McAuley Gone

[Uncle Monty]

Grreat deal there, 1.1 mill - unbeleivable! In fairness I don't think our defense is great, infact i think that it is a shared opinion that the defense was our downfall last year. They didn't conceed many granted, but whenever they got the ball they just blasted it anywhere, usually going to the attack to gain possesion.

[James.]

i think that it is a shared opinion that the defense was our downfall last year.

[Dr The Singh]

The only time i saw him play was when he scored 2 goals against us a couple of seasons back i think. Looked a good defender but wasn't sure as this was the only time i had seen him play.

IMO, very average champoinship defender, his positioning and his ball skills are poor, his height is his biggest asset, at 28 yrs, I doubt he will improve much for you, he's not a leader and requires constant guidance!! But in saying that he isn't a liability and does not overly make mistakes!!!

[Alexikokopops]

Hi,

Ipswich Fan here. Just wondering how good a player Mcauley is. Havn't seen him play so just wondering how good a player he is.

This is the best thread to read if you want to know what he's like.

It always annoys me when we sign players and then go on their old clubs forums and they're all full of people going on about what a dreadful player they were and how they're glad to see the back of them.

For any Ipswich fans reading this for a bit of an opinion, he's a decent Championship centre-back. He's great in the air, a bit slow but doesn't get done for pace that often. He's a poor passer, yes. And that has been part of the problem with our attacking for the past two seasons. But that's been endemic throughout the whole team. If we had an exciting, young, attacking midfield like Ipswich then maybe McAuley's passing wouldn't have been so much of an issue. We didn't have the movement and options of a top-half Championship team.

There were countless times last season when we were all praising McAuley so this thread isn't really a realistic reflection of his time with us. He was one of our best players in 2006/07.

My main gripe with him during his time with us - and this goes for Stearman, Kisnorbo, Hume and Fryatt too amongst others - is that they've never proven they can be part of a successful team at Championship level. Obviously that's less important now for depressing reasons.

I also think Kisnorbo and McAuley were very alike in a lot of ways. I rate Kisnorbo better but they are very similar. Great in the air, poor passers, a bit slow, fairly reliable defenders on the whole but never proven they can form part of a winning team.

28 years old though, anything over £1million is decent business and hopefully will ease the financial strain at the moment (no idea how much will be made available for replacements - ideally we would bank it and pick up a decent loan or freebie rather than letting Mandaric/the new muppet chance their arm in the transfer market and waste even more money)

[Cal]

How much did we actually get for him? Ive seen £1M, £1.1M and £1.75M so far..

[Jack]

How much did we actually get for him? Ive seen £1M, £1.1M and £1.75M so far..

1.1 I think it was.

[davieG]

How much did we actually get for him? Ive seen £1M, £1.1M and £1.75M so far..

Doesn't really matter as we'll see very little if any of it.