Ex Player Alex Rodriguez Gorrin

At the risk of a barrage of abuse, I think a reality check, and a bit of perspective is needed.

Atkinson is GOOD, potentially VERY GOOD. He passes the ball out of defence very well, and although he's still got a lot of improvement to make with his defending and positioning at times, he's progressing nicely in his first season as a professional footballer, and has formed a good partnership with Moore, and I'm very happy he's with us.

But he's still VERY naive and raw, which is evident every time he goes on one of his kamikaze runs, as he just bombs off, leaving a gaping hole behind him, and on a number of occasions, has very nearly been tackled, just about managing to dump the ball to the nearest teammate, who then is put under pressure not to lose it while Atkinson is so far out of position, which is exactly what happened when Henry lost the ball, and it cost us a goal, but it was just as much Atkinson's fault for putting Henry under such pressure, whilst leaving a gaping hole behind him.

LeftSideBoy say's he's never seen any CB play like him, at any level, well that's because a CB cannot play like that at professional level, and keep getting away with.
It looks good when it works, but it's fraught with risk, it's too gung ho, and might've been ok at non league level, where he could get away with it, but the more he plays at this level, let alone higher, teams will suss him out, and start laying traps.

For me, he's got a long way to go to be considered as good as Dickie, who times his runs a lot better, knows when to bring the ball out of defence, and when not to, and to pass it out instead, is a lot more intelligent and composed, reads the game brilliantly, and is quicker, and for me, is already better than most of the CB in the premiership.

For Atkinson to even be considered as good as the likes of Dickie or Elliott, he needs to stay here for another couple of seasons, in order to develop, where he can learn from the defensive mistakes that he WILL make, and learn to time and control his runs forward better, with more intelligence.

But like I say, he's developing very nicely, and has already made big improvements since the start of the season, and if he can continue improving at that rate, then we've got an excellent prospect on our hands!

Agree 100%. He’s still got a lot to learn and is at the perfect place to do so, playing every week for at least another season. Dickie was ready to step up last year but Atkinson won’t be at the end of this season. I’d be surprised if anyone in his inner circular with his best interests at heart advised him otherwise
 
Hopefully what I heard yesterday isn’t as bad as it read but it may be a while before he’s back playing as his knee isn’t in a great way.

More than happy to be proved wrong mind as he’s massively important to us.
 
Hopefully what I heard yesterday isn’t as bad as it read but it may be a while before he’s back playing as his knee isn’t in a great way.

More than happy to be proved wrong mind as he’s massively important to us.
Yes that would be a big blow
 
Hopefully what I heard yesterday isn’t as bad as it read but it may be a while before he’s back playing as his knee isn’t in a great way.

More than happy to be proved wrong mind as he’s massively important to us.
I thought it was a thigh injury. Hope you’re wrong. His dynamism is sorely missed, particularly as CB is still finding his way back.
 
Did they ever say what the injury was? I'm no physio but seems like an usually long injury for a muscle, not like the thigh is particularly common either.
 
Did they ever say what the injury was? I'm no physio but seems like an usually long injury for a muscle, not like the thigh is particularly common either.
Possibly a "Muskelbündelriss" as they say in ze Fatherland? It's where the muscle gets torn at the bit where it meets the joint. Anything up to 12 weeks out.
 
Rubbish news. It doesn’t sound good for him.

We muddle on without him. Time for Sykes to step up.
 
Maybe time to blood that parillon kid who made such an impressive cameo in the pizza trophy earlier in the season. Apologies I cant remember his name. Someone will put me right!
 
Maybe time to blood that parillon kid who made such an impressive cameo in the pizza trophy earlier in the season. Apologies I cant remember his name. Someone will put me right!
Suspect he's away on loan somewhere low-key, not sure on the nuances of recalling him to play league. Someone will know for sure, but I'm not sure we can.
 
Robinson said he was leggy after the last game, a game he was poor in with his two mistakes almost leading to goals. His poor discipline recently has impacted his performance. He needed a rest.
Then I do think we need a more able like for like replacement for Gorrin than Hanson. I think Kashi is the last person I have seen play that position nearly as well for us. So essential that we have a defensive midfielder with the awareness to fill holes left by our attack minded defenders. Not to mention that the lad who scored their goal last night had a free run at our box from midfield hence why he got a free header.
 
Then I do think we need a more able like for like replacement for Gorrin than Hanson. I think Kashi is the last person I have seen play that position nearly as well for us. So essential that we have a defensive midfielder with the awareness to fill holes left by our attack minded defenders. Not to mention that the lad who scored their goal last night had a free run at our box from midfield hence why he got a free header.
I don't disagree about Hanson. However, we are where we are until the next transfer window. At the moment the options really are Grayson, Forde, Kelly, Hanson or Brannagan to cover. Also, we are in a unique situation with so many games being postponed leading to the fixture schedule we have, meaning players have to be managed carefully in terms of injury prevention.
 
Also, we are in a unique situation with so many games being postponed leading to the fixture schedule we have, meaning players have to be managed carefully in terms of injury prevention.
Is that true though? Eight teams in L1 have played either the same amount of league games as us or fewer - so have the same or more games to play as us. Five other teams have played just one more game than us. And compared to some other teams we do not have that many long term injured among our senior players.
It's pretty much the same for all clubs - limited number of senior pros and a crowded schedule. We haven't really managed to bring through any of our own youngsters this season to feature consistently - I'd have moved a couple of them from the U21s bubble into the First team bubble, presuming they are not total duffers (and if they are, why are they there?).
I guess the only difference is that we have played a fair number of games in the tinpot trophy, but we didn't trouble either the FA Cup or League Cup for long!
 
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