Tommy Elphick is rubbish, sorry if this has offended any of you but i'm afraid he is.

[BUTTERBALL]

The main problem in our team at the moment is without question central defence. Elphick is a pale shadow of the player he was in his first season, lacks compsure and pace and makes too many mistakes. He needs a good rest in the reserves.

Virgo is not the player he was here first time around. What happened to the passion and the ability to get stuck in and lead by example?

Tunnicliffe and Wright are probably the best option we have at the moment. We need to offload a couple of players and purchase an experienced, ball playing centre back.

 

[xenophon]

Tunni is the bunny, he carries whoever he partners - Tunnicliffe & Wright at CB for me, Crawley fans raved about Wright in his natural position and couldn't believe Albion are "wasting" him at LB

 

[Spider]

Although the OP was perhaps a bit OTT, I do agree with the fact that Elphick isn't good enough for us at the moment. He was poor throughout last season and has failed to improve this year. It's always difficult to admit where the problems in our team lie, because the players we have in our defence are fan favourites, but realistically neither Virgo, Elphick or Whing are good enough to take the team where we want to be, and performances and results have proved that this year. You can include Kuipers in that group as well - once great, now a back up.

Tunnicliffe and Wright both have potential but as someone mentioned before, how much experience would that back pairing give you?

 

[Napper]

He isn't very good no

 

[New Carpet?]

Tommy Elphick looked such a promising player a couple of seasons ago, a no-nonsense centre-half that seemed the natural successor to Tank.

However, he's properly out of form now, and his performances this season particularly have been poor. You can't fault the work-rate and effort, but he's making far too many mistakes. Maybe a break from the first team will do him good.

If he can recapture his past form, he could easily become the lynchpin of a quality League One and probably also Championship level Albion side.

 

[J2 DOG]

Its quite simple really.They are both capable players but they really dont give a shit!They are quite content in their Div.3 comfort zone,like too many others.Drawing their extravagant salaries.If i had their attitude in my job i would starve.

 

[portlock seagull]

Didn't go y'day but just watched the football league show (isn't it good by the way?) and TE's defending for that 2nd goal was just awful. Really awful.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

If we'd signed Tommy Elphick from another club, he'd be loved. But because he came through our youth system, which is apprently rubbish despite producing several football league players, people don't think he's any good. He is judged at much harsher standards than most, mainly because he's a centre half in my opinion. He, like the rest of the defence, are put under far too much pressure pretty much all game every game. He is a quality defender, and that's why he's in the team ahead of the others.

 

[dougdeep]

If we'd signed Tommy Elphick from another club, he'd be loved. But because he came through our youth system, which is apprently rubbish despite producing several football league players, people don't think he's any good. He is judged at much harsher standards than most, mainly because he's a centre half in my opinion. He, like the rest of the defence, are put under far too much pressure pretty much all game every game. He is a quality defender, and that's why he's in the team ahead of the others.

Nonsense, he hasn't had a good game all season, open your eyes.

 

[portlock seagull]

If we'd signed Tommy Elphick from another club, he'd be loved. But because he came through our youth system, which is apprently rubbish despite producing several football league players, people don't think he's any good. He is judged at much harsher standards than most, mainly because he's a centre half in my opinion. He, like the rest of the defence, are put under far too much pressure pretty much all game every game. He is a quality defender, and that's why he's in the team ahead of the others.

I don't care where he came from. And looking at the Football League show clip, it doesn't seem he came from the FA's school of defending.

 

[BensGrandad]

A lot of our problems ae caused by Kuipers, Elphick and Virgo just pumping the balls straight down the middle and the ball coming straight back at them.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

hurrah lets all get on the back of our players

Rather pathetic isn't it, how exactly is this supposed to help the team improve is beyond me.

Players perform well when they play with belief and with confidence, results haven't been as good as anyone would have liked, but turning on players is definitely one way of making things even worse.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

As I've been saying for a long time, dispense with Elphick and Virgo....get an experienced centre-half and play him alongside Tunny.

Elphick and Virgo are slow, clumsy, do not seem to read or understand much of what is going on around them and way too error prone. Neither of them offer much in my opinion and if we're aiming for the Championship then we need to get shot of them both.

Oh, and that high fiving nonsense is starting to get to me.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Rather pathetic isn't it, how exactly is this supposed to help the team improve is beyond me.

Players perform well when they play with belief and with confidence, results haven't been as good as anyone would have liked, but turning on players is definitely one way of making things even worse.

.....players might perform better when given some belief and confidence but I fail to see how patting Virgo on the back will improve his woeful distribution, sharpen his total lack of awareness of his surroundings and make him read how the game is developing. He is at best a basic footballer, and bugger all is going to improve him at his age.

And besides, how bloody fragile are these players? Virgo is supposed to be a hard man centre half, but he can be undone by some criticism?

 

[NMH]

Look, many NSC posters creamed themselves over what a 'great prospect' he was some seasons ago. He looks lithe and tall, and the kit looks proportional on this tall person.
However, he's a mannequin worthy of the shop window on Queens Road.
When all these people were quivering that we might lose him to a top club, and he would be cherry-picked - no-one came in for him, no-one seemed to make any offers.

He's played basically the same way since all those seasons back, and it's time to face up to the fact that he is Conference level. Virgo somehow managed to earn us a lot of dosh, but that was probably more down to McGoon bigging him up to someone who spoke Sweaty and believed it.

Our defense is rubbish, and it's been - and continues being - proved, week in week out.
We also seem to have picked up the league's castoffs, the players who have no idea how to lay off a ball that can be shot on goal, or players who could shoot on goal, or who want to confuse oppositions by playing the ball on the deck when they get it in the area.

 

[NMH]

.....players might perform better when given some belief and confidence but I fail to see how patting Virgo on the back will improve his woeful distribution, sharpen his total lack of awareness of his surroundings and make him read how the game is developing. He is at best a basic footballer, and bugger all is going to improve him at his age.

And besides, how bloody fragile are these players? Virgo is supposed to be a hard man centre half, but he can be undone by some criticism?

He collected a few cleared balls yesterday that BEGGED to be hit straight back to our forwards, but instead he had to trap the ball and face an oncoming attacker, before putting it into a harmless area where their players were marking us.

IF he instructs ANY of the players around him, he must be whispering because I can never hear him - or see him giving anyone any attention.

Captain? Make me laugh.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

.....players might perform better when given some belief and confidence but I fail to see how patting Virgo on the back will improve his woeful distribution, sharpen his total lack of awareness of his surroundings and make him read how the game is developing. He is at best a basic footballer, and bugger all is going to improve him at his age.

And besides, how bloody fragile are these players? Virgo is supposed to be a hard man centre half, but he can be undone by some criticism?

Look at the Jason Lee - Pineapple on his head senerio a few seasons back, didn't that affect his performances, so yes, crowds on players backs do affect performances, in the same way that signing a players praises and cheering a player on gives them belief.

Would Zamora have been the same player if he got nothing but critism when playing for us, would he have done as well?

 

[throbinson]

Who was at fault for their second goal yesterday? Elphick!

 

[Turkey]

I think he's missed the experience of Butters along side him. Certainly not at his best at the moment.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

What happened to make EVERYONE so angry and miserable? Why must everything on here be about criticising this person, or slagging off that one. As a forum there doesn't seem to be a single player that people won't criticise, except Dicker. You can go through the entire squad and you can bet your life there will be a thread slagging them off, it's a complete nonsense. You all seem to be judging our players by standards that are outrageously unrealistic. You also all seem to lack respect for the team and seem to think football is an easy game to play, and footballers are easy to coach. It's not, and they're not, anyone who has played/coached knows this and for those who haven't, give it a go sometime. You'll be suprised.