Fulton

[Blackpooljack]

The biggest problem he's had for the past four years is that he and Grimes were too similar to effectively play together, yet when they did and we were invariably shite only one of them got blamed for it by supporters.

He's still basically the same player he always has been. A dependable physical presence in the middle. Not suitable for all games, and probably not an automatic first choice, but the type of player a squad should have for when the situation requires one.

Pretty much as Sheehan has used him in fact.

The only dependable thing about fulton who stands around and has no positive effect on the the game whatsoever is his dependabilty to boost our yellow card count.

 

[Darran]

He looked perfectly fine after the game anyway.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1919017433655923171

 

[jack_lord]

He has been at the club for 11 years. No drama in that time and get's on with his game. If that lad grimes hadn't been here I think the negatives wouldn't be so obvious. My heart used to sink when we were behind and he was coming on as it was my opinion he wasn't going to change the game but if we were ahead and losing the battle in midfield then you knew he was going to come on and get booked because he has the fight in him. As said above, Grimes killed his game as he does have skill in his game.
Well done for the 11 years. Though I suppose he has been well paid in that time.

 

[cmajack]

He looked perfectly fine after the game anyway.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1919017433655923171

Wouldn't you be smiling picking up his wage every week for doing the princely sum of sweet F A ?

 

[Baron Goblet]

Fulton is good enough

 

[Darran]

Mind you in all fairness to Jay considering several years ago it was reported he’d never play for us again he’s done well.

 

[cmajack]

Fulton is good enough

No pace, no creativity and very few goals. Flynn Downes and Franco have shown up Fulton for what he is, a plodder . If he's that good, how come no other team has come calling for him?

 

[cmajack]

Fulton is good enough

How many Scottish caps has he got then? Even though he was with us in the Premier league. Compare that to Joe Allen.

 

[bakajack]

How many Scottish caps has he got then? Even though he was with us in the Premier league. Compare that to Joe Allen.

On a similar note Franco will surely have ambitions of playing for Portugal some day.
Hopefully that will be with us but surely he would have to be playing Premier League football or a similar level for him to ever receive a call up

 

[Itchysphincter]

Team Fulton.

I’ve said this many times but if you get rid of a reliable soldier like Fulton, who is probably going to play less than 50% of the time, then you have to replace him. So you are not replacing a first team regular but spending good money on transfers plus wages on a new player who is going to be happy to be a stand in, and players like that who are better than Jay Fulton don’t exist. Someone has to explain to me why binning him off would be a better option than keeping him. Remember you’re not replacing a first choice player.

 

[JackSomething]

Team Fulton.

I’ve said this many times but if you get rid of a reliable soldier like Fulton, who is probably going to play less than 50% of the time, then you have to replace him. So you are not replacing a first team regular but spending good money on transfers plus wages on a new player who is going to be happy to be a stand in, and players like that who are better than Jay Fulton don’t exist. Someone has to explain to me why binning him off would be a better option than keeping him. Remember you’re not replacing a first choice player.

Absolutely correct.

I've not seen anyone saying he's great or should be a regular starter, but he does a job here and it's odd that some people can't see the value in that. If we had no issues anywhere else in the squad, then improving on Fulton would definitely be something we could look at, but we have plenty of issues elsewhere that are far more important (2 CM's who can be ahead of him in the pecking order for example).

Fulton is good enough

That's pretty much the perfect short summary.

 

[Itchysphincter]

Absolutely correct.

I've not seen anyone saying he's great or should be a regular starter, but he does a job here and it's odd that some people can't see the value in that. If we had no issues anywhere else in the squad, then improving on Fulton would definitely be something we could look at, but we have plenty of issues elsewhere that are far more important (2 CM's who can be ahead of him in the pecking order for example).



That's pretty much the perfect short summary.

We should be developing our own players who can step into the Fulton role, and then push on to regular if/when they’re good enough. Buying a player to replace someone to take Fulton’s place in the squad is buying someone who is either not good enough to play for their current team, or someone who is no better than Jay.

 

[bakajack]

Absolutely correct.

I've not seen anyone saying he's great or should be a regular starter, but he does a job here and it's odd that some people can't see the value in that. If we had no issues anywhere else in the squad, then improving on Fulton would definitely be something we could look at, but we have plenty of issues elsewhere that are far more important (2 CM's who can be ahead of him in the pecking order for example).



That's pretty much the perfect short summary.

There are arguments from both sides and I see valid points in both.

As a squad player and at 31 years of age he fits a lot of criteria, he is also already ours and we don't need to pay a transfer fee to bring him in. He probably accepts that his place in the pecking order will be low but gets paid pretty well and sees no need to rock that particular boat.

On the other hand, "good enough" is a bit inaccurate in my eyes. Often his first contribution when he comes onto the pitch is to give away 3 or 4 fouls and get booked within minutes of coming on. When you bring on a defensive minded "enforcer" type player thats not what you want, you only need to look at Franco to see how tenacity and aggression can be channelled positively without giving away foul after foul and collecting yellow cards like Ronaldo collects trophies.

 

[Itchysphincter]

There are arguments from both sides and I see valid points in both.

As a squad player and at 31 years of age he fits a lot of criteria, he is also already ours and we don't need to pay a transfer fee to bring him in. He probably accepts that his place in the pecking order will be low but gets paid pretty well and sees no need to rock that particular boat.

On the other hand, "good enough" is a bit inaccurate in my eyes. Often his first contribution when he comes onto the pitch is to give away 3 or 4 fouls and get booked within minutes of coming on. When you bring on a defensive minded "enforcer" type player thats not what you want, you only need to look at Franco to see how tenacity and aggression can be channelled positively without giving away foul after foul and collecting yellow cards like Ronaldo collects trophies.

Players that play a few minutes here and there will never out perform players in the starting 11. They’ll never be as match sharp and it will take time to get performance levels up, it’s apples and oranges and you can’t expect the same levels. As far as implying he’s a liability, lets look at Joe Allen - I’m a huge Joe fan and would forgive him anything but I won’t lie, over the last couple of seasons I was far more worried seeing Joe come on for the last 20 mins than I would be to see Jay coming on.

 

[Blackpooljack]

Players that play a few minutes here and there will never out perform players in the starting 11. They’ll never be as match sharp and it will time to get performance levels up, it’s apples and oranges and you can’t expect the same levels. As far as implying he’s a liability, lets look at Joe Allen - I’m a huge Joe fan and would forgive him anything but I won’t lie, over the last couple of seasons I was far more worried seeing Joe come on for the last 20 mins than I would be to see Jay coming on.

But there's a reason why he only plays a few mins here and there and that reason is that in the main he's guff we dont want 11 players and 5 bench warmers we need 16/17/18 players that can take to the field and change the game Fulton can't change a game unless it's changing your side from having 11 players on the park to only having 10.