Got to admit it's only these last couple of months Crooks he's looked a championship player. Keep it going. Congratulations agree about Smudger he's been as good.
Got to admit it's only these last couple of months Crooks he's looked a championship player. Keep it going. Congratulations agree about Smudger he's been as good.
Not true. A lot of people said he looked like a Championship player last time we were in the Championship. Lots more said it during last season, when he was the top scoring midfielder in League One and made the team of the year as voted by his fellow professionals.
I think what you might be trying to say is that when you described him as 'not a Championship player' before the start of this season, you were wrong. Not that he has proved you wrong with performances. Just that you were wrong.
Crooks was getting slaughtered from all quarters earlier in the season across 2 message boards.
i’m not normally self indulgent but below is the post i wrote in November after Warne had the audacity to bring Crooks off the subs bench against Luton and the message boards went into meltdown as a result.
Crooks winning the player of the month is s great accolade for him and a reward for the patience and belief shown in him by Warne when many wanted them both to be shown the door..
maybe some can learn from this and recognise that our players are not robots who perform at exactly the same standard every day of their life, and its sometimes worth looking to improve them and allow them to find their best rather than shouting for change all the time.
DKNY said Thu Nov 5 12:47 2020
Can’t comment on the game last night as it was the first game i haven’t been able to see
Do want to reply to several comments i have seen on this thread about favouritism shown to Crooks.
Don’t understand to be honest.
Crooks was one of the best midfielders in league 1 last season. On that basis he started the season in the team. He hasn’t played well, he’s been dropped to the bench. Fair enough isn’t it.
Are people suggesting he shouldn’t come on as sub? Should we discard him entirely ?
He’s a key player for us, made us tick last season. He’s been dropped. He gets occasional chances to come on as sub presumably setting him the challenge to win back the shirt. Fair enough isn’t it.
Seems to me the tactic most managers would take with an off form but important player.
Can’t see any favouritism there, just a manager trying to get a good player back to his best.
Brilliant DKNY. We cant afford to buy finished article footballer. Crooks is an example of what we have to do. Bought (in a January window) from League Two for a modest amount and given time to improve and find his game. He has ups and downs in form like they all do, and he seems like a mood and confidence player, but he has become a massive asset. We have more valuable assets in the squad now than at any time I can remember. This award is a credit to Matt Crooks personally and well done to him, but it is also a reflection of the fact that we are doing a lot of things right. I agree that Michael Smith - who we also signed from a League Two club and was written off by Gwru purely on that basis before he had even kicked a ball for us - would also have been a worthy recipient of this award. They have become a formidable Championship forward partnership.
Last season there was only one person on this site championing Lindsey saying he will come good did the same with Vaulks when we first signed him pot calling kettle black?.
Last season there was only one person on this site championing Lindsey saying he will come good did the same with Vaulks when we first signed him pot calling kettle black?.
Ah, the wing man has arrived!
Very few posters seem to feel the need to champion certain selected players and write off the rest based on a five minute viewing, or in extreme cases without even seeing them at all. That is a weird and foolish trait that is unique to the one poster.
Strange though this concept might seem, what virtually everyone else does is get behind our players and give them time to see what they can do. That is called being a supporter, as opposed to a being a deluded individual who craves recognition as an expert despite having a track record of getting it wrong 90% of the time.
I'm holding my hand up for that one I did not think he was going to make it got proved wrong not the only one at least I am prepared to admit it when it happens. You are a very good example as someone who is always Mr right.
-- Edited by TH MILLER on Friday 12th of February 2021 12:33:33 PM
Well done Matt Crooks, it was clear at the start of the season there was a problem, but he seems to have come through that and I am delighted because when he plays well we have a wonderful footballer. He is a deceiving player because he looks like he lumps around the pitch but I suspect that his because he is such a big bloke.
Smith has also been excellent recently and deserves a lot of credit for his all round game, I am very pleased because at the beginning of the season he looked awful and couldn't hit a barn door from 1 yard, I suspect he wasn't 100% fit. At the moment watching Rotherham is enjoyable and you get the sense they are capable of getting results from most games.
I'm holding my hand up for that one I did not think he was going to make it got proved wrong not the only one at least I am prepared to admit it when it happens. You are a very good example as someone who is always Mr right.
-- Edited by TH MILLER on Friday 12th of February 2021 12:33:33 PM
I am sure Crooks will be delighted to have proved you wrong.
Nobody gets everything right. I definitely don't, and I know it. I was a useful but no better non-league footballer who got a Preliminary FA Coaching badge and has watched a lot of football. I know and am comfortable with my limitations.
What you and your mate fail to grasp is that most on here don't have to admit getting assessments of players wrong very often, because we are not stupid enough to set ourselves up by feeling the need to assess players as either future internationals or no-hopers after five minutes.
Well done Matt Crooks, it was clear at the start of the season there was a problem, but he seems to have come through that and I am delighted because when he plays well we have a wonderful footballer. He is a deceiving player because he looks like he lumps around the pitch but I suspect that his because he is such a big bloke. Smith has also been excellent recently and deserves a lot of credit for his all round game, I am very pleased because at the beginning of the season he looked awful and couldn't hit a barn door from 1 yard, I suspect he wasn't 100% fit. At the moment watching Rotherham is enjoyable and you get the sense they are capable of getting results from most games.
I wouldn't disagree with that Derby.
I thought his best moment recently was when he set Smith up for the second goal at home to Derby. It was late in the game on a heavy pitch. He got the ball well inside our half on the right flank and ten to fifteen seconds later was at the byline on the left producing a killer cross. What was notable for me was his fitness and desire (not to mention his speed which is considerable once he is on the move). Early on in the move he had two Derby players to shrug off, but they either couldn't or didn't have the will to go with him.
You may be right about his fitness earlier in the season. I suspect he is also a player who has to have his head in the right place before he performs at his best. Either way, with him and Smith firing as they have been we always look a threat.
-- Edited by smiler on Friday 12th of February 2021 01:23:02 PM
So smiler never admits to getting it wrong what about your little hatchet job on Vaulks the other night. With Lindsey being out he would stroll into the 1st team.
TBH Tree is 27, in his prime & in the form of his life, regardless if we stay up or not it's gonna be difficult to keep him in the summer. I only hope we don't get shafted like we did with Ajayi. £5m+
There was rumours in the summer that Forest were interested and that could have explained his below par start to the season due to having his head turned.
His goal record from midfield for us is very good and his partnership with Smith is really coming on, looks like its something we are really working on in training and its paying off.
So smiler never admits to getting it wrong what about your little hatchet job on Vaulks the other night. With Lindsey being out he would stroll into the 1st team.
What are you talking about? I clearly said that I know I don't get everything right. Do you bother reading things properly?
I never had a problem with Will Vaulks. He is a decent enough player. He always gave his best and had some good moments. I never rated him as highly as some. I think he lacks a bit of pace and isn't great on the ball, but he is good in the air, has a big heart and can hit a ball. His throw is a bonus. In my opinion he is a top end League One or bottom end Championship player.
My statement about Vaulks the other night - if you take the care to read it properly - was that I don't think he would get in our best eleven these days. I stand by it. Give me a front five of Barlaser, Lindsay, Wiles, Crooks and Smith and I wouldn't knock any of them out to make room for Will Vaulks.
You might not agree, but you can't say I am wrong about that. It is a valid opinion. What is your point?
