He may be 37 and well into the 'twilight' of his career, but Jamie Cureton's goals are as important as ever.
The ever-reliable veteran forward has always known where the back of the net is, and that's a relief considering City's other forwards haven't exactly been forthcoming with goals this season.
When you take away every League goal 'Curo' has notched so far in the campaign, the Grecians are 12 points worse off, meaning they would be bottom of the League with a paltry eight points. That isn't surprising given Cureton has scored 10 of City's 21 League goals this season.
This wouldn't be such a problem if he was in his 20's, but unfortunately he's not, and the worry is that he could run out of steam if he continues to be played so frequently. If that were to happen, where would the goals come from?
I hope Tis, as well as working out why City concede a goal from virtually every cross and corner, is thinking up a solution. A dip in the loan market would be sensible. I was quite impressed with Lauri Dalla Valle's brief loan spell at the Park during last season's ill-fated campaign so he might be an option or alternatively (and preferably) our young forwards could be played more frequently.
Cureton may not necessarily run out of steam and suffer 'burnout', but if he does or picks up an injury it would intensify City's woes even further, so it's time for his fellow frontmen to step up to the plate or a new player may have to be drafted in.
Monday, 29 October 2012
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Kevin Amankwaah - Dale Q&A
Following on from yesterday's news that Exeter had secured the signing of Right/Centre Back Kevin Amankwaah, I spoke to Rochdale fan David Chaffey, and he gave me the low-down on City's latest defensive addition.
- After making 16 appearances for Dale since signing in January, how disappointed were Rochdale supporters when he didn’t sign a new deal?
"I doubt many people would have been too disappointed really. Opinions seemed to be pretty split on whether he should even have been offered a new deal. I was of the opinion that he shouldn't have been. He seemed to do quite well partnering Kevin Long but then suffered an injury and was poor on return. I doubt much sleep will be lost."
- What type of player is Kevin, does he like to get forward and support?
"It's hard to say as he only played centre half for us. When I heard we were signing him, I presumed we were getting a right back but he didn't feature in that position."
- City can't afford a massive squad, is Amankwaah quite a versatile player and what are his other strengths and weaknesses?
"Well, we know he used to play at right back and he played as a centre half for us so in that respect he could cover both positions. He's a big lad, strong, and he's quick for a defender. That said, we saw that he is prone to lapses in concentration which can cost goals. He needs a good solid partner next to him that's for sure. The goal he cost us away at Yeovil will long be remembered by those that went."
- Exeter have been lacking crossing quality for a while now, is this something Amankwaah can offer?
"We didn't see any example of this but given that he's played most of his career as a right back, it should be something he can provide."
- After spending just half a season up north, how will Amankwaah be remembered by Dale faithful?
"He'll be remembered as someone who came in and struck a decent partnership with Kevin Long but then suffered a loss in form and made costly mistakes."
- After making 16 appearances for Dale since signing in January, how disappointed were Rochdale supporters when he didn’t sign a new deal?
"I doubt many people would have been too disappointed really. Opinions seemed to be pretty split on whether he should even have been offered a new deal. I was of the opinion that he shouldn't have been. He seemed to do quite well partnering Kevin Long but then suffered an injury and was poor on return. I doubt much sleep will be lost."
- What type of player is Kevin, does he like to get forward and support?
"It's hard to say as he only played centre half for us. When I heard we were signing him, I presumed we were getting a right back but he didn't feature in that position."
- City can't afford a massive squad, is Amankwaah quite a versatile player and what are his other strengths and weaknesses?
"Well, we know he used to play at right back and he played as a centre half for us so in that respect he could cover both positions. He's a big lad, strong, and he's quick for a defender. That said, we saw that he is prone to lapses in concentration which can cost goals. He needs a good solid partner next to him that's for sure. The goal he cost us away at Yeovil will long be remembered by those that went."
- Exeter have been lacking crossing quality for a while now, is this something Amankwaah can offer?
"We didn't see any example of this but given that he's played most of his career as a right back, it should be something he can provide."
- After spending just half a season up north, how will Amankwaah be remembered by Dale faithful?
"He'll be remembered as someone who came in and struck a decent partnership with Kevin Long but then suffered a loss in form and made costly mistakes."
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Arron Davies - Cobbler Q&A
Sky Sports News have reported that Northampton midfielder Arron Davies is close to joining Exeter City, subject to a medical. When (or if) he is officially announced, the 28 year-old will give Paul Tisdale's side a new attacking dimension.
Northampton fan Neil Egerton has been answering my questions on Welshman Davies, who has a solitary senior international cap to his name (v Trinidad & Tobago in 2006).
What type of a player is Davies, is he a central player or more of a winger?
"He is kind of neither really, that is half his problem, I don't think he has a position. He is a luxury player in my opinion and you'd need a solid defensive midfielder if including Davies in the midfield. Not particularly fast and doesn't tackle. Pops up with goals though which is handy."
He didn't appear at all under Aidy Boothroyd, was it simply a case of him not fitting into Boothroyd's more direct style of play?
"It was clear Aidy didn't fancy him, wasn't the right environment for a player like Davies and I think most Cobblers backed Boothroyd and are glad to see Davies go who is a big earner."
A lot of your fellow Northampton fans have said Davies is a lazy player who doesn't like getting stuck in, do you agree?
"100%. There is no questioning that technically Davies is a decent footballer but he lacks conviction and injuries seem to have taken their toll on him, nowhere near the same player as he was at Yeovil."
Davies joins former Cobbler Guillem Bauza at Exeter, who do you think will be the more important player for us next season?
"Bauza was good for us and I'd take him over Davies every day of the week. That said I spoke to a few of your fans who dont rate Bauza! I guess it's swings and roundabouts and some players just don't fit in at some clubs, you see it all the time in football, Ian Henderson was woeful for us but scores lots for Colchester!"
Given Paul Tisdale likes his sides to play a passing and patient style of football, do you think Davies has what it takes to be a success at ECFC?
"Certainly that style will suit Davies but I'm not sure the League 2 hustle and bustle suits him, he needs time on the ball and if he gets a big tackle on him then that's him silent for the rest of the game. By all accounts Davies is a top man so I hope it works out for him. Good luck next season!"
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Troy a Big Loss for the Grecians
Last season's POTY and fan favourite, Troy Archibald-Henville has signed for Paolo Di Canio's Swindon Town. The 23 year-old, who remains the only player Tisdale has paid a fee for (£50k) in his six seasons at St James' Park, was offered a new deal by the Grecians so they're entitled to a compensation fee under the Bosman ruling. The compensation deal for James Dunne will be decided at a tribunal but City hope to avoid taking the Robins to a tribunal, as stated on the Official Site.
Archibald-Henville will certainly be a big loss for City but I'm sure Tisdale knew he was likely to depart in the Summer and hence has a contingency plan in place. Southend's Pat Baldwin, who enjoyed a solid loan spell in Devon towards the end of last season, is heavily linked with a permanent move to St James' Park and I would expect to sign, especially with City now down to just one recognised central defender - Danny Coles. Hopefully the club's mass exodus of players will now mean they can increase their offer to the out-of-contract Richard Duffy.
It's safe to say Tis has now some work to do in order to shore up his depleted back-line... And that's not the only area needing strengthening. A busy Summer of wheeling and dealing awaits.
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Roy faced a lose-lose situation over Rio
Before every major tournament the Three Lions are involved in, there's always a saga of some sort that overshadows the preparations. Euro 2012 is no different, with Roy Hodgson facing a backlash for not selecting veteran defender Rio Ferdianand. Firstly in his squad of 23 and then, when injuries to Frank Lampard and Gary Cahill ruled them out of the Championships, he overlooked Rio again for Phil Jagielka and a defender with just a single international cap to his name; Liverpool's Martin Kelly.
After announcing his squad, Hodgson claimed he left Ferdinand out for "footballing reasons." Come on, Roy! So you're saying that you left out Rio Ferdinand, a defender who's accumulated transfer fees of £47.1m over his career, won five Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups and the UEFA Champions League. Oh, not forgetting the five times he's been named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
There's surely only one reason why Ferdinand has been overlooked; John Terry. The 31 year-old is accused of racially abusing Rio's brother, Anton, during QPR's 1-0 win over Chelsea on 23 October. Terry will stand trial over the allegations after the European Championships.
Hodgson clearly felt he couldn't have both Ferdinand and Terry in the squad, and who can blame him? I don't think I could play with someone accused of racially abusing my brother, but it's not Rio's fault is it? It appears that he's the one who's lost out through no fault of his own.
Whether Terry is innocent or not, in my opinion The FA should have suspended him from the national team until after the trial. That way it doesn't give Roy this lose-lose situation. If he had named both Terry and Rio it would have created divisions in the squad which is more than likely to affect results. If he leaves Rio out like he has, he faces a revolt from the fans for not picking what Rafael Van der Vaart claims as "one of the best defenders in England and maybe in the world." Nicely done, FA.
After announcing his squad, Hodgson claimed he left Ferdinand out for "footballing reasons." Come on, Roy! So you're saying that you left out Rio Ferdinand, a defender who's accumulated transfer fees of £47.1m over his career, won five Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups and the UEFA Champions League. Oh, not forgetting the five times he's been named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
There's surely only one reason why Ferdinand has been overlooked; John Terry. The 31 year-old is accused of racially abusing Rio's brother, Anton, during QPR's 1-0 win over Chelsea on 23 October. Terry will stand trial over the allegations after the European Championships.
Hodgson clearly felt he couldn't have both Ferdinand and Terry in the squad, and who can blame him? I don't think I could play with someone accused of racially abusing my brother, but it's not Rio's fault is it? It appears that he's the one who's lost out through no fault of his own.
Whether Terry is innocent or not, in my opinion The FA should have suspended him from the national team until after the trial. That way it doesn't give Roy this lose-lose situation. If he had named both Terry and Rio it would have created divisions in the squad which is more than likely to affect results. If he leaves Rio out like he has, he faces a revolt from the fans for not picking what Rafael Van der Vaart claims as "one of the best defenders in England and maybe in the world." Nicely done, FA.
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Give Robbie the Job, Roman!
Since Andre Villas-Boas was dismissed as boss in February, Roberto "Robbie" Di Matteo has rejuvenated a side that were low in confidence and fed-up under the Portuguese manager. The Chelsea caretaker boss has shown AVB the error of his ways in dropping Blues' veterans such as Frank Lampard when he walked off the Nou Camp pitch on Tuesday night wearing the captain's armband after an outstanding and determined display.
AVB was correct in trying to freshen up Chelsea's ageing squad, but he did it in a way that turned the club's highly influential senior pros against him. Di Matteo has put the trust back into these players and is reaping the rewards.
RDM deserves to be given the job full-time. Let's not forget that when he took over Chelsea were 3-1 down against Napoli and faced an FA Cup replay away at Birmingham. Had Villas-Boas remained I could quite easily have seen them crash out of both competitions. Di Matteo's not only got them through both those ties, but has taken them to the Finals of the two competitions. Not a bad achievement considering how low the side's morale was after the 1-0 loss at West Brom which signaled the end of Villas-Boas' tenure.
 |
| (Source: Soccerbase) |
RDM deserves to be given the job full-time. Let's not forget that when he took over Chelsea were 3-1 down against Napoli and faced an FA Cup replay away at Birmingham. Had Villas-Boas remained I could quite easily have seen them crash out of both competitions. Di Matteo's not only got them through both those ties, but has taken them to the Finals of the two competitions. Not a bad achievement considering how low the side's morale was after the 1-0 loss at West Brom which signaled the end of Villas-Boas' tenure.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
The Opposition View - Leyton Orient
In a first of a new feature on this blog, I've been asking lifelong Orient fan Matt Simpson about his side. He's written the book Leyton Orient Greats and since 2010 has been running the blog View from the West Stand. Here are his responses, very interesting they are too...
After narrowly missing out on the play-offs, are you frustrated how this season has panned out?
"Frustrated isn’t the half of it. During the summer we managed to hold on to the key players who’d made the previous season such a success and added what should have been extra quality to the squad (Jamie Cureton, I’m looking at you), so hopes were high. But it’s been a truly awful season and, given our current form, we’re going to be lucky to avoid the drop. Injuries haven’t helped (we’ve used six goalkeepers this season, for example) but over and above that most of the summer signings have underwhelmed, we lost top players in the transfer window, our loan signings have mostly been abysmal, our tactics have been overly cautionary and Russell Slade seems to have no idea what his best team is or how they should play."
Speaking of Russell Slade, what are your thoughts of him and is he the right man to take the club forward?
"Slade was brilliant for us last season: he made some great signings and instilled a real fighting spirit in the team. But this season he seems pretty much clueless, as demonstrated by his erratic approach to loan signings, team selection and tactics. Assuming we fluke a win somewhere in our last five games and manage to stay up, I’d give him the start of next season to pull things together again, but if we start like we did in 2011/12 – three points from our first 10 games – he’s got to go."
What were Jamie Cureton’s performances like for you and why didn’t it work out for him?
"We were pretty excited about seeing Jamie Cureton in an Orient shirt, especially after the season he’d had with you guys. But Brisbane Road has some sort of ancient curse hovering over it that renders previously prolific strikers impotent once they arrive here. To be fair to Cureton he wasn’t exactly getting any service, but at the same time he wasn’t snapping up the few chances he was getting. Unfortunately front men like him rarely prosper at Orient – he’ll probably score 30 for you next season!"
Are you worried about the future of the Olympic Stadium?
"The Olympic Stadium is a worry, it being a stone’s throw from Brisbane Road. Assuming West Ham eventually move in – which is against Premier League and Football League rules by the way – there are a number of concerns. Of course no Orient fans are going to switch allegiance to the Hammers – we’d rather try to trim our own toenails with a chainsaw – but there is the question of the future generation of fans. Given that West Ham can’t fill Upton Park most weekends, they’ll need to be very ambitious to sell out a 60,000-seater stadium. As part of their initial bid they talked of aggressively targeting local schoolchildren with discounted tickets, for example. Location is obviously one of the factors that determines which football team young people end up supporting, so it would be incredibly naïve to think that having another club so close wouldn’t affect Orient."
Who do you regard as the standout players Exeter have to be wary of?
"None of them. But former Charlton man Matthew Spring has been one of the few players to have performed consistently well this season and if he gets enough of the ball he can control the midfield. Our goalkeeper Jamie Jones is a bit special but has just returned from a year on the sidelines with a shoulder injury. Dean Cox, meanwhile, has had something of an indifferent season by his own very high standards, though in terms of class he’s still head and shoulders above the rest of the team. Which is ironic given he’s only 4ft 11in."
Finally, your predictions?
"We are in absolutely dire form with zero confidence and it’s hard to see where any point is going to come from for us. Having said that, we retain the ability to randomly pick up results away from Brisbane Road so you never know. I would say whoever scores the first goal will win."
- Exeter V Leyton Orient takes place this Monday (Easter Monday) and is a 3pm kick-off at St James' Park.
After narrowly missing out on the play-offs, are you frustrated how this season has panned out?
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| Matt Simpson |
Speaking of Russell Slade, what are your thoughts of him and is he the right man to take the club forward?
"Slade was brilliant for us last season: he made some great signings and instilled a real fighting spirit in the team. But this season he seems pretty much clueless, as demonstrated by his erratic approach to loan signings, team selection and tactics. Assuming we fluke a win somewhere in our last five games and manage to stay up, I’d give him the start of next season to pull things together again, but if we start like we did in 2011/12 – three points from our first 10 games – he’s got to go."
What were Jamie Cureton’s performances like for you and why didn’t it work out for him?
Are you worried about the future of the Olympic Stadium?
"The Olympic Stadium is a worry, it being a stone’s throw from Brisbane Road. Assuming West Ham eventually move in – which is against Premier League and Football League rules by the way – there are a number of concerns. Of course no Orient fans are going to switch allegiance to the Hammers – we’d rather try to trim our own toenails with a chainsaw – but there is the question of the future generation of fans. Given that West Ham can’t fill Upton Park most weekends, they’ll need to be very ambitious to sell out a 60,000-seater stadium. As part of their initial bid they talked of aggressively targeting local schoolchildren with discounted tickets, for example. Location is obviously one of the factors that determines which football team young people end up supporting, so it would be incredibly naïve to think that having another club so close wouldn’t affect Orient."
Who do you regard as the standout players Exeter have to be wary of?
"None of them. But former Charlton man Matthew Spring has been one of the few players to have performed consistently well this season and if he gets enough of the ball he can control the midfield. Our goalkeeper Jamie Jones is a bit special but has just returned from a year on the sidelines with a shoulder injury. Dean Cox, meanwhile, has had something of an indifferent season by his own very high standards, though in terms of class he’s still head and shoulders above the rest of the team. Which is ironic given he’s only 4ft 11in."
Finally, your predictions?
"We are in absolutely dire form with zero confidence and it’s hard to see where any point is going to come from for us. Having said that, we retain the ability to randomly pick up results away from Brisbane Road so you never know. I would say whoever scores the first goal will win."
- Exeter V Leyton Orient takes place this Monday (Easter Monday) and is a 3pm kick-off at St James' Park.
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