Strangeways Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Great to see him getting another chance, and i think he's only going to get Better & Better with match practice. NRC for england. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry'sboots Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 he gives opposing midfielders acres of space to play in & is often slow to get back in position Stan???? Coker will track back and close the runners down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 MON didn't think he was a starter and neither has KM, I wonder if the new manager will feel differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edinburgh-Villa Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 His only quality as a footballer as I see it, is his ability to win the ball in a tackle. However, that becomes null and void when you more often than not immediately give the ball away again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 If he dropped his delusions of grandeur ('I'm a box to box to midfielder'...), learnt to be disciplined as a holding player, sitting in midfield and keeping it simple, learnt more positional play from that position, read the game from that position much better (rather than do what he does now, which is react to whats happening rather than snuff it out with his presence/position), learnt to nick the ball off a player like Petrov can, rather than steam in, learnt to control a ball with finesse, learnt how to hold possession, and never ever took a shot again in his life, I'd think he'd be great. Sadly, what he actually does is steam into someone, either make a sliding tackle or just kick it off their toe to everywhere but his own possession, normally just into some free space for another runner from their end to grab onto (and thus starting the whole charade again until it falls to a Villa man or into touch). The times when he intercepts a pass, or is passed to, he 90% of the time either dwells on the ball for an age during which time he seems unable to control the thing and gets pounced on by everything within 20yards, buggering any approach play up, or if he chooses to run with it he punts it miles away from his foot, hasn't the vision or the skill to regularly create anything, and then cocks it up somehow. The amount of times he just runs towards goal and you just know not a thing is going through his head other than 'FORWARD!'. After which he either loses the ball or some other way **** up the attack and generally leaves us short, similar to Laursen when he went through his 'must head everything' phase, left holes all over the shop. If he could manage to become a simple holding player, I'd be singing his praises. If he could manage to become an Essien type all action mid, I'd be singing his praises. Unfortunately, what he is, is a shit box to box player who thinks holding is beneath him, with **** all skill (and I believe the defensive side of the game is a skill, and it isn't all just tackling, it's positional) and atrocious technique at just about everything, and no brain. His endeavour is fantastic but we're past that. 'Trying' only gets you so far, at the sharp end you need to start backing it up with something else, and he can't. Or won't. He is at best a squad player, ideally should have been out the door a while ago, and only hasn't been seemingly because we've been unable to purchase someone to make him obsolete, which is a travesty. O'Neills worst signing, in my view, by miles. Big-ish money on potential he's never filled and never had threatened to fulfill. A decent season when we were still pretty mediocre, and the moment he had helped us past that point his first team use expired unless his potential became fulfilled and he became 'The Makelele with Legs'. He didn't. Thats why I'm not a fan. (Though of course we've heard all that and the counters before...). I'm not that surprised he's quite so liked. People love a trier, and those who look to be working hard. Post of the Year. Easy to see you know your football Chindie and don't wear the claret and blue specs (that so many on here wear) when judging one of our players. As for him being O'Neills worst signing Sidwell and Davies give him some competition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claret75 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Fan. Should be captain. This for me. I agree with most that he should be a holding/sitting/defensive midfielder BUT its bloody hard to do that when he plays alongside Stan! If Nige doesn't make the lungbursting runs Stan certainly isn't going to!! He played the DCM role really well when we beat Bolton last year. This was the only chance he got in a 4-4-2 alongside someone other than Stan and anyone that can make a CM pairing look good with Sidders in needs some praise IMO. I would have loved to have seen him given a chance alongside Jimmy - that would have been an energetic CM pairing. My CM would be: ------------ NRC ----------- ----------------- Delph ---- ---- SI --------------------- I would love to see this. NRC as captain would be a disaster. Does playing well against Bolton make him a good PL player? NRC and Delph in a CM partnership? While Delph is a very promising player, he's still totally unproven at this level and has had a bad injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc89 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I don't think NRC has ever stated, or even intimate, his ability is more than a holding midfielder, if anything he has welcomed the defensive role and done it effectively for the club. He's stated on numerous occasions that he sees himself as a box to box midfielder but is happy to play as a holding midfielder if required.I don't believe he has directly articulated that he believes himself to be better than a holding midfielder, if anything, he has played in plenty of positions for the club and has been effective in these areas for us. If I wanted to be pedantic, which I believe people to be doing so with NRC, I could dismiss other players at the club with the same criticism used for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claret75 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I don't think NRC has ever stated, or even intimate, his ability is more than a holding midfielder, if anything he has welcomed the defensive role and done it effectively for the club. He's stated on numerous occasions that he sees himself as a box to box midfielder but is happy to play as a holding midfielder if required.I don't believe he has directly articulated that he believes himself to be better than a holding midfielder, if anything, he has played in plenty of positions for the club and has been effective in these areas for us. If I wanted to be pedantic, which I believe people to be doing so with NRC, I could dismiss other players at the club with the same criticism used for him. How is anyone being pedantic? Which other players could you dismiss for having no footballing brain and lack of skill? None in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I like Reo-Coker and definitely think there is a role for him in the team. One of the big disappointments for me of MONs decision making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc89 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I don't think NRC has ever stated, or even intimate, his ability is more than a holding midfielder, if anything he has welcomed the defensive role and done it effectively for the club. He's stated on numerous occasions that he sees himself as a box to box midfielder but is happy to play as a holding midfielder if required.I don't believe he has directly articulated that he believes himself to be better than a holding midfielder, if anything, he has played in plenty of positions for the club and has been effective in these areas for us. If I wanted to be pedantic, which I believe people to be doing so with NRC, I could dismiss other players at the club with the same criticism used for him. How is anyone being pedantic? Which other players could you dismiss for having no footballing brain and lack of skill? None in my book.I think there's quite a few in my opinion if we use the criteria judging NRC's ability, I'm not going to name players as it detracts from their own qualities for the team. NRC has rarely had a bad game for us, yet certain people try to make out that it's the quality of the opposition if he appears to be playing well for the club, it's pure nonsense and very unconscious of the influence he has on the side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I don't think NRC has ever stated, or even intimate, his ability is more than a holding midfielder, if anything he has welcomed the defensive role and done it effectively for the club. He's stated on numerous occasions that he sees himself as a box to box midfielder but is happy to play as a holding midfielder if required.I don't believe he has directly articulated that he believes himself to be better than a holding midfielder, if anything, he has played in plenty of positions for the club and has been effective in these areas for us. If I wanted to be pedantic, which I believe people to be doing so with NRC, I could dismiss other players at the club with the same criticism used for him. How is anyone being pedantic? Which other players could you dismiss for having no footballing brain and lack of skill? None in my book. I'd say his footballing brain is average, he knows what he's doing on the pitch, like Agbonlahor, Agbonlahor is vital to us but isn't the greatest player when it comes down to skill, football brain etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustenTasseltine Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Poor footballer. A central midfielder that cannot pass a football is an utter joke. How he has so many fans I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Given a run of games, I always think we will see something quite extraordinary from NRC. Shame he doesnt get a constistent run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Lol. Thought first of all this was a thread challenging NRC over whether he was a true Villa fan. I'm a Villa fan and an admirer of NRC. Glad to have him in the squad, although he hasn't turned out to be quite as good as I expected when he first arrived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straygoat Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 He's poor. The only reason people like him is because he has certain qualities that are really missing in our midfield - energy and aggression. He can't pass to save his life and for a top flight midfielder, that's pretty shocking. What we need is a player who gives us the footballing brain and technique of Petrov combined with NRC's athleticism and aggression. Then we might have a midfield that can actually keep the ball for more than 2 passes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc89 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Poor footballer. A central midfielder that cannot pass a football is an utter joke. How he has so many fans I have no idea. Still flying on that myth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granville Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I'd say his footballing brain is average, he knows what he's doing on the pitch, like Agbonlahor, Agbonlahor is vital to us but isn't the greatest player when it comes down to skill, football brain etc.... One good thing about NRC is that he makes me really appreciate just how skilful gabby is. Sometimes with Milner, Downing, Young and Petrov sliding balls all over the place Gabby looked a bit wooden and unnatural on the ball. However, with Nige about you can see that his first touch dribbling and even passing is actually quite a high standard. Somebody needs to introduce Coker to keepy ups, just so he can begin to understand how to control the ball like a professional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I'd say his footballing brain is average, he knows what he's doing on the pitch, like Agbonlahor, Agbonlahor is vital to us but isn't the greatest player when it comes down to skill, football brain etc.... One good thing about NRC is that he makes me really appreciate just how skilful gabby is. Sometimes with Milner, Downing, Young and Petrov sliding balls all over the place Gabby looked a bit wooden and unnatural on the ball. However, with Nige about you can see that his first touch dribbling and even passing is actually quite a high standard. Somebody needs to introduce Coker to keepy ups, just so he can begin to understand how to control the ball like a professional. For me, it's just lies because he looks uncomfortable on the ball. In the Everton game, I can't remember him being caught on the ball apart from once down the left, in fact a few times the ball didn't seem there to be won and he got his body in there and showed good touches to get away from his men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I'd say his footballing brain is average, he knows what he's doing on the pitch, like Agbonlahor, Agbonlahor is vital to us but isn't the greatest player when it comes down to skill, football brain etc.... One good thing about NRC is that he makes me really appreciate just how skilful gabby is. Sometimes with Milner, Downing, Young and Petrov sliding balls all over the place Gabby looked a bit wooden and unnatural on the ball. However, with Nige about you can see that his first touch dribbling and even passing is actually quite a high standard. Somebody needs to introduce Coker to keepy ups, just so he can begin to understand how to control the ball like a professional. For me, it's just lies because he looks uncomfortable on the ball. In the Everton game, I can't remember him being caught on the ball apart from once down the left, in fact a few times the ball didn't seem there to be won and he got his body in there and showed good touches to get away from his men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claret75 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I don't think NRC has ever stated, or even intimate, his ability is more than a holding midfielder, if anything he has welcomed the defensive role and done it effectively for the club. He's stated on numerous occasions that he sees himself as a box to box midfielder but is happy to play as a holding midfielder if required.I don't believe he has directly articulated that he believes himself to be better than a holding midfielder, if anything, he has played in plenty of positions for the club and has been effective in these areas for us. If I wanted to be pedantic, which I believe people to be doing so with NRC, I could dismiss other players at the club with the same criticism used for him. How is anyone being pedantic? Which other players could you dismiss for having no footballing brain and lack of skill? None in my book. I'd say his footballing brain is average, he knows what he's doing on the pitch, like Agbonlahor, Agbonlahor is vital to us but isn't the greatest player when it comes down to skill, football brain etc.... Gabby can still improve his awareness, although it's not too bad tbf. NRC can't. Gabby's actually got a decent touch considering his overall make up. His control of the ball whilst running with it is actually pretty good, taking his quickness into account. I'd say he's got a better footballing brain than NRC, my only criticism of Gabby would be his movement in the box, but I guess he makes up for that deficiency by being very good in other areas. He's also a decent finisher and works very hard. NRC is just poor at everything, apart from running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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