by tommyg » 19 Jun 2011, 16:45
Jeff wrote:
I cannot understand where this notion that Macklin is ultra-quick has come from. Sure, he gives the appearance of someone who should be quick - slightly built and with boots as white as snow, but' I've yet to see this "legendary" pace. Its become a running joke amongst the guys I go to away games with - Macklin got brought on in the away game at Shrewsbury, and we were expecting him to really stretch their tiring backline with this alleged pace. as it was he was beaten in a foot race every single time by their defenders. Similar story when he started away at Cheltenham. Macklin is the one player in the squad I cannot warm too - he was supposed to be a highly rated youth-teamer, when is he going to show us this?!
As for Stevens, I would actually place him right up with the quickest players in our squad. And as is mentioned, he has excellent close control - he is by far the quickest player we have with the ball at his feet. Stevens downfall is he has no footballing brain whatsoever. This scenario has happened time and again - we can all see from the stands that the full-back is blowing out of his ar*e, and we're all imploring Stevens to run at him. But Stevens can't see this, and decided to cut back, or inside, and ends up losing the ball.
As I've said before, i think its worth offering Stevens a year at a lower rate than before. If he accepts then great, we've got another body in the squad who CAN make an impact (albeit infrequently). But we should not be looking to him as first choice. If he rejects, no great loss.
He came on in the 89th minute at Shrewsbury! This season though is make or break for him. I'm convinced he has talent. Some Swindon fans raved about him and he was even rumoured with a move to Chelsea (I choked on my Coco Pops when I read that). There are plenty of players who fall away after showing promise as a youngster (remember Troy Douglin?!), and Macklin is certainly in danger of pitching up in that camp. But I'm prepared to back him and hope he proves most doubters wrong.
[quote="Jeff"]
[b]I cannot understand where this notion that Macklin is ultra-quick has come from. Sure, he gives the appearance of someone who should be quick - slightly built and with boots as white as snow, but' I've yet to see this "legendary" pace. Its become a running joke amongst the guys I go to away games with - Macklin got brought on in the away game at Shrewsbury, and we were expecting him to really stretch their tiring backline with this alleged pace. as it was he was beaten in a foot race every single time by their defenders. Similar story when he started away at Cheltenham. Macklin is the one player in the squad I cannot warm too - he was supposed to be a highly rated youth-teamer, when is he going to show us this?![/b]
As for Stevens, I would actually place him right up with the quickest players in our squad. And as is mentioned, he has excellent close control - he is by far the quickest player we have with the ball at his feet. Stevens downfall is he has no footballing brain whatsoever. This scenario has happened time and again - we can all see from the stands that the full-back is blowing out of his ar*e, and we're all imploring Stevens to run at him. But Stevens can't see this, and decided to cut back, or inside, and ends up losing the ball.
As I've said before, i think its worth offering Stevens a year at a lower rate than before. If he accepts then great, we've got another body in the squad who CAN make an impact (albeit infrequently). But we should not be looking to him as first choice. If he rejects, no great loss.[/quote]
He came on in the 89th minute at Shrewsbury! This season though is make or break for him. I'm convinced he has talent. Some Swindon fans raved about him and he was even rumoured with a move to Chelsea (I choked on my Coco Pops when I read that). There are plenty of players who fall away after showing promise as a youngster (remember Troy Douglin?!), and Macklin is certainly in danger of pitching up in that camp. But I'm prepared to back him and hope he proves most doubters wrong.
