Oliver Skipp Confirmed

[coolhandfox]

15 hours ago, Lambert09 said:

Neale is already better than skipp and hamza. 
 

I think we’re genuinely fine especially as the type of 8s Martin plays are basically 10s…. So Chaplin and Cullen will fall into them 

Lad hasn't played a minute of league football.

[Lambert09]

5 hours ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

How is Neale already better than Skipp😂😂😂…what on earth have you based this opinion on?!

I’ve actually witnessed him complete a forward pass 

[CleudoG]

Skipp did OK at times tonight. Kept and recycled the ball. 

[MPH]

30 minutes ago, CleudoG said:

Skipp did OK at times tonight. Kept and recycled the ball. 

 

i mean… this isn’t something we should be happy with. It’s something we should expect. we paid 20 million for him from spurs, he definitely should be able to hold his own against Northampton Town.

[Jimmy]

On 07/08/2026 at 17:16, Lambert09 said:

Neale is already better than skipp and hamza. 
 

I think we’re genuinely fine especially as the type of 8s Martin plays are basically 10s…. So Chaplin and Cullen will fall into them 

Neale isn't a holding, midfielder, this isn't FIFA where you just put the best players in Skipp has a role to play that Neale wouldn't be good at, its Skipp or Hamza, I think Sammy could do it but he seems to have been given the 8 role

[brookfox]

Whatever we think about his fee and skill set, I honestly believe we have a better chance of promotion with him in the squad, and yesterday highlighted it. Yes it’s boring, but he gets about the pitch well and recycles the ball. If a decent offer comes in we should take it but I wouldn’t get rid on the cheap if we don’t need to financially.

[Chief Keef]

2 hours ago, brookfox said:

Whatever we think about his fee and skill set, I honestly believe we have a better chance of promotion with him in the squad, and yesterday highlighted it. Yes it’s boring, but he gets about the pitch well and recycles the ball. If a decent offer comes in we should take it but I wouldn’t get rid on the cheap if we don’t need to financially.

I’m still not convinced. Yes he doesn’t often lose it but he doesn’t move it quickly enough and is too slow to make himself an option for our defence at times. 
 

That and defensively he doesn’t fill me with confidence, too often is he second to loose balls in the midfield. 

[brookfox]

58 minutes ago, Chief Keef said:

I’m still not convinced. Yes he doesn’t often lose it but he doesn’t move it quickly enough and is too slow to make himself an option for our defence at times. 
 

That and defensively he doesn’t fill me with confidence, too often is he second to loose balls in the midfield. 

Look, I don’t think there’s a single one of us convinced by him and he definitely has limitations to his game. And yes, I’m sure someone can “scout” a £250k replacement who can do what Skipp does 10x better on all stats. But based on what I see him do on the pitch, how he appears to handle himself off it and the challenge we face getting the club back up, if we can afford to keep him I would.

[Claudio Fannieri]

Works hard and is a decent pro but offers so little in possession, especially when you need to break the lines of the opposition press, plays lots of 5-10 yard safe passes but against opposition like yesterday he offers nothing progressive and is incapable of playing anything remotely risky that could get us moving quickly. 
 

Really hope we can do a deal to get him gone this week and bring in an athletic no 6 who can also link up play.
 

Personally I would move Braybrooke back into that role and once fit have chaplin and Cullen as the high 8’s/10’s with Burns and Watson or Alves as the wide men. 

[trooky]

Limited on the ball an also lacks physicality. 

 

I would try to sell and find a bigger and better version of Skipp. 

[trooky]

6 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Neale isn't a holding, midfielder, this isn't FIFA where you just put the best players in Skipp has a role to play that Neale wouldn't be good at, its Skipp or Hamza, I think Sammy could do it but he seems to have been given the 8 role

I worry about Sammy in this position, receiving shit ball's off the defence with his back to play. 

 

I don't think he'll get much protection off refs in this league and they'll just knock him off the ball. 

 

I think he's better suited as an 8, I would try and sell Skipp and find a bigger and better version of him. 

 

Our team is already too small. 

Edited 9 August by trooky

[DAS Boot]

C

 

R

 

A

 

P

[BKLFox]

To understand Skipp is to understand the position but sadly I’m not sure armchair managers do, they see a price tag, a wage & don’t hear his name in a game therefore he’s shite.

 

If I was to ask, name a standout player from Man U between 1992-2004 the list will go like, Becks, Scholes, Cantona, Giggs, Keane, RVN, Cole, York etc not many will mention Nicky Butt if at all yet a lot of those players were dependent on Butt doing the simple things, even Carrick didn’t get the recognition in that role until near the end of his career & neither got as many England caps as they should because the role wasn’t sexy enough and it was all about can Scholes, Lampard & Gerrard or the fair players of “a” time play together & put simply no because you needed a Butt in the team to do the simple mundane churn things, intercept, recycle 3m pass to a flair player and go again.

 

Now I’m not saying he’s a Butt, Carrick, Kante but he does a lot more than people think in a game it’s just that it’s unspectacular. He’s not doing 30yrd diagonal crosses to the wingers, he’s not steaming into the box to get on the end of a cut back or threading Tielemens style thru-balls into the forwards but that’s not the position’s role.

 

We need money and if someone was to offer good money then I’d take it and get Collins in for sure but if they don’t I’d expect Skipp to be 1 of the 1st names on the sheet not because of his price tag or assumed wage but because he’s probably the best we currently have at doing the churn.

 

[TommyK]

I thought he played well yesterday 

[Chief Keef]

9 minutes ago, BKLFox said:

To understand Skipp is to understand the position but sadly I’m not sure armchair managers do, they see a price tag, a wage & don’t hear his name in a game therefore he’s shite.

 

If I was to ask, name a standout player from Man U between 1992-2004 the list will go like, Becks, Scholes, Cantona, Giggs, Keane, RVN, Cole, York etc not many will mention Nicky Butt if at all yet a lot of those players were dependent on Butt doing the simple things, even Carrick didn’t get the recognition in that role until near the end of his career & neither got as many England caps as they should because the role wasn’t sexy enough and it was all about can Scholes, Lampard & Gerrard or the fair players of “a” time play together & put simply no because you needed a Butt in the team to do the simple mundane churn things, intercept, recycle 3m pass to a flair player and go again.

 

Now I’m not saying he’s a Butt, Carrick, Kante but he does a lot more than people think in a game it’s just that it’s unspectacular. He’s not doing 30yrd diagonal crosses to the wingers, he’s not steaming into the box to get on the end of a cut back or threading Tielemens style thru-balls into the forwards but that’s not the position’s role.

 

We need money and if someone was to offer good money then I’d take it and get Collins in for sure but if they don’t I’d expect Skipp to be 1 of the 1st names on the sheet not because of his price tag or assumed wage but because he’s probably the best we currently have at doing the churn.

 

I don’t think anyone has ever expected Skipp to create goals or be a flair player and that’s definitely not where my criticism of him lies. You say he does a lot more than people think but could you elaborate more on what that is? He’s not particularly effective at breaking up play or progressing the ball forward so I’m curious to know what value it is you think he brings to the side?

[BKLFox]

10 minutes ago, Chief Keef said:

I don’t think anyone has ever expected Skipp to create goals or be a flair player and that’s definitely not where my criticism of him lies. You say he does a lot more than people think but could you elaborate more on what that is? He’s not particularly effective at breaking up play or progressing the ball forward so I’m curious to know what value it is you think he brings to the side?

I’m not going to go through every tackle or pass as I say it’s about understanding the things you don’t see.

Look at journalist player ratings and they have Skipp as motm or equal highest with Jakub & Alves where as fans ratings show up as Alves, JJ or Braybrooke but is that because they are young and fans want them to be or for what they actually contributed to in their entire game? Is there anything that really stands out about those 3 that would have you rating them as motm, there were a few good touches but nothing that really springs to my mind in fact the 1 thing that does was when those 3 messed up on the right and allowed Northampton a clear opportunity on goal 🤷‍♂️ 

[Chief Keef]

4 minutes ago, BKLFox said:

I’m not going to go through every tackle or pass as I say it’s about understanding the things you don’t see.

Look at journalist player ratings and they have Skipp as motm or equal highest with Jakub & Alves where as fans ratings show up as Alves, JJ or Braybrooke but is that because they are young and fans want them to be or for what they actually contributed to in their entire game? Is there anything that really stands out about those 3 that would have you rating them as motm, there were a few good touches but nothing that really springs to my mind in fact the 1 thing that does was when those 3 messed up on the right and allowed Northampton a clear opportunity on goal 🤷‍♂️ 

You’ve not actually answered my question.

 

You’ve also said it’s about understanding what you don’t see but have brought up journalist ratings? Are you understanding yourself what you’re watching or are you basing it off what someone else is telling you?
 

And this isn’t a discussion on those other players, just Skipp. 

[BKLFox]

25 minutes ago, Chief Keef said:

You’ve not actually answered my question.

 

You’ve also said it’s about understanding what you don’t see but have brought up journalist ratings? Are you understanding yourself what you’re watching or are you basing it off what someone else is telling you?
 

And this isn’t a discussion on those other players, just Skipp. 

It’s sporting terminology ‘x’ player makes the highlights reel because of ‘that cross, that goal’ that save, that run down the wing beating 3 players etc’ you know the stuff fans talk about after a game but ‘y’ player does the bits you don’t see the dirty boring churn stuff……it’s the unspectacular not a literal I didn’t see it

 

 

Edited 9 August by BKLFox

[Chief Keef]

1 minute ago, BKLFox said:

It’s sporting terminology ‘x’ player makes the highlights reel because of ‘that cross, that goal’ that save, that run down the wing beating 3 players etc’ you know the stuff fans talk about after a game but ‘y’ player does the bits you don’t see the dirty boring churn stuff……it’s the unforgettable not a literal I didn’t see it

Yeah and I’ve asked you to explain what it is exactly that you think Skipp does well. “Dirty boring churn stuff” doesn’t exactly tell me much does it? I can only assume you mean breaking up play and recycling possession but I already said I don’t think he does either of those things to a high standard at all. 
 

No one is expecting Skipp to be a highlight reel player. But the things he’s expected to well, given the context of his role in the team,  he simply doesn’t do that well. Being a player that “does the dirty work” isn’t in itself evidence that player is effective at doing it. 
 

If his contribution is so important even though it’s hard to see it or it’s unforgettable, there should still be some evidence that the team functions better with him in it. I’m not convinced that it does, especially since he’s been a regular starter in two of the worst seasons in this clubs history. Maybe it’s best for his sake and ours, that he’s goes and restarts his career somewhere fresh. 

[BKLFox]

7 minutes ago, Chief Keef said:

Yeah and I’ve asked you to explain what it is exactly that you think Skipp does well. “Dirty boring churn stuff” doesn’t exactly tell me much does it? I can only assume you mean breaking up play and recycling possession but I already said I don’t think he does either of those things to a high standard at all. 
 

No one is expecting Skipp to be a highlight reel player. But the things he’s expected to well, given the context of his role in the team,  he simply doesn’t do that well. Being a player that “does the dirty work” isn’t in itself evidence that player is effective at doing it. 
 

If his contribution is so important even though it’s hard to see it or it’s unforgettable, there should still be some evidence that the team functions better with him in it. I’m not convinced that it does, especially since he’s been a regular starter in two of the worst seasons in this clubs history. Maybe it’s best for his sake and ours, that he’s goes and restarts his career somewhere fresh. 

Ok you say he didn’t tackle or do any dirty work & that’s fine…
But he must do something as journalists have him as motm who in the main have no bias or agenda but these things are subjective.

 

Listen I’m not saying he’s the best at it around I’m saying he’s the best we currently have, when Hamza plays the position we know it because 9 outta 10 times we see him cripple someone, make a huge error and we see his hair so we know he’s there just because we don’t notice Skipp it don’t mean he’s gone awol.

 

I said in my opening comment I’d rather he went and we got Collins I’m not trying to put Skipp on a pedestal I’m making a mere reference to the unspectacular nature of the role.

 

[trooky]

1 hour ago, BKLFox said:

I’m not going to go through every tackle or pass as I say it’s about understanding the things you don’t see.

Look at journalist player ratings and they have Skipp as motm or equal highest with Jakub & Alves where as fans ratings show up as Alves, JJ or Braybrooke but is that because they are young and fans want them to be or for what they actually contributed to in their entire game? Is there anything that really stands out about those 3 that would have you rating them as motm, there were a few good touches but nothing that really springs to my mind in fact the 1 thing that does was when those 3 messed up on the right and allowed Northampton a clear opportunity on goal 🤷‍♂️ 

A basic skill of Skipps role in the modern game with a manger like RM is to receive the ball on the half-turn from the defence  underpressure and play forward some of the time. 

 

He's unable to do that most of the time even against a league 2 team. 

Edited 9 August by trooky

[Barwell Fox]

27 minutes ago, Chief Keef said:

Yeah and I’ve asked you to explain what it is exactly that you think Skipp does well. “Dirty boring churn stuff” doesn’t exactly tell me much does it? I can only assume you mean breaking up play and recycling possession but I already said I don’t think he does either of those things to a high standard at all. 
 

No one is expecting Skipp to be a highlight reel player. But the things he’s expected to well, given the context of his role in the team,  he simply doesn’t do that well. Being a player that “does the dirty work” isn’t in itself evidence that player is effective at doing it. 
 

If his contribution is so important even though it’s hard to see it or it’s unforgettable, there should still be some evidence that the team functions better with him in it. I’m not convinced that it does, especially since he’s been a regular starter in two of the worst seasons in this clubs history. Maybe it’s best for his sake and ours, that he’s goes and restarts his career somewhere fresh. 

He is the best we have at filling gaps defensively, blocking players at attacking corners etc. We are crying out for a pre-injury Ndidi and if we can find one cheaply, we should sell Skipp and wish him well on his travels.

[The Doctor]

2 hours ago, BKLFox said:

To understand Skipp is to understand the position but sadly I’m not sure armchair managers do, they see a price tag, a wage & don’t hear his name in a game therefore he’s shite.

 

If I was to ask, name a standout player from Man U between 1992-2004 the list will go like, Becks, Scholes, Cantona, Giggs, Keane, RVN, Cole, York etc not many will mention Nicky Butt if at all yet a lot of those players were dependent on Butt doing the simple things, even Carrick didn’t get the recognition in that role until near the end of his career & neither got as many England caps as they should because the role wasn’t sexy enough and it was all about can Scholes, Lampard & Gerrard or the fair players of “a” time play together & put simply no because you needed a Butt in the team to do the simple mundane churn things, intercept, recycle 3m pass to a flair player and go again.

 

Now I’m not saying he’s a Butt, Carrick, Kante but he does a lot more than people think in a game it’s just that it’s unspectacular. He’s not doing 30yrd diagonal crosses to the wingers, he’s not steaming into the box to get on the end of a cut back or threading Tielemens style thru-balls into the forwards but that’s not the position’s role.

 

We need money and if someone was to offer good money then I’d take it and get Collins in for sure but if they don’t I’d expect Skipp to be 1 of the 1st names on the sheet not because of his price tag or assumed wage but because he’s probably the best we currently have at doing the churn.

 

not having this at all, not seen a midfielder so uninvolved in the game since the days of Jason Jarrett. You watch every single time the deepest midfielder or a defender has the ball, he is hiding behind an opponent. Doesn't offer any sort of ball winning ability, doesn't break lines, doesn't set any sort of tempo. he's as influential on games as a piss in a tsunami 

[dmayne7]

Understandably, but too many people blinded by their hatred of players to assess performances now. Skipp had a pretty good game. Doesn't change the fact he was a crap signing but equally bringing up his price tag is irrelevant to how well he actually played. People think just because a player drops leagues, then they should suddenly be able to do things that they were never able to. Like dropping Kante into this league and expecting him to get 25 goals.

 

My biggest issue is that he's occupying Braybrooke's best role. But unless we're able to get a much more physical CM in, he's probably going to continue there

[DAS Boot]

1 hour ago, BKLFox said:

Ok you say he didn’t tackle or do any dirty work & that’s fine…
But he must do something as journalists have him as motm who in the main have no bias or agenda but these things are subjective.

 

Listen I’m not saying he’s the best at it around I’m saying he’s the best we currently have, when Hamza plays the position we know it because 9 outta 10 times we see him cripple someone, make a huge error and we see his hair so we know he’s there just because we don’t notice Skipp it don’t mean he’s gone awol.

 

I said in my opening comment I’d rather he went and we got Collins I’m not trying to put Skipp on a pedestal I’m making a mere reference to the unspectacular nature of the role.

 

You are completely right about the role being unsung.

 

Where I do believe you are wrong is the effectiveness that Skipp has playing that role.  Against a pretty ropey side yesterday, his retention of the ball was 50/50 in every department.

 

Tackling

Heading

Passing

Dribbling

 

He lost out as much as he triumphed.  When we come up against better sides he’ll look even worse.

 

Again though, you’re right in saying that at present, he’s probably the best option in that position, but really if he was to be sold and we didn’t buy a replacement, such are his deficiencies, I don’t think it would have any effect on how the season will play out.