In talks with Huddersfield apparently. Not really rated by some during his time here. Must say that i am surprised that he is considered to be Premier League quality. Was it Dortmund who were reputedly in for him before he came to us?
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In talks with Huddersfield apparently. Not really rated by some during his time here. Must say that i am surprised that he is considered to be Premier League quality. Was it Dortmund who were reputedly in for him before he came to us?
Yes, but around the time that Dortmund were signing that Korean who played in a poor Sunderland side and not the one signing Poland's or France's best.
I don't think Malone has enough to make a premier league regular, nor do I think he has it to be in a top championship side, but he clearly has something. He's scored one or two good goals while here but I still don't quite get Fulham or Huddersfield's interest.
Defensively a poor fullback. Fulham use him as a wingback which played to his strengths.
Worst player on the field when Fulham played Spurs in the cup, would struggle big time in the premier.
Not so sure about that. The premier league needs attacking full backs where there is less onus on defending but more on attacking. He'll be ok there. He definitely has a good left foot.Originally Posted by JKB
'Worst player on the pitch' on one occasion is heading to the PL, regardless.
Hudds must have a bit of confidence in the guy, otherwise why would they bother?
Good player, not sure why he was so undervalued here, Fulham definitely got the better end of the bargain with Richards
Not a chance. Very poor stint here.
I think Richards had a lot of skill to be unlocked ,Malone is a decent journeyman footballer .
As remarked earlier in the thread, Malone had a mare against Spurs, but I must say that for more of last season, he looked like someone who could play in the Premier League. I say that as someone who was pretty critical of him while he was here and was not bothered at all when he left. I reckon Fulham manager Slaviša Jokanović deserved the credit for, first, seeing what Malone was capable of and then, in a manner that Russell Slade could never emulate, actually getting the best out of him, whereas all we saw here was the odd flash of potential and ability, mixed in with a lot of inconsistency.
Was asked to do an impossible job at City playing behind a static Whittingham; expected to overlap as a winger and then castigated when opposition pinged the ball into the left back area and he was not there.
StT.
Malone was left on an island constantly in 2 against one situations and had some indecision. Would have liked to see him play for Warnock, I think he'd have sorted him out. Jokanovic certainly has, got into the PFA team of the year after all.
Another problem from the stands is that he wasn't Declan John.
Thank god he wasnt Declan John - we would have been relegated !!.
I wouldn't go that far but he's not as good. However, if you went on here or ****, John was proclaimed as the best full back at the club by a distance.
One of my customers goes to all Fulham games home and away and says hes been great going forward but very suspect in defence. Maybe that was Whitts fault too?
Less onus on defending? When you're one of the favourites to go down? Absolute rubbish.
Full backs in the top flight are expected to be able to attack. Being a good defensive full back in the top division isn't enough. Many clubs in the Prem seem to prioritise a full back who is comfortable getting forward over one who isn't but is defensively more sound.
Take a club legend in Kevin McNaughton. Fantastic defender, but would never have made the step up due to his lack of ability over the half way line. Comfortable on the ball wasn't a phrase you'd use for McNaughton.
Fabio is hardly a great defender but he's had much more Premier League time than McNaughton simply because he's more attack minded.
Aside from United every club Fabio has played for in the Premier League has been relegated!!!
Which leads me back to the point that teams like Huddersfield, who will be spending more time defending than attacking, their defenders are going to need to be able to defend. You say there is less onus on defending I say there is far more onus on defending for a club like Huddersfield than if youre playing full back for a Spurs or Man City.
Burnley stayed up by being solid at the back, especially at home, not with their full backs marauding up the wing.
There's nothing wrong with the left full back attacking providing the left sided midfielder covered Malone. The problem was that, 'Dick,' Whittingham resolutely stayed inside and did not cover when Malone attacked.
StT.
Not sure Whittingham played on the left much when Malone played left back, he was more of a central midfielder in those days wasn't he?
Bob, sorry to disagree with such a respected sage, but most of the time Whittingham played left midfield with Malone at left back. Every game I make a note of formation and who played in each position. That said there were some times when Ralls played left midfield.
StT.
Joe Ralls was the left sided player in front of Malone but dont let the truth get in the way of a good Whitts bashing
Was he? We played Whitts, Ralls, SOK and Noone across the middle (or similar), when we moved Pilks and Immers up top. Not slagging off Whitts, he was obviously there to accommodate him and he was given a free-ish role but a consequence of that is that Malone got exposed, whereas Noone covered Peltier more (who as it happened, was the better defender anyway). Three game highlights there, where you can see how we lined up when we defend, and Whitts is definitely on the left of the midfield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOLOZBZ7EF0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzNlxBR-5TE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWUbvAsokmg
Nothing to do with Whitts' bashing just noting what was happening.
StT.
Plenty of premier league defenders got torn a new one by Spurs last season. It's not really a benchmark.
It's what Huddersfield do against the likes of Brighton, Watford, Burnley, Swansea, Palace.etc will make or break their season.
They are lookin to sign some of the better players in the championship - Danny Williams, Tom Ince are another two they are in talks with - so if they do go down then they can go again. Much like Burnley did the first time they went up.
The manager who brought him to CCFC had a good eye for a quality player, or was it the owner who found him? mmm
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