Alexis Nicolas

[Les Biehn]

You can't tell me he would have done any worse than Hammond and Carpenter have done recently.

 

[caz]

i agree with what has been said about nicholas,but would like to add if you saw him this week in thr reservis he had a good game and also got a gt goal.when he has played for us has always geven 100% and got good rateing in his last home game i think he was M O M but then got drop again?
even reid said that nicholas help him get back in the side.So why does not get moor games he is what he is, a good defensive midfielder and last year help us stay up .i think his attitude has been gt.

 

[London Irish]

But like les said - if you were not going to be played - could you really be arsed?

A typically frustrating NSC debate.

Les says Alexis Nicolas' attitute is rotten in reserve games. Why he thinks that, it is not clear, because I don't think he's seen any of these reserve games.

Then Kinky picks up that evidence-challenged opinion - that Alexis has a poor attitude - and repeats it as fact.

Do we have a scrap of evidence that Alexis hasn't been trying hard in reserve games this season? Anything at all? I think it's an insult to this player to make that accusation with nothing to back it up.

Alexis' big problem this season has been the emergence of Dean Hammond as a permanent pick in our midfield. He was unlikely to get in ahead of the team's leaders like Oatway, who has impressed many with his form before injury, and also Chippy, who showed us in the recent games against Luton and Millwall, where he was among our best players, that he still has something to offer.

There is no doubt that Alexis is deeply frustrated at only 2 starts and a half-dozen or so sub appearances this season, he said so himself. But when his big chance came in the New Year game against Southampton to stake a claim with all the injuries and suspensions, alas, he was also injured. That's football and the cruel luck players sometimes suffer in football.

Rather than make stuff about his so-called attitude in reserve games, why not let the guy speak for himself - this is what he said less than 2 weeks ago.

"The manager can only pick 11 players and he's the boss - what he says goes and I respect that.

"One thing the club has got is good team spirit. All the boys stick together....all the players are my friends so when I don't play and I'm frustrated, I still want the team to do well because we are all in it together, part of the club."

 

[London Irish]

You can't tell me he would have done any worse than Hammond and Carpenter have done recently.

The Football League paper made Chippy our MOTM at Millwall, I think the sponsors or the Argus, one of those, made him MOTM against Luton.

 

[Les Biehn]

A typically frustrating NSC debate.

Les says Alexis Nicolas' attitute is rotten in reserve games. Why he thinks that, it is not clear, because I don't think he's seen any of these reserve games.

When did I say this I said he might not be playing well because he is demoralised. I never said he had a rotten attitude.

 

[Les Biehn]

The Football League paper made Chippy our MOTM at Millwall, I think the sponsors or the Argus, one of those, made him MOTM against Luton.

I will admit Chippy has looked better in the last couple of weeks but you have to admit in the months before that he wasn't playing well at all.

 

[London Irish]

I will admit Chippy has looked better in the last couple of weeks but you have to admit in the months before that he wasn't playing well at all.

Sure, his form was mixed. It was good on his first game back against QPR, good against Leeds, and Plymouth, Burnley and Preston. In some of those games in between that, it was less good, Norwich and Leicester spring to mind.

I think given his lack of pace, he does tend to look more exposed if the team's shape is not right, as on Saturday.

I would still pick him despite that weakness though, his form in that 4-match unbeaten mini run was generally good and, particularly without Charlie, I reckon we need his experience.

 

[Les Biehn]

Sure, his form was mixed. It was good on his first game back against QPR, good against Leeds, and Plymouth, Burnley and Preston. In some of those games in between that, it was less good, Norwich and Leicester spring to mind.

I think given his lack of pace, he does tend to look more exposed if the team's shape is not right, as on Saturday.

I would still pick him despite that weakness though, his form in that 4-match unbeaten mini run was generally good and, particularly without Charlie, I reckon we need his experience.

I personally feel we need more mobility in the centre, I think Carpenter is ok a step down because his quality means he can control the game but at this level he gets bypassed a bit. I would play Butters or El-Abd with Hinsh and push McShane into midfield, his energy and tenacity coupled with his passing is really needed at the moment in that area.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

A typically frustrating NSC debate.

Les says Alexis Nicolas' attitute is rotten in reserve games. Why he thinks that, it is not clear, because I don't think he's seen any of these reserve games.

Then Kinky picks up that evidence-challenged opinion - that Alexis has a poor attitude - and repeats it as fact.

Do we have a scrap of evidence that Alexis hasn't been trying hard in reserve games this season? Anything at all? I think it's an insult to this player to make that accusation with nothing to back it up.

Alexis' big problem this season has been the emergence of Dean Hammond as a permanent pick in our midfield. He was unlikely to get in ahead of the team's leaders like Oatway, who has impressed many with his form before injury, and also Chippy, who showed us in the recent games against Luton and Millwall, where he was among our best players, that he still has something to offer.

There is no doubt that Alexis is deeply frustrated at only 2 starts and a half-dozen or so sub appearances this season, he said so himself. But when his big chance came in the New Year game against Southampton to stake a claim with all the injuries and suspensions, alas, he was also injured. That's football and the cruel luck players sometimes suffer in football.

Rather than make stuff about his so-called attitude in reserve games, why not let the guy speak for himself - this is what he said less than 2 weeks ago.

"The manager can only pick 11 players and he's the boss - what he says goes and I respect that.

"One thing the club has got is good team spirit. All the boys stick together....all the players are my friends so when I don't play and I'm frustrated, I still want the team to do well because we are all in it together, part of the club."

Did i say it was fact? no

 

[London Irish]

When did I say this I said he might not be playing well because he is demoralised. I never said he had a rotten attitude.

Feeling sorry for yourself and hence not putting in your best performance is not a bad attitude in your book? To be honest, if I was Alexis Nicolas reading this, I would be pissed of at people trying to analyse my state of mind from afar and trying to make some kind of link to performances that have not been seen by the pyschological theoriser.

Anyway, completely academic. There is no evidence whatsover that his attitude or state of mind is affecting his performances. It is speculation harmful to the player to suggest that he doesn't have the spirit and fighting qualities of a Hart, a Mayo or a Reid to go out and win his place back after a spell out of the 1st team.

 

[London Irish]

I personally feel we need more mobility in the centre, I think Carpenter is ok a step down because his quality means he can control the game but at this level he gets bypassed a bit. I would play Butters or El-Abd with Hinsh and push McShane into midfield, his energy and tenacity coupled with his passing is really needed at the moment in that area.

Fair enough, I just think it would be odd to drop a player who has put in MOTM performances in 2 of our last 3 games. I think McGhee then would rightly be criticised for unnecessary tinkering in those circumstances!

 

[Les Biehn]

Feeling sorry for yourself and hence not putting in your best performance is not a bad attitude in your book? To be honest, if I was Alexis Nicolas reading this, I would be pissed of at people trying to analyse my state of mind from afar and trying to make some kind of link to performances that have not been seen by the pyschological theoriser.

Anyway, completely academic. There is no evidence whatsover that his attitude or state of mind is affecting his performances. It is speculation harmful to the player to suggest that he doesn't have the spirit and fighting qualities of a Hart, a Mayo or a Reid to go out and win his place back after a spell out of the 1st team.

So if you're pissed off in your job you don't think it would affect your performance? If you presume that he isn't pissed off at hardly getting a look in over the space of a year then surely that is questioning his spirit. I never said he didn't have the spirit of other players, you are putting words in my mouth that you have no evidence for.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Fair enough, I just think it would be odd to drop a player who has put in MOTM performances in 2 of our last 3 games.

Now who's turning opinion into 'fact'.


MOM performances according to:

'' the Football League paper made Chippy our MOTM at Millwall, I think the sponsors or the Argus, one of those, made him MOTM against Luton.''

 

[Les Biehn]

Fair enough, I just think it would be odd to drop a player who has put in MOTM performances in 2 of our last 3 games. I think McGhee then would rightly be criticised for unnecessary tinkering in those circumstances!

Lets be honest though MOTM awards aren't exactly an exact science and although his performances have improved they haven't been great. As you have said the manager needs to pick a team based on the next game, not just because something has worked in the last one.

 

[London Irish]

Now who's turning opinion into 'fact'.


MOM performances according to:

'' the Football League paper made Chippy our MOTM at Millwall, I think the sponsors or the Argus, one of those, made him MOTM against Luton.''

Now you are being obuse. I had already cited the sources of these MOTM claims in this thread, is it really necessary to put explanatory footnotes on each and every post? ( I would think you reckon my posts are wordy enough )

The point I was making, which you ignored, was this - how can it be right to drop a player who is attracting so much recent MOTM praise in 2 of our last 3 games from so many quarters?

 

[sir danny cullip]

The point I was making, which you ignored, was this - how can it be right to drop a player who is attracting so much recent MOTM praise in 2 of our last 3 games from so many quarters?

Because he didnt deserve the MOTM award against luton, the only reason he got it was because he was sliding around everywhere. Secondly because the centre of our midfield has been the main problem for us all season, we cant seem to get the ball down and pass. Chippy does have a habbit of lumping the ball 10 foot in the air rather than playing an easy 5 yard pass on the ground. He deserves to be dropped but theres no one to come in, thats the main problem. Nicolas isnt putting any pressure on him for his position with his performances in the reserves whereas reid did and he was given his chance.

 

[London Irish]

So if you're pissed off in your job you don't think it would affect your performance?

Getting left out of teams is an occupational hazard for footballers. I think there is only one player in the Albion team this season who has been picked for every game he's been available for, even mainstays like Henderson and now Butters have been left out at times.

Even our finest player in recent years has spent more time out of the West Ham team than in it. It is part of the make-up of every professional footballer to use these experiences to come back stronger and make the manager select him with his performance in training and in reserve games. That's how it works.

 

[Uncle Buck]

When did I say this I said he might not be playing well because he is demoralised. I never said he had a rotten attitude.

Don't worry, he does this.

 

[London Irish]

Don't worry, he does this.

Yep, you could have said something interesting about Nicolas. But you chose a jibe at me instead.

 

[Les Biehn]

Now you are being obuse. I had already cited the sources of these MOTM claims in this thread, is it really necessary to put explanatory footnotes on each and every post? ( I would think you reckon my posts are wordy enough )

The point I was making, which you ignored, was this - how can it be right to drop a player who is attracting so much recent MOTM praise in 2 of our last 3 games from so many quarters?

But you are ignoring the fact that by general concensious he hasn't played the best.