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Millers Banter: Unofficial Rotherham United Fans Forum / Message Board → Football / Sport / RUFC Related → MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
 

Topic: MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

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GlennMiller
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MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
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Tried to make my mind up throughout the game which of our players has improved the most over the course of this season. Changed my mind many times as I considered several of the potential candidates - Mattock, Forde, Ajayi, Vaulks, Emmanuel and Rodak could all stake a legitimate claim. However, I finally settled on Forde. His strength, work rate, skill, crosses and defensive work have all improved dramatically. After tonight you can add finishing to that list! Any other candidates?

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Exetermiller
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I've grilled Forde in the past as I think many others have. His crosses & corners are deadly, he can beat a player, but he's also willing to run back and win the ball too. That 4 in midfield, it's going to take some shifting but to have Williams, Taylor & Palmer all on the bench - it's got real quality depth about it. Quite excited about it - but Fordey was absolutely immense tonight that's for sure

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smiler
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I think Ajayi is comfortably our most improved player. He has gone from a promising player who was costing us a goal every other game to being as solid as a rock and a goal scoring threat from set pieces.

All credit to Anthony Forde. He has added more attacking threat to his general play. Maybe he needed the confidence that he could do it. I think a lot of players' confidence took a hammering last season. The hope was that players like Forde and Taylor who had done it in League One before but struggled in the Championship would find their mojo again this season and that seems to have happened. I'm happy to acknowledge it.

We do now have good options again in midfield with Potter to come back too at some point. I worry how losing Smith to injury would affect us because the way he leads the line as Moore did before him is so important to how we play, and with JCH gone we have nobody else remotely like him to step in if needed. But I don't want to put any negatives into the mix when we are going so unbelievably well. We seem to be able to overcome whatever we are presented with.

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NewYorkshire
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Vaulks for me. He's a workhorse and motivator and possibly a future captain. Reminds me of Talbot in Ronnies team back in the day.

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DKNY
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Smiler- I'd actually say Ajayi was our most off form player early season. I think he showed his current promise in the Championship and i was expecting great things of him this season. Thrn a few clumsy games this year when the whole team was still rebuilding it's confidence and i feared i'd misjudged him. Nowback to his best and beyond. Goes to show the fine margins in football, if ihekewi had put the ball in row z rather than conceding a sloppy goal, Ajayi might still be on the bench and eventually written off. Lets hope Ihekiwi also gets back to his best after a nice cameo yesterday so he can eventually replace Wood in the long term

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Archie
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Not Forde, always rated him. Probably go for Ajayi, although the odd mistake seems to be still in him, he has improved immensely.

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MillersTale
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Archie wrote:


Not Forde, always rated him. Probably go for Ajayi, although the odd mistake seems to be still in him, he has improved immensely.

 Could be Archie if he had learned to use his right foot !!  But conversely I dis agree with Archie cos Forde for me has basically been a passember for 12 months but now has gained confidence and is  now an integeral part of the team, whereas  Ajayi worth millions now was great when he first arrived  had a massive drop in form  earlier this year and has come back much stronger.



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Bornamiller
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Forde for me although the Ajayi defensive mistakes are highlighted whereas Fordes position is a little more forgiving....

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GlennMiller
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The fact that there are credible claims for various players to claim 'most improved' says much about the quality in the team at present. Now if we were talking least impressive or most disappointing, I'd be worried!! If we extended the question beyond just players, PW would be far and away the winner. The level of his improvement has been staggering.

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T71
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There isn't a championship side in this league that's why it appears we've improved. Get in the championship like last time Forde wouldn't cut it. Ajayi & Vaulks would. More or less got to go up to keep them.

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Exetermiller
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I disagree, I don't think we have anyone we can class as Championship standard, but I'm happy to eat more humble pie on that. It's not about technical ability, it's about more regularly making the right decisions and making less mistakes. While that can be coached ultimately players either have it or don't in a match environment when decisions need to be made split second ad hoc. Fordey had a brilliant game overall Tues night, but look at the horrendous mistake he did 1st half, any Championsip club would have punished us, look at the mistake both Wood and Ajayi did 1st half, again the ball would have been back of the net. That number 32 right winger would have scored when Rodak got just enough of a nick to send it wide, and there's probably a couple of others I haven't mentioned. And this was Oxford, had they been a Champ team they'd have scored 5 or 6. Granted we also could have had 5 or 6, but against a Championship side might have only got 1 or 2 of those goals out of the 3.

Play offs would be an amazing achievement, and we really could do with the financial boost, but in reality the player acquisition we'd need in the summer just to stay up will make Tone's eyes water, bring about cold sweats and a general feeling of nausea.

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hillsborough miller
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Exetermiller wrote:

I disagree, I don't think we have anyone we can class as Championship standard, but I'm happy to eat more humble pie on that. It's not about technical ability, it's about more regularly making the right decisions and making less mistakes. While that can be coached ultimately players either have it or don't in a match environment when decisions need to be made split second ad hoc. Fordey had a brilliant game overall Tues night, but look at the horrendous mistake he did 1st half, any Championsip club would have punished us, look at the mistake both Wood and Ajayi did 1st half, again the ball would have been back of the net. That number 32 right winger would have scored when Rodak got just enough of a nick to send it wide, and there's probably a couple of others I haven't mentioned. And this was Oxford, had they been a Champ team they'd have scored 5 or 6. Granted we also could have had 5 or 6, but against a Championship side might have only got 1 or 2 of those goals out of the 3.

Play offs would be an amazing achievement, and we really could do with the financial boost, but in reality the player acquisition we'd need in the summer just to stay up will make Tone's eyes water, bring about cold sweats and a general feeling of nausea.

 in regards the cost of getting championship players would probably have junior wining about his inheritance been wasted aswell



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Exetermiller
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Can't blame him though - I wouldn't want it splattered away on a football club that if they went down the pan you'd be lucky to get back a penny in the pound. Just the way it is.

Either double the amount of Rotherham public need to turn up every home game or G&C needs sorting and can't see either of those happening soon to at least give us a fighting chance

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hillsborough miller
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Exetermiller wrote:

Can't blame him though - I wouldn't want it splattered away on a football club that if they went down the pan you'd be lucky to get back a penny in the pound. Just the way it is.

Either double the amount of Rotherham public need to turn up every home game or G&C needs sorting and can't see either of those happening soon to at least give us a fighting chance

 i agree but the stewarts are getting a return on their investment plus the money they have made or will make selling the land for the training ground that never happened

but also in regards if we go up we will have a  much younger team  and we would need a younger but more experienced centre half to replace wood.

 



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GlennMiller
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Your quite right T71, there aren't any Championship sides in League One, they're all in the Championship! Seriously, I think you're being hard on Forde - at his rate of improvement and with his recent quality performances, I don't think anyone could say for certain that he wouldn't cut it at the next level. Not only is he playing with a better squad but his confidence has grown sufficiently for his real talent to shine through. Conversely, 3 months ago I would have said that Vaulks couldn't even cut it in League One, but look what has happened to him!

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smiler
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Everyone knows there is a gulf in class between the Championship and League One.

I don't think we are a much better side than we were last season, if at all. Just more confident and playing against lesser sides every week. What we do have is a pretty young side and a few players who are improving and can improve further.

What we would do if we went back up would be the million dollar question. Forty-six games up there with the current side would look daunting to me. That doesn't mean we shouldn't aim to get there, but whether we would be able to compete and if so how we might do it is the old familiar problem.

I think Ajayi has it in him to perform consistently well at a higher level. Newell has the quality on the ball to do it. Maybe Emmanuel and Towell but they are not our players.

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Archie
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Thank goodness for Glenn and Smiler, I was starting to get a bit depressed reading this thread biggrin



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Exetermiller
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Ha - I think we're all still stung by last season and too scared of it happening again is all.

Enjoying the games I've been to this season, and especially Blackburn / Oxford you can feel there's a different vibe - feels good going to Rotherham matches again!

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GlennMiller
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Your right Ex. I remember our promotion year from League One, particularly towards the end, when there was a real confidence around the club that we could and would beat anyone. It's getting that way at the moment but there's a devil sitting on one shoulder saying 'remember last season'. If we carry on like we've played for the last 2 months, there may still be some doubts amongst RUFC fans but you can be sure that those we play against will not look forward to the confrontation in any way. It's also worth remembering that although most of us were scarred by last year, many of the current team didn't have that experience and will therefore not carry any of those doubts. Moral - sit back and enjoy the ride!

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Bornamiller
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JCH - hit goalposts twice - made Brighton goalie earn his money and scored.

But Warnsey prefers Yates ?



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