Skuse

[Pete1975Legend]

Sorry, although he was player of the year in some of your eyes, this season so far he has been very ordinary. He definetly is NOT a captain, last night when we needed him to be talking and getting into people he looked like a rabbitt in headlights.

On one occasion in the 2nd half instead of going out wide to collect the ball he just ran straight up the pitch ignoring DJ asking him to make himself available.

So I ask you this, Is Skuse believing his own hype?

Discuss

[chipdawg]

Perhaps, although more likely he's just filling this forums need to have a player to verbally beat up on. We've got a whole team underperforming and from what i've seen and heard this season, Skuse is no where near the worst of them

[Andy082005]

Sorry, although he was player of the year in some of your eyes, this season so far he has been very ordinary. He definetly is NOT a captain, last night when we needed him to be talking and getting into people he looked like a rabbitt in headlights.

On one occasion in the 2nd half instead of going out wide to collect the ball he just ran straight up the pitch ignoring DJ asking him to make himself available.

So I ask you this, Is Skuse believing his own hype?

Discuss

no, Skuse is an average player at this level....and thats being generous.

He gets so much praise because over the last 12/18 months....he has been the best of a bad bunch.

Simples. Nothing more then a more polished Joe Burnell

[Lrrr]

Didn't help last night that he was playing out of position for the whole game, you could see CM tendencies in his game where they shouldn't have been for the positions he was playing.

[Nibor]

He was one of the few players last night to do alright especially considering he was out of position.

As for captain, too early probably, but there aren't any other good choices when Carey is unfit.

I do find your obsession with knocking Skuse quite strange though. We certainly have bigger problems and he is not even close to our worst central midfielder.

[Alex_BCFC]

Play him in CM and he is fine. Millen is doing a GJ by putting decent Central players out wide- Sno/ G.Williams etc

[SJC]

I said prior to the Ipswich game, somewhat to my own suprise it must be said, that Skuse wouldnt make my starting XI.

From what ive seen this season, with last night being the exception, Elliott has rediscovered his bite and has been mixing it well. Currently, for me, Elliott and Skuse are competing for one place and, although im sure I fall into the minority, that is a race Skuse is currently losing.

Presuming, bar Maynard, we have a fully fit squad to choose from on Saturday I would bring in Riberio for Hunt - who im desperate to believe isnt fully fit otherwise it's a miracle how he's made over 100 top flight appearances, Carey for Fontaine - from what ive read Stewart plays better alongside a ball winner, of which Carey is the closest thing we have, plus Fontaine has stagnated while his heading last night was largely poor. Shackle Cisse infront of the back four, Elliott with free reign infront of him flanked by Adomah and Rose, with Clarkson filling the gap between midfield and attack.

Skuse consistently pasded sideways or backwards last night, something Johnson used to be slated for, but as with Johnson it wasnt necessarily Skuse's failing.

There was absolutely no link between midfield and attack last night. Pittman will come good, of that I have no doubt, but we need to link play more coherantly and that means either you accomodate Johnson or you tinker with the set up.

James

Riberio

Carey ©

Stewart

McAllister

Cisse

Adomah

Elliott

Rose

Clarkson

Stead

[sodburyred]

I said prior to the Ipswich game, somewhat to my own suprise it must be said, that Skuse wouldnt make my starting XI.

From what ive seen this season, with last night being the exception, Elliott has rediscovered his bite and has been mixing it well. Currently, for me, Elliott and Skuse are competing for one place and, although im sure I fall into the minority, that is a race Skuse is currently losing.

Presuming, bar Maynard, we have a fully fit squad to choose from on Saturday I would bring in Riberio for Hunt - who im desperate to believe isnt fully fit otherwise it's a miracle how he's made over 100 top flight appearances, Carey for Fontaine - from what ive read Stewart plays better alongside a ball winner, of which Carey is the closest thing we have, plus Fontaine has stagnated while his heading last night was largely poor. Shackle Cisse infront of the back four, Elliott with free reign infront of him flanked by Adomah and Rose, with Clarkson filling the gap between midfield and attack.

Skuse consistently pasded sideways or backwards last night, something Johnson used to be slated for, but as with Johnson it wasnt necessarily Skuse's failing.

There was absolutely no link between midfield and attack last night. Pittman will come good, of that I have no doubt, but we need to link play more coherantly and that means either you accomodate Johnson or you tinker with the set up.

James

Riberio

Carey ©

Stewart

McAllister

Cisse

Adomah

Elliott

Rose

Clarkson

Stead

Agree with all of what your saying and almost all of that team. Except I'd probably push Fontaine to left back and give Pitman another run out.

[lager loud]

I've only seen the Millwall, S****horpe and Watford games, so I can't comment on the whole season (and I can't remember how he played against Millwall, but it must have been "badly" as the whole team was dreadful).

Against S****horpe and Watford he was played out of his best position. I thought he did a good job protecting McAllister at S****horpe. He was poor in the second half last night, and really seemed short on confidence at right back. His first half wasn't great, but wasn't dreadful.

The bottom line for me is that over the last couple of years he has become our best central midfielder. Marv is marginally better at winning the ball, but he is pretty hopeless with the ball at his feet. Cisse may be better than Skuse, but I haven't seen evidence of that yet. So to my mind Skuse should be the first central midfielder on the team sheet and should keep his place until he has two or three bad games in that position. Which means dropping either Cisse or Elliott to get Rose in the team (which I think we should) or dropping both of them if we also want to play Johnson (which I don't think we should - we can't defend as a team with three defensive midfielders, so we'd have no chance with one).

If it were me, I'd drop Marv, because Cisse seems better on the ball - but I don't think there's much in it.

[Davros]

Sorry, although he was player of the year in some of your eyes, this season so far he has been very ordinary. He definetly is NOT a captain, last night when we needed him to be talking and getting into people he looked like a rabbitt in headlights.

On one occasion in the 2nd half instead of going out wide to collect the ball he just ran straight up the pitch ignoring DJ asking him to make himself available.

So I ask you this, Is Skuse believing his own hype?

Discuss

Maybe because in 7 games he's played in central defense, left wing, central midfield and right back christ he's terrible.

[WellRedPhil]

Believing his own hype? Have you seen an interview with the lad? He's as modest as they come and always gives 100%. It really is an honour for him to pull on the red shirt. When played in his natural position he is still the best central midfielder at this club.

[Cookie_7]

Sorry, although he was player of the year in some of your eyes, this season so far he has been very ordinary. He definetly is NOT a captain, last night when we needed him to be talking and getting into people he looked like a rabbitt in headlights.

On one occasion in the 2nd half instead of going out wide to collect the ball he just ran straight up the pitch ignoring DJ asking him to make himself available.

So I ask you this, Is Skuse believing his own hype?

Discuss

Harsh. As mentioned above he comes across as a modest bloke who is proud to play for City. He has been played out of position and let's be fair, hasn't had a lot of quality around him to work with. Maybe not on the top of his game at the moment, but easily our strongest DCM (based on the limited time I have seen Cisse).

[NickJ]

Sorry, although he was player of the year in some of your eyes, this season so far he has been very ordinary. He definetly is NOT a captain, last night when we needed him to be talking and getting into people he looked like a rabbitt in headlights.

On one occasion in the 2nd half instead of going out wide to collect the ball he just ran straight up the pitch ignoring DJ asking him to make himself available.

So I ask you this, Is Skuse believing his own hype?

Discuss

OK, discuss.

I believe that as a Bristolian he's proud as **** to be wearing the red shirt, let alone acting as captain.

Skuuuuuuuseey is I understand so humble and so modest that he had some sort of personal development sessions to develop his confidence. Ever notice the way that even now he still holds his hands up to apologise to the other players whenever he makes a mistake? Thought not.

Four or five years ago when we got done over 4-0 at home by Chesterfield Skuuuuusey was the only one of any of the players to apologise to the supporters outside the players entrance after the game.

Get off his back Skuuuuuuuusey deserves it less than any other player you could have picked on.

[rockin-robin]

OK, discuss.

I believe that as a Bristolian he's proud as **** to be wearing the red shirt, let alone acting as captain.

Skuuuuuuuseey is I understand so humble and so modest that he had some sort of personal development sessions to develop his confidence. Ever notice the way that even now he still holds his hands up to apologise to the other players whenever he makes a mistake? Thought not.

Four or five years ago when we got done over 4-0 at home by Chesterfield Skuuuuusey was the only one of any of the players to apologise to the supporters outside the players entrance after the game.

Get off his back Skuuuuuuuusey deserves it less than any other player you could have picked on.

I don't believe anyone is questioning his commitment, just his overall ability.

To be fair, I blame Coppell as I remember him building him up as captain material during pre season in Sweden. By your own admission he should be no where near the captaincy if he has confidence issues.

I like skusey as a person, profesional and Bristolian, but unfortunately he is just another average footballer.

[havanatopia]

In the times i have seen Skuse play over the last 2-3 seasons i have always thought he had a solid work rate, made some incisive passes but needed to beef himself up a bit because he occasionally got caught out. I rate him as a good squad player and will only improve; seems this season, from what i am reading, he has gone a little backwards but i suspect that is largely down to the unsettling of new players and management changes.

[NickJ]

I don't believe anyone is questioning his commitment, just his overall ability.

To be fair, I blame Coppell as I remember him building him up as captain material during pre season in Sweden. By your own admission he should be no where near the captaincy if he has confidence issues.

I like skusey as a person, profesional and Bristolian, but unfortunately he is just another average footballer.

Agree with the captaincy issue however Skuuuusey is definitely an above average footballer, thats why Tinnion, Johnson, Copell and Millen all rate him so highly.

My main issue however is with the OP assertion that Skuuuuuusey is "believing his own hype", which makes him out to be an arrogant git and couldnt be further from the truth.

[fka dagest]

I believe Skuse is a nice chap and probably deserves football success, I also think he has general all-round ability (in that he can do everything quite well). Last season I thought he did fairly well (along side Hartley).

But, I do believe he is grossly over-rated by some. Personally, I just seem him as being very average (I'm thinking League 1 level). I honestly can't see what position it is he's supposed to excel in.

Is he the best tackler in the team? Not in my opinion.

Does he have the most natural aggression? No.

Does he have the best engine/stamina? Not in my opinion.

Is he the best passer in the team? No, I'd prefer Johnson any day.

Where is his best position supposed to be? Centre back? Right back? Left back? Left midfield, Right midfield? I believe I've seen him play in all these positions with only moderate or no success. The only position he plays adequately in is Centre mid. and even then I'd much rather see different combinations of Johnson, Williams, Elliot, Campbell-Ryce or Cisse.

Anyway, for me he just doesn't affect games, he rarely plays a incisive through ball, never beats a man, rarely scores. He's like a cross between Lee Johnson and Elliot in that he can pass and tackle a bit, but excels in neither.

Personally, I think he's been living off the 'potential' tag for too long. He's been sitting in the 'local boy' role for too long, whilst other young lads have never got close to a sniff.

Would I ditch him? No, he's a good sub to fill holes during a game. Should he be captain? Definitely not. Should he even start? Nope, not for me.

[Pederho ll]

Skuse is a very average footballer and were he not from Bristol he would have received as much negativity on this forum as LJ has in recent years.

In all honesty he wasn't particularly poor last night he just dished up the same poor to average performance that he has since breaking into the first team, yet because he is from Bristol and supports BCFC people quickly make exceptions and gloss over his medeocre performances.

Don't get me wrong he tries hard, really hard, which is a super attribute to have and l really like that about him. However fact is he is just devoid of the necessary ability to stamp his authority in this league, both in terms of dominating a midfield battle or offering creativity.

However, in a rather bizarre twist to this post, l would actually play him ahead of Elliot and Cisse, although that tells me more about the lack of quality in our squad than anything else.

As for captain, well if he plays l would rather him be 100% focused on his own game rather than having to worry about addition duties.

[Drew Peacock]

OK, discuss.

I believe that as a Bristolian he's proud as **** to be wearing the red shirt, let alone acting as captain.

Skuuuuuuuseey is I understand so humble and so modest that he had some sort of personal development sessions to develop his confidence. Ever notice the way that even now he still holds his hands up to apologise to the other players whenever he makes a mistake? Thought not.

What on earth is he doing as captain then?

[NickJ]

What on earth is he doing as captain then?

Ask the manager I'm not saying he should be captain.