Thorpe and Cureton

[DV]

This season we've lacked...

Effort (Duke)
Pace (Duke)
Versatility (Duke)
Quality crosses (Duke)

If we had him on the left wing, rather than at full back (because he was NEVER a defender), we'd be far more balanced

I agree with DMR,

Duke was never ever a full back, not good enough defensivly but he provided most of the services for the strikers the last two seasons.

[Reg Smeeton]

we all wanted him and now he is being cast aside.

 I'd like to post a disclaimer here....to Fatbury's statement....I didn't want Thorpe and Cureton.

[Spencer_White]

Cureton should have got us a draw at Donny.

To be honest I hope he gets off the wage bill and never plays for Town again. Thorpe is never going to be popular. He acts like a prize prick and used to play for City. But he does have some skill and has at least scored!

[Crozzer]

For fuck's sake, there's nothing wrong with Thorpe and Cureton, when will Swindon's management realise this?  How many decent chances have they missed between them?  I would wager less than 10.

They lack the service.  This problem comes about from losing Miglioranzi for much of the season so far and Whalley being forced to operate so deeply due to lack of a competent central midfielder who can sit in and protect the back four, ironically ala Port Vale's Danny Sonner who we oh so nearly signed.  Cureton hit a hat-trick in the reserves, and has been prolific at every club he's been at.

We NEED a hard central midfielder - how many fucking times does it need to be said?  Sod wages, sod the budget, drag a bloke in of this mould and we will improve 10 fold, gate receipts will go up and most importantly we will survive.  If we loan another striker or winger I will kill myself.  Thorpe and Cureton are owed a decent run in the team, and need some decent service to shine.  A nice start would be to get Roberts playing on the right, as other than Miglioranzi he seems to be the only player in the squad able to give any form of supply.

Did anyone really want Thorpe dropped on Saturday (considering Roberts was unavailable)?  Did Bouzza really do anything that Thorpe or Cureton couldn't?  Could he fuck.  He's another wasted loan, another stupid decision, and another step towards the drop.

Resorting to a chain smoking, tubby, anonymous Ben Wells on Saturday illustrates our problem perfectly.

One of 'em should get a start, or get off the bench, against Stevenage, any predictions on scoring?  I would be the first to cheer if either of 'em scored, but neither King nor Iffy wanted to play them.   Any league manager would french kiss the mother superior to win a game.  

Pity (20/20 hindsight) the resources were not put into midfield.  I am not sure why Thorpe hasn't been tried in midfield, maybe it requires running up and down the field for ninety odd minutes.

[Sippo]

Duke and Quality crosses in the same sentence  

[DV]

Duke and Quality crosses in the same sentence  

I bet Sam Parkin & Tommy Mooney would agree with me!

[Nils]

Yea bbut Jenkins couldn't get in the Posh team but look how well he has done here.

[DMR]

Duke and Quality crosses in the same sentence  

More assists than anyone else whilst he was here.... FACT!

[Mark Hanrahan]

This - I'm sure - will get a laugh or two!

Remember the Brighton (H) game (1st leg of Play-offs)? Dukey man-marked Knight out of the game playing as a centre-midfielder. Before he left I said we could do a lot worse than give the lad a run in the middle for the following reasons;

1) Great engine.
2) Relatively versatile - useful when you need a tactical switch-around/sub or two.
3) Two-footed...ish
4) Good shot on him - but sadly played out wide he rearely got a chance to use it.
5) Nippy - certainly no slouch.

He's obviously not the biggest but then neither was Howard and he was given a long-enough run in the centre.

Either way, I'm glad he's gone. I never took to the lad and I'm sure he was on a top wedge given that Todd brought him in back in the day.

[Kinky Tom]

Duke was always a decent player here, no doubt his crossing was the best at the clup for a fair number of years.

Played out of position though, so sadly most supporters were unable to see past his defensive frailties.

[mattboyslim]

I got annoyed with Duke mostly because he bottled tackles, the same thing that I hated about Bobby Howe and Hewlett, Daisy just didn't seem to try in too many games, it seemed like he had no passion for the cause.

[Kinky Tom]

There was no lack of passion from Duke, the thing was that he knew the crowd were constantly on his back, so if he went in for a challenge and got it wrong he knew the crowd would have a go at him.

His confidence was torn to pieces by the County Ground faithful.

[walrus]

His confidence was torn to pieces by the County Ground faithful.

He started it...  

[Kinky Tom]

No, King started it by putting him in the wrong position.

[walrus]

If he wasn't so dainty with such a pretty face and a couple of crap mistakes e.g.: Bournemouth (H) last season, 1st minute maybe he'd have been more loved....!

I was quite a big fan of his attacking play - he did have the most assists in the league in January of our playoff season, when we weren't exactly the most prolific team in the league, but going back he was poo.  Maybe if he'd been in midfield he'd have done better, but even when he featured there he didn't set the world alight amongst quality wingers such as Howard and Igoe....