Grimes

[Pentyrchjack]

Grimes is doing his job. I am not being controversial. Williams with a ten foot high periscope would be happy with the work there.

Listening to LW his concern appears to be quality in the final third. No point lamenting the Dyer etc days hopefully we will get a better tune up front soon.

There have been some good crosses and let's leave it there.

Grimes is our captain and each to his or her own opinion. I would hate to lose him this season but if he
moves on next season due to a poor season, I wish him the best.

I have defended Grimes from bricbats for some time. However, my patience has worn out. The way we play with everything going through him is suffocating our game.

We had a few attaching throw ins and free kicks today but instead of moving the ball up the pitch he went backwards to the keeper who then lumped up and we lost possession as no better than a 50/50 ball.

Grimes" free kicks and corners were abysmal as well.

Late on in the second half we had a free kick on the right side which needed a right footed kicker but Grimes took it with his left foot and it was too close to the keeper. It needed a right footed fast outswinger.

 

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Grimes is doing his job. I am not being controversial. Williams with a ten foot high periscope would be happy with the work there.

Listening to LW his concern appears to be quality in the final third. No point lamenting the Dyer etc days hopefully we will get a better tune up front soon.

There have been some good crosses and let's leave it there.

Grimes is our captain and each to his or her own opinion. I would hate to lose him this season but if he
moves on next season due to a poor season, I wish him the best.

Yeah, I find this a bit of an odd thread. Grimes is doing exactly what he's told by the various managers he's played under and they are presumably telling him to play it safe (perhaps recognising that he can't really play more creatively, as none of him have taken him to their new clubs). If they wanted quick movement up the field and he was slowing it down, he'd be dropped or subbed right away.

I went to a 0-0 away to Huddersfield under Martin and there were three of four times in the first half where Ntcham had the ball 5 yards in from the left touch line and Manning was stood on the touchline not moving an inch. A few people (including myself) were bollocking him for it but none of the managers or players were, so in retrospect, it must have been a cunning tactical ruse, despite looking bonkers to everyone else. Players mostly do as they're instructed to.

 

[TerryPHELAN]

I have defended Grimes from bricbats for some time. However, my patience has worn out. The way we play with everything going through him is suffocating our game.

We had a few attaching throw ins and free kicks today but instead of moving the ball up the pitch he went backwards to the keeper who then lumped up and we lost possession as no better than a 50/50 ball.

Grimes" free kicks and corners were abysmal as well.

Late on in the second half we had a free kick on the right side which needed a right footed kicker but Grimes took it with his left foot and it was too close to the keeper. It needed a right footed fast outswinger.

Don’t talk to me about his set plays. Two free kicks gobbled straight by the keeper and likewise with his corners. If he’s the best set play specialist we have, there must be some stinkers amongst the squad

 

[bakajack]

Don’t talk to me about his set plays. Two free kicks gobbled straight by the keeper and likewise with his corners. If he’s the best set play specialist we have, there must be some stinkers amongst the squad

Bianchini took one corner, which was quite flat with pace and came down to a heading height right on the penalty spot

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

The biggest issue with Grimes is that the other players treat him like a comfort blanket, or like a toddler uses a dummy.

"Give it to Grimesy". Wherever they are on the pitch, "look for Grimesy".

A lot of people say everything goes through him, and they're not wrong either.

I'm actually starting to feel sorry for the guy because, even though he's not that good a player, all the other players seem to want him to take full responsibility for pretty much everything - starting attacks, keeping the ball, helping out at the back.

And no, it's not just Williams, it was happening under Martin, it used to happen under Cooper too, even as far back as Potter.

It's absolutely ridiculous how everything about our side is centred around one very average player. The rest of our squad need to grow a pair and start taking responsibility for themselves instead of lumping it all on one player.

 

[Pentyrchjack]

The biggest issue with Grimes is that the other players treat him like a comfort blanket, or like a toddler uses a dummy.

"Give it to Grimesy". Wherever they are on the pitch, "look for Grimesy".

A lot of people say everything goes through him, and they're not wrong either.

I'm actually starting to feel sorry for the guy because, even though he's not that good a player, all the other players seem to want him to take full responsibility for pretty much everything - starting attacks, keeping the ball, helping out at the back.

And no, it's not just Williams, it was happening under Martin, it used to happen under Cooper too, even as far back as Potter.

It's absolutely ridiculous how everything about our side is centred around one very average player. The rest of our squad need to grow a pair and start taking responsibility for themselves instead of lumping it all on one player.

He's like a wet nurse to the other 10 men on the pitch!

 

[Dr. Winston]

Second half I thought he did OK, but that's the problem.

He's the Captain. The ever present. The fulcrum. Paid £1m a year. We shouldn't have to sift through performances to find the good ones.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

Second half I thought he did OK, but that's the problem.

He's the Captain. The ever present. The fulcrum. Paid £1m a year. We shouldn't have to sift through performances to find the good ones.

Cadleigh had it about right the other day. He's a 1 in 10 player.

The player who's widely regarded - certainly in the media at least - as our best player, our fulcrum. Is as average and as beige and as hot and cold as they come.

And we wonder why we've got problems.

 

[T8AD365]

I always make a point of watching him whenever we concede. He never berates his teammates or tries to organise them or gee them up/encourage them, he just calmly jogs back ready for the kickoff.
He has no qualities that warrant him being captain of this team, he's certainly not a leader

 

[ARQS]

For all the back slapping from Potter, Cooper and Russy, not one of them tried to sign him, did they?

 

[French Jack]

Matthew Grimes has been in our midfield since 2015 and we have not improved in this time!!!!!

 

[Skippyjack]

I said this years ago, 2020.. it's 2024 and we're still stuck in the vortex of bog standard championship obscurity.. he's managed to wrangle a multi million pound contract he's tied and bound, he's got his hands all over the crevice and influence on everyone in football circles as some sort of championship phenomenon.. he had a good game once in a match against Man City and Gareth Southgate that perennial failure said he's got leadership qualities.. he got Northampton relegated in league one for a reason.. and his set pieces are horrendous.. when he does leave we might not get promoted or we might get relegated, but I'll say it, like I said at the time, we won't get promoted with him being front and centre, but he's got too much influence on the group, the manager and everyone involved in the game.. it's one of the weirdest phenomenons in a dog sh*t league like the championship.. I'm glad I'm not paying his multi million pound contract.. fair play though, in what weird world would you pay a second division run of the mill player millions.. we might as well hand Liam Cullen a nice Brucie bonus, 100+ apps and not even 20 goals, 20 appearances in league one and one solitary effort.. if they offer him a new deal they're f*cking nuts.. I'm genuinely smirking at the circus we've become, but then again I'm just shocked that the yank mugs are willing to fund these average lower league plodding footballers on millions..

 

[monmouth]

The biggest issue with Grimes is that the other players treat him like a comfort blanket, or like a toddler uses a dummy.

"Give it to Grimesy". Wherever they are on the pitch, "look for Grimesy".

A lot of people say everything goes through him, and they're not wrong either.

I'm actually starting to feel sorry for the guy because, even though he's not that good a player, all the other players seem to want him to take full responsibility for pretty much everything - starting attacks, keeping the ball, helping out at the back.

And no, it's not just Williams, it was happening under Martin, it used to happen under Cooper too, even as far back as Potter.

It's absolutely ridiculous how everything about our side is centred around one very average player. The rest of our squad need to grow a pair and start taking responsibility for themselves instead of lumping it all on one player.

I think that’s pretty insightful. What he does is not as damaging as what he causes.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

For all the back slapping from Potter, Cooper and Russy, not one of them tried to sign him, did they?

Not only that though:

When sides get relegated from the PL and come down with loads of parachute money, they usually look to sign a Championship-level "sure thing", a seasoned performer who knows the league inside out, someone they can hang their hat on to help get them promoted straight back. You'd think Grimes would surely fit that profile, nearly 300 games now.

6 years since we came down. All that money burning a hole in clubs much bigger than us (like Sheffield United, West Brom etc), scouting reports aplenty, and they've never even had a sniff at Grimes. Think the closest we've come was some very sketchy interest from Fulham about 4 years ago, but even then they never put in a formal bid.

It tells you everything you need to know about how he's regarded outside of Swansea.

 

[Dr. Winston]

The last time his contract was running down he got into the last six months where other clubs were able to talk to him and agree terms on a free transfer. There was no serious interest then either. Somehow he managed to wangle that into a payrise and extended deal.