Let's All Pray...

[db]

....that Pulis is bluffing about playing Cresswell.

Just imagine having Fuller, Camara, Lawrence and Kitson on the bench, while that prick is huffing and puffing up and gown the right wing, touching the ball (just for a split second at a time) every 15 or 20 minutes!

It doesn't bear thinking about it!

BTW - In his interview on Radio Stoke, Tone said "people don't see what Richard brings to the table".

He got that bit right!

[Deleted]

Calling the player a prick is harsh. He doesn't pick himself to play does he?

Hope he doesn't start either though, has to be Lawrence.

[buddyfolly]

the only reason cresswell plays is to track back and help out,its not cresswells fault hes selected but with the clubs around us having difficult fixtures you would think pulis would go for it with the pace and fire power he now has,having said that he maybe covering for de-lap however both de-lap and cresswell,hard tryers
and giving 120 per cent just dont do it for me.

[Deleted]

Feb 6, 2009 17:56:28 GMT buddyfolly said:

the only reason cresswell plays is to track back and help out,its not cresswells fault hes selected but with the clubs around us having difficult fixtures you would think pulis would go for it with the pace and fire power he now has,having said that he maybe covering for de-lap however both de-lap and cresswell,hard tryers
and giving 120 per cent just dont do it for me.

Delap has been key for me both last season and this. One of the few midfielders who can get forward as well as back, often saves us with his chasing back and tackling as well as providing a threat at the other end.

[wembley4372]

You guys need to watch the game and not the ball, you'll have a better idea then of what's happening

[db]

Robvandeurzen83, you're right. I shouldn't call him a prick.

It's not his fault he can't play football. But, am I allowed to call the man who keeps picking him a "prick"?

wembley4372, you're another one who keeps forgetting the "smiley" things. People will think you're not taking the piss and being serious instead!

[Deleted]

Feb 6, 2009 18:27:04 GMT db said:

Robvandeurzen83, you're right. I shouldn't call him a prick.

It's not his fault he can't play football. But, am I allowed to call the man who keeps picking him a "prick"?

wembley4372, you're another one who keeps forgetting the "smiley" things. People will think you're not taking the piss and being serious instead!

You're allowed to call whoever you want a prick mate, it's a free country. I just think it's harsh to call Cresswell, who gives his all every time he plays, aprick just because he isn't quite up to it.

I think it's harsh to call Pulis a prick as well, given that we're still well in contention in the survival hunt, but I can'tunderstand what he sees in starting Cresswell at this level, and I don't see why he doesn'tthink Lawrence is capable of doing what he does while offering a goal threat to boot.

[db]

Robvan (It's too long a name to type the lot!), I must admit I am not a great fan of Tone's but I do give him credit for what he has done in getting us to the "promised land". But for the life of me, I just can't understand why he keeps picking Cresswell ahead of other players who are much better footballers.

I said, jokingly, in a previous post, that I thought Pulis may be suffering from some kind of OCD. I'm beginning to think it may actually be true!

[wembley4372]

db - don't know how to do that or do these fancy boxes like robvan...

[db]

Wembley, It's not just me then!

[jarhead]

db im seriously praying that Pulis dunna play the useless inept waste of space cresswell when we have some serious TALENT at the club,only Pulis could think he offers something...oh yeh hard fuckin work!!!because us lot do not see what he does the patronising twat.

[db]

Jarhead, even before we had this "serious talent" at the club, I didn't think he was good enough but now it's beyond belief he even gets near the squad. never mind the team.

My daughter says the reason Pulis picks him is because he knows everybody says he shouldn't and this is his way of telling everyone that he is the boss and he will not be swayed by public opinion.

Well he does have his stubborn streak but nobody could be that stupid.

Or could they?

[Beardy200]

Now don't get me wrong i'm praying with the rest of you that Cresswell doesn't play but IF it's on the right wing i do think he's a BIT better then when he's on the left and he doesn't look quite so ordinary as on the left. That being said Lenny will rightly be baffled as he can't offer enough extra defensively to balance out what extra Lenny gives us going forward and just holding the ball.

As a second forward though with the other options we now have it just seems daft to me. Away to Chelsea, OK, just, but with all the fixtures we have now he should be a second half sub when we're winning to run around and harry or not used at all.

[Paul Spencer]

Feb 6, 2009 19:17:02 GMT Beardy200 said:

but IF it's on the right wing i do think he's a BIT better then when he's on the left and he doesn't look quite so ordinary as on the left.

That's cheared me up no end matey.

[Beardy200]

I'm tryin to cheer myself up i think but feel free to grab as much of it as you can ;D

[db]

Trumpton, I'm sorry. It's comments like "he's a bit better on the right than the left" that add to the myth that if you look closely enough, you will see what he "brings to the table".

Despite what Tone would have us believe, football is a fairly simple game to understand after you've been watching it for a few years and most people are capable of telling whether a player is any good or not by seeing what he does with the ball. You shouldn't have to strain your eyes and your brain to try to fathom out just what Cresswell contributes. If it's that difficult, he shouldn't be playing.

[Deleted]

I think Pulis is right in saying a lot of people don't seem to grasp how important Mama and Delap have been to the team. A lot of people also seem to moan about Diao not getting forward enough when he's a defensive midfielder, and thus it's not part of his remit.

I don't see what Cresswell (as important as he was last season) brings though that means after £30m spent and with last year's playerof the season fit again, he somehow still plays an integral part.

[stokie25]

it really does upset me, week after week! I think i'm toughening up to the fact that our achilles heel will start every week! We know he works hard....but so do i and i don't expect to be wearing the stripes every week

[mermaidsal]

What I'd like to hear is how other players honestly feel about playing with Cresswell, there are maybe positives we're not getting. And to be fair he's done well enough last few games.

[db]

"And to be fair he's done well enough last few games".

I give up!

[Paul Spencer]

Feb 6, 2009 20:43:51 GMT mermaidsal said:

What I'd like to hear is how other players honestly feel about playing with Cresswell, there are maybe positives we're not getting. And to be fair he's done well enough last few games.

That's not going to happen Sal.

Rory Delap was interviewed on Radio Stoke this evening, and when asked who he thought should be his replacement, he came out with the stock answer of "I'm sure whoever comes in will do a good job."

However he did say that Lenny was fit, and it was about time we started going for it away from home.

I think if you asked any of our forwards or central midfield players who would they would rather have playing, Lawrence or Cresswell, then it wouldn't be too hard to imagine what the answer would be, and I don't think that whoever was in the right back position, would be particularly devastated if Lenny was starting in front of him.

[march4]

There have been some solid performances from Cresswell this season, when we have been playing against vastly superior players. However, tomorrow we aren't and I can't imagine Cresswell starting.

I have been trying to remember our outlook on away games this season. At Man City, Blackburn, Bolton, Spurs we pushed forward and were hammered. Against Wigan, Chelsea, Liverpool we sat right back and managed some form of containment. We also tried containment at ManU, Pompey etc and came unstuck.

I think there might be a new approach tomorrow. The question is, will it show more attacking invention or will we retreat even further into our shells. We all know TP, so what will it be attack or defence, defence, defence?

[db]

"some solid performances from Cresswell"

Are you lot just trying to wind me up!

[Paul Spencer]

Feb 6, 2009 20:56:28 GMT march4 said:

There have been some solid performances from Cresswell this season, when we have been playing against vastly superior players. However, tomorrow we aren't and I can't imagine Cresswell starting.

I have been trying to remember our outlook on away games this season. At Man City, Blackburn, Bolton, Spurs we pushed forward and were hammered. Against Wigan, Chelsea, Liverpool we sat right back and managed some form of containment. We also tried containment at ManU, Pompey etc and came unstuck.

I think there might be a new approach tomorrow. The question is, will it show more attacking invention or will we retreat even further into our shells. We all know TP, so what will it be attack or defence, defence, defence?

March we definitely DIDN'T push forward at Spurs, we went there with EXACTLY the same game plan as we did at Chelsea, the ONLY difference between the two games was that in the first half Spurs took their chances whereas Chelsea didn't.

I wouldn't say that we particularly pushed forward against Bolton or Blackburn either, rather that the opposition in those matches weren't great and they allowed us to play a little more, a freak goal at the Reebok and a piece of total madness from Sonko at Ewood Park opened up the flood gates, however we have a SIGNIFICANTLY better starting XI available now than we had in either of those matches.

I'll give you Man City, and to all intents and purposes we were much the better side until we switched off at the back just before and just after the break.

We also attacked from the off against Boro, and were way, way on top until we shot ourselves in the foot with the sending off. For the first 30 minutes at the Riverside and the second 45 minutes at St. James' Park have been our best performances away from home this season.

On the rare occasions when we have gone for it, the opposition haven't out played us in the centre of the park rather we've either shot ourselves in the foot stupidly or the defence has completely switched off.

However compare the defence we have now to the one that played at Bolton.

I feel physically sick at the thought of Cresswell's name being on that text at 2.30pm tomorrow.

[march4]

Feb 6, 2009 21:12:24 GMT db said:

"some solid performances from Cresswell"

Are you lot just trying to wind me up!

No, he was fine against Liverpool and played an important role against Man City. He is ok in backs to the wall performances, he is no good at all when we try to play a more expansive game.

I hope there isn't a single person on this board who doesn't respect the job Cresswell did last season. Is it his fault that he has been frequently out of his depth this season? I don't understand all of the bile fired his way when really poor players like Oli. Soares and Tonge were supposedly the saviours of our season. At least Cresswell tries.

In my mind, all can play a role under certain circumstances. Its just that in this League those circumstances don't happen too often.

[Jamo on the wing]

Nobody has stuck up for Cress more than me as he has been on the end of some astonishing stick on this message board, but that deosn't mean to say I think he should play.
For me Liam HAS to start playing, he gives us loads of energy, works hard but also has the quality on the ball and is a genuine goal threat.
People really should get off Cress' back, remember what he did last year for us and realise that he doesn't pick the team.

[Paul Spencer]

To be fair I haven't heard anybody giving Cresswell stick at the matches, and I don't think anybody on this message board blames the lad for being picked.

Rather there's (understandably) a helluva lot of frustration with the manager for continuing to pick him.

[Jamo on the wing]

Feb 6, 2009 21:30:30 GMT Paul Spencer said:

To be fair I haven't heard anybody giving Cresswell stick at the matches, and I don't think anybody on this message board blames the lad for being picked.

Rather there's (understandably) a helluva lot of frustration with the manager for continuing to pick him.

There hasn't been at the match, you're right but there's certainly been a lot of direct abuse aimed at him.

[db]

He was not "fine" against Liverpool and he did next to nothing against Man City (have a good look at a recording of the second half if you don't believe me).

I just can't understand why people on here feel they have to defend a player who everybody (except Tone) admits is not good enough. It's as if we have to feel sorry for him for being picked every week. This is a bloke who is on more than 15k a week.

He's no good and should not be picked, in any circumstances.

End of story.

Im going to the pub!

So it's goodnight from me and good riddance to Cresswell!

[Deleted]

Feb 6, 2009 21:40:30 GMT db said:

He was not "fine" against Liverpool and he did next to nothing against Man City (have a good look at a recording of the second half if you don't believe me).

I just can't understand why people on here feel they have to defend a player who everybody (except Tone) admits is not good enough. It's as if we have to feel sorry for him for being picked every week. This is a bloke who is on more than 15k a week.

He's no good and should not be picked, in any circumstances.

End of story.

Im going to the pub!

So it's goodnight from me and good riddance to Cresswell!

People stick up for him because the bloke gives his all and it's embarrassing to read the abuse he gets on here from people desperate to have a scapegoat. Yes he's not good enough, but Pulis keeps picking him, it's not Cresswell's fault.

I don't agree that he "wasn't ok against Liverpool". I thought he played the withdrawn striker role reasonably well, kept it simple and did ok. Against Man City his harrying and closing people down was invaluable.

Don't get me wrong, I groan when I see his name on the team sheet like everybody else, but the abuse he gets on here from people who purport to support the team embarrasses me.