Are we now seeing

[fosters headband]

Just how important Dean Hammond was to this side?

The midfield has been shite since he has not been in the squad.

McFaul's wages may have kept him here

 

[Spider]

Just how important Dean Hammond was to this side?

The midfield has been shite since he has not been in the squad.

McFaul's wages may have kept him here

I agree with you about Hammond, he was such an important player for us. But firstly Thomson is a decent player who will get better and will also be able to impose more on a match when he has a decent player alongside him (he was great against Crewe). Also, the wage thing is complete garbage. McFaul is a young player at his first league club in England, Hammond was demanding wages making him one of the highest paid players we've ever had, the two are just completely incomparable.

 

[clippedgull]

I for one don't miss Hammond.

Thomson has bags more drive and determination than Hammond.

 

[Da Man Clay]

Don't think Dean Hammond ever wanted to stay to be honest, must have been offered a decent whack to be the second highest earner in the clubs history.

I think Fraser will be quality when he gets a few more games under his belt, whilst Hammonds leaving wasn't ideal I think it will work out ok in the end.

 

[Basil Fawlty]

We're definitely missing Hammond in the midfield. Our midfield now can't create anything, give Murray and Forster any decent service. We can't pass the ball straight, and we're not picking up the second ball. If we need to find a decent creative central midfielder on loan before the loan window shuts.

 

[fosters headband]

I agree with you about Hammond, he was such an important player for us. But firstly Thomson is a decent player who will get better and will also be able to impose more on a match when he has a decent player alongside him (he was great against Crewe). Also, the wage thing is complete garbage. McFaul is a young player at his first league club in England, Hammond was demanding wages making him one of the highest paid players we've ever had, the two are just completely incomparable.

The point I am trying to make is that we cannot afford to pay wages for maybe players, we need to spend the budget on players that are going to make us a better team to watch. At least until Falmer.
Quality not quantity.

 

[SeagullTim]

No.

Steven Thomson > Dean Hammond.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

Our midfield hasn't been good all year, so no, we're not any worse without him

 

[Scotty Mac]

i think we are seeing exactly how much we miss o'callaghan AND hammond - bearing in mind that our poor run started at millwall and all that...

 

[SeagullTim]

How many times did people moan of Hammond going missing? Rarely did he create any chances or take the ball off the defence and start an attack.

Thomson was coming forward, putting passes into Murray's and Forster's feet, moving in to space, hitting passes first time. He is a much more influential and talented player in my personal opinion.

 

[clippedgull]

How many times did people moan of Hammond going missing? Rarely did he create any chances or take the ball off the defence and start an attack.

Thomson was coming forward, putting passes into Murray's and Forster's feet, moving in to space, hitting passes first time. He is a much more influential and talented player in my personal opinion.

Spot on.

 

[SNOOBS]

Tbh I'd swap Hammond back for Thomson as I didn't realise how much we'd miss him although I still think Thomsons a quality player for us. I also think Fraser has great potential too.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

i think we are seeing exactly how much we miss o'callaghan AND hammond - bearing in mind that our poor run started at millwall and all that...

Dead right, Hammond as the Anchor and George playing intelligent balls around the box are hugely missed and were the main reason why we were playing so well.

 

[Icy Gull]

I think we need to give Thomson a while to settle in. In much the same way as those who moaned about Forster early season have been proved fools, those griping about Thomson after a handful of games, in a team shot of confidence, will look by the end of the season. In the long run Thomson will prove a far more consistent and less reckless midfielder than Hammond ever was..imo.

I have my reservations about DW's motivating skills but the players he has brought in have, for the most part, been quality. We have had to rebuild after the loss of some infuential members up of a team that was doing well up until Xmas, we need to be patient, frustrating as it is at the moment.

 

[m20gull]

I have no doubting Wilkins' motivational skills, jsut because he doesn't interview well on SCR. His views are ususally spot-on as they were last night.

We don't miss Hammond, who was often missing when it counted, but we do miss that handful of goals he picked up. Thomson is a class player but was pretty poor for most of the game last night, but he will be more influential (in a different way) than Hammond.

We do need another quality midfielder to play with him and get the ball forward - interesting to see Coxy playing in that kind of role for the second half last night, particularly with Robinson in an unusually impressive display on the wing. Strangely enough, players of that quality are rarely found in the Third Division, and the two names most frequently mentioned recently are currently playing for Cork City and warming the bench at Colchester.

Forster and Murray ARE quality, let's hope the partnership is built on, and played to.

I'm not sure I'm that frustrated, other than with the fans' unreasonable expectations. Apart from a duff 5 minutes at Whaddon Road, we would be looking at 10 points from 4 games with one conceded (and that was a great finish).

 

[chez]

I think everyone with an ounce of football knowledge knew that Hammond was a big player for us and that we would miss him. I think only ballwatchers under rated Hammond.

It is no suprise to me that the midfield is worse now than it was with him in it.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Ok, lets just go down to the stable and lock the door...oh no! the horse has bolted!

 

[BensGrandad]

Our view of Hammond doesn't matter. One man underestimated the importance of Hammond and O Callaghan to our team, the same man who should seek a replacement for White and Chapman. I will leave you all to work out who that one man is, who is responsible for our poor performances since Millwall on Boxing Day.

 

[Mendoza]

Hammond did the dirty work winning the ball and lplay small passes to the wingers.
He also got forward into the box, often late so not marked by defenders and got himself into goal scoring positions (better goal ratio than Robinson from same amount of games)

Thomson is a quality player doing the dirty work but rarely goes forward.

Fraser does the dirty work well, but when he gets a sight of goal, seems afraid to shoot and normally passed the ball wide right.

El Abd, again good at breaking up play, and has no real attacking attributes, so doesnt try and use them

We always seem to be playing with 2 holding midfielders, where we need one of them to get forward as too often the attackers are too isolated and just get out numbered