Swindon's retained list

[SourceOfTheTrent]

I found it amusing that Swindle have offered Ryan McGivern new terms whilst releasing Ben Purkiss. Now whilst Purkiss was never exactly Cafu McGivern is like a poor man's Craig James! Not one of my favourite clubs and it could be fun to see them leak goals from their left hand side.

One surprise was to see them let Reice Charles-Cook go, I know I don't see him every week but every time he's played against us he's looked really good and even had a worldy once at Vale Park.

[philpvfc]

Didn’t rate Purkiss at all and although not a world beater Mcgivern was steady.

[Mario]

It's funny how Duffy and McGivern are well thought of by their respective clubs and yet are vilified by Vale fans.

[Santa]

McGivern was a player nobody warmed to. He had an awful start to his Vale career, the following season he improved a fair bit alongside Duffy but people had made their minds up about him. It didn't help that whenever he made mistakes they were usually costly.

 

His daft hair didn't do his cause much good. Perhaps there were one or two sight prejudices. He stood out in a position where you don't want players to stand out.

[NellyTheValiant]

McGivern was a player nobody warmed to. He had an awful start to his Vale career, the following season he improved a fair bit alongside Duffy but people had made their minds up about him. It didn't help that whenever he made mistakes they were usually costly.

 

His daft hair didn't do his cause much good. Perhaps there were one or two sight prejudices. He stood out in a position where you don't want players to stand out.

 

Couldn't agree more with that Santa. I liked him and he did generally improve over time and playing a few consecutive games but when he did make an error he stood out like a sore thumb.

[For Us All]

It's funny how Duffy and McGivern are well thought of by their respective clubs and yet are vilified by Vale fans.

 

A bit like Calvin Andrew?

[philpvfc]

A bit like Calvin Andrew?

 

Thought the fans were a bit harsh on Andrew, seen a lot worse and we had a lot worse here last season as for Duffy, he was arguably our best defender the season before he left but had no pace so needed cover for him and was prone to making serious mistakes.

[smithie]

It's amazing how people forget how good Purkiss was in Page's last season, he was my player of the season.

 

There are no grey areas for many Vale fans, and no notion of patience - you only have to listen to the boos that greet one sideways pass too many or one second of holding onto the ball too long for their liking (even though it's usually the right thing to do).

 

I'd bet the players have a good laugh about some of our "fans".

[PV1973]

It's amazing how people forget how good Purkiss was in Page's last season, he was my player of the season.

 

There are no grey areas for many Vale fans, and no notion of patience - you only have to listen to the boos that greet one sideways pass too many or one second of holding onto the ball too long for their liking (even though it's usually the right thing to do).

So true I'm not sure what they expect sometimes. Premier league quality? Agree on Purkiss's first season, although last season he cost us some sloppy goals.

 

I'd bet the players have a good laugh about some of our "fans".

According to Boot they did.

[mr.hobblesworth]

According to Boot they did.

 

What's he said?

[philmpv]

There are no grey areas for many Vale fans, and no notion of patience - you only have to listen to the boos that greet one sideways pass too many or one second of holding onto the ball too long for their liking (even though it's usually the right thing to do).

 

I'd agree with that element of your post. The amount of times I've sat in the RS and listened to people berating our defenders or midfielders for actually holding onto the ball and retaining possession via a sideways or backwards pass is unreal. Most of the time, it's the perfectly sensible thing to do, and ensures that the other side don't get the ball. However, due to the lack of any mobility in our midfield last season, or the ability to actually beat a man and go past him, this would have been counter-productive, and most often ensure that we got caught in possesion and exposed, hence the aimless lumps up to Pope most of the time. If we have the players, I would actually like to go back to a style similar to Bruno (retain possession, pass and build from the back) but with the alteration that we can change style if it's not working (which is something that Bruno seemed to refuse to do).

[PV1973]

What's he said?

That the players have a laugh about how much the fans overreact to the smallest thing. Specifically booing a misplaced pass or going backwards.

 

I'd agree with that element of your post. The amount of times I've sat in the RS and listened to people berating our defenders or midfielders for actually holding onto the ball and retaining possession via a sideways or backwards pass is unreal. Most of the time, it's the perfectly sensible thing to do, and ensures that the other side don't get the ball. However, due to the lack of any mobility in our midfield last season, or the ability to actually beat a man and go past him, this would have been counter-productive, and most often ensure that we got caught in possesion and exposed, hence the aimless lumps up to Pope most of the time. If we have the players, I would actually like to go back to a style similar to Bruno (retain possession, pass and build from the back) but with the alteration that we can change style if it's not working (which is something that Bruno seemed to refuse to do).

I liked how Carlisle built from the back, if we sign Joyce from them then maybe we could use him in that regard in being the anchor in front of the back four to play through. But we have to have the players able to do it. For a start Smith would need to become more comfortable on the ball. But we need to be able to mix it too, long to Pope, full backs willing to carry it if need be, runners into channels etc.

[man in the pub]

Have a mate who is a Walsall fan and I was really pleased when we signed Purkiss as he always seemed to play well against us raiding down the wing. He said their fans were marmite about him . Having had a good first season for us I then saw what they mean. An intelligent guy who was doing a Law degree, tended to feel his heart wasn't in football. Sometimes thought he seemed to make some strange decisions on the ball, probably cleverer off the pitch.

Duffy was what he was . He had lost any speed he had but could have good games when he used his experience. In other games I got fed up with the number of times he raised his hand to acknowledge errors he made. We often rarely sing about individual players anymore , Popey excluded. "Hands up if your names Duffy " seemed to sum him up.