Joe Gatting

[Harold]

Only saw him once in the youth team, against Chelsea, and he was one of our better players but he was very big in comparison to the others. When I saw him in the 1st team that advantage had gone and he did seem a bit pedestrian but some of the criticism of him on here seems a little ott.
QUOTE]

I've always had that down as Joe's problem when he stepped up.

At youth level he was bigger than most, and a nudge on a marking defender was enough to make the space he needed. At senior level against men his own size or bigger, this tactic didn't work, and lord knows he couldn't beat many defenders pace wise. This didn't leave him much to fall back on, so roaming about sniffing for tap-ins was about it. In open play, it didn't help that his general demeanour was so laid back it came across as apathy. I like to think that was not a true reflection of his attitude.

 

[Superphil]

He seemed to receive the ball well, but most often with his back to the goal, and he didn't have the strength/ability to turn the defender and go on goal, so would pass back.

 

[Scotty Mac]

id rather have gatting than elder - although thats not saying much

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Never rated Gatting. The best people can come up with is that he shows 'occasional glimpses of ability'....surely this says it all?

 

[Uncle Buck]

Never rated Gatting. The best people can come up with is that he shows 'occasional glimpses of ability'....surely this says it all?

However the same could be said of Hammond at a similar age and after a loan spell to the Conference, however Hammond did eventually come through to look a decent enough player.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Fair point I guess. I dont think Hammond is that good a player either to be honest.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Fair point I guess. I dont think Hammond is that good a player either to be honest.

Hammond is a bit odd, he can look very ordinary at times when he is on the pitch, but we do tend to look a better team with him in it, than when he is not playing.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

He can also justify his position on goals as well......from time to time.

 

[TSB]

Are we expecting Gatting to come back and be as good as Hammond? If that is the case then we are truely f***ed. We had better get a few more goalies in to cope with the back passes.

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but yours is wrong....WAY wrong.

 

[Superphil]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but yours is wrong....WAY wrong.

Why thank you for pointing that out TSB, I hadn't realised my opinion was wrong. I will try to make amends and tow the line in future.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but yours is wrong....WAY wrong.

A classic line of irony.

 

[Napper]

Can't see him being here next summer if he was dreadful for woking.

Even Robinson who has struggled for various reasons scored 6 in 8 or something

 

[Uncle Buck]

Can't see him being here next summer if he was dreadful for woking.

Even Robinson who has struggled for various reasons scored 6 in 8 or something

Well Gatting has 18 months left on his contract, so unless we are going to pay his contract up, he will in theory be here until the summer of 2009.

 

[Superphil]

Can't see him being here next summer if he was dreadful for woking.

g

I said that about Hammond when he went out on loan

 

[Chabal]

I don't know how many people watched Blackburn vs Arsenal last night, but the average age of the 16 Arsenal players was 19. This included 3 (I think) 17 years olds. Arsenal dominated the first half and went on to win 3-2.

Being young isn't an excuse. I hate to say it, but Gatting just isn't good enough.

 

[Storer68]

We've all seen him and quite frankly he has not lived up to the hype (like Robionson who was going to be the next Rooney).

Good point about Arsenals's reserves.

Gatting is no where near good enough for the level of footballl that he is now expected to be at.

 

[Easy 10]

I dread to think where we'd be in the table now if we'd had Gatting leading the line all season instead of Forster. Theres no substitute for experience (but when there is, its usually a shit one).

 

[Robot Chicken]

Maybe Gatting should join Sussex CCC as he's a bit useful at cricket I'm told...

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Sorry, but simply not good enough IMO.

No pace - which unless you are Teddy Sheringham is a must these days.

OK, but only OK at holding the ball up. Not really strong enough. Never wins enough in the air.

Loan him out again, and let him play Cricket, at which I'm told he really does have huge talent.

 

[Yorkie]

Gatting is a better footballer than Nathan Elder.

Similar kind of players, but Gatting has at least shown signs of a knack of finding the net. He scored 5 goals in about 15 appearances for the first team last year. 1 in 3. [That's basically Nicky Forsters career ratio].

Still too early to call time on Joe Gatting, despite what failed to happen at Woking.

I'm in full agreement with that. 5 goals in his first senior year is not a bad return.