I've been reading alot of criticism of Sheaf on the forum this season, and i hear alot at the games too, mainly from the two lads sat in front of me to be honest but there we go. Cards on the table up front, I'm a huge fan of Sheaf although I can also see clearly that he hasnt been at his best this season.
I think the vast majority of criticism of him however, is unjustified and the notion that he has drastically dropped in value and we should sell him asap for whatever price we can still get is frankly absurd.
For the last two seasons, he has consistently been a top performer for the club, and drawn the attention of premier league teams. These are the types of players we should be trying to hold onto for as long as possible, they are the players that will take us where we want to be, but we also need to be set up, and have the players around them, to bring out the best in them and keep them performing at that high level.
Right now, with Sheaf, we havent done that and i believe that is why his performances havent been easy on the eye this season so far.
Firstly, He is clearly still carrying a knock, playing through injury and on other occasions has been rushed back. Why? Because we rely on him. When he didnt start the season through injury, we were all waiting for his return and essentially saying 'When Sheaf is back, we'll be better'. I think Saddle even mentioned that he was aware of this and was feeling the weight of this expectation (up to you if you choose to believe that particular ITK leak)
Secondly, we're currently asking and expecting him to be a do it all midfielder, covering the roles he is used to and also taking on some responsibility previously given to Hamer and O'hare. IMO Sheaf operates best when he doesnt pass the middle of the opponents half, he sweeps and breaks up attacks and threads the ball from the defenders to the more attacking midfielder, this used to be Hamer, we havent got anyone in this mould now. With the lack of a real 10 (I like Rudoni, but he's not an out and out 10 like O'hare) this is even more stark as the task of trying to play cutting risky forward passes that get the team moving is now also on him and honestly, thats not his skillset.
Thirdly, Eccles is the same player. Sheaf doesnt need a carbon copy of himself beside him, he needs something different, and i believe the Sheaf/Eccles axis is our current problem in the slow sideways build up play when they both drop into the defensive line. In the summer, we all spoke of a need to get someone in alongside Sheaf, it was never about having someone next to eccles/torp or rudoni.
I really hope we're able to get someone in to work alongside Sheaf and allow him to get back to doing his primary role as i would really hate to see his time here tarnished in the way i feel its looked at currently.
I think the vast majority of criticism of him however, is unjustified and the notion that he has drastically dropped in value and we should sell him asap for whatever price we can still get is frankly absurd.
For the last two seasons, he has consistently been a top performer for the club, and drawn the attention of premier league teams. These are the types of players we should be trying to hold onto for as long as possible, they are the players that will take us where we want to be, but we also need to be set up, and have the players around them, to bring out the best in them and keep them performing at that high level.
Right now, with Sheaf, we havent done that and i believe that is why his performances havent been easy on the eye this season so far.
Firstly, He is clearly still carrying a knock, playing through injury and on other occasions has been rushed back. Why? Because we rely on him. When he didnt start the season through injury, we were all waiting for his return and essentially saying 'When Sheaf is back, we'll be better'. I think Saddle even mentioned that he was aware of this and was feeling the weight of this expectation (up to you if you choose to believe that particular ITK leak)
Secondly, we're currently asking and expecting him to be a do it all midfielder, covering the roles he is used to and also taking on some responsibility previously given to Hamer and O'hare. IMO Sheaf operates best when he doesnt pass the middle of the opponents half, he sweeps and breaks up attacks and threads the ball from the defenders to the more attacking midfielder, this used to be Hamer, we havent got anyone in this mould now. With the lack of a real 10 (I like Rudoni, but he's not an out and out 10 like O'hare) this is even more stark as the task of trying to play cutting risky forward passes that get the team moving is now also on him and honestly, thats not his skillset.
Thirdly, Eccles is the same player. Sheaf doesnt need a carbon copy of himself beside him, he needs something different, and i believe the Sheaf/Eccles axis is our current problem in the slow sideways build up play when they both drop into the defensive line. In the summer, we all spoke of a need to get someone in alongside Sheaf, it was never about having someone next to eccles/torp or rudoni.
I really hope we're able to get someone in to work alongside Sheaf and allow him to get back to doing his primary role as i would really hate to see his time here tarnished in the way i feel its looked at currently.
