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Confirmed: Brett Holman from AZ.


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I think you should give him at least 10 mins on his debut before ripping him apart

I mean, it's only fair

Just for you i'll give him several games. :winkold:

What i'm trying to get at you can read in my other post above.

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This league might suit him because he is a strong guy with a good desire to support attacks rather than carry them; basically a Heskey replacement which means we know what tactic is coming next year.

Sad times but a plan at the least...

I'm not quite sure how a 5'9" quasi-winger is basically a Heskey replacement.

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some people on here seriously need a wake up call.

we've got an established international at his peak for free, and he will be on relatively low wages.

the fact that people don't know who he is shows more ignorance of the game outside the UK, rather than the size of his profile (or ability).

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some people on here seriously need a wake up call.

we've got an established international at his peak for free, and he will be on relatively low wages.

the fact that people don't know who he is shows more ignorance of the game outside the UK, rather than the size of his profile (or ability).

Throw in some appropriate capital letters :winkold: and the man makes a very valid point!

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Aussie mate at work was raving about him today.

Good luck to him. Way l see it is if it works out for him here it's good news for us!

Plenty of our US followers were doing similar about young Bradley last season but he just wasn't good enough.

I'm not saying the same will happen with Holman, I've no idea about him as a player all I'm saying is that just because a few Aussie fans are raving about him it doesn't really mean a great deal.

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I think some people may have been unduly influenced by a youtube video that was made about his performance for Australia against Holland about 3 years ago, which picked out a number of errors, missed passes, etc.

I have no idea how fair a representation this was of how he actually played in the game - as we should be all too aware things can be manipulated very easily on Youtube clips.

Anyone interested in going to the Socceroos website can see how he has performed in more recent matches in Australia's World Cup qualifying campaign, where he has scored some good goals and made assists. Have a look at the home game to Oman in particular (the above link should lead to it).

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Aussie mate at work was raving about him today.

Good luck to him. Way l see it is if it works out for him here it's good news for us!

Plenty of our US followers were doing similar about young Bradley last season but he just wasn't good enough.

I'm not saying the same will happen with Holman, I've no idea about him as a player all I'm saying is that just because a few Aussie fans are raving about him it doesn't really mean a great deal.

Bradley didn't hit the ground running but he wasn't given anything like the chance to prove himself here either and is currently doing very well.

I don't see much raving about Holman either, just that his main assets are energy, stamina and a good work ethic along with being tidy and creating chances. That's enough for encouragement at least.

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Bradley wasnt given anywhere near a fair crack of the whip here. We have never been good at blooding new players into the first team though. We always seem to leave them on the bench. Not because theyre not good enough but because the manager (whoever that may be) is scared to change the lineup from his usual 'tried and tested' formula. Bit of a shit way to do things

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cheers to ajax fan for that assessment

Still.. I think he might make it at Aston Villa, he plays indeed a bit like Dirk Kuyt

will take that quite happily. Honestly, a solid player who'll graft and do the simple things right on a free is fine by me.

Have to say Kuyt scores more goals. Kuyt also played at bigger teams. Holman is a tiny bit more midfielder and Kuyt bit more striker/attacker.

I love, love, love this profile. Excellent work, many thanks. :thumb:

Thanks! To bad Bradley didnt make it, would have thought he was decent enough. Rate him higher than Holman, Holman works much much harder, perhaps that will make the difference.

Anyway if you want to see more than just Youtube videos of Holman. Tonight AZ plays at Udine. Poulsen will play as well, read he might be an Aston Villa target. Though competition will be harder to sign him and he is hard to scout! He is between winger and back, it works well with Holman. Holman does all the work when Poulsen steaming up once again. Defensive wise Poulsen is rubbish.

Other nice/important AZ games you can 'scout/see' Holman yourself: Pick out your favorite :P

Tonight 19:00 (Dutch GMT!) Udinese - AZ (AZ defending 2-0 lead)

22-03 AZ - Heracles (11th in the league) This half final of Dutch cup though

01-04 Vitesse (7th, new richest team in the netherlands!) - AZ

11-04 AZ - Twente (2nd)

14-04 PSV (4th) - AZ

29-04 Feyenoord (6th) - AZ

06-05 AZ - Groningen (9th, last game of the season, most likely the decision who will become Dutch champion..)

Other league games like their first one this weekend vs NAC, you might get problems comparing it to Premier League standards. You can score easily 3 goals vs NAC, have a very good game, but still play bad comparing simply because NAC is not a good team at all. (13th)

Other big games, Dutch cup final! And Europa League quater finals. I think AZ will qualify for both rounds.

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Only watched AZ and Holman sporadically but is it right to expect Holman to be something like a very VERY poor mans James Milner (during his first years when he was used on the flank )for us?

We do need someone who constantly covers ground and puts pressure on the opponents so he may serve a purpose.

Anyone who works hard offers something to the team even a limited player like NRC had his values, im more worried about who will play alongside him

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Bradley wasnt given anywhere near a fair crack of the whip here. We have never been good at blooding new players into the first team though. We always seem to leave them on the bench. Not because theyre not good enough but because the manager (whoever that may be) is scared to change the lineup from his usual 'tried and tested' formula. Bit of a shit way to do things

I don't really buy this, if people are good enough they tend to play if they aren't they don't.

Houllier signed Bradley, took a look at him and didn't really play him and neither did Macallister once we were safe and there was no risk.

I'm not saying he was a bad player I just don't think he was up to/suited to the PL and the pace of the game here and it showed in his performances which I accept were limited.

Performing in different leagues really has no barring at all to a players capability of performing in the PL. Plenty of players succeed abroad in Dutch or Italian football but fail in this country largely due to the pace of the game.

I have no idea about Holman as a player, none at all so I have a completely open mind. My only point is that a player having done well at international level or CL level for that matter isn't really any kind of a guarentee that they will adapt to English football.

Some do, some don't. My point is that we will just have to wait and see we can't write him off or in my opinion have high hopes based on his career to date or the views of those who have watched him for Holland or Australia.

I think this is particularly true of his time in Holland as there have been a number of players with big reputations over there fail entirely over here, Ryan Bable anyone?

Happy we are being proactive in the market though.

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