Matt Clarke

Smogonsea said:
If this is the case why isn’t he thought of as highly as Greaves? I don’t know anything about him, he stats look good. There must be something about him why WBA haven’t signed him up again (after he got player of the season there) or Brighton haven’t given him a chance.
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WBA have to get rid of players to balance the books
 
festa5 said:
As discussed at length on here, statistics might not necessarily tell you the full story. But I do think a good "interceptions" stat is the mark of a good defender (as per the Maldini "if I have to make a tackle, I've already made a mistake" quote).
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agreed, thats the one stat he falls behind Greaves on, and I put that down to Greaves having to make the tackle due to poor positioning.
festa5 said:
McNair-Lenihen-Clarke is balanced, has loads of championship experience and is 3 centre backs pretty much at their peak but with plenty of years ahead of them.
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Pretty physical as well, OK McNair can be a bit soft, but it's three 6 foot 1 units, Lenihan and Clarke are both pwoerful in the air for their size.

If you look at those 3 CBs on whoscored last year, they were rated:
Lenihan 3rd
Clarke 15th
McNair 17th

Bamba was 34th, Fry 39th, Dijksteel 42nd, Bola 53rd

Yes these raatings are 'indicative' and obviously it normalises the individual stats, but it won't be weighted to the things that we are looking for such as comfortable on the ball, but it's pretty clear that Clarke would be a step up on Bola, and it's becoming clear to me that Lenihan now that he is settling in is better than Fry.

I really like the idea of this signing, get him on a 4 year contract and he could be a real asset and exactly what we need to shore up this leaky defence. It still leaves that one loan position free still too.....Elliot Anderson hasn't had a kick for Newcastle yet and could provide that on the ball dynamic and creative ability ;)
 
Way_Out_West said:
In that video? 1 minute of YouTube?

He is strong in the tackle, committed to winning headers. There was one ambling run where some League 2 forwards put half hearted challenges in, that doesn't convince me he's this wonder player all rounder. He can kick it with his left foot though, so fair play
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Who said he’s a wonder player? There is plenty more evidence of him being comfortable on the ball. Stats show it, video evidence shows it, watching him with your own eyes show it. He may not be an overlapper but he’s more than confident stepping out and more importantly he’s got a bit of height about him and can defend too. The signing makes sense.
 
We need someone that can stop opponent getting easy headers in and block shots. Most of the goals we have let in this season have been stoppable if we had Moggy and Pally etc.

Pacey is nice but not essential for me.
 
On the offensive front, he carries the ball forward fairly well and looks like he can get his head on those crosses a hell of lot better than Fry!
 
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