Mr Skalak

[Stat Brother]

He needs to work on beating his man, but he is arguably the best crosser in the squad, and has great positioning sense and vision. March is a very different player but probably is a better player if he continues his pre injury form.
I would personally alternate them depending on who we are playing.

Well I'm not doing that usually crappy argument thing of saying he offers nothing (his work finding space for the second goal was good) but moments of attacking quality like that are just too rare - I think we will need more than his solid virtues to claim top 2.
If you recall Solly's pre injury form and compare and contrast - is there really a choice?

Once again I feel the need to ask one simple favour:-

FFS can we please leave March out of the equation.


Just let him return to the fold, play a bit, rest a bit, play some more, then see where he's at in pre-season.

Sure that's a bloody long way off, but he's been out of a flippin long time, AGAIN.
He's not strolling back into the starting 11 and he's certainly not picking up where he left off.

Any positive contribution from Solly, this season, needs to be seen for what it is, a feckin minor miracle not some kind of pissing contest.
A contest that will only end up in some nimrod starting a 'get rid' thread when he fails to reach some mythical standard he's never accomplished.

 

[dazzer6666]

Once again I feel the need to ask one simple favour:-

FFS can we please leave March out of the equation.


Just let him return to the fold, play a bit, rest a bit, play some more, then see where he's at in pre-season.

Sure that's a bloody long way off, but he's been out of a flippin long time, AGAIN.
He's not strolling back into the starting 11 and he's certainly not picking up where he left off.

Any positive contribution from Solly, this season, needs to be seen for what it is, a feckin minor miracle not some kind of pissing contest.
A contest that will only end up in some nimrod starting a 'get rid' thread when he fails to reach some mythical standard he's never accomplished.

That.....

Bong was awful when he first came back. CH stuck with him and he's now back to his best.

Duffy was pretty crap in his first couple of games. He's immense now.

If and when Solly gets some game time, please give him a chance. It'll take a while.

 

[GT49er]

Once again I feel the need to ask one simple favour:-

FFS can we please leave March out of the equation.


Just let him return to the fold, play a bit, rest a bit, play some more, then see where he's at in pre-season.

Sure that's a bloody long way off, but he's been out of a flippin long time, AGAIN.
He's not strolling back into the starting 11 and he's certainly not picking up where he left off.

Any positive contribution from Solly, this season, needs to be seen for what it is, a feckin minor miracle not some kind of pissing contest.
A contest that will only end up in some nimrod starting a 'get rid' thread when he fails to reach some mythical standard he's never accomplished.

Injured player gets better and better the longer he is out injured syndrome, I'm afraid.

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

The guy is total quality and I love the little bit of edge he seems to have.

Superb...


TNBA


TTF

 

[amexer]

Difficult to fault Skalak today with the assists but i agree apart from crosses he offers very little. It is my opinion that at home i prefer Murphy who is more direct and more likely to score. Everybody is entitled to there opinion. Anyway what do I know when we were one up i would have taken him off and put Murphy on. One thing i was delighted with Skalak today was his cross with left foot. Something I am sorry to say March would not have been able to do with his right.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Difficult to fault Skalak today with the assists but i agree apart from crosses he offers very little. It is my opinion that at home i prefer Murphy who is more direct and more likely to score. Everybody is entitled to there opinion. Anyway what do I know when we were one up i would have taken him off and put Murphy on. One thing i was delighted with Skalak today was his cross with left foot. Something I am sorry to say March would not have been able to do with his right.

I find this opinion, which seems to be accepted by many on here, to be ridiculously harsh on Skalak. Yes, his biggest strength is crossing, as you'd expect from a winger, but he's working harder now and offers more defensively. Frankly, given the quality of his crossing, if the rest of his game was as good he wouldn't have signed for us and certainly not for £1 million.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Once again I feel the need to ask one simple favour:-

FFS can we please leave March out of the equation.


Just let him return to the fold, play a bit, rest a bit, play some more, then see where he's at in pre-season.

Sure that's a bloody long way off, but he's been out of a flippin long time, AGAIN.
He's not strolling back into the starting 11 and he's certainly not picking up where he left off.

Any positive contribution from Solly, this season, needs to be seen for what it is, a feckin minor miracle not some kind of pissing contest.
A contest that will only end up in some nimrod starting a 'get rid' thread when he fails to reach some mythical standard he's never accomplished.

Completely agree with this. March was amazing for six or seven games last season but, before that, he had not been playing very well (understandably after another long term injury the previous season) and was only still in the team because we lack options. The worry is that he won't get that game time this season because he won't get ahead of Knockaert and so has to get above both Skalak and Murphy, which will be tough. As you say, we need to give him time but I'm pretty sure he won't return with the form he had before his injury.

 

[Silverhatch]

I find this opinion, which seems to be accepted by many on here, to be ridiculously harsh on Skalak. Yes, his biggest strength is crossing, as you'd expect from a winger, but he's working harder now and offers more defensively. Frankly, given the quality of his crossing, if the rest of his game was as good he wouldn't have signed for us and certainly not for £1 million.

Completely this - he's got his limitations but give him the space/time to deliver and boom.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Completely this - he's got his limitations but give him the space/time to deliver and boom.

I do wonder sometimes what people expect from a Championship player. He's been a superb signing for us. So many assists and a couple of great goals last season and he's not even been here a year.

 

[London Irish]

Yep. Agree with that. I tend to ignore his tedious ill-informed ramblings these days

lol here's Simster's aboriginal-hating brother successfully ignoring me again. To be fair at least he isn't claiming to be some kind of footballer like his fellow genetic puddle

 

[London Irish]

Difficult to fault Skalak today with the assists but i agree apart from crosses he offers very little. It is my opinion that at home i prefer Murphy who is more direct and more likely to score. Everybody is entitled to there opinion. Anyway what do I know when we were one up i would have taken him off and put Murphy on. One thing i was delighted with Skalak today was his cross with left foot. Something I am sorry to say March would not have been able to do with his right.

Murphy has been picked ahead of Skalak this season so Hughton has given him his chance. It's not quite happened for him though, has drifted out of games too much after lively spells and now Hughton has gone back to the crossing of Skalak- there's not a lot in it though - it's the same as the big Boro and playoff games when wing duties got shared. Everybody is entitled to their opinion as you say

 

[Stumpy Tim]

lol here's Simster's aboriginal-hating brother successfully ignoring me again. To be fair at least he isn't claiming to be some kind of footballer like his fellow genetic puddle

Says the failing-in-life perma-wrong smug rabid racist that no one likes.

 

[Simster]

Murphy has been picked ahead of Skalak this season so Hughton has given him his chance. It's not quite happened for him though, has drifted out of games too much after lively spells and now Hughton has gone back to the crossing of Skalak- there's not a lot in it though - it's the same as the big Boro and playoff games when wing duties got shared. Everybody is entitled to their opinion as you say

You see this is nearer the mark. Murphy and Skalak bring different skills to the table and they are both excellent players on their day. Murphy is a better player running at full backs and can come inside as well as going wide whereas Jiri's attacking game is all about his delivery. The fact is, we wouldn't have beaten Norwich 5-0 yesterday had Murphy been playing.

 

[Brovion]

I think it's widely recognised how little you know about the game, but this post is particularly chock full of wrong even by your chucklesome standards.

First half he was poor. The physical battle didn't suit him certainly, but it was more annoying to see him not do what he is there for - first time crosses with pleasing accuracy. Too often he was checking onto his other side and losing impetus. But make no mistake about it, second half he was a different player. He is there to create chances. He had a hand in three, including a splendid cross for the Murray header and the corner that Dunk majestically nodded home. if he does nothing else, it barely matters. Players who can cross like that so consistently are like rocking horse sh!t. That's why he plays.

That last sentence sums it up. How often do you hear managers and fans bemoaning the fact that the 'final ball' has let them down? The build-up was good, the movement was good, and then the final ball finds the goalkeeper, the defender or Row Z.

And has has been pointed out David Beckham had a very good career based on little more than the fact that he could put a football exactly where he wanted it. We've all seen pacey wingers who beat their man and then frustratingly waste the final ball. And if Skalak had pace and trickery to go with is delivery skills - he wouldn't be here.

 

[portslade seagull]

And Skalak was a steal at 400k

 

[Honky Tonx]

If only he could run with the ball, take player on and tackle, he'd be quite good. Great at crossing though.

 

[Stat Brother]

If only he could run with the ball, take player on and tackle, he'd be quite good. Great at crossing though.

If he could do all of those he wouldn't be a Championship footballer valued at £400k

 

[Finchley Seagull]

If only he could run with the ball, take player on and tackle, he'd be quite good. Great at crossing though.

As I said earlier in the thread, if Skalak was as good at tackling and taking players on (although he's not as bad at either as some people think), he wouldn't be playing for us. I genuinely don't understand what people expect from a Championship player.

 

[warmleyseagull]

I do wonder sometimes what people expect from a Championship player. He's been a superb signing for us. So many assists and a couple of great goals last season and he's not even been here a year.

Agree. Problem is that he is inconsisent, brilliant one minute and embarrssingly falling over the next, hence the Marmite reactions on here. Personally, I go for his cracking delivery. Two assists yesterday, seems pretty reasonable.

 

[Honky Tonx]

Agree. Problem is that he is inconsisent, brilliant one minute and embarrssingly falling over the next, hence the Marmite reactions on here. Personally, I go for his cracking delivery. Two assists yesterday, seems pretty reasonable.

Totally agree. His dead ball delivery and ability to set up chances is very good. What does one expect from a championship wide man /winger, the ability to go round defenders, run with the ball, not look for another player to pass to the whole time. When Solly is back Mr Skalak will be spending a lot of his time on the bench. Don't get me wrong, I do actually like him. He does do a very good impersonation of NormanWisdom