by tucking in almost as a left centre-half and getting the left-midfielder to almost play as a left-back. If at any stage he has to face anybody one on one the outcome is inevitable. Expect Roberts to be back in soon.

[Leeds Ram]

not at all, like the poster above said he is our weak link, a lot of the pressure comes from his side and i am not a fan, we need a younger left back i think and someone with a tad more pace.

[Alph]

Nah, i wouldn't sign him.

A bit destructive when we're trying to get it down and play it. His long balls are often aimless.

Still, he doesn't make me want to jump off a cliff.

Just don't think he's very good.

[needles]

We've had much worse. In the absence of a left footed John Brayford clone for £500k, he'll do for me as a stop-gap.

Still wouldn't write Roberts off yet, although I know I'm in a minority. If Croft can make a comeback, so can Roberts.

[Alph]

Yeah, i think some fans have chosen to ignore some of Roberts decent performances. There have been quite a few.

But with other fans i think it's the way Roberts goes about dealing with problems. Probably doesn't inspire confidence. Looks panicky.

Personally i think he can be alright! I don't mind how he deals with things as long as he does. And he's just about even on decent vs terrible performances.

imo like. (Dunna attack me if you hate Roberts)

[Alex W]

Not good enough, which is all down to pace. He's losing his at an alarming rate, though I don't mind him being here till January, he's proving useful.

Roberts is alright, people give him too much hate, he had a much better second half to the season. Some great performances that people ignored because they had already judged him.

Still need to look around for a left back in January, but there aren't that many decent ones around. Full back position is very hard to fill, the best ones are all taken.

[samtheram83]

so i agree with half of what people who don't want him say and most of what those who do want him say.

one of the things i have noticed about "killer" kilbane is how much he communicates and talks to players. after the blackpool game he was straight over to theo, arm round his shoulders, big smiles and talking to him. that shows a good team spirit and motivational ability. Theo looked so happy with whatever he was saying. His older head could come in very handy in the locker room. he has also looked to be getting better with each game which is understandable considering his game time before coming here. He is surprisingly tall and i'm not sure he has lost that much acceleration just against the REALLY quick players he struggles which most people will. Henderson for shrewsbury looked lightning quick not just speedy.

He seems a great guy to have around the place and his interviews show why clough would like him. and he covers all sorts of places with good experience in them all.

Agreed we do need a 1st choice, long term replacement that has potential (yes, a left footed brayford clone please!) but they are pretty few and far between at the moment! the real question for me is if in january we don't sign a young, fast, exciting left back (which i don't think we will) would we want JUST roberts again? for me no thank you. i would prefer kilbane. never seen roberts do and interview but for me off the pitch kilbane already seems to be getting stuck in and who knows could even give Trap a nudge towards hendrick and OB?

perfect scenario:

we sign good young left back with potential and keep kilbane as cover while offloading roberts who seems to rely on confidence too much.

Wow! sorry for the waffle!

[ramesses]

I’ve only seen Kilbane twice, so still too soon to judge (for me anyway).

I’m still grumbling that we sold Moxey to Palace.

[Alph]

Oh yeah, samtheram you've made me want to add.....

(in regards to Kilbane) Seems like a top bloke. Great attitude, decent leadership etc..... but not very good anymore. He's past it.

Wish him luck though. And like i said, doesn't bother me that he plays. Just think we could of perhaps enjoyed more posession without his hoofs.

[NothernRam]

Still need to look around for a left back in January, but there aren't that many decent ones around. Full back position is very hard to fill, the best ones are all taken.

I'm pretty sure there are some decent ones in Europe, Africa, Australia or America.

Shame our scouting network is the worst in the country. I hope we will fix it in the future.

[ianm]

so i agree with half of what people who don't want him say and most of what those who do want him say.

one of the things i have noticed about "killer" kilbane is how much he communicates and talks to players. after the blackpool game he was straight over to theo, arm round his shoulders, big smiles and talking to him. that shows a good team spirit and motivational ability. Theo looked so happy with whatever he was saying. His older head could come in very handy in the locker room. he has also looked to be getting better with each game which is understandable considering his game time before coming here. He is surprisingly tall and i'm not sure he has lost that much acceleration just against the REALLY quick players he struggles which most people will. Henderson for shrewsbury looked lightning quick not just speedy.

He seems a great guy to have around the place and his interviews show why clough would like him. and he covers all sorts of places with good experience in them all.

Agreed we do need a 1st choice, long term replacement that has potential (yes, a left footed brayford clone please!) but they are pretty few and far between at the moment! the real question for me is if in january we don't sign a young, fast, exciting left back (which i don't think we will) would we want JUST roberts again? for me no thank you. i would prefer kilbane. never seen roberts do and interview but for me off the pitch kilbane already seems to be getting stuck in and who knows could even give Trap a nudge towards hendrick and OB?

perfect scenario:

we sign good young left back with potential and keep kilbane as cover while offloading roberts who seems to rely on confidence too much.

Wow! sorry for the waffle!

Why do we want our players playing international football. Risking injury and missing our games whilst we are still paying the players for the privilege.

[trekkie_ram]

Kevin Kilbane is definitely not the answer. He's old, and a stop-gap at best.

I've said all summer (as have many others) that we could use a better left back, but the difference between Kilbane and Roberts is negligible. I'm glad we have injury cover until January, and I'd definitely extend the loan until May if nothing is available in the window, but in the long term we need to look elsewhere.