Alan o'brien

[studs]

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.

[magicroundabout]

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

[Bob's Orange]

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

[Batch]

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.

[nevillew]

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.

[DV]

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.

[Colin Todd]

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!

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

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

[nevillew]

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

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.

[reeves4england]

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.

[SCM]

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.

[Anteater]

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.

[carbonwhite]

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.

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

[DV]

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 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.

[Jamiesfuturewife]

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

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!!?