[Archived] Wigan at home

[islander200]

3 minutes ago, RV Blue said:

Graham of last season, yes. Graham of this season, no.

I'd still rather the Graham of this season play ahead of Emnes.Emnes snatches at too many chances,Graham would have buried that chance Emnes missed against Derby.

[Oldgregg86]

For me emnes and Gallagher would start every game over Graham. The overall contribution of the other two compared to Graham is unquestionable. I know people will point to his goal tally which is a fair point but Gallagher's is not to dissimilar. The difference is when Gallagher isn't scoring his effort to make runs and close defenders down is second to none. I accept Graham is no spring chicken and would be unfair to compare the two, however I don't feel Graham has put anywhere near the commitment and energy levels relevant to him (that's without taking his salary into consideration) for a team stuck in a relegation battle. Graham is no doubt a better finisher than emnes but emnes has been playing in and out the team in various positions and isn't the penalty taker. If he had played the same number of games in Graham's position IMO would not be far off his numbers but would contribute more to the team ie closing down defenders and creating opportunities for other players to score their fair share. taking all that into consideration Graham has to be third for choice for me.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

11 hours ago, rigger said:

Why

Look at the away fixtures coming up. We need as many points as possible from these home games. Looking short term 1 point seems OK but by the end of March we don't want to be looking saying if only we'd beaten the likes of Wigan whilst still in the bottom 3.

[AllRoverAsia]

7 hours ago, islander200 said:

I'd still rather the Graham of this season play ahead of Emnes.Emnes snatches at too many chances,Graham would have buried that chance Emnes missed against Derby.

I like Emnes but he does lose composure and blast away at good chances. Surely that can be corrected  on the training ground. Head down for a start and try and keep the ball down as it naturally rises...being a ball. Simples.

[G Somerset Rover]

Just now, AllRoverAsia said:

I like Emnes but he does lose composure and blast away at good chances. Surely that can be corrected  on the training ground. Head down for a start and try and keep the ball down as it naturally rises...being a ball. Simples.

He's 28/29, the bloke won't change now. It's one of the main reasons why he's now plying his trade in the Championship.

[rigger]

1 hour ago, dingles staying down 4ever said:

Look at the away fixtures coming up. We need as many points as possible from these home games. Looking short term 1 point seems OK but by the end of March we don't want to be looking saying if only we'd beaten the likes of Wigan whilst still in the bottom 3.

But that still does not make it a Must win game, obviously it would be good to win it, but a draw would still keep us above Wigan. I think a more important game to win would be against Bristol City.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

7 hours ago, tomphil said:

Someone was saying a while ago Graham has been carrying a niggle all season that often stops him doing much between games. No idea if correct or not but might explain his fitness and workrate or rather lack of them this season.

Maybe a gaffer now who can manage it right instead of feeding him doughnuts, giving days off and still almost guaranteeing him a start.

I once heard a manager talking about a famous old time striker with a long term back injury problem. He said the guy played on Saturday, couldn't get out of bed on Sunday. He got up for treatment on Monday and Tuesday. . Did some light training on Wednesday and Thursday. He then rested on Friday for the game on Saturday.

Next week - do it all over again.

He also mentioned a famous centre half who wasn't allowed to train indoors because of the condition of his knees.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I once heard a manager talking about a famous old time striker with a long term back injury problem. He said the guy played on Saturday, couldn't get out of bed on Sunday. He got up for treatment on Monday and Tuesday. . Did some light training on Wednesday and Thursday. He then rested on Friday for the game on Saturday.

Next week - do it all over again.

He also mentioned a famous centre half who wasn't allowed to train indoors because of the condition of his knees.

Was this Paul McGrath? He talks about it in his book. he rarely trained because of his knees, but would go out at the weekend and keep up with anyone. Wont a couple of PFA players of the year awards in the process. Also got him turfed out of UTD as instead of training he would go to sit beside the fire in a local pub. Which Fergie wasn't too impressed with. 

[Lancaster Rover]

It was the getting p1ssed sitting by the fire that was the issue.

[alcd]

1 hour ago, AllRoverAsia said:

I like Emnes but he does lose composure and blast away at good chances. Surely that can be corrected  on the training ground. Head down for a start and try and keep the ball down as it naturally rises...being a ball. Simples.

If he hasn't learnt composure at the age of 28 he never will.

[1864roverite]

Happily take a 1-0 win will be hopefully as we reach the airport at tenerife for the trip back home

[Sparks Rover]

2 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

I like Emnes but he does lose composure and blast away at good chances. Surely that can be corrected  on the training ground. Head down for a start and try and keep the ball down as it naturally rises...being a ball. Simples.

I was quite appalled by his performance against United.  He showed that night that he actually can be a premier league player.  Cameras were there, Utd in town.....He was on it proper that night and had Marcos Rojo nearly tied in a knot.  Playing for his next deall when all the while he could do that for us and get us out of the sheit.

[roverstdt]

Emnes is one of the players I would like us to sign at the end of the season once his contract is up. I am assuming the hold up with Mahoney is that he won't sign a new deal until 1) We confirm what league we will be in 2) if he starts more games. To be honest I am quite liking the squad we have now  with the arrival of a few young academy players. I just don't see the point in having Lucas Joao, and Hendrie.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

I was quite appalled by his performance against United.  He showed that night that he actually can be a premier league player.  Cameras were there, Utd in town.....He was on it proper that night and had Marcos Rojo nearly tied in a knot.  Playing for his next deall when all the while he could do that for us and get us out of the sheit.

Hopefully Mowbray can get him motivated like that more regularly. Because he is definitely a handful on his day.

I remember we played Boro a few seasons ago, it may have been under Kean. It was a Friday night game. I am pretty sure he scored and I remember thinking this guy is an absolute handful. He was playing right wing if I remember correctly. Does anyone else remember this game? 

[Lancaster Rover]

We aren't paying Hendrie so it makes no difference if he is here or not really.

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I once heard a manager talking about a famous old time striker with a long term back injury problem. He said the guy played on Saturday, couldn't get out of bed on Sunday. He got up for treatment on Monday and Tuesday. . Did some light training on Wednesday and Thursday. He then rested on Friday for the game on Saturday.

Next week - do it all over again.

He also mentioned a famous centre half who wasn't allowed to train indoors because of the condition of his knees.

Yes i suppose there is a few like that especially when you get to our situation but in my view it still needs a strong manager to oversee it properly otherwise players take the whizz. Graham seemed to be pumping a lot of weights over summer and i think they turn to that a bit if they can't get on the grass all the time which obviously is a way of keeping fit but adds bulk. I would imagine under Coyle they had a lot of time on their hands so heading to the gym is second nature for some.

Hopefully Mowbray has a better plan to utilise the forwards as although Coyle did well rebuilding that area short term he didn't appear to have a clue how to use them effectively.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

18 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Was this Paul McGrath? He talks about it in his book. he rarely trained because of his knees, but would go out at the weekend and keep up with anyone. Wont a couple of PFA players of the year awards in the process. Also got him turfed out of UTD as instead of training he would go to sit beside the fire in a local pub. Which Fergie wasn't too impressed with. 

No it wasn't Paul McGrath although from what I read he was a similar case.

I went to a Sportsman dinner where Dean Saunders was the speaker. Somebody asked him who was the best player he'd ever played with. He named McGrath without hesitation.

[tomphil]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Hopefully Mowbray can get him motivated like that more regularly. Because he is definitely a handful on his day.

I remember we played Boro a few seasons ago, it may have been under Kean. It was a Friday night game. I am pretty sure he scored and I remember thinking this guy is an absolute handful. He was playing right wing if I remember correctly. Does anyone else remember this game? 

Yeah Boro played us off the park that night, Mowbray v Kean = no contest ! Didn't he bail out not long after ?  TM double hero 

[AAK]

1 minute ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

No it wasn't Paul McGrath although from what I read he was a similar case.

I went to a Sportsman dinner where Dean Saunders was the speaker. Somebody asked him who was the best player he'd ever played with. He named McGrath without hesitation.

Ledley King?

[Bigdoggsteel]

44 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

No it wasn't Paul McGrath although from what I read he was a similar case.

I went to a Sportsman dinner where Dean Saunders was the speaker. Somebody asked him who was the best player he'd ever played with. He named McGrath without hesitation.

He was unbelievable. The game V Italy at USA 94 really sticks in my mind. He was swatting Signori and Baggio away like they were non league players. This was when Signori was scoring 30 plus goals a season against notoriously tight Seria A defences. It was amazing. His entire career is just so unbelievable when you consider the issues with his knees and his severe alcohol addiction. In his book he says that at during certain games he had drank so much he night before that he used to see 3 footballs coming at him, so he used to header the middle one. Ferguson said he was the greatest natural athlete he ever saw. Can only wonder what his career would look like if he didn't have those factors impacting him.  His book is a great read. If pretty sad in places. 

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

59 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Yeah Boro played us off the park that night, Mowbray v Kean = no contest ! Didn't he bail out not long after ?  TM double hero 

Ya, I was thinking that it could have been Mowbray alright. I was half prepared to begrudgingly give Kean a chance around this time (Stockholm syndrome perhaps) but after that performance and how they bet us in every way, I said I wasn't going to watch anymore games that season whilst Kean was still there. Ya he left soon after alright, unfortunatley the circus rolled on. Thinking back, how mad was that season in the Championship? Berg, Appleton,Bowyer, players leaving left right and center. How did we even manager to stay up in hindsight? Didn't Berg not win in like 10 games. 

That was a great performance by Boro anyway. Delighted to be reminded that Mowbray was in charge. 

 

[neophox]

WIgans manager has just done an operation and will probably just watching the game...dont know how this will affect the wigan team?

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, neophox said:

WIgans manager has just done an operation and will probably just watching the game...dont know how this will affect the wigan team?

You would have to think good for us 

[Gav]

1 hour ago, Sparks Rover said:

I was quite appalled by his performance against United.  He showed that night that he actually can be a premier league player.  Cameras were there, Utd in town.....He was on it proper that night and had Marcos Rojo nearly tied in a knot.  Playing for his next deall when all the while he could do that for us and get us out of the sheit.

What you describe reminds me of Josh King, a prime example of player that didn't want to be here but was like Messi when given the chance and cameras were rolling in FA Cup.

Not seem much of Emnes myself, but when I've seen him he looks a player, needs consistency, thats why he's here I guess.

[Blow-in]

40 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

He was unbelievable. The game V Italy at USA 94 really sticks in my mind. He was swatting Signori and Baggio away like they were non league players. This was when Signori was scoring 30 plus goals a season against notoriously tight Seria A defences. It was amazing. His entire career is just so unbelievable when you consider the issues with his knees and his severe alcohol addiction. In his book he says that at during certain games he had drank so much he night before that he used to see 3 footballs coming at him, so he used to header the middle one. Ferguson said he was the greatest natural athlete he ever saw. Can only wonder what his career would look like if he didn't have those factors impacting him.  His book is a great read. If pretty sad in places. 

 

Its also worth mentioning that he played that game with virus in his shoulder and couldn't actually move it. If you watch it hangs down swings around completely useless. I would be of the opinion that, that is probably the best single performance I have ever witnessed in a game, even better then Roy Keane getting Utd. through the semi finals of the Champions League against Juventus. Paul was a freak in the way he could get away without training, he was a natural athlete in a way I doubt comes around often.

His Book is the best sports autobiography I have read (although for an enjoyable read you can't beat Pirlo's which is both witty and light) and is far superior to the much vaunted Tony Adams book. To say its sad is an understatement I am not ashamed to admit I cried reading some of it. People are quick to slam alcoholics but when you read about his childhood you can certainly see some of the mitigating circumstances.