Mikey O'Neill

Quoted from Son of Cod

Wearne is doing a bit better than OK by all accounts. Key player for Gateshead and one of the better attacking players in the division so far this season. Bit of a frustrating one there for us, in my opinion. Hurst obviously didn't rate him, probably because his defensive attributes weren't good enough for a winger.

That's in a nutshell isn't it? Do you want your wide players to create and score goals, or do you want them to be auxiliary full backs?

Very few wide players today don't track back in sany event, but it certainly should not be their focus imo.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

That's in a nutshell isn't it? Do you want your wide players to create and score goals, or do you want them to be auxiliary full backs?

Very few wide players today don't track back in sany event, but it certainly should not be their focus imo.

Yep, don't get me wrong though, I'm all for hard working wide midfield players in the Hurst ilk but there's still room for wingers that are all out attack. That's one of the justifiable criticisms of Hurst v2.0, in my opinion. He gave time to your Scott Neilsons back in the day but these type of players were barely given places in the squad the second time around. The amount of times in the last few years we were screaming out for a player to come off the bench, take on a full back and get to the byline and our one hope is an out of form Glennon so you look on the bench and the only remotely attacking subs we've got to use are Alex Hunt, some 19 year old lad on loan from Birmingham or somewhere and Danilo Orsi.

8 in 18 from Wearne so far this season.

I'd like to say he really impressed me when he was here but truth be told he played so little football it's impossible to do so.

2 back-to-back starts early on last season, followed by coming off the bench at half-time at Walsall to help turn it round from a goal down to 2-1 win and then just 10 more minutes from the bench before he was loaned out.  But in that limited time he did look a bit different to what we had.  I think a few of the arguments against him was that he was too lightweight, not sure I agreed.

One of those Hurst signings that I couldn't get my head round.  Why sign him if he's clearly not someone you fancy?  

Hurst does not like anyone that has a bit of flair about them . He just coaches it out of them and just wants every one to be a defender  No wonder they go off the boil and look disinterested most of the time..And probably why he never got a proper no 9 center forward in as its not in any way in there game to be a defender .

but he signed sousa......

Quoted from forza ivano

but he signed sousa......

Thats true  and a few more but  he just stifled them with his gotta get back and defend leaving them too far  back to be a threat . or subed them or sent them on with 10 mins to go . You know exactly what i mean

This thread is about Mikey O'Neill

Do we really need to character assassinate Paul Hurst again?

It's done, we've moved on.  Parted on good terms so we don't need to return to berating him here.

Quoted from Son of Cod

Yep, don't get me wrong though, I'm all for hard working wide midfield players in the Hurst ilk but there's still room for wingers that are all out attack. That's one of the justifiable criticisms of Hurst v2.0, in my opinion. He gave time to your Scott Neilsons back in the day but these type of players were barely given places in the squad the second time around. The amount of times in the last few years we were screaming out for a player to come off the bench, take on a full back and get to the byline and our one hope is an out of form Glennon so you look on the bench and the only remotely attacking subs we've got to use are Alex Hunt, some 19 year old lad on loan from Birmingham or somewhere and Danilo Orsi.

Not just Hurst v 2.0, he's always done this in my opinion, especially with wingers. Any players he brought in that got us excited at the start of their Town careers soon had it coached out of them by Hurst. Jack Mackreth is an early one that springs to mind.

Who coined the phrase coached out of them?

Quoted from forza ivano

but he signed sousa......

I think Sousa fitted the Hurst mould quite well. He got back to defend and was exceptionally good at travelling up the pitch with ball. If anyone could have taught him how to cross or shoot over the years, he could have played much higher.