Mcatee

Now i love macca and really rate him as a player but it would seem our worse form is happening when he is playing.

Maybe they trying to play the game to suit macca rather than how we play without him?

He hasnt set the world on fire since he has been back and to me is very droppable at this moment in time.

Correlation does not imply causation.

I think it's less regards McAtee returning and more missing Taylor.  It's a cruel twist of fate that the first game Taylor missed was the same game McAtee returned (Doncaster).

Town league stats with Taylor starting:

Games - 14
Points Gained - 22
Points Per Game - 1.5
Goals Scored - 18
Goals Per Game - 1.28

Town stats with Taylor not starting:

Games - 13
Points Gained - 11
Points Per Game - .84
Goals Scored - 13
Goals Per Game - 1.0

Purely on the the stats, but without Taylor you're looking like a 39 point a season side (third bottom last season, a point ahead of relegated Oldham).  With him, 58 points (joint 13th with Bradford and Orient).  Those numbers don't take into account the fact that Taylor and McAtee, a pairing that brings the best out of each other, have only played 23 minutes together all season (away at Orient on the opening day).

His cracking goal and also an assist in the 3-0 demolition of Crewe didn't coincide with bad form did it

Err, Crewe game?

Crewe aside , he's not far wrong.   He often attempts more complicated things when a simple pass would be more effective.  Maybe that's because he should be playing with players of a higher standard.

He had two of our best efforts on Tuesday. One well saved and one half chance he made himself that flashed past the post.

Quoted from monkeyboy

Now i love macca and really rate him as a player but it would seem our worse form is happening when he is playing.

Maybe they trying to play the game to suit macca rather than how we play without him?

He hasnt set the world on fire since he has been back and to me is very droppable at this moment in time.

Although I always liked Macca I think Crocombe is an able replacement

Quoted from golfer

Although I always liked Macca I think Crocombe is an able replacement

Can't say I've ever seen Crocombe play right-back!  

I love how the thread has descended rapidly into macca 1, macca 3 and mcatee, er macca3.  😀

More seriously, we miss Taylor, hopefully he's back soon, and hopefully that suits our cluster of non target men strikers!  

Quoted from Mayaman

Crewe aside , he's not far wrong.   He often attempts more complicated things when a simple pass would be more effective.  Maybe that's because he should be playing with players of a higher standard.

It struck me watching his return against Donny that there were some subtle differences in his play - in particular dummying and leaving the ball for someone else - who in that game was invariably not there to receive it. Maybe he got some coaching back at Luton during his recovery that doesn’t suit our style or standard?
Have t seen the dummying so much recently - maybe Hurst ‘coached’ it out of him.

Quoted from monkeyboy

Now i love macca and really rate him as a player but it would seem our worse form is happening when he is playing.

Maybe they trying to play the game to suit macca rather than how we play without him?

He hasnt set the world on fire since he has been back and to me is very droppable at this moment in time.

Drop our only real game changer?

Good luck with your Motherwell application btw Ian.

It is absolutely criminal how our fans have suddenly turned on McAtee. He’s a gifted footballer who I’m sure will be a success at Luton and we should enjoy him for the time he’s here.

He’s spent most of this season either out of position or playing in a formation that relies heavily on him to be the one creative outlet.

It’s quite obvious he reads a lot of the stuff posted about him and it’s a shame that he’ll be reading all the comments about him on twitter about his performances this season.

Quoted from pontoonlew

It is absolutely criminal how our fans have suddenly turned on McAtee. He’s a gifted footballer who I’m sure will be a success at Luton and we should enjoy him for the time he’s here.

He’s spent most of this season either out of position or playing in a formation that relies heavily on him to be the one creative outlet.

I'd like to know who we have in reserve who is better than him, because I haven't seen him yet.

We are better as a collective, team, without him at the moment, even though he's the best individual.

Quoted from ginnywings

I'd like to know who we have in reserve who is better than him, because I haven't seen him yet.

This is a frustration I have. We have known since 2 days after our first game of the season that McAtee would be out for 3 months and then not our player by the end of the season so I would have liked to have seen someone who looks like replacing him around the place by now.

Quoted from pontoonlew

It is absolutely criminal how our fans have suddenly turned on McAtee. He’s a gifted footballer who I’m sure will be a success at Luton and we should enjoy him for the time he’s here.

He’s spent most of this season either out of position or playing in a formation that relies heavily on him to be the one creative outlet.

It’s quite obvious he reads a lot of the stuff posted about him and it’s a shame that he’ll be reading all the comments about him on twitter about his performances this season.

I totally agree with you mate.
I did not see the Swindon game but I have been really frustrated with some of the things posted about his attitude and desire.
He is clearly our best player, I would say Smith is second. He gets annoyed with the players around him because they are not, do not think, at his level.
I hope he has a good end to the season and good luck to him after that.

As John Moore would say......."crikey"

He is by far and away our best player and to leave him out would be stupid. It is not McAtee's fault that Hurst could not find a suitable striker to play along side him.

The needs of the team should always outweigh the ability of one individual.

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

We are better as a collective, team, without him at the moment, even though he's the best individual.

What evidence have you got for that?

Quoted from ska face

What evidence have you got for that?

An opinion on what I have seen this season.

Maybe I could use PPG with McAtee 1.07 and 1.61 without (including cup games, which I know don't gain points). The issue with PPG is that it assumes that the only contributing factor is McAtee in or out of the team when there are various elements to think about, opposition, opposition form, other players on/off form etc. So not reliable and wouldn't stand in a court of law.

So it's back to my opinion and the way I have viewed the games. Out of interest do you have any evidence to contrary?

Edit: The issue is not having a Tayloresqe player for McAtee to play off, Taylor with McAtee is ineffective and vice versa. Hurst doesn't seem to have found a system which gets the best out of McAtee without Taylor, so I think we should play to the best ability of the team rather than shoehorn a player in which I don't think it's working.  However, Hurst thinks the team is better with McAtee in, so it's irrelevant what I think.

I also find it amusing that McAtee seems to be the only player that is not allowed to be criticised (not criminal turning, which has been previously mentioned).

McAtee is our best player. End of discussion for me.

I don't think anyone is debating whether McAtee is the best individual on our books, but as Aristotle once said "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts"

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

Out of interest do you have any evidence to contrary?

Yeah the hundreds of thousands of posts on here of town fans talking complete and utter shïte.

Quoted from pontoonlew

It is absolutely criminal how our fans have suddenly turned on McAtee. He’s a gifted footballer who I’m sure will be a success at Luton and we should enjoy him for the time he’s here.

He’s spent most of this season either out of position or playing in a formation that relies heavily on him to be the one creative outlet.

It’s quite obvious he reads a lot of the stuff posted about him and it’s a shame that he’ll be reading all the comments about him on twitter about his performances this season.

The first bit I agree with, but the last paragraph about what he reads? How do you know this? He’s active on Twitter but I’d be surprised if he debases himself to this level.

McAtee is by far the best player we got. I believe even with bad form he still is the best one in creating a shot for himself or someone else. Literally one of maybe two or three guys who are undebatable imo. And I mean, Luton (which are btw already out of the fa cup) are surely monitoring his performances. He always will go for 110%

McAtee is a big game player so you'd absolutely start him at Southampton. He scored a cracker at Wrexham, set two more up and scored the equaliser in the final v Solihull so, from that point of view, you'd have him in your team if he's fit and available.

Which he is right now — although it's clear his best partner up front is a guy that's been crocked for a few months.

Our team at the moment isn't settled. I'm not sure this formation is as fluent as the one we had before we lost a lot of our attacking options.

This wing back system isn't the same as McAtee playing centrally in a three behind a target striker. I'd like to see us return to the 4-2-3-1 formation now that Scannell must be close to fully fit and Wearne back from his loan. We know from last season Clifton can do a job on the left of those three.

We're missing Otis Khan but we do have Mikey O'Neill who is also an option anywhere behind the front man.

I only ever saw this three-at-the-back system as temporary, and while it worked a charm v Luton and got us a great result at Crewe, I think the players including McAtee will be more comfortable with 4-2-3-1 if Lloyd can spearhead the attack (which is the big question).

Anyone who has potential doubts as to whether we are a better team with or without John McAtee needs to ask themselves this hypothetical question:

Luton offer us another season-long loan next season, on the proviso that he starts every league game he is fit and available for. Do you take it; yes or no?

First it was Clifton, then Efete and now it's McAtee.

Quoted from Poojah

Anyone who has potential doubts as to whether we are a better team with or without John McAtee needs to ask themselves this hypothetical question:

Luton offer us another season-long loan next season, on the proviso that he starts every league game he is fit and available for. Do you take it; yes or no?

Good question, I would say no on the grounds that I don't think anyone regardless of who it is should be an automatic starter, and it certainly shouldn't be dictated by the parent club, it should be the manager's choice and his alone.

If you had asked if I would like to see him back next season, without the enforced start then I would have said yes.

Quoted from ginnywings

First it was Clifton, then Efete and now it's McAtee.

A big difference here for me, Clifton and Efete it was their individual ability that has been questioned, whereas with McAtee it hasn't, just whether we are a better team with or without him.

Quoted from ginnywings

First it was Clifton, then Efete and now it's McAtee.

Exactly!!

Quoted from Poojah

Anyone who has potential doubts as to whether we are a better team with or without John McAtee needs to ask themselves this hypothetical question:

Luton offer us another season-long loan next season, on the proviso that he starts every league game he is fit and available for. Do you take it; yes or no?

Stop being a disrupter when you know the answer!!

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

A big difference here for me, Clifton and Efete it was their individual ability that has been questioned, whereas with McAtee it hasn't, just whether we are a better team with or without him.

There is no difference. Their value to the team has been questioned and the reasons are irrelevant.

The manager however, a man with 30 years experience playing and managing in the EFL and National League, thinks they are worthy of a place.

Clifton and Efete got past the criticism and so will McAtee.

Quoted from ginnywings

There is no difference. Their value to the team has been questioned and the reasons are irrelevant.

The manager however, a man with 30 years experience playing and managing in the EFL and National League, thinks they are worthy of a place.

Clifton and Efete got past the criticism and so will McAtee.

but no one is questioning McAtee in this thread, but the team set-up and whether we are getting the best out of him and the team.

Edit, ok maybe one or two have criticised McAtee but I certainly haven't in this thread.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

The first bit I agree with, but the last paragraph about what he reads? How do you know this? He’s active on Twitter but I’d be surprised if he debases himself to this level.

Not sure if you follow him but it’s quite apparent he searches himself on there judging by the stuff he likes. I don’t blame him, I’d do it too, but it means he’d have seen the recent less complimentary stuff too, which I think is unfair on him.

Quoted from ska face

Yeah the hundreds of thousands of posts on here of town fans talking complete and utter shïte.

So, no.

Just an opinion like the rest of us.

Quoted from Poojah

Anyone who has potential doubts as to whether we are a better team with or without John McAtee needs to ask themselves this hypothetical question:

Luton offer us another season-long loan next season, on the proviso that he starts every league game he is fit and available for. Do you take it; yes or no?

I’m assuming from you’re hypothetical question, that you would say yes and find other answers incredulous.

Right now I’d say no. Why would we build a team around a player who is not propelling us forward?

Last year he did. This year he isn’t.  And the majority of our better performances/results this season have come without him (early in the season or in the cup).

He’s been a great player for us but this season he's been bang average and next season he isn’t ours.

Let’s not put our faith in what is, to all intents and purposes, a loan player.

I mean this, and the other critical stuff about him and the others named is just tosh. I hope if there are so called fans criticising him on Twitter he can just dismiss it as only one or two bigmouths who don’t know what they’re talking about. Always the same when we have a bad spell….some small sections of the fan base turn on individual players. He must think ‘you ungrateful b**tards with short memories.’.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Not sure if you follow him but it’s quite apparent he searches himself on there judging by the stuff he likes. I don’t blame him, I’d do it too, but it means he’d have seen the recent less complimentary stuff too, which I think is unfair on him.

Sorry I misread your post I thought you meant he looked on here too, apologies.

Personally I still think his ability to change a game means he’s our most dangerous player, he has a great work rate and despite what people try and insinuate a good attitude.

I wasn’t critical of mcatee as a player. He’s great.
I’m just asking the question if the team has been better without him and my answer is yea they have.

Probably the style of football at the moment is conductive to his style of play.

As Ska said, you’re conflating coincidence with causation. We were getting better results in that early period but it’s some leap to say it’s because we were a better team without him. All sorts of factors.

Quoted from cardiffmariner

So, no.

Just an opinion like the rest of us.

It is an empirical fact that people on here talk absolute mince, there are some fine examples in this very thread.

Drop our best player (replaced with who, by the way?) because the defence have forgotten how to head a ball or clear their lines. Absolutely top draw stuff.

Just because people disagree with you it doesn't make their opinions "mince", it just means they have differing opinions.and makes you look a tad petty.

The concept isn't hard but it's an "empirical fact" that a lot of people in this thread are confusing personal criticism with the overall performance and analysis of a team.

In 1956, Len Shackleton of Sunderland and England, wrote his autobiography.
One of the chapters was called 'The average director's knowledge of football'.
The chapter was left blank.

This applies to all the critics on here of John Mcatee.

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

Just because people disagree with you it doesn't make their opinions "mince", it just means they have differing opinions.and makes you look a tad petty.

The concept isn't hard but it's an "empirical fact" that a lot of people in this thread are confusing personal criticism with the overall performance and analysis of a team.

Fan opinion can change like the wind in some cases . You only need to ask Rio Ferdinands brother Anton for that. Rio has had a stellar career and in his prime one of the best centre backs in the world. A few bad performances at Manchester United due to various factors and some fans then turn on him saying he's crap etc etc. Turns it round soon after though. I remember reading it really riled Anton and who can blame him.

We won, so McAtee must have been on the bench I presume.  

Petty! No one said we never win with McAtee. Maybe read the thread again!

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

Petty! No one said we never win with McAtee. Maybe read the thread again!

It's not petty at all, and I have read and understood the thread thanks.

Some fans are questioning the role of McAtee in the team, which is their prerogative. I think he is a difference maker and should always be in the starting 11 because he can produce something out of nothing, and at this level, that is sometimes all that is needed to get a point or three.

Quoted from ginnywings

Some fans are questioning the role of McAtee in the team, which is their prerogative. I think he is a difference maker and should always be in the starting 11 because he can produce something out of nothing, and at this level, that is sometimes all that is needed to get a point or three.

Agree with some of the sentiments between you and the TheRealJohnLewis especially with what he said to some of the user's on here but McAtee being in the side especially because he can produce something out of nothing is a golden sticking point 👍.

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

Petty! No one said we never win with McAtee. Maybe read the thread again!

Quit now to save face

Quoted from Rick12

Fan opinion can change like the wind in some cases . You only need to ask Rio Ferdinands brother Anton for that. Rio has had a stellar career and in his prime one of the best centre backs in the world. A few bad performances at Manchester United due to various factors and some fans then turn on him saying he's crap etc etc. Turns it round soon after though. I remember reading it really riled Anton and who can blame him.

Anton was probably concerned that a further drop in form for his brother might mean the coat tails, that he himself was clinging onto so tightly, might drag on the floor.

If McAtee hadn’t started and we’d lost then people would be saying we should have played McAtee.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Anton was probably concerned that a further drop in form for his brother might mean the coat tails, that he himself was clinging onto so tightly, might drag on the floor.

I think though diehardmariner you may loose form/consistency  sometimes for various reasons  but the quality never goes which Rio Ferdinand had . I always liked what some of the television pundits during previous world cups said with regard to this . Take Messi . He can be out of the game and does little for 89 minutes and then bang produces a bit of magic which changes the game.

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

An opinion on what I have seen this season.

Maybe I could use PPG with McAtee 1.07 and 1.61 without (including cup games, which I know don't gain points). The issue with PPG is that it assumes that the only contributing factor is McAtee in or out of the team when there are various elements to think about, opposition, opposition form, other players on/off form etc. So not reliable and wouldn't stand in a court of law.

So it's back to my opinion and the way I have viewed the games. Out of interest do you have any evidence to contrary?

Edit: The issue is not having a Tayloresqe player for McAtee to play off, Taylor with McAtee is ineffective and vice versa. Hurst doesn't seem to have found a system which gets the best out of McAtee without Taylor, so I think we should play to the best ability of the team rather than shoehorn a player in which I don't think it's working.  However, Hurst thinks the team is better with McAtee in, so it's irrelevant what I think.

I also find it amusing that McAtee seems to be the only player that is not allowed to be criticised (not criminal turning, which has been previously mentioned).

I have been proven right, we only got a result because McAtee and Taylor played!  

Thanks to those that have managed to engage in discussion and it's the same old people shutting down any differing opinion.

Anyway, I am off to save my face, as it has well and truly been burnt!

He was feeding off scraps today and still managed two decent attempts on goal. he also fought hard against the giants in the Northampton back line all game long.

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

I have been proven right, we only got a result because McAtee and Taylor played!  

Thanks to those that have managed to engage in discussion and it's the same old people shutting down any differing opinion.

Anyway, I am off to save my face, as it has well and truly been burnt!

Nobody shut down anything you big snowflake. The opposite of that. Views can be challenged. Some people can deal with it,some can’t. See ya

Quoted from chaos33

Nobody shut down anything you big snowflake. The opposite of that. Views can be challenged. Some people can deal with it,some can’t. See ya

Ahhh resorting to petty insults. Bravo, You seem to think I am insulted or offended, not at all.

Quoted from chaos33

McAtee is our best player. End of discussion for me.

Quoted from chaos33

Quit now to save face

Sorry I thought you said you were off.

I said ‘end of discussion for me’. Not for others.
Was I right?

Quoted from chaos33

Sorry I thought you said you were off.

I said ‘end of discussion for me’. Not for others.
Was I right?

Categorically wrong, as you continued "discussing"!  

Once again, the opposite of that. I said McAtee is our best player and the idea that we are a better team without him was flawed and a conflation. He was ace today and we won.

There's some flipping whoppers who follow town. Shite thread.

Always have to be picking at one player or another. In Mcatee we have a player with a sprinkling of star quality and ability to do something different. Was great today as well.

How anyone can knock this bloke is beyond me. Our best player in a mental promotion winning campaign and sold him for a hefty fee and he stayed with us on loan when he could of been anywhere else. Lad absolutely loves playing football and one of the many few who has sparkling quality. I swear we will just bash some people for the sake of it.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

There's some flipping whoppers who follow town. Shite thread.

Always have to be picking at one player or another. In Mcatee we have a player with a sprinkling of star quality and ability to do something different. Was great today as well.

Another "whopper" who has either, not read the thread or not understood it, no one is picking on McAtee or questioning his ability. I am not going to try and explain again because if you haven't understood so far you never will!

Not sure McAtee was "great" today, he was good, the same as the rest of the team apart from Waterfall who was great.

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

Another "whopper" who has either, not read the thread or not understood it, no one is picking on McAtee or questioning his ability. I am not going to try and explain again because if you haven't understood so far you never will!

Not sure McAtee was "great" today, he was good, the same as the rest of the team apart from Waterfall who was great.

  As the great Andres Iniesta once said " the perfect footballer doesn't exist,always room for improvement" .

McAtee was at his best in the playoffs.  This is when you need your best player or players, to come to the aid of the party.  Away to the mighty Wrexham he scored a classy goal and was unlucky not to score a hat trick in the first half.

It should be noted that he has come back from a long injury.  He is deserving of some latitude. We probably expect too much of him at times.  

  We will see what he creates at Southampton. We will certainly need him - and hopefully at his best.  And linking up with his partner in crime - Ryan Taylor.  

There’s an argument that says the reason he can sometimes look a bit off it is because the others around him aren’t up to his level…he’s made many a run of pass that didn’t come off yet he’d done his bit.

We’ve had very good players in the past who have failed to turn up for crucial games at crucial moments…this isn’t the case with Mcatee…when Smith played that through ball in the final, as soon as we saw Mcatee on the end of it we knew to celebrate…

Thought he was class today.

the thing about Mcatee , imho, is that he always tries, so he's never ineffective, and he's always got the potential to change summat

Theres a clown on Twitter at it this morning, of course Jacko has got involved with his opinions. Honestly some of this fanbase has me pulling my hair out

https://mobile.twitter.com/KyleighFisher10/status/1627237549415563264

Quoted from Hagrid

Theres a clown on Twitter at it this morning, of course Jacko has got involved with his opinions. Honestly some of this fanbase has me pulling my hair out

https://mobile.twitter.com/KyleighFisher10/status/1627237549415563264

The ones that do my head in the most are those that constantly criticise, you look at their biog or feed and it’s all about a Premier League team. intercourse off and support them then you flipping man babies.

Totally embarrassing. Letting them loose with a social media account unsupervised is a liability. Just hope John or others can just dismiss it as the ill informed tripe it is and not let it get under their skin.

Quoted from chaos33

Totally embarrassing. Letting them loose with a social media account unsupervised is a liability. Just hope John or others can just dismiss it as the ill informed tripe it is and not let it get under their skin.

Opinions are like arseholes in that everyone has one. They are also like arseholes because some people's stink of excrement all the time.

Just will always be absolutely mental to me that people have looked at our striking options now and over the past few few months, and have decided that the best decision would be to drop McAtee for someone else.

Quoted from Hagrid

Theres a clown on Twitter at it this morning, of course Jacko has got involved with his opinions. Honestly some of this fanbase has me pulling my hair out

https://mobile.twitter.com/KyleighFisher10/status/1627237549415563264

Hmmm….. I think the individual you describe is one of five who started shoving my lad around at Notts County a few years ago, tough guy that one with his reinforcements. My lad saw him in a cash point queue a few months later needless to say he wasn’t as confident when alone.

More importantly though ask the other 10 players on the team sheet each week when McAtee is selected if they’re happy with his selection and they’ll all say yes as they’ll want the best players starting and so do I.

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

Living rent free...

What do you mean?

Think I've muted so many people on Twitter last 3/4 weeks it's a lot better on there now...

I bet most criticising him don'i even go to the games!

Quoted from forza ivano

the thing about Mcatee , imho, is that he always tries, so he's never ineffective, and he's always got the potential to change summat

Case in point, the challenge he made which lead to the Gallacher chance. Not many others would’ve done that.

The guy can tackle, take players on, pass, cross, finish, and he’ll chase after every ball. Quite simply, he’s the best player we’ve had in years.

You don’t just drop your best player. And all this “he’s not here next season, let’s learn to play without him”. What is that all about? If that’s the case then what is the point in ever having a loan player on the books?? 😂

Didn't this happen with Dembele?
We was better without him, he's not good enough etc etc etc.

He's since played League 1, Championship, Premier league and now the French top league

Liam Trotter was also deemed shite by a bulk of our fanbase when here on loan.

Quoted from forza ivano

the thing about Mcatee , imho, is that he always tries, so he's never ineffective, and he's always got the potential to change summat

That for me is the ultimate  game changer.Mcatee by all accounts works hard and respect to him for that. Deserves then to be in the side. Some managers in the game and fair play to them if a influential  player at respective levels of the professional set up is not working hard in training for whatever reason or off it in games is not averse to dropping them . It happens.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Liam Trotter was also deemed shite by a bulk of our fanbase when here on loan.

In fairness he was proper gash during his time here. Luckily it worked out for him in the long term

Quoted from Rick12

I think though diehardmariner you may loose form/consistency  sometimes for various reasons  but the quality never goes which Rio Ferdinand had . I always liked what some of the television pundits during previous world cups said with regard to this . Take Messi . He can be out of the game and does little for 89 minutes and then bang produces a bit of magic which changes the game.

Whilst I struggle to warm to Rio as an individual and always have, he was a classy defender for the majority of his career.  A Rolls-Royce type defender who never looked phased, whatever was thrown at him.  I think he was fortunate in that he was put in ideal pairings at key moments of his career, none more so than with Vidic, but you can't question the natural ability he had.

However, his quality definitely abandoned him.  He struggled at the end of his Man United career and was correctly cast aside, harshly and in a manner that upset him, but the right decision all the same.  He was then subsequently awful for QPR.  Father time gets everyone, there's no exception.

Wasn't Ferdinand's late wife ill during his time at QPR? I agree that injuries had already made him much a lesser player by that point, but it is certainly understandable that he wasn't up to it with what was going on in his personal life.

Quoted from Mariner_501

In fairness he was proper gash during his time here. Luckily it worked out for him in the long term

That’s really not how I remember him here.

Quoted from chaos33

That’s really not how I remember him here.

Me neither.

You could tell he had all the tools to have a good career in the game.

Quoted from diehardmariner

However, his quality definitely abandoned him.  He struggled at the end of his Man United career and was correctly cast aside, harshly and in a manner that upset him, but the right decision all the same.  He was then subsequently awful for QPR.  Father time gets everyone, there's no exception.

I take your point as age creeps up on all of us as things start going eg reflexes,speed. In the recent world cup I noted both Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi had to adapt their game as age has crept in but Messi still retained some of that quality even in his mid 30s albeit he is a special talent. I think the main issue in football is the stamina side of things though as well. Players don't have the same energy as they use to . Likewise I remember reading Ryan Giggs alluding to this loosely as well .As a young player in his 20s  he sometimes went out with his pals on the razzle and could still get away with a half decent performance on the pitch 3-4 days later.As he got older eg pushing 30s the body's metabolism changes and he couldn't do this no more and had to give them nights  when alcohol was drunk in excess up otherwise his career would have suffered.

Quoted from Rick12

I take your point as age creeps up on all of us as things start going eg reflexes,speed. In the recent world cup I noted both Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi had to adapt their game as age has crept in but Messi still retained some of that quality even in his mid 30s albeit he is a special talent. I think the main issue in football is the stamina side of things though as well. Players don't have the same energy as they use to . Likewise I remember reading Ryan Giggs alluding to this loosely as well .As a young player in his 20s  he sometimes went out with his pals on the razzle and got could still get away with a half decent performance on the pitch 3-4 days later.As he got older eg pushing 30s the body's metabolism changes and he couldn't do this no more and had to give them nights  when alcohol was drunk in excess up otherwise his career would have suffered.

I think in the later stages of his career he spent more time at home.

Shame it was his brothers

Quoted from diehardmariner

Whilst I struggle to warm to Rio as an individual and always have, he was a classy defender for the majority of his career.  A Rolls-Royce type defender who never looked phased, whatever was thrown at him.  I think he was fortunate in that he was put in ideal pairings at key moments of his career, none more so than with Vidic, but you can't question the natural ability he had.

However, his quality definitely abandoned him.  He struggled at the end of his Man United career and was correctly cast aside, harshly and in a manner that upset him, but the right decision all the same.  He was then subsequently awful for QPR.  Father time gets everyone, there's no exception.

There's one. Jimmy Anderson

Quoted from Hurst on McAtee

“He knows full well that he hasn’t played as well as he would have liked or that he knows he can but [the Crewe performance] will have hopefully restored some confidence and then when we go the other way, it’ll be my job to keep his feet on the ground.

“He’s not quite looked himself not just on the pitch but in and around the place, but that is my job as a manager, we can talk tactics and all those sorts of things but once people are in, and under your care so to speak, then that’s the biggest part of it.

“I’m trying to get the best out of the players, and sometimes that means getting on at them and being on their case and sometimes they need a bit of sympathy. With John, it is often about getting on at him, but that’s not to say he doesn’t need an arm around him and a little reminder that we do like him as a player.”

It seems like those questioning McAtee are as "mince" as our manager!

From GET https://www.grimsbytelegraph.c.....ffer-grimsby-8236876

Hurst has said that he, personally, needs to find a way of motivating/supporting him to get the best out of him. People on here said he needed dropping, when our only other forwards were Orsi and 2 young loanees.

Quoted from ska face

Hurst has said that he, personally, needs to find a way of motivating/supporting him to get the best out of him. People on here said he needed dropping, when our only other forwards were Orsi and 2 young loanees.

The first game back after his injury, he came on and I thought we might do well with him in the team. He's been very ineffective since then. Partly due to the awful performances of the team and partly because he's been out of form. He still looks like he is the best player in our squad, but the end result was poor consistently.

He's our best player, but I'd be inclined to drop him after the FA cup to see what others can do. McAtee won't be here next season and we've got nothing to play for. Might as well see if somebody else is capable, although I suspect we already know the answer to that question

After McAtee first signed for us and saw him play I was baffled why Scunthorpe had allowed him to leave but when I asked a Scunny supporter mate of mine about this he said McAtee had lost all motivation and didn’t want to sign another contract. Paul Hurst gets the best out of him and as he has signed him 3 times he obviously gets something out of John that other managers struggle with. By the fact Hurst says he has not looked himself in and around the place as well as on the pitch could he be regretting signing for Luton.