Oldham Player Ratings

[Munzie]

I'd agree with that. I know what you are saying Rev but Gradel has made himself available for selection. If he is still struggling to cope with his problems then he should have a word with Pearson and ask for some time off.

Pearson would not let him play if he wasn't up to the job.

As it's already been stated, I think he has not lived up to the hype.

[Corky]

Pearson would not let him play if he wasn't up to the job.

As it's already been stated, I think he has not lived up to the hype.

Yes, I agree.

[Jimmy]

I'd agree with that. I know what you are saying Rev but Gradel has made himself available for selection. If he is still struggling to cope with his problems then he should have a word with Pearson and ask for some time off.

you have to remember though just how short we actually are when it comes to the midfield, Gradel is clearly currently capable of "doing a job" however if we had more midfielders available I doubt he would be in the match squads atm

[Daggers]

you have to remember though just how short we actually are when it comes to the midfield, Gradel is clearly currently capable of "doing a job" however if we had more midfielders available I doubt he would be in the match squads atm

I think we have enough midfield players but it seems as though only Dyer puts in good performances. The right side is at best weak for most of the season and when Dyer has an off day, like yesterday, we do not have anyone else stepping up to the plate.

We need more players to take control of midfield, score goals and defenders who will chip in with set-piece goals the way Norbo did last year.

[Jimmy]

I think we have enough midfield players but it seems as though only Dyer puts in good performances. The right side is at best weak for most of the season and when Dyer has an off day, like yesterday, we do not have anyone else stepping up to the plate.

We need more players to take control of midfield, score goals and defenders who will chip in with set-piece goals the way Norbo did last year.

we don't though the midfielders we currently have available are

1. Lloyd Dyer
   
2. Matt Oakley
   
3. Andy King
   
4. Max Gradel
   
5. Nicky Adams
   
6. Radi Kishishev
   
7. Leivi Porter
   

and of those NP seems to have no intention of using either Kish or Levi any time soon, meaning we are down to 5 of which 3 are wingers

[lcfc81]

Didn't Gradel win the free kick for the goal by running at there defender?

I think he is a good player with lots of potential.

I mean he almost scored from a break all but for a lucky goal line clearance.

He is fast and is prepared to take people on. He is also better than any winger we had last year.

He is young and I think we need to be patient and he could develop into a very good player but that will take time.

As for Morrison I really don't understand why everyone is so down on him, I still can't see him having poor distribution.

Every time I watch him I have the 'distribution question' in my mind and don't see him hoofing it more than anyone else.

We played good passing football with a controlled approach in the first half when he was on and

the only time we 'hoofed' the ball as a general rule was after he had gone off (although I'm not sure the two are related).

Again I think he is a good player and will develop into a very good player if we don't jump on his back.

[Ric Flair]

I was going to refrain from entering this debate about Gradel as I am guilty of licking his arse more than most on here. So I don't want to sound desperate by sticking up for him. Quite frankly his performances this season other than against Mk Dons, Fulham and patches against Tranmere, he has been well and truely off the boil.

It seems he's either been found out by the opposition, Fulham and MK Dons won't have ever played against him and his performances against Birmingham and Palace in pre-season showed his effectiveness against teams who give him a lot of space due to not knowing who or what he is. But the teams that figure him out, stick 2 men on him, rough him up and at the minute it's game over for the lad. He needs to learn to unlock teams even when they do that to him and i'm sure he will do, but it's not been a walk in the park for him like I thought it would be.

he has the talent, let's not fook about here. He's got more natural skill and flair than anything we've had at Leicester for a long while, but without the other minerals he'll be very inconsistent and that will be a shame.

Somebody I know, who knows somebody within the club has said it's common knowledge that Gradel is massively talented and in training he takes the piss, but Pearson and Shakespeare are working hard on trying to install the physical approach he needs to his game. They are both constantly on his case and telling him what he needs to do to improve, which you can't argue with as that's what clearly needs to be done. But, I know that Gradel is a temperamental lad and although he comes across as being a bit flamboyant and cocky, I think he lacks confidence. Whether he's lacking that right now and Pearson and the coaches are effecting that with their style, i'm not sure. If so, then it will be a real shame. Gradel talked in the sumemr about his effectiveness at Bournemouth was down to the confidence he was given by the manager and coaches to go out there and hurt the opposition. We need to find a happy medium there so that he has the confidence and assurance to do that as well as having the discipline to his game where he can take a few rough tackles, a few decisions to go against him without him hiding for the rest of the game or getting booked for petulance.

What has surprised me this season is that although Maxi appears to be lightweight, he isn't afraid to make a few crunching tackles himself and he is actually a decent defender if he stays in position. So that to me, shows he's got it in his locker to toughen up.

Pearson has some tough choices to make about Gradel, is there room in the team for a player who probably needs a free role right now to get the best out of him?

[Dr The Singh]

I didn't go to the game so do pardon my ignorance but according to most ratings the team or players did not perfrom, is this the case????

Gradel, whether it be a lack of confidence etc, will have ot adapt or improve his game otherwise he will be on the becnh for a while!!

[Ric Flair]

I didn't go to the game so do pardon my ignorance but according to most ratings the team or players did not perfrom, is this the case????

Gradel, whether it be a lack of confidence etc, will have ot adapt or improve his game otherwise he will be on the becnh for a while!!

Absolutely, although Adams is looking just as crap at the minute. Would be nice if at least one of them could be relied upon.

[harpendenfox]

I didn't go to the game so do pardon my ignorance but according to most ratings the team or players did not perfrom, is this the case????

Gradel, whether it be a lack of confidence etc, will have ot adapt or improve his game otherwise he will be on the becnh for a while!!

I think we played decently, but not brilliantly, on Saturday. We created the better chances, and probably just deserved to win, although a draw was a fair enough result. Max saw plenty of ball on Saturday. The centre midfield fed him plenty of juicy diagonal balls to run on too. Sadly his delivery from the by-line was poor, often failing to flight the ball well enough to reach the danger zone. In other words he found plenty of space, but didn't maximise his opportunities, and looked lacking in confidence. He's experiencing the 'difficult second season', much like Simply Red with their second album

[Simi]

Martin - 6

Gilbert - 7

Hobbs - 7

Morrison - 6

Powell - 7

Adams - 6

Oakley - 7

King - 8

Dyer - 6

Howard - 8

Fryatt - 5

Kisnorbo - 6

Gradel - 6

[Thracian]

I was going to refrain from entering this debate about Gradel as I am guilty of licking his arse more than most on here. So I don't want to sound desperate by sticking up for him. Quite frankly his performances this season other than against Mk Dons, Fulham and patches against Tranmere, he has been well and truely off the boil.

It seems he's either been found out by the opposition, Fulham and MK Dons won't have ever played against him and his performances against Birmingham and Palace in pre-season showed his effectiveness against teams who give him a lot of space due to not knowing who or what he is. But the teams that figure him out, stick 2 men on him, rough him up and at the minute it's game over for the lad. He needs to learn to unlock teams even when they do that to him and i'm sure he will do, but it's not been a walk in the park for him like I thought it would be.

he has the talent, let's not fook about here. He's got more natural skill and flair than anything we've had at Leicester for a long while, but without the other minerals he'll be very inconsistent and that will be a shame.

Somebody I know, who knows somebody within the club has said it's common knowledge that Gradel is massively talented and in training he takes the piss, but Pearson and Shakespeare are working hard on trying to install the physical approach he needs to his game. They are both constantly on his case and telling him what he needs to do to improve, which you can't argue with as that's what clearly needs to be done. But, I know that Gradel is a temperamental lad and although he comes across as being a bit flamboyant and cocky, I think he lacks confidence. Whether he's lacking that right now and Pearson and the coaches are effecting that with their style, i'm not sure. If so, then it will be a real shame. Gradel talked in the sumemr about his effectiveness at Bournemouth was down to the confidence he was given by the manager and coaches to go out there and hurt the opposition. We need to find a happy medium there so that he has the confidence and assurance to do that as well as having the discipline to his game where he can take a few rough tackles, a few decisions to go against him without him hiding for the rest of the game or getting booked for petulance.

What has surprised me this season is that although Maxi appears to be lightweight, he isn't afraid to make a few crunching tackles himself and he is actually a decent defender if he stays in position. So that to me, shows he's got it in his locker to toughen up.

Pearson has some tough choices to make about Gradel, is there room in the team for a player who probably needs a free role right now to get the best out of him?

Loads of that figures and concurs with my own feelings. The lad has now got so much advice in his head on a Saturday afternoon he's stopped being himself.

What a pity they don't develop his strengths instead of trying to turn him into something he's not which is what Leicester always seem to want - a winger who actually doubles as a supplementary defender. It's perhaps a bad example but the same thing happened with Ryan Smith and even Sean Newton.

One minute Smith was tearing Derby apart, the next he was tracking back, looking lost and on his way to becoming a distant memory.

I remember Brian Clough's approach with Alan Hinton. Hinton's big strength was his crossing. From any range he was accurate as an arrow. Cloughie got him patrolling the touchline with one primary instruction. Get the ball into the box as fast and accurately as you can - something he did with devastating effect.

Gradel's strengths are taking people on, dragging defences apart and shooting.

Anything else should be a bonus not a way of life.

[Anish]

Gradel's strengths are taking people on, dragging defences apart and shooting.

Anything else should be a bonus not a way of life.

But he's doing none of those at the moment, let alone anything else. He didn't beat his man once on Saturday, his crossing was poor and he only had one shot all game (which admittedly was going in but for the block).

I'm not going to defend his performances, they haven't been great and he's not making excuses for himself so why should fans make excuses for him?

[Thracian]

But he's doing none of those at the moment, let alone anything else. He didn't beat his man once on Saturday, his crossing was poor and he only had one shot all game (which admittedly was going in but for the block).

I'm not going to defend his performances, they haven't been great and he's not making excuses for himself so why should fans make excuses for him?

I've not made a single excuse for him all season nor in any way disagreed with people who have said he's not at his best. It's obvious he's way below his best.

If people aren't concerned about the possible reasons why his form is so indifferent that's up to them.

But I'd rather see it sorted than lose by far the best right winger we've had in years and two of the things I'd be looking at is whether he's getting too much advice and whether he's being expected to do far too much defending.

I've said many times that other players aren't really expected to do two jobs. They simply make a contribution at times.

We haven't had a single goal or assist from a defender all this season. Our central defenders are rarely seen beyond the halfway line and our full-backs don't threaten the opposition penalty box like Stearman used to. Fryatt and Howard do little chasing back beyond the halfway line except at set pieces.

But times I see or hear about Gradel defending in the last 25 yards. I'd sooner see him doing his real job properly than have his energies diverted to defensive duties. Defending is energy sapping and should be a bonus, something that he gradually increases once he's on top of his attacking game.

[The People's Hero]

Thracian... burning house, you can only save one.

Maxi Gradel or Levi Porter.

Which do you save?

Conrad Logan is in there too, but it's clear he's not in the picture, here.

[Thracian]

Thracian... burning house, you can only save one.

Maxi Gradel or Levi Porter.

Which do you save?

Conrad Logan is in there too, but it's clear he's not in the picture, here.

Gradel of course. Levi's small enough to slip through the flooorboards into the foundations where he'll soon find enough air to survive. And, if logan can't save himself then he's no use to City.