Luke Summerfield Awards.

Quoted from Bigdog

I've seen the comment "if he had someone alongside him" on a lot of threads. How about we sign players that don't need babysitting by another player to make up for their deficiencies? The knock on effect is we don't get the best of the other player either. We need every player to do their own jobs to get the best results we can..

Summers and Collins deserve another year in the squad, but their ultimate effectiveness as first choice starters? Not for me. If we are going to progress we'll need better and different in those positions. We conceded plenty and we didn't create much over a season and the reasons for that can't be laid totally at Slade's door and be forgotten about..

My exact thoughts on it

We're a League 2 club. If you can find a box-to-box, athletic, ball-winning, creative, goalscoring central midfielder who screens the back 4 well then let's bring him in. Otherwise we might have to sign players with strengths that compliment each other - it's not a case of babysitting.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

We're a League 2 club. If you can find a box-to-box, athletic, ball-winning, creative, goalscoring central midfielder who screens the back 4 well then let's bring him in. Otherwise we might have to sign players with strengths that compliment each other - it's not a case of babysitting.

Mich Rose??.....just saying..

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

We're a League 2 club. If you can find a box-to-box, athletic, ball-winning, creative, goalscoring central midfielder who screens the back 4 well then let's bring him in. Otherwise we might have to sign players with strengths that compliment each other - it's not a case of babysitting.

We've already got him

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Mich Rose??.....just saying..

Really?

flipping hell it's a miracle we didn't romp to the title with our range of complete central midfielders!

I've got a feeling that now Rose seems fitter and more confident under Jolley, MJ will be more inclined to try and find a partner for him rather than a partner for Summers. For all of his efforts, Summers gives me the feeling that the whole team lacks something when he's the main man. Sometimes it's not the player himself, it's how he affects the DNA of the team..

Quoted from Bigdog

I've seen the comment "if he had someone alongside him" on a lot of threads. How about we sign players that don't need babysitting by another player to make up for their deficiencies? The knock on effect is we don't get the best of the other player either. We need every player to do their own jobs to get the best results we can..

Summers and Collins deserve another year in the squad, but their ultimate effectiveness as first choice starters? Not for me. If we are going to progress we'll need better and different in those positions. We conceded plenty and we didn't create much over a season and the reasons for that can't be laid totally at Slade's door and be forgotten about..

Surely it's about balance rather than babysitting?

Summerfield wasn't there to create, he wasn't there to unlock a defence.  His role was to break up play and redistribute, something I think he did really well all season.  It's not his fault that throughout the season he was paired with players who offered no alternative to him.

If Jolley manages to find a creative influence to put into the midfield, it will need the balance of someone who is going to cover their forward runs, cover the gaps created and make sure the extra attacking option doesn't result in the back four getting overrun.  We all like seeing full-backs going forward and as the season went on (especially with Hall-Johnson and Fox) we started to see more of it, it was Summerfield who covered them to allow that to happen.

Rose has taken all the plaudits in recent weeks and in the eyes of a lot of people has transformed into Steven Gerrard as this swashbuckling midfielder who drives from box-to-box.  He's still not a patch on Summerfield and whilst I'm thankful for his goals, I would much rather Summerfield had the extra year left on his contract than Rose.

A stick that's used to beat Summerfield a lot is that he's always part of a struggling side.  Flipping that coin around, the much heralded James McKeown has failed to achieve a top half finish in the Football League in his whole career, shall we judge him on that? No, because it's out of his control to a very large extent.  He can't control the players he plays with.

Summerfield is a very good League Two midfielder who, in my opinion, would be a perfect foil for a more creative minded attacking partner.  The fact we never saw him and Jamey Osborne as a pairing is a real shame.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Not technically good enough I’m afraid much improved but if he’s your main man in midfield next year expect more of the same. The lower end of the table is were he’s familiar with not by chance, we simply need better. Having said that unlike some he worked his socks off most games and looked really committed to the cause that I can’t fault.

Hi Marcus, why are you posting as Dapperz?

To get to the top of the league, which is the aim, you need at least one midfielder of the quality of a Luke Berry at Luton, or a Sean McConville at Accy. I suspect that Rose may now be a starter for next season, so is Summers alongside him the right player to create and score goals? His stats this season and last suggest otherwise, although he may fare better in a better side.