Mark Hudson

Far be it for me to single out one player (unless its Soloman Taiwo, but then I#m not sure if he actually is a footballer) but DJ#s insistance on keeping Mark Hudson both in the team and as captain is increasingly worrying for me.

At the Muni, PR is quoted as saying the football management thought Hudson was our best player against Ipswich. I look at this two ways. If he was, he was the best of an appalling bunch and also, this is the same football management who oversaw a one nil lead slip away to a two one defeat. Not saying much.

His communication amongst the backline and his keeper is terrible and he certainly isn't the inspirational leader you look to when the chips are down, he isn't particularly brilliant in the air, he's abysmal with ball at feet and he has an annoying tendancy to dive in for challenges and miss, leaving us a man short under attack. Darren Purse came in for a lot of flak from fans at time, but, even though he was prone to the odd mistake, at least he had heart. At least he cared. We got rid of Purse on a free and then actually paid Charlton (a club that got relegated last season - warning signs anyone) allegedly a million pounds plus for a player half the calibre - and then made him skipper.

I think one of the only players who has shown any passion this season, Anthony Gerrard, was sat on the bench on saturday, while Hudson partnered Gabor Gyepes at the heart of the defence. Gerrard isn't the finished article yet, and he certainly won't become it whilst sat on the sidelines. He needs to play. He needs Championship experience week in, week out. I would love to see Gyepes and Gerrard playing together. Both fantastic in the air, both like getting stuck in. Okay, they lack a bit of pace, but then the defence isn't any quicker with Hudson.

So, Dave, if you have any sense or passion for the club, please give Gerrard and Gyepes a go and drop your 'blue eyed boy'.

My brother and I were discussing this on Sunday and said it was ironic that in our depressing defeat, one of the few lights from the game was Mark Hudson. Saying that, his good performances haven't been frequent enough in my eyes.

I said to my brother how much of a gamble it was to make a new player captain when we had no idea how he would settle into our side or the Cardiff area. Who else did we have? No-one really but I would have rather had Ledley or McPhail as captain until Hudson had proved his worth. The trouble with a captain is you can't really drop him because it's announcing you've made a mistake. Jones won't drop Hudson unless he absolutely has to (remember when Purse was captain and was constantly played despite making mistakes instead of us playing Johnson?). Personally, I would make Hudson club captain and make Gerrard team captain. I'd like to see the defensive partnership of Gyepes and Gerrard but after how they were against Ipswich I'm willing to give Gyepes and Hudson a stay of execution. Hudson's walking on thin ice though.

HUDSON and his charlton went crashing out of the champoinship last season!!! taking heavey and shock defeats

We are going the same way!! he's useless

I think it's harsh to blame a single player for a whole team's demise. I mean lots of teams that have performed poorly have quality players e.g. Newcastle with Nolan, Middlesbrough with Johnson, Jonjo Shelvey at Charlton etc.

He's showed signs of what he can do but he's the epitome of what we are... inconsistent.

I think Jones has to keep faith with Hudson because he has to justify spending the exorbitant fee he paid. It's the only possible explanation I can think of.

As for Gerard being raw, I seem to remember Loovens and Johnson being exactly the same. Personally, I can see parrallels between those 2 and Gerard. Give him a go alongside Gyepes, let them make mistakes, but let them grow as a partnership. It's the only way forward in my opinion

Nottage Blue, that's a lot of sense. I will use an example of a certain Rob Earnshaw and Cameron Jerome. At the time some said they weren't ready but they were gambled (in Jerome's case we had to play him) and it paid off. The same goes for Ledley, Ramsey and Matthews. There's no right time to chuck a youngster in so I am all for putting youth in to gain some experience. If Matthews does average this season and it makes him better then so be it. I'd rather an average Matthews than an average Quinn. Luckily Matthews hasn't been average so it's even better!

Yes, Zabier, I agree completely. It's the old adage about how do you get experience if you aren't given any. If he has faith in the youngsters ability (and, in Gerard's case, he paid a fee for him, so he must have rated him) he'll let them play.

But I have a feeling with Jones, he doesn't really like playing young players when he can have older, more experienced players in the team instead. This may seem a strange thing to say, but if you think about it, he has only blooded the young players when he absolutely has to and would prefer to stick to lder, more experienced players, no matter how bad they are

He's obviously a follower of the phrase 'there's no substitute for experience' or 'you won't win anything with kids'.

Got to be

Totally disagree.

Hudson has done a decent job so far.

I'm amazed why he gets so much stick from some.

As for comparison with Purse, I liked Purse, but he was going downhill fast. Wednesday gave him a 3-year contract. Do you think we should have matched it ? If you do then you are a mug. Purse can't even get into Sheffield Wednesday side.

Similarly I like Kennedy, but how many more goals do we have to concede from his side before a change is made there.

All opinions, but I reckon many made their mind up about Hudson before he even arrived, through either a. sympathy for Purse b. the 'rumoured' fee , and 'rumoured wages' c. the fact that he played for Charlton when they went down - ignoring the fact he also played for palace when they went up, and when they reached the play-offs, or d. just because they don't like Jones and want to find another reason to slag him off. e. Want Gerrard to play because he has a cool name and kisses the badge ?

Don't go on about pace, thats not why he's in the side, he's there to win headers, getin tackles etc.. which he did very well on Sunday and also at Barnsley. Pacy centere halfs are rare as good headers of the ball with pace usually turn out to be strikers. None of the followng have any pace anyway - Loovens, Johnson, errard, Gyepes, Collins, Vidmar - the only pacy centre half we had was gabbi. Luckily for Johnson, Loovens, Purse etc.. we had Kevin mac to clear up the mess, rather than a guy who's legs are going who is only playing full back as he's too slow now to play his former position of winger.

Surely it can't be on football reasons when it seems most of the other players who in general are doing worse, and certainly showing less committment.

Anyway, thats an alternative opinion for you

I don't think Hudson is better than the other 2 centre backs we have. I haven't got any ulterior motives for saying this other than the fact I think that the other 2 are better at the basics and could develop into a better partnership

Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with Hudson ?

Would like to see Gypes and Gerrard at centre half.

Centre midfield is our main woe

I think Hudson's main problem is that he cost £1m and he just isn't worth that much money. But out of the three main cd we have there isn't much between them all I would play Gerrard plus one other as I feel Gerrard would benefit
Most by playing.

I would agree that £1m is too much for Hudson. But I would also say that on current form Hudson and Gypes are the two best centre backs. Many would argue that Hudson is one of the few who comes out of the last 2 games with any credit.

Gerrard will come good (possible future captain) but I think this is the right time to take him out of the firing line. Sometimes at CB the pairing is more important than the individuals and I think that is where we are at the moment.

Like I said I feel it's similar to when we had Purse and Loovens with Johnson on the bench. We wanted Johnson playing instead of Purse but Jones held off. Finally when Jones changed it he didn't look back. Keep with Hudson and Gyepes until they give Jones a reason not to play them. Gerrard has been decent and I'd like to see him play but you can't change a working formula.

Like I said I feel it's similar to when we had Purse and Loovens with Johnson on the bench. We wanted Johnson playing instead of Purse but Jones held off. Finally when Jones changed it he didn't look back. Keep with Hudson and Gyepes until they give Jones a reason not to play them. Gerrard has been decent and I'd like to see him play but you can't change a working formula.

Purse and Loovens were our centre halfs when we were top of the league, their partnership at the start was superb.

It was only the season after that Johnson took Purse's place.