Mattock Starts!

[Thracian]

Some bloody good answers there and a long way towards the truth I'd imagine.

But the question remains. What can be done about it?

I cannot imagine England youth teams going out with self doubts or lacking the belief that they can win their games and score some goals.

Why can't we just try to create that mood at Leicester?

[Dames]

Some bloody good answers there and a long way towards the truth I'd imagine.

But the question remains. What can be done about it?

I cannot imagine England youth teams going out with self doubts or lacking the belief that they can win their games and score some goals.

Why can't we just try to create that mood at Leicester?

Because its always about safety first at Leicester.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Some bloody good answers there and a long way towards the truth I'd imagine.

But the question remains. What can be done about it?

I cannot imagine England youth teams going out with self doubts or lacking the belief that they can win their games and score some goals.

Why can't we just try to create that mood at Leicester?

I'm sure the same question could be asked of the full England team. And it was certainly pretty dire stuff from the Under 21s tonight for about an hour.

There have been so many things wrong with the club over the past three or four years that I doubt any manager would have been able to come in and put them all right and get us winning consistently within three months of taking over. There is no easy answer - it's not just a case of being positive or trying to play more attacking football or plugging one or two problem positions. The whole setup has been a complete mess and I think it will take time. The signs are that we're getting there and I refuse to let a couple of bad results or poor performances mask the size of the job in hand. We're slowly seeing the shambles of the summer being put right and it was great to see the reserve team put out this afternoon - nearly everyone in that side has a chance of being a first-team regular if not this season then the next one. They're all being kept fit for the first team or being given a chance to progress from the youth side - there are none of these foreigners anymore who are just making up the numbers. Lest we forget that this time last year our sole tactic was to hoof the ball into the channels and hope that Hammond, Hume or Fryatt could make a goal out of nothing. Now we have promising young wingers, two reliable and classy central midfielders, a big, strong striker who can hold the ball up and two lively, quick forwards to feed off the scraps. It hasn't gone right for us in the games since the Coventry match but if we'd managed to nick that late goal instead of conceding it on Saturday then we'd be in 15th place. I'm still optimistic about the players at our disposal given the mess Holloway inherited in terms of a coherent attacking side (something Megson recognised and never even aimed for).

[Jimmy]

Odiambo on the bench again tonight for Dundee, and didn't get on AGAIN!!

Can anyone enlighten me on the point behind this loan?

in the SPL they name 7 subs per game ...

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

Still doesn't answer why a guy plays so indifferently at Blackpool on Satuday and then so well with quality players around him on Tuesday. And why he plays much more aggressive football, as he did in the FA Youth Cup against Palace.

Was it orders on Saturday or was his mind elsewhere?. It could have been either but he had an iffy game against Norwich too and all our other young players, while they do okay, seem to stop expressing themselves when they get in the first team.

And now it's happened to the new left winger. And before him Newton, Low, Sylla, Yeates, right back to Ryan Smith. Strikers have been the same. Who comes here and shines? Not Fryatt, Cort, Horsfield nor even Howard as yet. Are they all awful players? There must be some explanation.

It's funny. The sneering brigade say our kids aren't up to it and only warm to Mattock cos a Premiership side have bid lots for him so they must be right. Nonsense? Well until recently the vote was around 60-40 for preferring Shush! in the team to Mattock and those same fans were calling Stearman everything until, what, three weeks back when Villa's interest was mentioned and suddenly he's competing with Hayles as Player of the Month.

Despite all the sneering on here, the International Youth team managers keep picking not just Mattock but Shush!, King, Ashley Chambers and others before them.

Yes I know, every other youth manager picks crap - apart from Mattock - but my point remains, why the difference, why the inhibition, why the constant fear when these people play in our first team - and not just these but a good many seniors too?

It is probably down to the fact that not a great deal rests on the u21 game, whereas a lot rests on league games. He may be playing with quality players, but there isn't a great deal of pressure upon him. The ball over the top on saturday was elementary, no arguments about that. I hope we keep sticking with him as he certainly has a lot of potential. Thracian can't talk however, he'd sooner have Shush! in the team.....

[Ric Flair]

Mattock was superb last night. Just like he was against Coventry and to a certain extent against Crystal Palace. Not really got any idea why he plays well one game then a few days later has an absolute shocker, but overcoming bad performances and being able to play well again is a sign of a player with a great mental attitude.

It's fairly obvious that playing with better players does help, but also it can show some players up to be out of their depth. Joe doesn't look out of his deoth for the Under 21's and the way he attacked down the left flank last night shows that he's probably more natural going forward than he is at trying to be contained.

The one thing that frustrates me about Mattock and i'm confident it will be sorted in the next year or so, is that technically he's a very good defender. But this season for Leicester he's always had his better games when the games have allowed him to get forward and help the attack, even if he hasn't scored or created any direct goals yet. His bad games come when he looks inept at the back, which is when we come under a barrage of attacks and he isn't getting forward. It seems to make him make mistakes at clearing his lines, tracking his opponents etc.

Teams scouting him right now will have noticed how well he plays when our team plays well and how well he plays alongside Premiership players for the Under 21's. They'll not be overly concerned about the bad games he has when the whole of our team looks guff and we're hacking it about because the teams such as Chelsea and co who are after him don't play football in the same veign as we do.

Perhaps what i'm trying to say is Joe Mattock is too good for us, and we're bringing him down to our dog shit level.

[reynard]

Still doesn't answer why a guy plays so indifferently at Blackpool on Satuday and then so well with quality players around him on Tuesday. And why he plays much more aggressive football, as he did in the FA Youth Cup against Palace.

Was it orders on Saturday or was his mind elsewhere?. It could have been either but he had an iffy game against Norwich too and all our other young players, while they do okay, seem to stop expressing themselves when they get in the first team.

And now it's happened to the new left winger. And before him Newton, Low, Sylla, Yeates, right back to Ryan Smith. Strikers have been the same. Who comes here and shines? Not Fryatt, Cort, Horsfield nor even Howard as yet. Are they all awful players? There must be some explanation.

It's funny. The sneering brigade say our kids aren't up to it and only warm to Mattock cos a Premiership side have bid lots for him so they must be right. Nonsense? Well until recently the vote was around 60-40 for preferring Shush! in the team to Mattock and those same fans were calling Stearman everything until, what, three weeks back when Villa's interest was mentioned and suddenly he's competing with Hayles as Player of the Month.

Despite all the sneering on here, the International Youth team managers keep picking not just Mattock but Shush!, King, Ashley Chambers and others before them.

Yes I know, every other youth manager picks crap - apart from Mattock - but my point remains, why the difference, why the inhibition, why the constant fear when these people play in our first team - and not just these but a good many seniors too?

Some good points here. Personally I don't think Newton or Sylla ever expressed themselves unless it was a wry smile when their monthly pay went in.

I'm glad mattock has done well and I'm sure being surrounded by good quality players for that level has helped. Not sure how good the ROI under 21s are though. maybe they would come half way up our league? I genuinely don't know. For me there are 2 major doubts at the back of my mind re.Mattock. The first is that he seems to lack pace which for me is a problem at left back. The second is that he obviously lacks experience. I don't know where his best long term position will be but at the moment I would say on the left side of central midfield.

I think though the real reason he seems to play better for the u21s is that he is fitting into a successful side which is generally better than most of their opponents. That is not the case with us. Here he is having to play with ordinary players low on confidence and with an unsettled side for most of the time he has been here. If we were top3 playing winning football (whatever the style) he would find it easier and his mistakes would be covered by other players.

Why we play with constant fear is also easy to see. A continuous run of poor performances and results has led to this combined with fans' impatience and general groaning on masse when a player makes a mistake. Personally I think our recent run at home of slightly better results is down to the fact that fans for the moment have largely stopped groaning every time we have misplaced a pass.

As for Ryan smith nothing he has done since leaving us suggests he will become the great star many thought he would become.

As for sneering I don't think people do. No I don't think our youngsters are as good as some make out but I wish they were. Take mattock, obviously there are those better qualified than me to say he is good and he may become so but at the moment he is not the finished player. compare him to Bale. Now there is a young player who already is a top standard player. That is the standard our young players have to try and reach.

[MPH]

Some bloody good answers there and a long way towards the truth I'd imagine.

But the question remains. What can be done about it?

I cannot imagine England youth teams going out with self doubts or lacking the belief that they can win their games and score some goals.

Why can't we just try to create that mood at Leicester?

could it be that mattocks gains confidence from playing with genuine quality players... hmm...

[Calum McDermott]

Still doesn't answer why a guy plays so indifferently at Blackpool on Satuday and then so well with quality players around him on Tuesday. And why he plays much more aggressive football, as he did in the FA Youth Cup against Palace.

Was it orders on Saturday or was his mind elsewhere?. It could have been either but he had an iffy game against Norwich too and all our other young players, while they do okay, seem to stop expressing themselves when they get in the first team.

And now it's happened to the new left winger. And before him Newton, Low, Sylla, Yeates, right back to Ryan Smith. Strikers have been the same. Who comes here and shines? Not Fryatt, Cort, Horsfield nor even Howard as yet. Are they all awful players? There must be some explanation.

It's funny. The sneering brigade say our kids aren't up to it and only warm to Mattock cos a Premiership side have bid lots for him so they must be right. Nonsense? Well until recently the vote was around 60-40 for preferring Shush! in the team to Mattock and those same fans were calling Stearman everything until, what, three weeks back when Villa's interest was mentioned and suddenly he's competing with Hayles as Player of the Month.

Despite all the sneering on here, the International Youth team managers keep picking not just Mattock but Shush!, King, Ashley Chambers and others before them.

Yes I know, every other youth manager picks crap - apart from Mattock - but my point remains, why the difference, why the inhibition, why the constant fear when these people play in our first team - and not just these but a good many seniors too?

You werent at the norwhich game so how can you make judgement.

[Thracian]

You werent at the norwhich game so how can you make judgement.

People make judgements on all sorts of things every day without actually being there. Law Lords for a start. They make those judgements by listening to what all sorts of people say to them. Check the player ratings for that game if you want some evidence.

[lildave3]

Thought he had a pretty good game, as others have said already to not look out of place among Premiership players is very good.

[MikeyT]

I only managed to see about the first 30 minutes of the game but he looked pretty decent alongside the Premiership boys. Didnt look out of place at all!

Well done to the kid!

[Toby or not Toby]

Mattock was superb last night. Just like he was against Coventry and to a certain extent against Crystal Palace. Not really got any idea why he plays well one game then a few days later has an absolute shocker, but overcoming bad performances and being able to play well again is a sign of a player with a great mental attitude.

It's fairly obvious that playing with better players does help, but also it can show some players up to be out of their depth. Joe doesn't look out of his deoth for the Under 21's and the way he attacked down the left flank last night shows that he's probably more natural going forward than he is at trying to be contained.

The one thing that frustrates me about Mattock and i'm confident it will be sorted in the next year or so, is that technically he's a very good defender. But this season for Leicester he's always had his better games when the games have allowed him to get forward and help the attack, even if he hasn't scored or created any direct goals yet. His bad games come when he looks inept at the back, which is when we come under a barrage of attacks and he isn't getting forward. It seems to make him make mistakes at clearing his lines, tracking his opponents etc.

Teams scouting him right now will have noticed how well he plays when our team plays well and how well he plays alongside Premiership players for the Under 21's. They'll not be overly concerned about the bad games he has when the whole of our team looks guff and we're hacking it about because the teams such as Chelsea and co who are after him don't play football in the same veign as we do.

Perhaps what i'm trying to say is Joe Mattock is too good for us, and we're bringing him down to our dog shit level.

When Leicester signed him he was a striker or left midfielder who was scoring for fun everyweek.

[Thracian]

When Leicester signed him he was a striker or left midfielder who was scoring for fun everyweek.

That's the way he played against Palace in the Youth Cup and it was the best I've seen him play at any level.

However, watching him generally in this role he never looks quite fast enough or accurate enough to be a winger.

At Academy level Beswick played left wing and Mattock left-back perhaps because Beswick gets the ball into the box very quickly and accurately and perhaps would be wasted as a defender although Martin Allen used him at left back a couple of times pre-season and he did fine.

Beswick takes good free kicks and scores regularly too so there'd be plenty to think about in choosing between the two as an attacker.

I do think Ric has a point about us bringing Mattock down to our level but that's something I've tried to get across generally.

It's all to do with Beaglehole teams attacking and defending en masse which we just don't do in the first team. There's also much greater emphasis on passing which, again, the first team seems to abandon.

Sometimes they start but at the first signs of sustained pressure the ball gets whacked and that's it - various players are put out of the game by hoofs they have no chance of getting thus leaving supporting players exposed.

If I could change one thing about our team it would be to good passers in every position.

[colbo68]

Joe Mattock starts for England U21's against Republic of Ireland tonight!

If anybody hasn't got Sky, go to http://www.fsicrew.info/streams/todays-links/ to get a link to watch online.

Good luck Joe.

Lovely lad, feet firmly on the ground. Just play him further up the pitch!!!!!!