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The Mccalister Question?

Jordan Tansley

By Jordan Tansley
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Jordan Tansley

Jordan Tansley

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Obvioulsy there is a lot of discussion about Jamie of late, and It's my personal opinion that his time at BCFC has come to an end,

His lack of pace, and intelligence make us weak at the back... But his biggest fault in my opinion, is his negative impact on our attack. When he gets the ball, He gets it into his head that he has the passing ability of David Beckham... I'd be interested to see just how many terrible punts he attempts a game, I may count next time I am at the Gate.

Considering the patient build up and we usually play with, passing it across the park without ever attempting a shot... having someone with McCalister's skill (or lack of) recieving the ball so often is very damaging.

It seems that most (certainly not all) forum users are of the opinion that we need a new left back, and I know how people here love to play "chief scout" So here's the million doller question...

Who would you sign to play left back for Bristol City?

the criterion for this are simple

1) realistic signing

2) Improves the team

I'm very intrigued to hear any answers, because admittedly, I have very few suggestions.

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Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse

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I totally get the long ball point with McAlister, to many times he tries the 80 yard pass when he has 2 or 3 players within 15 or 20 yards of him. Also his concentration is terrible at times, the 2nd goal yesterday is proof of that, the ball to their wide player (before he crossed it) went almost unnoticed by him. A new LB is very much needed asap.

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Jordan Tansley

Jordan Tansley

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Has his time come to an end? We can only hope.

One possibility, Patrick Van Aanholt of Chelsea. Currently third choice so possibly a loan?

A good shout, however, he's been on the bench for a few games for them, so maybe considered closer to the first team than you suggest?

Also, I get the feeling that Ancelotti see's Zhirkov as a left winger this season, and Aanholt might therefore be second choice at left back?

It is really difficult to actually think of someone isn't it?

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Donald

Donald

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He's been poor since promotion, problem is it's not as easy to find decent left backs these days.

You just need to see that coppell tried and yet was only able to try to get loan players (Bertrand)and ended up with Williams as cover.

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Pete1975Legend

Pete1975Legend

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I'm probably in the minority at the mo, but if macca gets no support in front of him he is in a catch 22 situation, he either leaves the player inside him or goes to the one on the wing, he can't win.

That left back of barnsleys was been touted on here, but he got turned inside out by sproule, but at lease he had a midfielder in front of him backing him up, unlike macca.

I think everyone is being harsh on probably one of our most consistant players since promotion.

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Portland Bill

Portland Bill

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The 2nd goal yesterday was good play by Barnsley end of. Great ball inside McCallister who was on the half turn BUT the winger was running on to the ball. Not many full backs can cope with that situation, its like saying that every full back that Sproule runs past is rubbish and we know that aint true. I wish people would stop trying to find a scapegoat and just support the bloke. If you want perfect players to watch then go and watch the top Prem sides. McCallister always gives 100% so give the bloke a break.

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simonwheeler

simonwheeler

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Whilst I am in no way attempting to defend Jamie Mac as I thought he was at best one of the worst players in a City shirt yesterday, I personally feel that before condemning him to a lower place away from Ashton a few questions need to be asked?

1. Last season he was one of our better players? Not the best admittedly but not one that you really had cause for concern with????

So just why the change???

* - Could it be, that his drop in form is temporary and normally he would be dropped for a few games to get both his form and confidence back, but, quite obviously with the current injury crisis that is sweeping through the club Millie (Or Coppello before him) has this option?

* - Could it be that he just might be "carrying an injury" (like a certain other full back, no names, Nicky Hunt, "allegedly") but again Maccer has never been one to complain?

* - Could it be that whoever the absolute tactical genius was that thought that Jamie Mac is the ONLY professional footballer we have on our books who can kick a dead ball, meaning that when we get a corner in the oppositions left, he has to run diagonally the length of the pitch, normally, leaving HIS flank exposed as presently I cannot see that said tactical genious who has decided that our left back should take all corners (and a lot of the attacking free kicks) has not yet completed the second part of the plan whereby one of our midfielders drops back to cover Jamie's vacant area in the case of an opposition breakaway??? Jamie was trotting across yesterday EVEN AFTER young Lee came on??? Now wasnt Lee the only player allowed near a corner or free kick in the opposition end of the pitch a few seasons back or is my memory playing tricks............

* - Yes it could be that age is finally catching up with our Jamie after all he has just turned 32, which is obviously a time when most professional players are looking at their pension prospects?

OR (And this is a big or)

* - Is it that whilst his fellow mate from the other side of the border and expert penalty taker that Aberdeen are now benefiting from as in Harts is no longer playing in that all important position just in front of our defence therefore giving Jamie minimal protection OR being an easy outlet for a pass??? Now before someone quite rightly observes that Harts was far from being a first team regular last season, then I would add that none other than the great Sir Alex F. has often stated "that defending starts from the front?" and in all honestly now that we are playing (albeit possibly being forced to as a direct result of said injury crisis) JCR, Ivan AND Albert in the same team - None of whom in anyones best guess would have defending high on their list of top qualities on their CV's, then it just might be that Maccer is being exposed due to a lack of cover PLUS he is probably covering more acreage than most due to the tactical genius who has deemed he is the only player who can take dead balls.

If you look at most teams in the Championship they nearly all have at least one JCR, Ivan, Albert type player, a prime example for Barnsley yesterday was Hamil their left winger, but they certainly didnt have another TWO like him!!! Point being that presently our defence is getting little cover or help from our midfield due to the nature of players we are employing in that department and it might.......................... just be............................ a contributory reason to why all of a sudden our defence have registered as a charity and the likes of Jamie are being pilloried accordingly???

As I say I am not trying to defend Macca but it is rare that a player goes from average to dire "overnight"

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fatman

fatman

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I'm probably in the minority at the mo, but if macca gets no support in front of him he is in a catch 22 situation, he either leaves the player inside him or goes to the one on the wing, he can't win.

That left back of barnsleys was been touted on here, but he got turned inside out by sproule, but at lease he had a midfielder in front of him backing him up, unlike macca.

I think everyone is being harsh on probably one of our most consistant players since promotion.

Agreed. No support at all.
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WellRedPhil

WellRedPhil

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Still, Only one suggestion as to who we might be able to sign.

It's a good point, you'd imagine we;d have to prize away someone's first-team LB. An expensive move. He has made an especially poor start to this season, but I think he is better than a lot of people give him credit. He is USUALLY a decent player when under the cosh and he can defend. I thought he was decent when he had McCindoe in front of him, yet others seem to disagree. This really is a very disputed subject. One thing I will say though is his distribution is shocking, and his constant lumping of the ball is very frustrating. If he carries on the way he's starte this season then obviously we need a replacement, but he may still find his footing...

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Jordan Tansley

Jordan Tansley

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It's a good point, you'd imagine we;d have to prize away someone's first-team LB. An expensive move. He has made an especially poor start to this season, but I think he is better than a lot of people give him credit. He is USUALLY a decent player when under the cosh and he can defend. I thought he was decent when he had McCindoe in front of him, yet others seem to disagree. This really is a very disputed subject. One thing I will say though is his distribution is shocking, and his constant lumping of the ball is very frustrating. If he carries on the way he's starte this season then obviously we need a replacement, but he may still find his footing...

Surely the fact that he's only any good when he had a defensive winger in front of him shows just how poor he is as a defender?

I mean, Orr has spent most of his career at City with Ivan in front of him, and before him... Murray. Both of them play/ played as out and out wingers, up to the by-line all day long. Yet Orr was always solid, rarely caught out and did a great job defensively...

we're watching the second tier of english football, the 6th richest league in the world. I'm not asking for a team of messi's... but to want a left back who can do his job without the REQUIREMENT of a player to cover his ass isn't ridiculous... is it?

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WellRedPhil

WellRedPhil

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Surely the fact that he's only any good when he had a defensive winger in front of him shows just how poor he is as a defender?

I mean, Orr has spent most of his career at City with Ivan in front of him, and before him... Murray. Both of them play/ played as out and out wingers, up to the by-line all day long. Yet Orr was always solid, rarely caught out and did a great job defensively...

we're watching the second tier of english football, the 6th richest league in the world. I'm not asking for a team of messi's... but to want a left back who can do his job without the REQUIREMENT of a player to cover his ass isn't ridiculous... is it?

I'm not neccessarily saying he needs a player to cover him but last season he was used as a wing back or with JCR in front of him, who quite frankly adds nothing whatsoever to the team defensively. It's no coincidence that since he's started occupying the left flank we've taken a fair few hammerings, especially at home. I wouldn't say McCindoe was a defensive winger, but he at least gave him an option in front of him. Besides, I don't think he's as bad a defender as many on here suggest, if anything he's worse when he has time and space as he can be very good when under the cosh. But yes, he has been abysmal so far and I'm sure everyone can only hope he gets better, I mean he can hardly play any worse at the moment.

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Jordan Tansley

Jordan Tansley

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Always liked Dean Lewington from MK Dons.

I've also heard very good things about Luke O'Brien at Bradford.

the Ginger lad? I think we've been linked with him before haven't we. Must admit that I've always been impressed by him, although not heard much about him for a couple of seasons..

I'm not neccessarily saying he needs a player to cover him but last season he was used as a wing back or with JCR in front of him, who quite frankly adds nothing whatsoever to the team defensively. It's no coincidence that since he's started occupying the left flank we've taken a fair few hammerings, especially at home. I wouldn't say McCindoe was a defensive winger, but he at least gave him an option in front of him. Besides, I don't think he's as bad a defender as many on here suggest, if anything he's worse when he has time and space as he can be very good when under the cosh. But yes, he has been abysmal so far and I'm sure everyone can only hope he gets better, I mean he can hardly play any worse at the moment.

I think JCR does offer something defensively, all things considered he played really quite well at left back when Milly took over at the end of the season...

Did he, I don't wanna get into the merits of Mccindoe particularly, I really didnt rate or like the guy, which clouds my judgement in situations where he gets mentioned. oh well.

I agree with the last point, he's made quite a few saving last ditch tackles, But in all facets of his game, when he has time to think everything goes to pot...

We need a new left back out of neccesity, Maccas age means he's got no time left really, the fact his performances show that too is irrespective unfortunately?

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Drew Peacock

Drew Peacock

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Surely the fact that he's only any good when he had a defensive winger in front of him shows just how poor he is as a defender?

I mean, Orr has spent most of his career at City with Ivan in front of him, and before him... Murray. Both of them play/ played as out and out wingers, up to the by-line all day long. Yet Orr was always solid, rarely caught out and did a great job defensively...

Both Sproule & Murray do/did a lot of tracking back, as did MacIndoe. JCR doesn't, he doesn't even stay in position.

You cannot blame a poorly performing defensive unit on one player; MacAllister may be the worst of the four, but the entire back line, plus the midfielders that carry the prime defensive duties should take a long hard look at themselves. Far too often yesterday there was a failure in midfield to close the man with the ball down.

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silverfox

silverfox

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This is the a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, but at the pre season friendly against Blackpool I thought Jamie had put on a few pounds, which suggests he could have let himself go a bit during the summer. Unusually for our squad, he wasn't carrying an injury as far as I'm aware. He is now leaner, but he's lost a yard of pace in the Autumn of his career. I really fear for him this season against a pacey winger, or any striker with guile. My defensive fear generally is compounded if Louis plays CB, because he's definitely slowing up too. Stewart isn't like greased lightning either, but he's shown a couple of examples of decent acceleration when the chips were down.

One thing very much in Jamie's favour though, is that he seems less lairy than he was. This has got him a few Yellows (and at least one Red that I can recall) in the past. Perhaps he's mellowing with age, or it could just be that he doesn't have Bradders to bicker with anymore.

Personally, I think it's a shame we didn't hang on to Gary Sawyer, given that available LBs seem such rare animals. At the very least Sawyer would have provided younger competition at LB, but you can't blame him wanting to secure his future with a contract at.........can't bring myself to say it. We dragged our feet on that one in the transitional phase under SC. I wonder whether Milly would have offered Sawyer a contract?

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Jordan Tansley

Jordan Tansley

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Both Sproule & Murray do/did a lot of tracking back, as did MacIndoe. JCR doesn't, he doesn't even stay in position.

You cannot blame a poorly performing defensive unit on one player; MacAllister may be the worst of the four, but the entire back line, plus the midfielders that carry the prime defensive duties should take a long hard look at themselves. Far too often yesterday there was a failure in midfield to close the man with the ball down.

If you read my opening post, you'll see that my main gripe with McCalister isn't his defending, I'm not for one second saying Macca is the worst defender in the world, at times he can play well defensively, His biggest weakness is his inability to think about a pass. Aimless diagonal punts or awful attempts at an impossible cross.

Sproule may do a lot of tracking back, but when we got hit on the break he was in the opposition box... yet bradley was never at fault as much as Macca.

All I'm saying is that the whole "No cover" argument isn't very strong, At this level surely a left back should be capable of defending?

Maybe he's just reached an age where his pace is completely gone, and that has hindered his play... either way, he's the weakest link in the side, and if we have aspirations of improving and getting out of this league, we need to improve our weak areas.

But, the question is still.... Who?

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internetjef

internetjef

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Needs some quality competition

from what other clubs fans say tom williams doesnt fit that bill

must admit though cant think of any good suggestions now off top of my head.

At the moment we have a fair few new faces in defence so might need a bit of time to gel. Perhaps best to try and get a new left back in now so we dont have to repeat the process in new year/start of next season

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mightyreds89

mightyreds89

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For me McCAllister is nearing his end at the gate but that said if we can get a decent left sided midfielder in in the next week or so I think JM would look better! For the below reasons!

1) currently so exposed down that wing! Which Jamie looks worse than he really is!

2) he will have someone to pass too and. Won't have to try and attempt his beckham/Hollywood passes!

3) JM looked much better on Saturday when albert wnet out to the left and supported him!

Rather get a left midfielder than a left back!

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