Time to get rid of Levi Porter

[Daggers]

So, in summary, Master Porter has hidden depths that have remained untapped until now due to him feeling a little upset and in need of constant reassurance and hugs from 22,000 people.

What's the point of continuing with him seeing as he hasn't got the mental toughness needed for the job?

[Dames]

Why don't you try to get a full video and see how much work Porter does off the ball. In fact at times I have felt the ground he covers in defensive duties detracts from his attacking role.

I'm not suggesting that was the case on Saturday. What bothered me Saturday was that he took his full-back on two or three times early on, had no great success, and virtually stopped.

After that he did a Hughes by mostly passing responsibility elsewhere or at least strictly limiting the risks he took. He has to show more belief and the management must help him.

Lambasting a winger for losing the ball in the defensive half is understandable but in the attacking half you need the winger to take risks and try things. And management needs to let him know he'll never be penalised for persisting. Only for copping out.

Coaches need to get him to talk to his marker. To tell the defender he's going to make a bad mistake soon. That sooner or later he'll give away a goal.

They should make him understand that he need to prey on a defender's mind as well as his skills, find out which foot is his weakest, which way he least likes turning. Vary the style of attack, sometimes passing, sometimes taking him on, sometimes running at him, sometimes turning him, sometimes stopping and starting, anything to disrupt his rhythm and ask him uncomfortable questions that will finally force a mistake.

Tell him to make the defender hate you and kick you. Get him on a caution and wind him up more when you've done it. Move elsewhere and try and take the defender with you and if he does tell him what a great big gap he's left.

If he doesn't move, go back and say you've returned cos it's easier. Or perhaps stay for a while and break the other defenders heart. All part and parcel of the psyche of the game which is a mental as well as physical challenge.

So much of winning at football is in the mind and there is so much a coach can do to get a winger back to his best. Both on match days and on the training ground.

Porter's skills haven't disappeared but his focus has clouded. He needs remember again the most important things he's paid for. Making and scoring goals.

Point A) He doesn't cover much ground on or off the ball he spents most of his time dawdling about the left flank.

Point B) He just couldn't be arsed to make an effort when he wasn't getting the results he wanted, Instead of going and going he gave up.

Point C) Its not the coaches responsibility, he's playing left wing part of playing that positision is to run at people and chase through balls and harry the full backs he rarely does any of this. And to be honest whos going to be scared of Little Levi Porter they know if he trys winding them up they'll tackle him hard and he'll sulk about for most of the game like he usually does.

Point D) He didn't have many skills to begin with, He's had plenty of oppurtunitys to make and score goals and he's wasted the vast majority of them.

Not being funny but i'm not gunna go head over heels for this guy because he had a decent spell of 2-5 games when he came in last season and not done nothing of note since the Fulham game.

Thrac you can bugger off with the 'just because he's from the acadamy thats why he gets this harsh treatment'. Its because he's a lazy little player that sulks around for 70% of the match. Steven Hughes (When he was FORCED out wide) never had as much time as Little Levi has so theres your acadamy arguement out the window, most plebs worship what comes out of the acadamy theres just the smart few on here who realise they are not all that.

[Thracian]

So this automatically means he was playing well does it.

Have a word with yourself your arguements are getting more and more desperate!

I'd like to see if Ferirra can do a job there,

No it doesn't and I've never made out he was playing well on Saturday. But we were doing far better with him balancing the side than when we unbalanced the team by bringing Chambers and Kishishev to overload the defence. You of all people should appreciate the whole effect players have, not just the obvious.

[Father Ted]

How about a simple explanation that everybody will agree with * Porter is a lazy T*at

* Except Thrac

[Thracian]

Point A) He doesn't cover much ground on or off the ball he spents most of his time dawdling about the left flank.

Point B) He just couldn't be arsed to make an effort when he wasn't getting the results he wanted, Instead of going and going he gave up.

Point C) Its not the coaches responsibility, he's playing left wing part of playing that positision is to run at people and chase through balls and harry the full backs he rarely does any of this. And to be honest whos going to be scared of Little Levi Porter they know if he trys winding them up they'll tackle him hard and he'll sulk about for most of the game like he usually does.

Point D) He didn't have many skills to begin with, He's had plenty of oppurtunitys to make and score goals and he's wasted the vast majority of them.

Not being funny but i'm not gunna go head over heels for this guy because he had a decent spell of 2-5 games when he came in last season and not done nothing of note since the Fulham game.

Thrac you can bugger off with the 'just because he's from the acadamy thats why he gets this harsh treatment'. Its because he's a lazy little player that sulks around for 70% of the match. Steven Hughes (When he was FORCED out wide) never had as much time as Little Levi has so theres your acadamy arguement out the window, most plebs worship what comes out of the acadamy theres just the smart few on here who realise they are not all that.

I think we'll just agree to disagree. It is quite obvious you "see" things which are simply not so.

[Dames]

I think we'll just agree to disagree. It is quite obvious you "see" things which are simply not so.

We'll leave it at that.

But i'm not the minority here.

Wheres Bartonfox when you need him?

[Daggers]

But i'm not the minority here.

Unfortunately, the majority have a pretty poor record on here...along with Close Encounters of Bartonkind

[Raj]

We'll leave it at that.

But i'm not the minority here.

NO I'm a minority on here!!!! :D

[Thracian]

We'll leave it at that.

But i'm not the minority here.

Wheres Bartonfox when you need him?

I often wonder if Barton was Hughes' agent.

[Daggers]

I often wonder if Barton was Hughes' agent.

If he was as brusque in that job as he was in his self-promotion then that would go some way to explaining how it was so hard to get shot of Hughes.

[Rich Fox]

I've never personally seen what he can do. He was absolutely shocking today, his height doesn't help either but i'm not blaming that. He gives us no use of the left midfield, where i would like to see Ferreria or Djerzi (spelling) vacate that position, send him out on loan before he gets thrown in at the deep end because it looks that Championship football is too strong for him.

He never seems to get round the outside of the full back and get crosses in,we could do with a wingr in the same mould as stevie lynex who i used to love seeing play at filbert street.The whole game was crap in my opinion there was no width in the team and no pace Does anyone kow why kaebi wont play we need some pace. A lot of these acadamy lads seem poor to me surely if there good enough there old enough the cream always floats to the top but in our case it seems like only the shit does.

[Sods]

What happens with our young youth players, they get into the squad play great for 6 weeks and we think their the next best thing. Then dissapear.

Stearman, quite gutting

Mattock, Exiciting last season

Levi, Great 1st few games

Logan, had some good clean sheets

Sheehan, was like that at start hopefully back now

[Thracian]

He never seems to get round the outside of the full back and get crosses in,we could do with a wingr in the same mould as stevie lynex who i used to love seeing play at filbert street.The whole game was crap in my opinion there was no width in the team and no pace Does anyone kow why kaebi wont play we need some pace. A lot of these acadamy lads seem poor to me surely if there good enough there old enough the cream always floats to the top but in our case it seems like only the shit does.

You are right about us needing pace.

And I've no idea why Kaebi wasn't in Saturday's squad.

As for young players it is nothing unusual for such players all over the country to blow hot and cold in their breakthrough years.

But I am quite sure it would help our young players if, just for once, we had an adventurous, attack-minded first team manager instead of all these dourists. If there's any left.

[Hullfox]

And management needs to let him know he'll never be penalised for persisting. Only for copping out.

Coaches need to get him to talk to his marker. To tell the defender he's going to make a bad mistake soon. That sooner or later he'll give away a goal.

They should make him understand that he need to prey on a defender's mind as well as his skills, find out which foot is his weakest, which way he least likes turning. Vary the style of attack, sometimes passing, sometimes taking him on, sometimes running at him, sometimes turning him, sometimes stopping and starting, anything to disrupt his rhythm and ask him uncomfortable questions that will finally force a mistake.

Tell him to make the defender hate you and kick you. Get him on a caution and wind him up more when you've done it. Move elsewhere and try and take the defender with you and if he does tell him what a great big gap he's left.

If he doesn't move, go back and say you've returned cos it's easier. Or perhaps stay for a while and break the other defenders heart. All part and parcel of the psyche of the game which is a mental as well as physical challenge.

So much of winning at football is in the mind and there is so much a coach can do to get a winger back to his best. Both on match days and on the training ground.

Porter's skills haven't disappeared but his focus has clouded. He needs remember again the most important things he's paid for. Making and scoring goals.

Has it occured to you that the coaches might be doing all of this and Levi just isn't delivering?

[Thracian]

Has it occured to you that the coaches might be doing all of this and Levi just isn't delivering?

Well seeing that Porter has shown himself perfectly capable of playing well and City's coaching/managerial staff seem to be changing like the Guards at Buckingham Palace and have a whole assortment of relatively new faces to cope with I have serious doubts.

[The People's Hero]

Do you think the creation of unrealistic expectations and overblown hype could go some way to explaining why Porter has a fear of failure?

Thracian.

JTB made the above point - I've noticed you've ignored it.

Could we please have your thoughts?

Personally, nail, hit and head come to mind.

[Thracian]

Thracian.

JTB made the above point - I've noticed you've ignored it.

Could we please have your thoughts?

Personally, nail, hit and head come to mind.

I've ignored nothing. I've just got up.

Porter wasn't affected by any hype for the first third of his first team career.

So, wrong again.

There are all sorts of possibilities I can think of but far more likely he's affected by second season syndrome, the constant changes within the club and the uncertainties and insecurities which inevitably result and the cosnequent effect of those on his confidence.

[The People's Hero]

There are all sorts of possibilities I can thing of but far more likely he's affected by second season syndrome, the constant changes within the club and the uncertainties and insecurities which inevitably result and the cosnequent effect of those on his confidence.

Well seeing as this is how the club is now and that other players seem to be coping okay, would you concede that mentally Porter is not prepared yet to be an adequate professional footballer at this level.

If he doesn't have the courage to take someone on and squanders chances as we know he does do, then quite simply, what is the point in him?

You, more than anyone, bang on and on and on and on about impact. Porter has none.

[Manwell Pablo]

Just don't bother arguing with him it's really funny.

Fryatt plays well, stops playing well, Fryatts fault.

Porter plays alright, starts being awfull. Coaching staffs fault.

Says it all.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Porter was made to look good last year amidst a heap of dung around him in midfield. This year we've actually got some good players and it's no longer acceptable to just look fairly attack-minded for 45 minutes without posing too much of a threat and then go missing for the rest of the game.

End of.

Let's move on.

[Thracian]

Well seeing as this is how the club is now and that other players seem to be coping okay, would you concede that mentally Porter is not prepared yet to be an adequate professional footballer at this level.

If he doesn't have the courage to take someone on and squanders chances as we know he does do, then quite simply, what is the point in him?

You, more than anyone, bang on and on and on and on about impact. Porter has none.

It has long been noted that you will and have taken every opportunity possible to knock the lad and you've prompted me to add what I had deleted from my previous post that there are other more senior players who are underperforming too right now.

I also remember when the beloved Kisnorbo and Fryatt went for whole spells when they were awful - Kisnorbo because he was played out of position in midfield and Fryatt because of fitness problems, form problems and questionable attitude. Did you ever campaign against Fryatt? Quite the contrary.

You really are two-faced.

Even taking Saturday, Porter did nothing especially bad and we were winning when he left the field after nearly 80 minutes. In unspectacular ways he had made a sound enough contribution without being near his best.

But that same day Chambers looked dire when he came on, N'Gotty looked less than his best, Kishishev awful, Kisnorbo made a couple of glaring errors. Why do you always focus on young players when they are below their best rather than anyone else?.

[The People's Hero]

Porter was made to look good last year amidst a heap of dung around him in midfield. This year we've actually got some good players and it's no longer acceptable to just look fairly attack-minded for 45 minutes without posing too much of a threat and then go missing for the rest of the game.

End of.

Let's move on.

Agreed.

In fact, we're all agreed.

Now someone close this before Thracian can post something ridiculous in response.

[Thracian]

Agreed.

In fact, we're all agreed.

Now someone close this before Thracian can post something ridiculous in response.

It will be a rare day when I agree with anything you say about football.

[The People's Hero]

It has long been noted that you will and have taken every opportunity possible to knock the lad and you've prompted me to add what I had deleted from my previous post that there are other more senior players who are underperforming too right now.

I also remember when the beloved Kisnorbo and Fryatt went for whole spells when they were awful - Kisnorbo because he was played out of position in midfield and Fryatt because of fitness problems, form problems and questionable attitude. Did you ever campaign against Fryatt? Quite the contrary.

You really are two-faced.

Even taking Saturday, Porter did nothing especially bad and we were winning when he left the field after nearly 80 minutes. In unspectacular ways he had made a sound enough contribution without being near his best.

But that same day Chambers looked dire when he came on, N'Gotty looked less than his best, Kishishev awful, Kisnorbo made a couple of glaring errors. Why do you always focus on young players when they are below their best rather than anyone else?.

Because this thread is about Levi Porter.

Also, I believe all the other players mentioned to be better than Levi. They have more ability. Even if Levi really applied himself (which would be nice), he's not in the same league in terms of quality as Chambers, N'Gotty and Kisnorbo.

As for Kishishev, I'll reserve judgement until I've seen him play for us.

[Ric Flair]

Eh up. We've probably ended up with Megson as manager because many of the same folk didn't want Paul Ince.

And you have an excellent point about last season. For a time he was the only player to cause an air of expectation. That ability hasn't disappeared but he seems to have been drained of confidence and self-belief.

There's got to be something wrong with an attacker when he has his best game of the season away from home.

It's as if he stopped having the courage to take people on because of the reaction should his efforts fail.

He's got to come through it of course - but the right management can make the world of difference..

You said the other day that Levi doesn't have the natural pace to consistently beat players and isn't a winger. Make your mind up.