Paul Williams (Any better??)

[Ejay]

Did PW play any better than the Crystal Palarse Game??

Unfortunately I was stuck @ work "AGAIN" yesterday. Im fed up of tis working Saturday lark!!!

Ejay

P.S. I asked the boss if I could have the 6th or the 20th March off to get down to the ground and he informed me I couldn't have the 20th off as the lads out the office were going the game and there would be no1 to cover me!! "TW@T!!!"

[JoeinOz]

After getting booked so early on it seemed inevitable that he would walk but he did some decent work after his yellow card. Nige mentioned some good blocks and tackles.

[AlliG]

good blocks and tackles.

Is that what they use to hoist him into his shorts? ;D

[Trouserdog]

The rotund one played fairly well, making a few good tackles and interceptions at vital moments.

He was beaten for pace a few times though and his general defending at times wasn't that convincing. The Wigan "goal" that was disallowed was directly preceded by a Wigan forward (think it was Roberts) turning Williams with almost laughable ease about 8 yards from goal.

This is the trouble with Williams...when we say he played "well", what we really mean is that none of his errors were punished!

[tel2u]

He seemed to steady his game more once he had been boked and he did, in all fairness, have a reasonable game, some of our other defenders made equal mistakes, imho, and weren't capitalised on, so I think to TD's statement can be levelled against more than just Williams.

One pass from Thommo in the first half springs quickly to mind when he couldn't even make a simple four yard pass to Halls and succeeded in passing the ball to a Wigan player who then flashed pass Thommo as if he wasn't there, the situation was retrieved by Halls near the penalty area, and there were numerous other examples of poor passing.

Our marking for their goal was criminal! replacing Clarkey with Hill at that critical point of defending a corner, which we had done successfully all through the game, obviously led to some 'marking' confusion and we got the full punishment.

I thought we would lose yesterday before the game,especially after having shipped in six goals last week, and with Wigan possessing one of the most lethal striker partnerships in this division, so I'll take the draw, the bitter pill to swallow though, is that we were only 7 minutes plus stoppage time away from a victory!.

Just shows how far we have progressed to actually feel disappointed about winning against a team that are third in the table and one that have been hovering in and out of the top three places nearly all season.

[neutron]

I think hes shit.

Im all for giving players a fair chance but yesterday all he did was no drop a total clanger so people say it was an improvement. Admittadly he made a couple of decent tackles but he isnt very mobile and still looks rushed at times, sorry but he isnt good enough and we should get him off the wage bill and go all out for Gerry or someone else at least!

[Homzy]

Everyone is quick enough to jump on his back(including me) so i will stand in his defence because i thought he was excellent yesterday.True he was beaten for pace once or twice but bear in mind this was against Ellington and Roberts!
He won most challenges in the air and on the ground and made several good interceptions and blocks so i say hats off to him,i personally thought he was our outstanding defender on the day.
Well done Willo!

[Webanks]

Fair play to Williams he did have a reasonable game but I've said that before then he has 2-3 stinkers- we need a centre half with leadership and quality now.
Matt ELLIOTT or Taggart style player is what we need, just like Vince Overson not the best footballer seen but his leadership and determination made up for his short comings.
Anyway got to be glad with the result - after the 1st half I thought we came out 2nd half and gave it a go.

John Eustace is the 'SON OF GOD!'

[mcf]

I think he's shit too.

Far too slow and its no surprise that he makes as many mistakes as he does.

Both and him and Thomas were poor. They gave the forwards so much room.

We are desperate for a couple of solid ball winners with brains in the middle of the park.

With Clarke and Halls being small/not that physical then its vital that the aerial abilities come from the middle. Williams couldn't out jump a gnome.

[TheWiseMaster]

Williams isn't up to it but Thomo was even worse.

He had one of his poorest games of the season and don't blame it all on Willo. Thomo was crap at Palace too

We need a leader in central defence and it aint either of those two

[stonetezza]

Got to agree with the WM.
We need somebody cos the two together don't cut it

[GeordieDave]

LiverpoolStokie1 - let me tell you now that Paul Williams DID NOT have an excellent game !!!

He is unfit and significantly overweight. He conceded four free kicks within 15 minutes of the game starting and all were in 25 yards of our goal. He was embarrassed for pace on numerous occasions and evidently scares the living daylights out of his fellow defenders.

I concede he made a few telling tackles and good blocks but isnt that what a defender is supposed to do? He has played at the highest level of the English game and making a few tackles for a few grand a week is "excellent"????

His distribution was shocking and he wasted the ball three times in as many minutes in the second half at a time when we needed to hold the ball and not let Wigan continue on their rampage.

Dont get me wrong, I hold no grudge with Willo. Would never boo him or get on his back. I am only commenting on what I saw. If Willo was excellent what did you make of Halls or Eustace?

I respect your point of view but sorry you got it wrong. He was poor. Lack of fitness and weight issues are understandable if you are not playing. Do you reckon Rio Ferdinand will look like that after his eight month break. No chance !

[Homzy]

i think that Williams was our best defender on the day as i said.I'm not saying it was the best defensive display i've ever seen or anything,i'm just saying that we should give him credit for his day's work.
He was shocking in the opening stages but at the end of the day,he did keep Ellington and Roberts out (Obviously Ellington did score but it was hardly his fault).
Thomas was poor on the day and considering Williams lack of pace,he did well against one of the best strike partnerships around.
As for distribution,i agree it is poor,but how many times do i read on here,we don't want another John Halls, we want a defender who's not necessarily the prettiest, but gets the job done(Vince Overson).On Saturday Williams did just that but i can see i'm fighting a losing battle because people already have their opinion on Williams. He aint no Gerry,but Willo will not let Stoke down at home at least,and he certainly didn't on Saturday.

PS.Don't be thinking i'm a huge fan now because i'm not, we desperately need a centre half,but i'm just giving him credit where it's due.

[cr4zyd4ve]

I agree with you Liverpool, I thought he had a decent game on Saturday, as you say certainly better than Thommo. OK he may not be the most mobile defender around or have the best distribution, but you could hardly describe Gerry as ''mobile'', or say he had great ditribution either, and he did a great job for us. You have got to remember that he has been out for over 3 months and this was only his 3rd game back.

Credit where credits due I think he had, as a I said before, a decent game.

[dude]

Annoying thing was, the pressure that led to their goal was as a result of some tidy work by Williams. He judged a bouncing ball and intercepted a Wigan attack and came away with the ball. Stupidly Clive Clarke then bodychecked the wigan player and conceded a free kick. No need for it.

What would have been a break for us then resulted in a minute or so of Wigan attacks, free kick/corner and then the goal.