" A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION? "

A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION :


"DO WE NEED A DEAD BALL SPECIALIST ?".

It is my clear opinion that we are in desparate need of a high quality freekick/corner specialist. Such a player can give us an extra 10 goals a season & possibly double that.


A Whittingham (in his prime) but with more pace, stamina and tackling ability. Of course we can't easily afford or find such a readymade player but we can :

(1) find a Bamba , a Mendez-Laing, a Zohore but for that position. These players are there and we can find one.

(2) make 2 or 3 of our present players e.g. Ralls , Hoilett and ?? Practice for say an extra 1 hr after a team training session. Get 5 apprentices to form a wall and bend around or over it. Take set-pieces or corners & pin-point your target man. Practice makes perfect.

This may be the difference between promotion or not.


Does anyone feel as strongly as I do?

Isn't Tomlin a dead ball specialist? But rolls is a good striker of the ball! We definitely need one to get that all important goal from free kicks.

Tomlin is that player we don't need to find anyone? Warnock is using the team for each game. Tomlin can come on when needed or will start certain games. As we are doing so well I don't think we need to worry as tomlin is there when the time is right. Tuesday maybe?

Tomlin is obviously very capable of being the 1. But his game time is limited. Ralls always took over from whitts last few seasons. Is Feeny? Mendez? Capable of decent free kicks?

A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION :


"DO WE NEED A DEAD BALL SPECIALIST ?".

It is my clear opinion that we are in desparate need of a high quality freekick/corner specialist. Such a player can give us an extra 10 goals a season & possibly double that.


A Whittingham (in his prime) but with more pace, stamina and tackling ability. Of course we can't easily afford or find such a readymade player but we can :

(1) find a Bamba , a Mendez-Laing, a Zohore but for that position. These players are there and we can find one.

(2) make 2 or 3 of our present players e.g. Ralls , Hoilett and ?? Practice for say an extra 1 hr after a team training session. Get 5 apprentices to form a wall and bend around or over it. Take set-pieces or corners & pin-point your target man. Practice makes perfect.

This may be the difference between promotion or not.


Does anyone feel as strongly as I do?

It's a good point.

Hoilett's free kicks yesterday were no threat at all and towards the end Ralls chipped in a free kick from a distance where somebody could have had a shot.

Big Ken had a great free kick against Sheffield United which brought a great save from the keeper and I'd like to see him have a pop from the sort of distance Whittingham used to with his free kicks when he first started with us.

Ralls corners have been fine

We are just a different team nowadays.

Yes we probably would have scored more from set plays if sir Pete was back in his pomp, but Ralls just gives us the all round genuine championship CM qualities that this game plan requires.

It would be nice is one of the full backs or wing forwards could deliver a decent ball from a corner, but alas we don't unless Paterson has it in his locker and he looks a unit who is decent in the air.

On a similar note. I thought Rambos corners were shocking last week as well. Floaty nothing balls. I guess we have just been spoilt over the last decade.

Kenny look like he has a 25m dig on him.

We should look at what we have got within the squad..
Lee Tomlin should be tested to see what he can do..

The other week v QPR I commented to my son how it was such a refreshing change it was to see corners beat the first defender.
Didn't happen too often with Whitts last season.

joe Bennett can take free kicks too

Where was you last season Gaynor?

7 assists don't lie.

Only one player fits Whittingham's bill and that's Tom Cairney, we need him if we go up.

Ralls corners have been fine

never been a big Ralls fan but boy is he proving me wrong..the corners being fine is a bridge too far though..they are not fine.

The other week v QPR I commented to my son how it was such a refreshing change it was to see corners beat the first defender.
Didn't happen too often with Whitts last season.

Tomlin is not that man.
He's been quoted as saying he's not in Whittingham's league when it comes to dead ball situations. Saying that, he can take a free kick and is probably the best we've got.
Yes you can improve at free kicks etc but you can't really train somebody to be a specialist at this - you have to have that skill.

Annis

I couldn't agree more.

At Fulham we had a plethero of free kicks and NONE of them were near the target let alone on target. This is an area that needs attention.

Ceri

Ralls and Hoilett both take corners as good as Whitts ever did. I do wonder who will take our shooting FK but I'm sure someone will surprise me and bang a few in this season.

Ralls and Hoilett both take corners as good as Whitts ever did. I do wonder who will take our shooting FK but I'm sure someone will surprise me and bang a few in this season.

no doubt someone will bang in a free kick or two , and no doubt we will score from a few corners too.
but the first line of this post . bloody hell. thats as wrong as anything ive ever read on here.
all those players and managers he played with and for were wrong.?

Ralls and Hoilett both take corners as good as Whitts ever did. I do wonder who will take our shooting FK but I'm sure someone will surprise me and bang a few in this season.

no doubt someone will bang in a free kick or two , and no doubt we will score from a few corners too.
but the first line of this post . bloody hell. thats as wrong as anything ive ever read on here.
all those players and managers he played with and for were wrong.?

I don't understand what you mean TBH we have and will score as many from corners as last year. Whitts corners were okay as are Ralls and Hoilett. FK's is a different question.

TBH I find this "criticism" a bit churlish.

Zahore was inches away from scoring with a direct free kick in one of the home games.

City have converted from 2 corners I think.

Whittingham's record from direct free kicks in the past 3 odd years was pitiful. Granted he had a few corners converted but I do not think the dead ball delivery is as bad as inferred by OP.

Ralls and Hoilett both take corners as good as Whitts ever did. I do wonder who will take our shooting FK but I'm sure someone will surprise me and bang a few in this season.

no doubt someone will bang in a free kick or two , and no doubt we will score from a few corners too.
but the first line of this post . bloody hell. thats as wrong as anything ive ever read on here.
all those players and managers he played with and for were wrong.?

I don't understand what you mean TBH we have and will score as many from corners as last year. Whitts corners were okay as are Ralls and Hoilett. FK's is a different question.

its obvious you dont understand.
i do get that he wouldnt fit in this team.and i get some of the criticism of him.
but all our managers { 5 } and players { 150 plus } have trusted him with dead balls for years. on top of this a host of pundits { ex coaches,managers,players } have made reference to his superb deliveries.
when litterally hundreds of experts { people who have played/coached/managed } at this level are all saying one thing and you think differently. just maybe your wrong.?
as for clearing the first defender { not your post i know }.. any fool ,even me and im nearly 60, can chip a ball into a 12 yard square area 30 yards away clearing the first defender..my head spins that anyone ever thought that was the only criteria.

Ralls corners have been fine

never been a big Ralls fan but boy is he proving me wrong..the corners being fine is a bridge too far though..they are not fine.

Absolute nonsense been to all home games and 2 away. Ralls for are have been excellent more than just fine. Yes the odd one hasn't but plenty have been on the money. Whitts last year wasn't brilliant all the time.

Ralls could be player of the year the way he is going.

Malky’s money ball philosophy was cutting edge at the time.

He built a team that relied on a dead ball specialist and us scoring a lot of goals from those dead ball situations then stifle the game to death. Corners and free kicks in the last third were our big thing. You knew they were coming but you could do little about it.

In doing that he hid Whitts weaknesses in a 5 man midfield made up of grafters. The result of that was League cup final and playoffs in season 1 then champions season 2………..

The high curling dropping ball at pace to the back stick was a speciality of sheer perfection, when really good keepers looked stupid. In order for us not to be too predictable and for the keeper not to be waiting on the back post we had to have a flat near post routine, sometime we got the flick on or first head sometimes not.

There was no way we could expect a player of that technical ability to have a few extra points in the pace, strength and tackling categories and still be playing in the championship.

Now we have the reverse. We sacrifice technical ability for athleticism and stamina, it’s part of our game plan.

I accept that good managers know what they are doing, far more than the average fan could even begin to contemplate. So when Warnock knew that there was no way he could fit Whitts into his game plan he cut him. Ole and especially Slade had no idea what to do with Whitts and wasted three seasons. We were neither one thing nor the other.

I am not concerned at the set plays. Ralls is adequate and we’ll score a few. But, with such an athletic three man midfield we can afford to play three up top, so a simple punt up field may result in a shot on target. The more shots on target the better chance at winning.

Ralls corners have been fine

never been a big Ralls fan but boy is he proving me wrong..the corners being fine is a bridge too far though..they are not fine.

Absolute nonsense been to all home games and 2 away. Ralls for are have been excellent more than just fine. Yes the odd one hasn't but plenty have been on the money. Whitts last year wasn't brilliant all the time.

Ralls could be player of the year the way he is going.[/quote


yes he could be..but those corners are not by any means fine

Ralls and Hoilett both take corners as good as Whitts ever did. I do wonder who will take our shooting FK but I'm sure someone will surprise me and bang a few in this season.

no doubt someone will bang in a free kick or two , and no doubt we will score from a few corners too.
but the first line of this post . bloody hell. thats as wrong as anything ive ever read on here.
all those players and managers he played with and for were wrong.?

I don't understand what you mean TBH we have and will score as many from corners as last year. Whitts corners were okay as are Ralls and Hoilett. FK's is a different question.

its obvious you dont understand.
i do get that he wouldnt fit in this team.and i get some of the criticism of him.
but all our managers { 5 } and players { 150 plus } have trusted him with dead balls for years. on top of this a host of pundits { ex coaches,managers,players } have made reference to his superb deliveries.
when litterally hundreds of experts { people who have played/coached/managed } at this level are all saying one thing and you think differently. just maybe your wrong.?
as for clearing the first defender { not your post i know }.. any fool ,even me and im nearly 60, can chip a ball into a 12 yard square area 30 yards away clearing the first defender..my head spins that anyone ever thought that was the only criteria.

He already had a monopoly on them by the time Ralls and Hoilett came/got into the team though. It really isn't that hard for a professional footballer to deliver a decent corner and considering some of the players we have to covert such balls we will be top or close to top of goals scored from corners this year just as we was last year when we were second to Newcastle

Ralls corners have been fine

never been a big Ralls fan but boy is he proving me wrong..the corners being fine is a bridge too far though..they are not fine.

Absolute nonsense been to all home games and 2 away. Ralls for are have been excellent more than just fine. Yes the odd one hasn't but plenty have been on the money. Whitts last year wasn't brilliant all the time.

Ralls could be player of the year the way he is going.[/quote


yes he could be..but those corners are not by one of the his games recently were some of the best corners I have seen always on the money. Agree to disagree but I am happy with ralls and our team