Matt Grimes

[TerryPHELAN]

Can we get him off set pieces. In fact can he have the captaincy taken off him? In fact can he be dropped?
Or is the skipper undropable?

 

[Itchysphincter]

As much as I hate to say it but probably one of a handful of decent players we have. Always the scapegoat and as rubbish as they all were today he is not the problem.

 

[Dr. Winston]

As much as I hate to say it but probably one of a handful of decent players we have. Always the scapegoat and as rubbish as they all were today he is not the problem.

That's the problem with MG though. He's never the worst player, but a lot of our problems have him at the heart of it.

He's the playmaker who can't. The leader who doesn't. The set piece specialist who isn't. Game after game he plays, and we see the same. Maybe eventually the penny will drop with management and the irreplacable will be found to be easily so. Today should be the final nail in the coffin for those who think that he's in any way, shape or form more important to us than either Paterson or Downes.

The worst part is he's capable of a lot more, but we almost never see it. He's played some lovely through balls for Obafemi in recent games, but seems much happier just passing it directly back to whatever unfortunate defender has hoped that his Captain might take a bit of pressure off him.

 

[Itchysphincter]

As much as I hate to say it but probably one of a handful of decent players we have. Always the scapegoat and as rubbish as they all were today he is not the problem.

That's the problem with MG though. He's never the worst player, but a lot of our problems have him at the heart of it.

He's the playmaker who can't. The leader who doesn't. The set piece specialist who isn't. Game after game he plays, and we see the same. Maybe eventually the penny will drop with management and the irreplacable will be found to be easily so. Today should be the final nail in the coffin for those who think that he's in any way, shape or form more important to us than either Paterson or Downes.

The worst part is he's capable of a lot more, but we almost never see it. He's played some lovely through balls for Obafemi in recent games, but seems much happier just passing it directly back to whatever unfortunate defender has hoped that his Captain might take a bit of pressure off him.

Grimes, Downes, Ntcham, Fulton and maybe Patterson are worthy of any Championship side. Grimes shouldn’t be captain maybe, and shouldn’t be on every set piece, but he is a fulcrum, no doubt about it. Is it really his fault that there’s no options in front of him? Maybe it is his fault but I haven’t arrived there yet,

 

[Dr. Winston]

Is it really his fault that there’s no options in front of him? Maybe it is his fault but I haven’t arrived there yet,

If he bothered to look for the options in front of him more than about 25% of the time I might agree with you. There was a cracking example in the game. We were coming out of defence and the ball was passed to him. The nearest Birmingham player must have been at least 20 yards away. He had time to turn and move the ball forward, but he pinged it straight back where it came from. It happens far, far too much with him.

He's not entirely to blame for our problems, far from it. But we can't grumble about the lack of pace or penentration in our play without considering the guy who never takes two touches when eight will do, or who consistently plays backwards when he has ample opportunity to do otherwise.

I don't doubt that RM loves him. 90%+ pass completion game in game out probably gives the boss a stiffy, but we have to look at how valuable most of that is.

 

[Darran]

I could probably make 90% of his passes.

 

[eteb]

I could probably make 90% of his passes.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Longlostjack]

There’s a player in there but as a holding defensive midfielder- whatever that means - he’s just playing alibi football. Take the captaincy off him and push him forward into an attacking midfielder role.

 

[Evil genius]

Much worse players on pitch . There’s alway a scapegoat and he’s ours. It makes me laugh player of year under potter and still we don’t sing song about him. Yet nitcham plays well once in a while and the crowd go

 

[Dr. Winston]

If anyone is a scapegoat at the minute it's Korey Smith judging by the noises coming from the stands. He's a defensive midfielder who has spent the entire season playing out of position and getting blamed for it.

 

[Itchysphincter]

If anyone is a scapegoat at the minute it's Korey Smith judging by the noises coming from the stands. He's a defensive midfielder who has spent the entire season playing out of position and getting blamed for it.

He was awful yesterday. He doesn’t possess the quality of Grimes so couple that with playing out of position and badly ………. yet he’s likeable and honest, just being asked to play above his level and capabilities. With Fulton getting splinters in his arse this is firmly the fault of the manager.

 

[Swanluke]

Said the same thing for the last two seasons about Grimes. He needs the captaincy off him, play him further forward and let him carry the ball and play some forward passes. The kid has got the ability. How many times during the potter season did we see a great 30 yard crossfield ball from him or even sometimes this season a great through ball. It's like he's been coached to not lose the ball pass five yards.

Downes will always be the better defensive midfielder and can control things. I want Martin to succeed of course and I'm interested who he sees as these "specialists" in some positions we need.

 

[Best_loser]

Grimes really divides opinions which means he isn't that good

 

[Uxy]

To focus on Grimes after that shit show is utterly bizarre and more to do with trying to justify long-held views.

Far more likely candidates are the complete lack of movement from the forward players (which now seems by design rather than accident), a defence that is largely hung out to dry by our system when we lose the ball, and our inability to create anything when Pato isn't playing.

Focusing on the bloke moved back into the holding role (which was odd in itself with Fulton on the bench, but seemingly persona non grata) just seems a little silly.

 

[old cob]

He has the ability, but what he doesn't have is the bottle. He's afraid to try anything productive in case he cocks it up, so he plays it easy.