Gone off with a knee injury early on at WHL. You'd have to think he'll miss the FA Cup semi final at Wembley next weekend, major blow for him if so.
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Gone off with a knee injury early on at WHL. You'd have to think he'll miss the FA Cup semi final at Wembley next weekend, major blow for him if so.
http://www.football365.com/f365-feat...8/Transfers365
A few good stats to demonstrate how good he was last season.
To be offered a new contract if one can believe The Mirror
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image..._morgan203.jpg
I've said this elsewhere but I think it's time he took O'Sheas place in the side
As good as Clark has been for much of this season, O'Shea was immense against Scotland. Can't imagine a team without him at the moment. Clark and O'Shea is a short-term partnership but may be our best, as opposed to Wilson and O'Shea, when all are fit.Quote:
Originally Posted by backtowalsall
We'll have to agree to disagree about O'Shea vs Scotland.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
But he's still 34. Mother Nature & Father Time are coming for him one way or the other. Gibraltar (a) and Georgia (h) are the perfect fixtures to hand the baton on.
He is the top ranked player in the stats for both Ireland and Villa.
our natural successor to o shea but think O Shea has been really good this campaign and was excellent against scotland absolutely owned fletcher. Clark will add more incisive passing ability but then everyone will freak out when he gives a few balls away. wilsons ambidextrous ability(he is naturally right footed isnt he?) is a major bonus cause Clark certainly isnt.
I agree with you about O'Shea. He wasn't anything like "immense" as described by Ole Ole. O'Shea remains among the worst defenders ever to wear the green of Ireland.Quote:
Originally Posted by backtowalsall
Completely disagree. He has always shown up for his country and always put in an honest and effective performance. Far from the best defender to have worn the green but very, very far from the worst.Quote:
Originally Posted by mark12345
O'Shea was very solid against Scotland by the way.
That's a ridiculous statement to make. He's one of the best defenders ever to wear the green of Ireland - his only misfortune is to have rarely been able to line out with players of his own calibre.Quote:
Originally Posted by mark12345
Ah come on! He helped win a european championship for us under 16 in '98 and has had a very good career since. We were solid as a rock at the back against scotland he did'nt give them one half chance, Its not his fault whelan and hendrick feel asleep for a routine one two. the deflection was pure fluke.Quote:
Originally Posted by mark12345
No blame on him for the goal at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
I haven't watched the game back, so I'm not going to get involved in dissecting his performance against Scotland. But every time the ball goes near him I'm terrified about him giving away a penalty. He is very fond of a bit of holding on and shirt pulling.
He's a penalty waiting to happen that boy.Quote:
Originally Posted by backtowalsall
It was an unlucky deflection for the goal and aside from that he cleared everything that came near him in the air and dealt comfortably with everything on the ground. Completely nullified the threat of Fletcher.Quote:
Originally Posted by mark12345
Ludicrous statement, I think ("among the worst defenders..."). And there are many who will argue that he was something like "immense".
Can I ask how you think Whelan played? I bet you'll tell me he was poor too.
Clark has spent a good portion of his development in the middle of the park and it shows. He has a willingness to try more incisive passes and, of course, these passes are more punishable when they go awry deeper in his own half.Quote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
25 is young enough for a centre half though and I think he has a bright future ahead of him in the green jersey.
Anyone fancy Clark and O'Shea in the centre, Wilson at left back and Brady further up the field? Issue is that I think O'Neill prefers McClean, Walters and McGeady on his wings meaning that Brady's deliveries lead to him being accommodated at left back (no insult intended by using the word "accommodate", I just think he's clearly one of the most technically-gifted attacking footballers we've managed to produce in the last 5 years).
Wilson's a very good centre half but a fairly rubbish full back. Ward is miles better despite the fashion being to pan him. I'd be happy with either Wilson or Clark alongside O'Shea. We need a gnarly old head at the back, so O'Shea has to play, but behind him Clark, Wilson and Keogh are all more comfortable with the ball than without.
Wilson is 27 now. He is coming up on 25 caps. He is the gnarly old head.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
It's Clark and Wilson for me, with Duffy not far away if he gets over his injury.
On the statement that O'Shea is "among the worst defenders ever to wear the green of Ireland", it depends what you mean by play. If you are comparing him to the guys who got a significant number of caps, the like of Dunne, Moran, McCarthy and O'Leary, he probably is. If you include Paul Butler he definitely isn't.
It's just a ridiculous statement that doesn't deserve further analysis really.
But when did that ever stop us in the past eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I put him roughly on a par with Phil Babb.
I have been a critic of O'Shea in the past (over half-a-dozen years ago) but his face fits. We needed a senior statesman at the back with Dunne retiring and he has stepped up to the plate. I think he's been a calming enough influence at the back. I think our faults lie elsewhere.
I think O'Shea is definitely one of the worst multiple league winners, champions league finalists and champions league semi-final goalscorers to ever win around a hundred caps for us.
Well said!Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Top man JOSH.
Irish to the core, yet feckers on here still have a go.
I don't think anyone is questioning his Irishness, his commitment to the cause or what he has achieved as a player.Quote:
Originally Posted by the doc
But he is 34 now. At some point the torch has to be passed on.
At some point absolutely, like...
-When he retires
-When he stops performing
-When we actually have somebody better
Until then there's no question in my mind, we need him and I really hope he's around for another campaign.
Big time. Pace was never really his biggest attribute but he's reading, anticipation and positional awareness were second to nobody against Scotland. That augurs well for another campaign.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Now we have a real disagreement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
He was never lightning fast, but i remember him having a decent turn of pace for a guy his size. I feel that the grabbing, holding and shirt pulling (that has always been part of his game) is becoming more pronounced, and more likely to be noticed by referees, as he slows down.
And then there's the issue of having an orderly handover. We have a couple of decent games coming up. Better to have it happen now than in a years time (still potentially in the run in to a major championship).
I wouldn't make the mistake of calling the Georgia game handy. The only handy game we ever had against them was a friendly, never in qualifying and we've played them quite a bit. The handover will take care of itself, we need to play our strongest team in the short term and he's definitely a part of that. Plus, if we were to try to give Clark, Duffy or whoever some game time, they might learn more alongside O'Shea than anybody else.
I think all Ole meant was that he was never overly reliant on his pace like, say, Rio Ferdinand. Obviously he's only going to be getting slower from here on out but his football brain helps compensate for that.
Hmm. I wouldn't make the mistake of assuming the handover will take care of itself. Take England for example. They struggled in that position when John Terry departed the scene suddenly.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I don't take Georgia lightly, but at the same time it should be a lot easier than Germany. We should be beating them without a lot of fuss.
I don't mean it will take care of itself as if it will definitely go swimmingly. I just mean we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Replacing top players with inferior ones is never going to be a smooth process regardless of whether Clark or whoever have a couple of extra matches in preparation. I accept it doesn't matter who plays against Gibraltar, I'd prefer to keep O'Shea free from any potential injury there anyway, but I'd be slow to take any chances against Georgia, we're not scoring many goals so a concession could be fatal. I'd save the bedding in for friendlies and dead rubbers.
Good players retire and they have to be replaced, it's a part of football. What do you think England should have done differently... the likes of Jagielka, Dawson, Cahill, Lescott, etc. were all used fairly often before Terry retired, they're just not as good as him and never will be. Anyway, how did they struggle exactly? They may have had a couple of different combinations, for various reasons, but they conceded four goals in nine qualifying games without him and were unbeaten. I'd take those kind of struggles once O'Shea leaves the scene. Obviously they'd still be better off with him because he's a top player.
Vlaar out for four months, should mean more responsibility for Clark when the season gets underway.
Better again for Clark is that Vlaar doesn't play for Villa anymore. He's a free agent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
D'oh! I need to lay off the drugs.
With Delph out the door, there's some talk that Clark will be appointed the new captain. Ain't a whole lot of contenders unless Villa were to make a big-ish signing.
Villa need to buy/produce some good players and probably fast. Delp was probably one of their best players and Benteke is going. They have to replace these players and need some more good players too. Villa are a big club and it would be a pity to see them in the championship.Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
Villa would be the team I would follow in the English league, thanks to a certain childhood hero playing #5 for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by seanfhear
If you look at the spine of the team that played in the FA Cup Final, Villa are more or less certain to start next season without Given, Vlaar, Delph, Cleverley and Benteke. There are other good players there who may be able to take on more responsibility, and there have been a few good signings, but Sherwood certainly has a job of work to do.
Mind you, Southampton were faced with something similar last season and look what happened
Shaun Teale?Quote:
Originally Posted by backtowalsall
http://i4.birminghammail.co.uk/incom...s615/teale.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
At least every couple of years there's some mention of Teale.
And we all need to bask in the glory of that 'tache.