+ Visit Cardiff FC for Latest News, Transfer Gossip, Fixtures and Match Results |
Well its hardly a secret that hes had his problems, most of them his own doing, and by his own admission he has not lived the life of a professional athlete. Six months without playing competetive football when he went on loan to Peterborough so its not really a surprise he was lacking fitness and wasnt playing 90 minutes week in, week out for them,.
The penny has finally dropped with him it seems but is it too late at 30? Probably, but id prefer he was given one last chance to prove himself because hes one of the few players weve got playing for us who can excite the fans.
Weve got more than enough water carriers in the team to accommodate him in my opinion.
Only at Cardiff City it seems the fans prefer players who can compete and run about than someone with skill. I dont know if its from spending so many years in the dungeon its made our fans that way but for as long as I can remember the triers get more plaudits than the players who can turn a game.
Here are some examples over the years ive been supporting Cardiff.
Gareth Stoker > Jason Fowler
Gareth Ainsworth > Jason Bowen
Gavin Rae > Stephen Mcphail
Aron Gunnarson / Don Cowie > Peter Whittingham
Callum Paterson > Lee Tomlin / Bobby Reid
And my personal favourite Alex Revell > Kenwynne Jones
Jay Bothroyd is the best all round striker ive seen play for City but he used to get dogs abuse from our own fans for being lazy and not running about like a headless chicken. If he he had the stamina to do that added to the other qualities in his game he wouldnt have been anywhere near the Championship.
Sometimes youve just got to admit that players at this level have their flaws, and unfortunately stamina is one of the flaws of Tomlins game.
JR knows his football in fairness, spot on about Tomlin
27 years
I loved Carl Dale and Phil Stant but let’s be real here they were journeymen lower league footballers. Fantastic for the level we were at but nowhere near Bothroyds level.
Bothroyds hold up and link play is something we are still missing and has never been replaced 9 seasons after he left.
Well we can’t attract those players obviously. They either cost a lot of money (Hull want 20m for their goal scoring midfielder Jarrod Bowen) or they don’t want to play for a manager who bypasses midfield. We had a player in Bobby Reid who wanted out because of the way he was treated since he signed. When he was used we never played to his strengths yet he got 5 goals in the Premier League from very limited minutes on the pitch.
A 60 minute Tomlin or a 30 minute Tomlin off the bench gives you more than a 90 minute Will Vaulks.
Is it? The bloke was one of the greatest ever in his position. He was voted in the 94 and 98 world cup all stars team. His positioning was probably the best i've ever seen and his ability to read the game and organise the midfield and defence was pivitol in Brazil winning the world cup in 94. In his position he's one of the greatest of all time.
I think you've crammed in examples to make your point whether they are accurate or not. McPhail may have been judged far too harshly before news of his health condition broke but cannot remember Gavin Rae being supported that keenly, Peter Whittingham was definitely favoured over Don Cowie, and Alex Revell was never a fan favourite but Kenwynne Jones got his name sung much more than most at the time. Arguably, we should favour Paterson over Tomlin (hasn't done anything yet) and Reid (just a bad fit for this team and made it known when trying to engineer a move away) based on their contributions to the side alone.
Considering how fans took to Camarasa and have taken to Tomlin this year I'm not sure it's accurate to say we totally favour effort over skill. I think what gets these players support is that they look like they care whereas a player like Bacuna sometimes looks far too relaxed and is judged too harshly for this reason, although Gavin Whyte clearly cares and is the other player getting criticised far too harshly also.
It's far too simple to say it's activity over skills for City fans. I think it's seeing players care that gets support and it's just easier to see that with those maximising their limited talents over those who aren't or whose talents are harder to see by the average football fan - at least the average football fan before technology and better punditry made us more aware of what skill and tactics are.
Good post. I think that alot of City fans see a plyer or a manager in their own mold or make the comparison on what they would give out on the pitch because none of us are very good at football. One of the best bits of individual skill i've ever seen from a City player was Bellamy's check back for his goal against Swansea away, fooling the fullback into thinking that he was continuing his run but giving himself enough time and space to get the shot in. For me it was better than the goal.
Bothroyd is the best striker we’ve had in decades