Matt Crooks

changingman said:
Difficult to disagree but so many options in those positions, great position to be in.

Greenwood and Forss on either side aren't a massive drop in quality.
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It’s a nice problem to have. We seem to have some depth in the squad even if we are missing the top end quality we had last year.
 
gravy173 said:
Crooks looks twice the player when Jones is in the team next to him, they link up so well, no surprise his game has picked up with silvera being hooked and Jones playing instead.
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And Jones looks twice the player with Crooks in there. Sometime the chemistry is just right.

Crooks was my MOTM too, which isn't to take anything away from several other fine performances.

He's got some engine on him for a guy if that size.
 
Coburn’s finishing apart, I don’t think anyone had a bad game today. Engel is growing in stature every game. If he had scored today, his confidence would have been sky high.
 
Crooks wouldn't be playing for us if he had pace. He's technically very good and certainly knows where the goal is. Add real pace to his game and he'd be playing in a mid-table PL side I reckon.
 
I thought Barlaser was very good today too along with Hackney, but no complaints with Crooks getting the nod. Paddy and Fry were both great as well.

I do love the way Smith is with the players, I assume it is why Carrick likes him so much. Before kick off he went round every single player while we lined up and had a word with a hand shake/clasp with an arm round the shoulder hug, along with his sorting out any over exuberance celebrating in the makem fans faces and getting back in shape to kick off last time out. He seems an important part of the set up and we always look better with him in the line up.

Looked like he'd done his ankle again unfortunately, was still limping heavily with an ice pack on it at full time, fingers crossed he's back soon.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
The foul for his booking and once when we broke he got caught in two minds where the only things he did wrong. A great performance and caused Birmingham problems throughout the game.
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Is that 5 now?

I thought their lad (Gardner?) bought the booking, it looked like he jumped straight over the challenge (in real time) and then grabbed his shin and rolled around appealing to the ref.
 
Caesium137 said:
I do love the way Smith is with the players, I assume it is why Carrick likes him so much. Before kick off he went round every single player while we lined up and had a word with a hand shake/clasp with an arm round the shoulder hug, along with his sorting out any over exuberance celebrating in the makem fans faces and getting back in shape to kick off last time out. He seems an important part of the set up and we always look better with him in the line up.
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Yes, for my money Dijksteel will usually play better than Smith, but will also have match losing lapses every 7 or 8 matches.

Smith is more consistent, but contributes a lot in terms of leadership and organisation
 
Frozen Horse said:
Yes, for my money Dijksteel will usually play better than Smith, but will also have match losing lapses every 7 or 8 matches.

Smith is more consistent, but contributes a lot in terms of leadership and organisation
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He's definitely better getting forward (but Smith has a lot more goals and assists over his career) and is more athletic, but as you say, he seems to just forget where he is or what he's doing every couple of games and they add up and end up costing us.

Not sure how fit he is, but was surprised Carrick dropped Jones further back and brought on Forss at RW when Smith hobbled off. I was pleased as it indicated we were going for it rather than settling for point though.

It does seem Carrick doesn't see Dijksteel as a starter though, whenever he's available Smith gets the nod. Although Dijksteel's injury record is becoming a bit of a concern also.
 
We kicked off the Southampton game and it was plain to see that instead of playing 10, which he wasn't doing very well at, when we had the ball he moved to the right and mcgree moved central. When we didn't have the ball Mcgree would go back to the left and crooks back in the middle. We've kept doing that since.

He keeps finding pockets of space now which teams don't see able to cope with because they don't want to get too tight on him as he's a unit.

People said Carrick didn't have a plan B, but his plan B was to revert to Wilders most successful tactic (not overlapping centre backs) which was crooks playing close to and linking with Jones.
 
I don't understand the problem some fans have with him...I love him..he does what needs to be done....sometimes it's not pretty but so what. And like I've said previously his social media threads prove he's a very important part of the squad
 
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