Robert - is it just ME?

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Okay, I'm going to be honest here. Each week I've thought Robert has been at best okay. I haven't seen him away from home other than on the telly, so I can only go on SJP performances.

A number on here have been singing his praises, and as most of you have substantially more experience of spotting talent than I do, I have accepted that I have been wrong, and that I maybe just don't see what you see.

On Saturday though, I thought he was, again, very, very average. Most balls he put in were too shallow, and dealt with very easily by the first defender. His speed, which I hear people banging on about, was shown very occasionally. He is the master of the square ball or the ball back to Distin. Yet on Dougal's 'Lolo Speaks' thread he is going on about 'one of his best performances'. And no, I'm not saying something stupid, like he's rubbish - of course he's not. He shows occasional flashes but for me that's all he does. Maybe that's all he's there for, but he does little of the running that the others appear to do. If I was his team mates I'd be having a right go at him, and the word lazy would be among the first few. And yes, I understand the bit about 'saving myself for the sprint'. But Bellamy never stops and still would piss past Robert at the end of a game. So, please, I know he's a class player - you've told me and I believe you. Tell me - what am I missing?

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002

Answers

Don't misunderstand, I want him to be a 'great'. Maybe I'm blind to it at the moment.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002

Is it just ME?

Well it's a possibility. It does make a person lethargic apparently. Over to Dr Bill for the full SP on this one I think although I don't think all doctors recognise the condition... :-)

Actually I thought he was canny on Saturday - got through a fair amount of work - without hitting the heights we know he can achieve. I hope he is happy here because he is top class and needs to show it week in week out.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002

I have to say, I thought he was very good on Saturday. I'd also have to say that, by and large, he's been better away from home. Probbaly because of the tossers abusing him.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002

I was happy with his performance on Saturday. He looked lighter on his feet again, and for me he whipped in some excellent centres. He also deserved a lot of praise for being the last man on one of the Bolton second half breaks.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002

PS. Nick, I'm not calling you a tosser but the people who groan and call him a French poof at SJP.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002


He's a massive talent nick, but also a major under-acheiver imho. He doesn't contribute anything like he should be doing, and if he himself feels he played well on Saturday he needs bringing down to earth - in reality he only did OK.

Without question, he's a luxury player in our team and the others have to work that bit harder to compensate for his lack of consistent effort.

However, we do seem to play better when he's in the team. Part of this is the natural balance he gives, but he also demands attention from the opposition - no matter how ordinary he can look at times, they know full well that he can win a game in an inkling.

Knowing just how good he could be, I find him incredibly frustrating - but I genuinely believe he has it in him to be one of the very best we've ever seen in b&w.

I strongly suspect that he's far from popular in the dressing room, and that this is one reason why he doesn't get as much of the ball as he could/should. I noticed on 4 or 5 occasions on Saturday that CB declined to play simple and obvious passes to him when under pressure. I suspect his colleagues recognise the unique talent he has, but find him just as frustrating as we do.

Because of the potential he has I feel we have to be patient and wait for him to begin to deliver consistently - in truth, it's still early days for a temperamental talent like this to become fully acclimatised.

Without question, he represents a major man management challenge for BR, but the end product could be well worth the effort - and the wait.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002


I think we may be judging him a tad too harshly. Surely he cost us so much money, but we have seen what he can do. While he does dog it out there sometimes and disappear at times, he is ALWAYS a threat out there and he commands notice.

Look at Veron... is he 3 times the player Lolo is? I don't think so... he has shown very little since he came here. At least Lolo fills a deinite need for us. He adds that dimension and we could really do no better than that in the current market.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002


Robert is a class player, a footballer of the first water.
He is EXACTLY the sort of player we have to have if we have any CL pretensions.
How so called supporters who boo him can't see that is beyond me. In fact I am absolutely p*ssed off with the crowd around me, and with some comments on this BBS re our players. To wish good riddance, to be delighted with the leaving of someone who has given good service is also beyond me.
A football team has to have a team spirit, has to have gifted players and has to have committed and sometimes not so gifted players who loyally represent and are proud to play for the team
A team without the camaraderie that these players generate will disintegrate.
All great teams have had this unique blend.


-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002

Couldn't disagree with you on the booing point.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002

Well I suppose a double negative is better than nothing.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002


I didn't want to risk betraying my lack of football knowledge with a longer answer :0)

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002

I don't see what the problem is with Robert to be honest. At the start of the season he was left alone quite a lot and found it easy. As the season's worn on, other teams have started to mark him more tightly - this is exactly why Bellamy et al can find the room to run into space.

Without him this season we could have had about 5 less wins from the opening 10 and a bad start would get the crowd on the players' backs, Bellamy could have been a scapegoat after having such a poor reputation. Obviously this never happened but it could have.

The fans who boo players in B&W are idiots, but there are a lot of fans who recognise the ability of players instead. There is far too much emphasis on commitment and effort in my ability and less on deliverance. Robert skipped past players about 5 times during the match on Saturday, had a couple of very decent shots and put in at least 3 great corners that on another day we could have scored for. But he apparently lacks effort, so all this suddenly doesn't count?

We still need to involve him more IMHO - Gary Speed is the worst one at ignoring him, he has this fetish of turning his back on Robert.

I keep repeating this every time Robert comes up as a topic on here, but just look at Robert Pires at Arsenal. Sh*te in his first season, in fact nowhere near as good as Robert. This season he has trasformed into arguably the best left winger in the Premiership, 15 assists and 9 goals, you can't argue with that. Give him time to adjust, hopefully it will just click into space.

Too many fans wanted him to cross early - wasteful really as only Shearer would get on the end of them unless they were pinpoint accurate. Robert is at his most dangerous when he cuts inside and runs at the defence.

I hope he doesn't leave at the end of the season, if he does it will be a shame but if we get more than £10m then you can't complain really. Next season I reckon he could be a massive player for us if we made the CL. Talent like that is hard to find, managing it properly may be hard but in my opinion it is worth it.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2002


Dougal - I 'm shocked to hear that Robert has been booed (sp?)- I haven't heard ANY booing when he's been on the ball. Not ever. I sit in the Leazes, so perhaps it's a section of the crowd at the other end. I could never condone this - as I pointed out by no means do I think the lad is rubbish, clearly he could be a major talent.

Clarky, I'm glad to hear that in your view that he wasn't that wonderful on Saturday. Makes me feel I may just have been watching the same game as the rest of the BBS contributors! Paul also makes some good points above, especially about Pires which I've had a think about. The only thing I would add about Pires is that his work rate went up dramatically in his 2nd season and this was reflected in his results.

But I fundamentally disagree in one thing. The days are gone when a player who is 'class' doesn't work hard and still has a major impact. Beckam works like a trojan, Bellamy never stops, Shearer is always at his best when working his balls off, Giggs only plays brilliantly when he runs and runs and demands the ball. The game today - certainly in the PL - demands hard work. Whether this is a good thing for the beautiful game is a moot point, but it's the way it is.

Let me reiterate, before someone has a go, I hope beyond hope that he's as good as you say. I'm willing to give him a season to adjust. I want him in the team, if only to take out two defenders. I simply think that right NOW he's not as good or works as hard as some people - especially himself - appear to think.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002


If he got stuck in more he'd be brill. He's not far short of being great, won't take a lot more to convince me. But right now he's not in the top 6 of our on-field performers. On Sat'day Hughes, Bellamy, Shearer, Given, Distin adn A o'B all did better than Lolo IMHO.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

We can afford to carry him now, if that's what we're doing. Be interesting to see what happens if we ever start losing, though.

Then again, that's not going to happen, right?

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2002



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