Webbs Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Even worse, Chamakh scored against us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Yeah we had a ridiculous numberber of injuries around that time.....Petrov, Nrc and Sidwell were out injured long term as were most of our strikers. Bannan and Hogg did well for a few games....Man. United of course and also WBA. Arsenal less so especially with fcuking Pires in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaForever1970 Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Not much to do but what he had to do he did well, promising very very promising. I just hope what happened with Cahill doesn't happen with Clark. We get some money for him? One can only hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 I thought he'd be the new Cahill aswell, more like the new Ridgewell I think as if he's going to make a premier league career for himself it's not going to be at centre half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanxamillion Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 When a player suffers a drop in form what is the best course of action for "supporters" to follow? a) Herd together like brainless sheep and form the collective opinion that he is "shit". Make him a bag of nerves so that he has no chance of playing himself back into form and allowing him time to develop as a player? b)Support him, encourage him and give him a positive environment to play in so that he can regain his confidence and fulfill his potential? People who resort to option a) genuinely make me despair. Put yourself in the player's shoes and ask yourself what you would want? Clark has been with the club since he was a very young lad - he deserves to be supported and backed not turned into the latest scapegoat. Scapegoating players does NOT help the club: it creates a horrible vibe in the ground that transfers onto the team. Lift the players don't destroy them. Great post Macca 100% agree. I hate the shit that Bannan has received and Bennett is currently getting. If Bennett doesn't play much this season then the "rent a gob" fans will be looking for their next victim unfortunately it may be Clark. That doesn't mean I support every player like Hutton although I would not give the opposition the advantage by slating a Villa player at a game. I believe that the young players that have come through the ranks deserve our support even if they aren't quite good enough, Lambert will get rid if he thinks they can't do a job for Villa however it seems not before these mouth pieces have destroyed any confidence the player had. 100% Over the passed couple of years the crowd expectancy and vocal disapproval that sometimes cascades from the stands does put extra pressure on the team. In my opinion the play has at times been conservative and cautious as a result of this. Continuing to concede late goals and losing / drawing games we could have won and so on - the disapproval piled on pressure to the players to perform and given the're relative lack of experience in either 1st team appearances or playing in front of large crowds has contributed to the drop in form of quiet a few promising players over this time. Bradford and Millwall seemed to be the watershed for me and I think we all suddenly realized the team needed our SUPPORT and nothing else. It's something that Lambert mentioned from the time he came in and hopefully under his guidance we are now full steam ahead in the right direction. For me the jury is out on Clark and the competition for places will mean unless he comes up to the mark and standard required he'll be in the reserves for some time. Bannan has had his chances and had he got stuck into the task like Sylla has he may have made a better job of his opportunity. Ce La Vie £20k at week they do have a part to play and the clock is ticking. We've still got our job to do in encouraging them all when they pull on the shirt. This time next year we could be league champions 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 (edited) Perhaps someone could suggest a form of words to be used on this forum and from the stands when Clark makes one of his frequent monumental cock-ups and gives away a goal. If pointing out that he makes a lot of cock-ups is now seemingly not acceptable, how should we discuss such events? Edited July 29, 2013 by briny_ear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanxamillion Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Perhaps someone could suggest a form of words to be used on this forum and from the stands when Clark makes one of his frequent monumental cock-ups and gives away a goal. If pointing out that he makes a lot of cock-ups is now seemingly not acceptable, how should we discuss such events? I think we are all agreed that Clark has been found wanting too many times last season and with the arrival of Okora, an improving Baker and a fit Vlaar he won't be in the first 11 too often. With Luna in for Bennett and a much stronger defensive midfield ( Sylla and or Delph with Westwood and Bacuna), - the defense and the goals conceded column will be much improved and we won't have to be pointing out these events Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macca1888 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 When a player suffers a drop in form what is the best course of action for "supporters" to follow? a) Herd together like brainless sheep and form the collective opinion that he is "shit". Make him a bag of nerves so that he has no chance of playing himself back into form and allowing him time to develop as a player? b)Support him, encourage him and give him a positive environment to play in so that he can regain his confidence and fulfill his potential? People who resort to option a) genuinely make me despair. Put yourself in the player's shoes and ask yourself what you would want? Clark has been with the club since he was a very young lad - he deserves to be supported and backed not turned into the latest scapegoat. Scapegoating players does NOT help the club: it creates a horrible vibe in the ground that transfers onto the team. Lift the players don't destroy them. I hear you Macca but you can hardly blame people for discussing his form in this thread. The reason we were in a relegation battle last season was that we couldn't defend, and Clark was a major factor in that. I really thought he'd step up last term but he didn't at all and I feel nervous when he lines up at the back. I think he does as well. He possibly does feel nervous Patrick, which is where we step in and support him through it. The lad made a couple of high-profile errors last season (including one for Ireland) and it will have effected his confidence. Supporters need to lift a player through that kind of stuff, surely? Yes, there's no harm in discussing players' form on the internet BUT sometimes from such discussion we get a bandwagon that inevitably leads to match-day vitriol. There's a tipping point. I've seen it many times, a kind of herd-like mentality that snowballs out of nowhere and leads to match-day abuse. I'd ask fellow fans to simply put themselves in a player's shoes before hurling abuse on a match day - the likes of Ciaran Clark deserve better and I would hope our discussions (and similar discussions elsewhere on the net) don't lead to the making of a new scapegoat. Scapegoating players does not help our cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 To me Clark just seems to be trying too hard! Like he thinks he should be cruyff turning out of danger all the time and flying in winning the ball like a man possessed. He just needs to get back to what he does best, positioning himself well, being disciplined in his marking and staying calm and play the percentages. He has always looked best when he just keeps it simple and focuses on the basics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skarroki Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 i have got a good feeling about him and albrighton this year, i think a full pre-season with a group of similar age players who are all confident and growing together, with a manager like lambert, could really bring out the best in him and put him in the best position to move forward. if this just doesn't happen though he's definitely a great 4th choice CB and could also be sold if he was desperate for 1st team action. pretty much the exact same could be said of Albrighton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Hm. Pre-season doesn't seem to have brought out the best in him so far. I believe in speaking as I find and all this stuff on here about how we've got to post nice things about Clark even though he is performing badly - effectively not telling the truth about his performance - strikes me as a bit bizarre. I'm hoping his manager and colleagues are in any case making clear to him where his game is falling short Edited July 30, 2013 by briny_ear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Biro Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Lambert doesnt strike me as the type to let a player be horrendous and not say anything about it. Honestly i've not any great hopes for clark, everytime he gets the ball i just think right dont cock up now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Like the way Clark showed his critics today he can get a clean sheet. Excellent leadership quality too, patting teammates on the back when they scored, but not being too nancy about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Like the way Clark showed his critics today he can get a clean sheet. Excellent leadership quality too, patting teammates on the back when they scored, but not being too nancy about it. So when Delph scores it's because it's against a League 1 side with no quality but when Clark is part of a back line for 30 minutes that doesn't concede he's 'shown his critics'? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skruff Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Like the way Clark showed his critics today he can get a clean sheet. Excellent leadership quality too, patting teammates on the back when they scored, but not being too nancy about it. Everyone has been patting each other on the back when they've been scoring it got nothing to do with "excellent leadership quality". And I think you're fully aware of that. I believe that Clark could turn out to be a good defender for us if given time seeing that he'll sort out the very basic errors out of his game. But please don't hijack this thread and turn it into a Barry Bannan II thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted August 2, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted August 2, 2013 Uh oh. Is Clark the new Bannan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisVillan Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Like the way Clark showed his critics today he can get a clean sheet. Excellent leadership quality too, patting teammates on the back when they scored, but not being too nancy about it. Oh come on now, you're not even pretending to be serious anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Uh oh. Is Clark the new Bannan? I think a communal use of the ignore function should be considered. For Clark's reputation's sake if nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 i have got a good feeling about him and albrighton this year I seriously doubt either of them will feature much. Clark will be there to cover injuries and maybe play in the early rounds of cups and honestly I can't see where or how albrighton will get minutes on the pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 If Clark doesn't start, and I don't think he should or will (if we play 2 CB, my first choice is Vlaar and Okore), he will be the first sub if we are 1-0 up with 15 minutes to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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