Thetownend.com

I think as long as this man stays fit he would replace ward, he did frustrate me we he was fit he didnt seem to go past players he is very very fast, just think he needs game time to build his confidence up and belef that he can use his pace and go past people.

from what i've seen of him he looked very lost in games last year. As though he'd never played 11 a-side before.

Lets hope he can keep himself fit and progress with his positioning, control and crossing.
if he can work hard and improve on these then he will be a very good player down the left. Just needs to stay fit

The ability to control the ball would be a good start.

he only played a handful of games, and so his confidence in his own body not breaking and his touch on the ball were bound to be low.

if he's not improved after a dozen or so games then maybe we should ask questions, but lets lay off him in the meantime.

hope his injury nightmare is over, we can't afford passengers.

Injuries permitting he should be on a level start with the rest at the beginning of the season. He needs to make significant improvements in my opinion. I'm hoping we'll get a starter in his position on loan to be honest.

He's like Barry Corr - if we can keep him fit he'll do a good job for us.

Considering it was his first game for 6 months I thought he played well in the Charlton home leg.

Not entirely sure where some of this critism is coming from either.

His most annoying habit seems to be standing still and waiting to recieve the ball when it looks like it might be coming his way.  RUN FOREST RUN!

Just needs games. Still think we need a LM though. We can't rely on AOB being fit all season.

Well, a fair bit of criticism is from me.

1) See CT's comment above
2) His control has not been great
3) He seems reluctant to take a man on
4) He doesn't track back as much as he should
5) Doesn't have much of a cross on him
6) He gives the air of being a bit 'lost' on the pitch

Now I agree he's been held back by injury, and may have a lack of confidence. That could explain 1)and 3) above.

2),4),5) and 6) should have been addressed at this stage of his career, if he's going to make it a high level.

I think you can put 2) down to a lack of confidence - trying to think too far ahead and worrying about what's coming next rather than getting the ball under control. As for the others, they are things he should be better at but his positioning and crossing in the Charlton (H) game were pretty good. He was poor in the away leg but I have confidence that the ability is there. if we can get him fit he could be very dangerous. Depending on the strength of the rest of the side he might have a bit of freedom out wide as well, leaving him more focused on attacking rather than tracking back.

Personally i'd like to have him as back up, some of the full backs in the division would be raped by his pace later on in games.

I'm not convinced he's good enough to start games on a weekly basis, but he's showed glimpses, just needs to focus more when he's putting balls into the box and retrieving passes. Could be a confidence thing due to his lack of games.

Given a full pre season he could prove to be a very useful tool.

What we've seen of him so far has not been inspirational, in fact pretty poor. He should still have another chance though to prove his fitness and his ability simply because he has hardly been available. Have to say I'm not holding my breath. One that I hope proves me wrong.

agreed he looked good in the first leg and in the second he played an hour injured and still tracked back and chased the ball.

and dont forget he came into a team that was unchanged for half the season so i think a string of 10 games or so could see him come alive

I think you can put 2 and 4 down to lack of game time and fitness issues caused by injury as well.

Although, he has mis controlled a few simple passes but the way some are talking you'd think he mis controlled every single pass he ever received.

Nor, do I remember his cross being as piss poor as has been mentioned, he's certainly not Ricky Shakes. Then again, like most he doesnt get them perfect each time.

6 isnt even a real reason.

10 games!!! I'd like to see some improvement before then!
You know what the crowd are like? I mean didn't we once boo at Macklin and he died...... Or something!!?

I see Alan O'Brien a bit like Theo Walcott, has all the the pace in the world but seems to lack a footballing brain somewhat. I agree that touch and crossing will come with games and confidence (hopefully) but its the reading of the game and football intelligence that worries me. In our league with his pace he could be devastating. Get in a good position to recieve the ball run at a defence full tilt and scare the living bejesus out of them, repeat until numerous goals are scored, serve with an ice cold Lucozade. Job Done.

no im not saying that 10 games and then he comes alive im just saying a string on 10 with him contributing in every game would be a huge confident boost to player and fans. these 10 game include pre-season  :D

You say all that Dave which i agree with but won't give Pericard the same chance

I don't think O'Brien is that good but i am i'm happy to be proved wrong!

He's too inconsistent, He was ok in the 1st leg against Charlton but in the 2nd leg his passing and crossing was woeful to say the least.

This is a make or break season for him, Let's hope he can perform and show himself to be a good player, Like all Town fan's i'm willing to give him a chance and see how he does this season before slating him.

But if he doesn't do the business or keeps getting injured again then he'll be out on his ass at the end of the season when his contract expires.

O'Brien has shown something, Pericard has shown nothing.

Sometimes you talk utter bollocks.

(Other times you say nothing).

Franchise away.

I am willing to bet you whatever you like that Pericard will make a bigger impact next season than O'brien.

I think what has frustrated me about AOB (any other business?) is that he seems to hang too deep when we have the ball, when for my money he should be legging it up the wing and providing an option as soon as we are in possession.

Part of the problem will also be that the team have to work out how to use him best - e.g. be willing to knock a ball over the top for him to chase rather than play it straight to his feet so he has to chack back.

I think they're both going to surprise a lot of our fans. I think after 3-4 games OB will be ripping up full backs for fun and Pericard will be like a rich man's Heskey. With goals.

You're basing your opinion on one bad game though. Pericard hasn't been good but it doesn't mean he hasn't shown anything. Pericard's been very unlucky not to score.

Pericard's shown nothing?! What about his debut - his very first contribution for us was winning a penalty....when he came on vs Charlton every touch he had was useful/productive - I watched it again when I got home - and he was definitely tugged back just before he headed against the post.

Back to AOB - what slightly concerns me is that we're saying exactly the same things that Hibs fans said when we signed him, although I believe he struggled with injuries there also? I'm certainly not one to write a player off before he's given a proper chance and, based on Wilson's comments and my faith in them, I'm hopeful that he can show us that (with a run of games) he's a player.

Whether or Not Pericard has done much directly in his limited appearances, things seem to happen when he's on the pitch.

He has had an influence, directly and indirectly. He's the sort of player that unsettles defenders, similar to Wayne Allison. He may look a bit clumsy at times but he attracts attention, which in turn can make things happen for us elsewhere on the pitch.

Which could be a good thing. Austin rarely needs more than one chance to score and he certainly doesn't need space, which is why I think Pericard and Austin will work very, very well.

At the end of the day, he is a big unit FACT, and he has a decent touch on him. This means that if anything he can act as target man and get it down for Austin, much like Paynter did for Coxy a couple of seasons ago. Although, its a striker's job to score goals, its as important to show creativity and provide goals for their partener too.

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