Loft.....whats happening?

[Withdean Wanderer]

He's only made a few sub appearances because he is not good enough to command a regular first team place, sometimes not even a spot on the bench.

Hasn't stopped people claiming Fraser is the new Makelele

 

[Simon Morgan]

He's only made a few sub appearances because he is not good enough to command a regular first team place, sometimes not even a spot on the bench.

Exactly. I think people's will for him to be any good clouds their judgement of him as a player. I must admit I kind of did the same last season, but seeing him in action against Doncaster at home in particular (the 2-0 defeat, one of the worst performances I have ever seen) was just embarrassing to be honest. If Wilkins really wants to raise the bar and have a clearout, then why the f*** is Loft still here?

 

[Simon Morgan]

Hasn't stopped people claiming Fraser is the new Makelele

Don't think it works like that to be honest. The people who obsess about Fraser are nearly the same as the people who glorify the minimal contribution of Doug Loft. Fraser gets praise because he has put in some good performances for the first team. Of course he has looked shit as well at times, but there is at least POTENTIAL there. One the Loft-lovers remove their rose-tinted specs, surely they will realise that this is one thing Loft just ain't got.

 

[Withdean Wanderer]

Don't think it works like that to be honest. The people who obsess about Fraser are nearly the same as the people who glorify the minimal contribution of Doug Loft. Fraser gets praise because he has put in some good performances for the first team. Of course he has looked shit as well at times, but there is at least POTENTIAL there. One the Loft-lovers remove their rose-tinted specs, surely they will realise that this is one thing Loft just ain't got.

You haven't got a f***ing clue. How can you say a 22 year old, who's made some impressive performances away from home, and has been good for the reserves all season, has NO potential at all?

FACT - Loft has had his best games away from Withdean, and therefore many haven't seen the best of him.

I don't think he's Ronaldo - but he's certainly not complete lost cause.


Just as a final disagreement - i'd go as far as saying it's the same posters who hate loft that LOVE Fraser.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

decent squad player, who i doubt will kick up a fuss if he aint playing

plus he's probably paid peanuts, so isn't that relevant in terms of freeing up cash

 

[Simon Morgan]

You haven't got a f***ing clue. How can you say a 22 year old, who's made some impressive performances away from home, and has been good for the reserves all season, has NO potential at all?

FACT - Loft has had his best games away from Withdean, and therefore many haven't seen the best of him.

I don't think he's Ronaldo - but he's certainly not complete lost cause.


Just as a final disagreement - i'd go as far as saying it's the same posters who hate loft that LOVE Fraser.

That's a VERY broad generalisation, but yeah if it strengthens your argument. I didn't say Loft completely lacks potential, but he has shown nothing to suggest that he is as good as Fraser is. He has obviously put in some good performances for the reserves and sometimes when he has come on, he hasn't been THAT bad. However, no matter what he is on, using Wilkins' logic of getting rid of Reid, Butters, Martot (who all could have had another year IMO), surely Loft should go as well. No matter what his potential is, he clearly hasn't come any closer to the first team and has been given 2 years to do exactly that. Surely this has to stop some time.

 

[Rookie]

That's a VERY broad generalisation, but yeah if it strengthens your argument. I didn't say Loft completely lacks potential, but he has shown nothing to suggest that he is as good as Fraser is. He has obviously put in some good performances for the reserves and sometimes when he has come on, he hasn't been THAT bad. However, no matter what he is on, using Wilkins' logic of getting rid of Reid, Butters, Martot (who all could have had another year IMO), surely Loft should go as well. No matter what his potential is, he clearly hasn't come any closer to the first team and has been given 2 years to do exactly that. Surely this has to stop some time.

but Martot was never our player, he has been on loan and if you believe the Argus is off to top flight French football. Reid all though a shame would be on a far better wage and would want first team football maybe something Wilkins couldn't offer him + the injuries in the last few years. Agree about Butters think a player/coach role would have been perfect

 

[Simon Morgan]

but Martot was never our player, he has been on loan and if you believe the Argus is off to top flight French football. Reid all though a shame would be on a far better wage and would want first team football maybe something Wilkins couldn't offer him + the injuries in the last few years. Agree about Butters think a player/coach role would have been perfect

I'm not suggesting that those 3 should have had another year, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they did. If I knew there was going to be a clearout of 10 players without knowing who they were, I would bet my bottom dollar that Loft would be one of them. Just find it a very strange decision. Wilkins clearly wants the squad to be a bit fresher and less stagnant. I can't see how Loft rotting away in the reserves is going to help enable this to happen.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

You haven't got a f***ing clue. How can you say a 22 year old, who's made some impressive performances away from home, and has been good for the reserves all season, has NO potential at all?

FACT - Loft has had his best games away from Withdean, and therefore many haven't seen the best of him.

I don't think he's Ronaldo - but he's certainly not complete lost cause.


Just as a final disagreement - i'd go as far as saying it's the same posters who hate loft that LOVE Fraser.

Loft has been given three years to prove himself and he's .... played well in a couple of away games. Fraser ain't brilliant but he's way better than Loft. Loft has been woeful when he's played at the Withdean ..truly woeful.
As for the reserves ... well gatting played well in the reserves but it hasn't transformed into first team performances.

This is about football ability not a fashion parade or how nice a player is.

 

[Frutos]

but Martot was never our player, he has been on loan and if you believe the Argus is off to top flight French football.

2nd flight French football, Metz are rock bottom of Ligue Un.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Loft has been given three years to prove himself and he's .... played well in a couple of away games. Fraser ain't brilliant but he's way better than Loft. Loft has been woeful when he's played at the Withdean ..truly woeful.
As for the reserves ... well gatting played well in the reserves but it hasn't transformed into first team performances.

This is about football ability not a fashion parade or how nice a player is.

Exactly, after 3 and a half years with us you would think he would have moved beyond the might come good category.

In reality he is light weight in the midfield and when he starts games he seems to freeze.

Him and Robinson in a midfield is somewhat of a nightmare scenario, teams will walk through us.

I just hope on signing the contract he gave the club the photos and negatives so we do not have to sign him again.

 

[Simon Morgan]

Loft has been given three years to prove himself and he's .... played well in a couple of away games. Fraser ain't brilliant but he's way better than Loft. Loft has been woeful when he's played at the Withdean ..truly woeful.
As for the reserves ... well gatting played well in the reserves but it hasn't transformed into first team performances.

This is about football ability not a fashion parade or how nice a player is.

Great post, you're very right to point out that Gatting has done little for the first team despite looking good in the reserves.

 

[Elder for England]

thats a rubbish comparison. reid is meant to be at the peak of his career at the moment and has spent the best part of 2 years injured. he won't be one of the cheaper players regarding wages methinks.

loft is a young fringe player and as such is likely to be on a small wage?

they clearly see some potential in him and therefore worth a punt.[/QUOTE]


There is no potential there.

The same is still being said about Gatting. When will Wilkins realise Gatting is shite and good enough for a conference side (if he's lucky).

 

[SI 4 BHA]

It really doesn't matter how cheap he is, he will never make the grade in League 1 so paying him anything is a waste of money. He's conference at best, and that's probably being generous. If you haven't broken into the 1st team in 3 years, you never will, so this is totally pointless!

 

[Scotty Mac]

comparing loft to fraser is ridiculous - fraser is a defensive minded player who sits back and offers very little going forward. loft is a midfield player who looks to get forward, and when he comes on can be very creative and have an influence on changing a game - as he showed at hartlepool when he won the ball back and got the assist for savages goal, cheltenham when he scored himself to get us out of jail, and luton when he was used as a striker. like robinson, he has got to start doing it more consistently though, as opposed to coming off the bench every now and again and looking like a very good player

my guess is that he has been kept because he is different to all of our other central players, in that most of them seem naturally more defensive, while he is more attack minded.

if we were in a losing situation and needed a midfielder to come off the bench and change the game for us, i would go for loft everytime over fraser

 

[Scotty Mac]

It really doesn't matter how cheap he is, he will never make the grade in League 1 so paying him anything is a waste of money. He's conference at best, and that's probably being generous. If you haven't broken into the 1st team in 3 years, you never will, so this is totally pointless!

then why do we still have sullivan, chamberlain and fogden?

it took hammond a fair while from his debut to break into the first team

 

[Uncle Buck]

then why do we still have sullivan, chamberlain and fogden?

it took hammond a fair while from his debut to break into the first team

However unlike Loft, Hammond did show some signs of having a degree of footballing ability. Hammond was loaned to Orient and the reports back were encouraging, where as you do not reall here good things about Loft's run outs for the reserves.

 

[Simon Morgan]

comparing loft to fraser is ridiculous - fraser is a defensive minded player who sits back and offers very little going forward. loft is a midfield player who looks to get forward, and when he comes on can be very creative and have an influence on changing a game - as he showed at hartlepool when he won the ball back and got the assist for savages goal, cheltenham when he scored himself to get us out of jail, and luton when he was used as a striker. like robinson, he has got to start doing it more consistently though, as opposed to coming off the bench every now and again and looking like a very good player

my guess is that he has been kept because he is different to all of our other central players, in that most of them seem naturally more defensive, while he is more attack minded.

if we were in a losing situation and needed a midfielder to come off the bench and change the game for us, i would go for loft everytime over fraser

Fair enough, he won the ball back at Hartlepool, but the amount of lucky ricochets Savage got en route to goal makes it very hard to credit him with an "assist". His goal against Cheltenham was good and fair enough, I heard he played well. Against Luton, he was energetic but I felt he didn't achieve a great deal. Had a good chance and flashed it badly wide. Fraser just appears to have a much cooler head on his shoulders and seems to be able to handle the big occassion much better. Of course neither of them are consistently good, they're very young players. But I think there is a reason why many people rate Fraser quite a lot higher than Loft.