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Thought he looked fantastic on the wing yesterday. Took the piss out of their left back for most of the game. Cant help but think pat of it is down to the fact he actually has to work for the ball out there.

hmmm. he did look good. he has played there before but he still looked a bit lazy at times. think we might see him play there more though as i think Sturrock wants to bring another striker in

last season i got moved from upfront to winger and it was rejuvinating. looks like the same was happening to roberts.

upfront you're trying to work your ass off for a sniff and waiting for your team to supply you the ball, which can get frustrating. in some games roberts looked really annoyed which appeared to make him lazy. but on the wing you see much more of the ball can settle into games easier but still get chances, having the ball and being able to do stuff gives you more confidence- which is what roberts is all about.

hopefully he doesn't have a hissy fit about being on the wing like he alledgedly did at city.

Well if he interview on the official site is anything to go by he actually enjoyed it. I seem to remember a Walsall fan saying he looked good out wide.

I think it is a good role for him with his pace and crossing ability, and he also has the chance to cut inside and create a chance for himself on occasions - maybe it could work out well if he can link up with Lukas regularly

he's a quality winger....must better out wide than upfront....

Definitely think this is the position to see the best of Roberts. On whichever flank he can cross, cut inside, cut it back, whatever. He's not afraid to have a pop either, handy for cutting inside.

i agree,he can cross a ball superbly and take people on.plus the fact that he wont head the ball means he's more suited out wide

I recall one game at Port Vale away where he was on the wing and was fucking dire, but presumably that was because he was seeing 3 goals and 3 balls. He's been a class act since cleaning up.

Totally agree. I thought he was really impressive on Boxing Day. Great pace, wasn't afraid to take people on, though he did seem to have a problem beating the second man - never quite got the ball under control. Not sure I'd like being a right back with him in front of me, either. That aside, he was my MOTM by a distance

only problem i have with roberts on the wing and giving him the free role is it seems to have a effect on jack smith

oh please

i love you dex but it's fucking worlds apart

 :D  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

nah i'm well good.

what i meant is if he was getting pissed off and lazy upfront, which he was, he will see much more of the ball on the wing so can do more stuff.
there's not that much to it

Roberts the whinger or Roberts the winger?

He's just not defensive enough.....

2-0 against Wycombe became 2-1 and he was still the furthest man up the field when Wycombe were attacking.

That's why Shakes came one - he was prepared to track back and tackle from the wing position.

Roberts hung around up front like a school boy where everyone is a striker and no-one a defender.

He needs to learn to be defensive as a winger as well or he better off at Gray's with Kingy than use to us...

If thats how sturrock wants his team to play he would stick with shakes out on the wing as he is better defending than attack,sturrock has said he wants his full backs to defend and his wingers to attack

I still think Roberts should be played up front...

If we had a right winger who could cross a ball like him i would agree sipi

I dont, certainly as macca said while we dont have a right winger.

Plus I think Jutkiewicz and Peacock are capable of getting goals in a more get wide and cross orientated team

Plus its very rare Roberts gets on the end of a cross, even when he is up front he usually ends up in the channels

But Peacock never gets in the box  :wink:

I tell you what its fucking weird,peacock gets in the box more when he is not playing as the main striker.He has played better though the last few games

Peacock will be our top scorer this season provided he stays here

that last few games, he played with Jutkiewicz who is also capable of holding the ball up or winning flick ones, where as Roberts isnt.

This means Peacock doesnt always have to be the one to drop deep and go looking for the ball, he can play off Jutkiewicz and vice versa....

Having Timlin in the middle has also helped, because he knows how to get the ball down and pass it, he's one of the best ball players I've seen in a long time.

Also Peacock is always going to be more dangerous if we crossed it in for him rather than lumping it towards him...

I think Peacock is now more suited to our style of play.

agree with all of that dv

put your top goalscorer on the wing, very good idea there  :-))(

sorry jose who would you put on the right then

Well we will have to put shakes out their, at least untill january then get a replacement asap

but since Roberts has been out there on the wing Jutkiewicz has scored 3 and Peacock has scored 2....so thats 5 goals from the front pairing in that couple of games, so its not as if we arent scoring goals with Roberts out wide.

Peacock has scored more from open play than Roberts anyway

true point but either way we will have to get a right winger come january in my opinion

how many right wingers are there about in this division that are actually better than Roberts on the right? not many.


Pace, skill and good crossing with either foot

Roberts has the attributes of winger, more so than a striker....so we might as well use him on the wing because he's a bloody talented winger whether he likes it or not!

and if he dont like it, he will be leaving, do we want that?

firstly, if he doesnt want be a team player then yes

secondly, who wants him really?

thirdly, he fucking owes us

You play players where they are best suited, not where they want to play.

In my opinion Roberts is more suited as a winger, and is much more effective as a winger. Therefore I'd play him on the wing.

I'm sure somewhere there is some secret hidden desire in Jerel to be a striker.....but you wouldnt play him up front because he 'thought' he was a striker would you!!

true, but roberts might leave he left city partly because he was being constantly played on the wing. But i see where your coming from.

I'd rather have Peacock/Lukas and Roberts as the front pair, or play Peacock just behind the other two. I think Peacock has done better now the midfield has better service from Sofi and Timlin.

I can see potential problems if we rely too much on similar forwards and teams sussing us out.

good point, i see what you mean every team knows what we are going to do when we get in the final 3rd

He's history. Which in some ways is a pity, as he's got more ability than the rest of our players combined (Zaboub and Timlin excepted)

But is attitude is all wrong and he doesn't show enough determination, or aptitude.

And he's a lazy bastard...........

Who's going to take him though?

There's always some manager who'll think they can get more out of a player who's got the skill, but not the aptitude.

I would imagine that's why we bought him..............

He was far from lazy yesterday.peacock was fuckin lazy

Macca. He seemed to perk up a bit in the second half to be fair.

But he was useless in the first half.

Didn't go looking for the ball at all and spent most of the time directly in front of me with his hands on his hips.

But in all fairness that was probably the worst 1st half we have seen this season,they were all crap.Any chances we had again were through roberts,yesterday i can remember 4/5 great crosses going in from both wingers where the fuck was peacock and lucus yesterday tbh

Fair points, don't get me wrong, I rate Roberts and think he's one of the few players we've got that can change a game. But he's frustrating a lot of the time and is very inconsistent, which is something that Sturrock won't accept.

I am puzzled as to why Roberts was starved of the ball in the first half, everything seemed to go through Zaboub who did little with it.
He stayed on the wing as presumably ordered, but had no support from Smith or the midfield so I don't call him lazy. Many were shouting for him to go back and look for it, but then....we fall deeper and too defensive.
Second half Roberts was fed more and worked hard and penetrated well, with some good crosses and at least tried some shots, unlike the others. Too greedy at times perhaps, but you can't have everything.