Captain clarke

[4ucclhzs]

???
I have found our captains performance over the season to be rather ineffective. That is a polite way of saying I think he's shit. I don't know if its my old eyes but the only time I see him mouthing off is when he is having a go at the poor old ref. I never see him urging his players on al la captain style. His positional play is poor, his tackling crap,his passing is (although improving ) has a lot to be desired. Overall I think he is very lucky to get into the side never mind captain. Oh to have leader in the same mold as Overson again.
In his defence I think he has improved over the last few weeks even adding a couple of long range goals but his performance against Ipswich was still lack lustre. Opposing teams recognise our weakness down his side of the pitch and exploit is as often as they can.
Am I being too hard on the lad,should I be more patient. How long will it take for him to become the genuine article?

[Hooky]

your 6 months too late....... hes a lot better than he was at begining of season, when most would have agreed with you...... but take a look around the MB you will find a thread about how good he was the other night

[Lakeland Potter]

I thought that last season - especially during Quitter's time, both Clarke and Thommo were the weakest links in the team.

This season Thommo played in central defence from the start and has been a different player. Clarke started the first few matches as a wing back and looked lost. At the away game at Preston he seemed to have no idea where to position himself and was caught in no man's land whenever play was switched by Preston from defence to attack.

Since he was switched to a more conventional wing, full back or central role he seems to have recaptured much of the the form he showed in his early days in the first team. I still don't think he is as consistent as Thommo but the two of them are the most improved players in the side in my opinion.

I still don't think he should be captain but that's another story.

[angescfc]

now he's got his form back he's leading by example. he deserved the captaincy for his loyalty when everyone else decided to jump ship!

[Lakeland Potter]

Come off it Ange - he only stayed with the club becuse the best offer he got was from Sheffield united who offered him only £40 per week more than we did.

[big_ade]

Ange....

Does leading by example mean " gobbing off to the referee constantly"

I bet he has got more yellow cards for dissent than for challenges ....

A good captain can get the point across to the ref without being constantly agressive....

He maybe would make a good captain if he just cools it a bit....

and stop blaming others for his mistakes of course...

[davejohnno]

I am most definately in a minority, but I like Clarkey and believe that he SHOULD be our captain, for this season at least.

Ange makes a good point about him staying loyal. Regardless of wages, he turned down the opportunity to move to Sheff Utd, a club where he could well have felt that he was improving his lot, regardless of money.

He didn't jump ship though, he stayed because he wanted to. Unlike Brynjar and Ginge, who both thought they were moving onwards and upwards, Clarkey remained, and has prospered.

His form is returning to what it once was, and he has been playing exceptionally well at left back, left midfield and at centre half. It took him 20 minutes or so to get into the game on Tuesday, but he ran himself into the ground and had a decent game in central midfield.

In what is effectively a brand new team, Clarkey deserved the captains armband as the longest serving player at the club. He lives in the area, he attends more functions relating to SCFC than any other player, he clearly cares about the club, and above all, he is a good player.

As the season progresses and the new team starts to bed in, the merits of Clarke as captain are less clear than they were at the start of the season. It is clear to all that Gerry is a catalyst for the team (captain next season maybe?) and in my opinion, John Eustace is the true leader on the pitch.

For now, the captaincy should remain with Clarkey, and deservedly so in my opinion. Maybe next season, a more traditional type leader may get the arm-band.

[SuperStokie]

Clarkey has really come on leaps and bounds this season. For me, he is a massive player due to his versatility. I'm not sure if he is captain material, but then again, TP wouldn't have picked him for no reason would he!

He's been smashing of late. I'll hold my hand up and admit i've never ever been his biggest fan, but he deserves all the plaudits at the moment.

I think Eustace is an obvious choice for captain. Someone made a very good point though that his game suffered when he was appointed Coventry captain and maybe it is a good thing, in respect that the A-List players can just get on and do their job!

Jon

[Pricey]

I penned a letter to The Oatcake after about 5 games of this season, essentially slagging off Clive Clarke. As fornside has said, at Preston Clarkey was all over the shop and didn't even seem to want to make the effort to rectify his many mistakes. Whether he had a cold that day, was just feeling off (I dunno...pissed the night before) or really couldn't be arsed I don't know but I felt it was just to say what I thought of our captain's early (how I saw it) poor form.

However, the facts are he did show his loyalty to Stoke, and whether or not it had a certain amount to do with the fact he's well-settled in the area he chose Stoke City over Sheffield United, a team expected to be there or there abouts come the end of the season.

As DaveJohnno says, Clarke is a good player, and although he does seem to have a bit of an attitude problem we're just going to have to live with it. Clive can play in 4 positions competently, and for me there was nothing at all lack lustre about his performance on Tuesday. He was unfamiliar with the position, but after he got his bearings, I thought he played some pretty good stuff. Nothing too extravagant, and he didn't bomb around as Russell and Svard did but he didn't need to, he was there to hold it all together. I saw him encouraging other players against Ipswich even if nobody else did, and if Clarke continues to take more responsiblity for his own actions he may end up being a decent captain yet.

Yes, slag him off when he hasn't pulled his weight, but that hasn't been the case for quite a while now and anyone still using Clarke as a scapegoat or figure of 'hate' (for want of a milder word) should focus their eyes on what he is doing on the pitch for 10-15 minutes instead of having a moan because there is nothing else to moan about.

[abharsair]

Hmmmm for me I prefered it when he was injured for a couple of games.....

BUT he has improved a hell of a lot, still not captain material though by a long way!