Greer. Is it just me, or is getting worse?

[narly101]

Ever since Greer has been called up for Scotland he has been dreadful. His through balls have been over hit, his passing has been so wayward. His pace has been even worse than normal, and his positional play has been dire. The only light in an otherwise darkened defensive universe, is his lucky flick on from Habsi's clearance to Baldock.

Its a shame that Hughes has been injured, as after his shift against Spurs, I would have preferred him in Greer's place.

Discuss, please, because Greer is winding me up, and it can't just be me.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

There is something to what you say, certainly he hasn't been quite his old assured self in the last few games. Having said that though, l still like him, l'm still a GG fan, he is our captain and normally a rock in the back four that we can rely on. I'm sure he will come good again.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Ever since Greer has been called up for Scotland he has been dreadful. His through balls have been over hit, his passing has been so wayward. His pace has been even worse than normal, and his positional play has been dire. The only light in an otherwise darkened defensive universe, is his lucky flick on from Habsi's clearance to Baldock.

Its a shame that Hughes has been injured, as after his shift against Spurs, I would have preferred him in Greer's place.

Discuss, please, because Greer is winding me up, and it can't just be me.

Your thread title suggests he was bad before ..i'd agree he hasn't been up to his previous this season standard...and yes since the recent Euros ...off against Middlesbro..poor against Rotherham...and i'd say reasonable against Bournemouth...hopefully this is just a blip in form..after all we don't seem to have any other fit centre halfs in the first team squad currently

 

[British Bulldog]

To me he looks like he's playing with no confidence, belief or desire and when that happens to your captain then you've got problems, It's not just Greer though as it seems to be happening to quite a few of our players.

 

[Napier's Knee]

He was immense before the last international break, immense during it, and has been having a baddish run of form since return. Put that in the mix with Danny getting worse as the season has gone on, the side playing worse as the season goes on and what's the common factor? Our coaching and motivation. Sami is the anti-Midas

 

[Marshy]

Incredibly harsh on Greer, he has been excellent in general this season bar the last couple of games

 

[RyFish]

He's had a bad(ish) couple of games - and was playing well before then - but he did at least have an assist on Saturday.

 

[pigbite]

Don't forget he is playing in system that leaves him and Dunk exposed in any kind of counter attack. That just adds to the pressure that key players like him must be feeling at the moment.

 

[Albion_Dave]

Don't forget he is playing in system that leaves him and Dunk exposed in any kind of counter attack. That just adds to the pressure that key players like him must be feeling at the moment.

Exactly this. There is no midfield in front of the centre backs & half the time there are no fullbacks either.

 

[Gazwag]

You don't stand near to me at the Amex do you. Wayward passes and lucky flick on . I have seen plenty of fantastic 40-50 yard passes this season, including the last few games.

Which player is next to be picked on then, can't be Stockdale at the moment, feel sorry for E Bennett, if he does score two and assist three others there will be moans on Wednesday morning

 

[BensGrandad]

Could it be that he is trying too hard to be a shining example as captain.

 

[mattislost]

someone needs to take him to one side and tell him that he isn't steven ****ing gerrard and to stop trying to hit all of these hollywood passes

 

[Don Quixote]

Well he is looking prone to own goals at the moment, but other than that I think he is still decent.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Someone needs to order Greer to pass to Calde when he's making those frequent runs down the right in acres of space, else the run is entirely wasted

 

[Bold Seagull]

Don't forget he is playing in system that leaves him and Dunk exposed in any kind of counter attack. That just adds to the pressure that key players like him must be feeling at the moment.

Exactly this. There is no midfield in front of the centre backs & half the time there are no fullbacks either.

Completely agree. We're leaving so much space behind the full backs the centre halves are getting pulled about all over the place. They also have reduced options when on the ball as the full backs are so high up.

This high full back tactics is having an incredible negative effect through the whole team. I keep saying it, but I don't get it, I can't see it working, and I want SH to just go back to what we were doing last season, he is being incredibly pig headed about this now.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Someone needs to order Greer to pass to Calde when he's making those frequent runs down the right in acres of space, else the run is entirely wasted

He's not David Beckham though is he. He should have a simple pass on to Calde, or a more ambitious pass to a wide player making a forward run. Otherwise you are basically saying we're a long ball team hitting the channels (which is actually what we are right now, rather alarmingly…).

 

[Monkey Man]

Greer's a good pro and very underrated by a lot of people. His job has generally been to keep the discipline at the back, which is where we've tended to build from in recent seasons, and he's gone about his business calmly and effectively.

He had a shocker against Rotherham but he wasn't the only one. As others have said, he's had a good season until recently and I fully expect that he'll get back on track very soon.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

He's not David Beckham though is he. He should have a simple pass on to Calde, or a more ambitious pass to a wide player making a forward run. Otherwise you are basically saying we're a long ball team hitting the channels (which is actually what we are right now, rather alarmingly…).

Calde's normally no more than about ten yards in front of Greer when Greer's on the ball. Greer simply refuses to pass to him. In our small section of the North, we're convinced that Greer has only got one eye and can't actually see Calde - unlike everybody else in the ground. Greer will always pass the ball inside.

 

[Grombleton]

Blimey, you'd think someone would be allowed to have the odd period of poor form. Obviously not.

Greer has had an awesome season so far - yes he's had a couple of off games but other than that i'd suggest that he's been second to Dunk in the POTS stakes so far. We're very lucky to have him at the back and have been for a few years now.

 

[pigbite]

Completely agree. We're leaving so much space behind the full backs the centre halves are getting pulled about all over the place. They also have reduced options when on the ball as the full backs are so high up.

This high full back tactics is having an incredible negative effect through the whole team. I keep saying it, but I don't get it, I can't see it working, and I want SH to just go back to what we were doing last season, he is being incredibly pig headed about this now.

This is all true. The other side to that coin, however, is that we have been creating chances with greater numbers in attack, even if we look a little slow at times. The stats show we are one of the best teams in the league at creating chances but extremely profligate and simply not putting enough away.

The way we are currently playing requires that (1) we take the chances and make sure we end up scoring more than we give away and (2) the full backs and defensive midfielders are capable at playing the role required of them. At the moment (1) is not happening and the team struggles to play the system to meet the demands of (2). The system is being exposed because our CBs are being required not just to defend as a pair but also score our goals. If our front men were scoring then I think the tone of the board would be alot different.

So... we just come back to the the perennial questions - is this the fault of Sami or the players? Is it recoverable? Should Sami go now and some of the players in 8 weeks?