Clayton

[bhawoddy]

It has almost been announced like that on Sky Sports. They pretty much said it was a done deal.

It is very unusual for a club to officially announce they're signing a player until after the medical.

fair enough - guess we'll have to wait

 

[Finchley Seagull]

fair enough - guess we'll have to wait

Yes, I never assume until it's announced but it feels a similar situation to Stockdale this time last week and we signed him on Monday. Let's hope for the same outcome.

 

[bhawoddy]

Yes, I never assume until it's announced but it feels a similar situation to Stockdale this time last week and we signed him on Monday. Let's hope for the same outcome.

yes definitely finch....

slightly concerning is the fact, the HT poster said he was a defensive midfielder......not sure we need another to add to the list

Still think they missed a trick with Mellis.......only 23 and a creative player who has played extremely well vs us in the past.

 

[chaileyjem]

More ambiguous tweets from Clayton. This from a few minutes ago.
"What an eventful evening !!!"

[tweet]495859219544150016[/tweet]

 

[Finchley Seagull]

yes definitely finch....

slightly concerning is the fact, the HT poster said he was a defensive midfielder......not sure we need another to add to the list

Still think they missed a trick with Mellis.......only 23 and a creative player who has played extremely well vs us in the past.

I think he can play either defensive or more attacking midfield. If he scored his 7 goals last year from a defensive midfield position, it suggests he could score more from further forward.

I agree Mellis looked really good at the Amex but Barnsley fans don't seem to rate him. Sounds like he was quite lazy. As he's signed for Blackpool, given their current situation, I would suggest he's nowhere near as good as he looked at the Amex. In all honesty, I think we were so bad that night that most players would have looked good.

 

[KZNSeagull]

It has almost been announced like that on Sky Sports. They pretty much said it was a done deal.

It is very unusual for a club to officially announce they're signing a player until after the medical.

Well that's good news - at least we do not have to wait until October to get him. Boy, that would be awful if we had to wait that long to rejoice.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

I think he can play either defensive or more attacking midfield. If he scored his 7 goals last year from a defensive midfield position, it suggests he could score more from further forward.

I agree Mellis looked really good at the Amex but Barnsley fans don't seem to rate him. Sounds like he was quite lazy. As he's signed for Blackpool, given their current situation, I would suggest he's nowhere near as good as he looked at the Amex. In all honesty, I think we were so bad that night that most players would have looked good.

I asked a level headed Huddersfield fan to give me his opinion on Clayton, it's as follows.

Strengths:

Composure on the ball
Passing
Vision
Belief in his own ability (big headed)

Weaknesses:

Lazy at times
Not the best when it comes to getting stuck in
Fairly slow
Not the fittest
Belief in his own ability (big headed)

Like nearly every midfielder we've had in the last 20 years, he struggles to play as part of a 2 man midfield but thrives when played as part of a trio. I think we've seen the best of him when he's sat in front of the defence and pinged passes around from back there. He doesn't panic and can be top class at getting himself out of tight situations.

We've also played him more advanced but I'm not convinced that's his best position. He doesn't really have the pace or fitness to keep driving past the forwards in to the box. But his passing is obviously more threatening higher up the pitch as he is well capable of splitting a defence with a single pass

My main problem with him is that he can't produce for a full season. In his two years here he has had prolonged spells of doing nothing and then suddenly turns amazing for 10 games. Leeds fans said the same when we signed him, I think he'd been quality from August to December two years running and then disappeared during the second half of their season. This might improve as he gets older

One thing I think Robins and Dean Hoyle will be taking in to account is his attitude when deciding on accepting offers. Not saying he is a bad egg but his ego is a bit big for an average to decent Championship midfielder.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

More ambiguous tweets from Clayton. This from a few minutes ago.
"What an eventful evening !!!"

[tweet]495859219544150016[/tweet]

Ambiguity in spades, but I think we know what he's getting at.

 

[bhawoddy]

Ambiguity in spades, but I think we know what he's getting at.

perhaps his house got flooded?

judging from what your HT mate said though, he doesn't sound like anything different to what we already have. defensive midfielders are not what we need

 

[Finchley Seagull]

I asked a level headed Huddersfield fan to give me his opinion on Clayton, it's as follows.

Interesting. Sounds like we'll be playing a three man midfield so that's a positive.

We need someone who has a defence splitting pass so that will be great. We have Crofts and Stephens who can be more box to box. He's only young still, at 25, so hopefully things like being lazy at times and fitness can be sorted.

He won player of the year for them last season, which is encouraging. We've obviously watched him a lot as we were interested in January and are back in for him now.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

perhaps his house got flooded?

judging from what your HT mate said though, he doesn't sound like anything different to what we already have. defensive midfielders are not what we need

I think the key thing is defence splitting pass. I wouldn't say either Crofts or Stephens do that, they're both more old fashioned box to box midfielders. I imagine, when everyone's fit, we'll have Nzuzi/Ince as defensive midfield, Crofts/Stephens as the box to box midfielder and Clayton/Agustien as the player who does less work but will produce a defence splitting pass in close games. We'll see though. The club must realise what we need and we're spending a lot of money on him.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

perhaps his house got flooded?

judging from what your HT mate said though, he doesn't sound like anything different to what we already have. defensive midfielders are not what we need

My initial thought was that he sounds remarkably similar to Stephens, but then I guess we don't really have any idea of Sami's formation yet. Perhaps it's a 4-3-3 with 2 ball players ,Stephens and Clayton, and a ball winner in either Toko or Ince. I might be seeing this with a romantic vision but I could see Stephens and Clayton dictating play, moving the ball around quickly looking to spring the front 3 with a ball on the deck rather than a lofted hoof.

 

[Triggaaar]

He won player of the year for them last season

I'm beginning the think that scouts do little more than look at who wins POTY for each team. For this season coming, we need to give it to a donkey and watch the cash roll in.

 

[bhawoddy]

I think the key thing is defence splitting pass. I wouldn't say either Crofts or Stephens do that, they're both more old fashioned box to box midfielders. I imagine, when everyone's fit, we'll have Nzuzi/Ince as defensive midfield, Crofts/Stephens as the box to box midfielder and Clayton/Agustien as the player who does less work but will produce a defence splitting pass in close games. We'll see though. The club must realise what we need and we're spending a lot of money on him.

lets hope your right......

I'm pretty confident the management know exactly what's required BUT its availability and money that will determine who comes and who doesn't. So getting exactly the players you want is pretty tough I would think.

 

[bhawoddy]

My initial thought was that he sounds remarkably similar to Stephens, but then I guess we don't really have any idea of Sami's formation yet. Perhaps it's a 4-3-3 with 2 ball players ,Stephens and Clayton, and a ball winner in either Toko or Ince. I might be seeing this with a romantic vision but I could see Stephens and Clayton dictating play, moving the ball around quickly looking to spring the front 3 with a ball on the deck rather than a lofted hoof.

I have yet to be convinced by Stephens in all honesty but hopefully he can have a good season and prove a few wrong, including me. Whatever will be will be.......this week might get busy if we believe everything that's being rumoured.

 

[RM-Taylor]

I think the key thing is defence splitting pass. I wouldn't say either Crofts or Stephens do that, they're both more old fashioned box to box midfielders. I imagine, when everyone's fit, we'll have Nzuzi/Ince as defensive midfield, Crofts/Stephens as the box to box midfielder and Clayton/Agustien as the player who does less work but will produce a defence splitting pass in close games. We'll see though. The club must realise what we need and we're spending a lot of money on him.

Clayton/Forster-Caskey/March.

Agustien won't play in the League again

 

[Finchley Seagull]

lets hope your right......

I'm pretty confident the management know exactly what's required BUT its availability and money that will determine who comes and who doesn't. So getting exactly the players you want is pretty tough I would think.

Absolutely. I realise we can't always get the players we need but I doubt we're going to spend £1.5 to £2 million on a player when we already have the position covered. I'm sure he's part of a plan.

I think Stephens was beginning to look really good when he got injured last season. Hopefully he can get that form back when fit again.

I'm liking the policy the club seem to be going for recently of bidding for players when their contract is almost up. Means you could get much better value than if they still have time left. We also seem to be moving away from a lot of overseas players and buying British players from this level or above. Interesting change in policy but might be just what we need.

 

[Bladders]

Clayton/Forster-Caskey/March.

Agustien won't play in the League again

JFC won't get a look in

 

[TSB]

Out of interest, if it's a done a dusted deal then why not announce it right away? Probably me being stupid....

It isn't.

 

[BensGrandad]

T

JFC won't get a look in

That is my view. I think that he is over hyped , potentially he is good, remains to be seen if he actually reaches that potential consistanly