Post by gashead1981 on Nov 22, 2019 12:44:40 GMT
Leave Nichols alone as its starting to affect him and the team.
I agree with him TBH and perhaps we need to get behind him more, as well as the whole team.
Full article: www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/criticism-tom-nichols-affecting-jonson-3544831
Jonson Clarke-Harris has had something he wants to get off his chest.
The Bristol Rovers striker is back fit and scoring goals, with Tuesday night's winner against Bromley his ninth of the season in all competitions, but one subject has been eating away at him - his strike partner Tom Nichols.
Criticism of his fellow forward has been gradually building since last season and after a lull between August and September, when Nichols delivered some fine displays against Brighton & Hove Albion and Oxford United, has erupted again in recent weeks.
Disquiet in the stands and a mixture of fury and mocking online; for Clarke-Harris it is out of order and is starting to affect both him and the rest of the dressing room.
"For me it's really disappointing," Clarke-Harris said. "Everybody seems to get onto Tommy for his goal record but when you look at the things he does for this team - he's created so many goals for me.
"Now that I classify him as a friend, it's starting to touch me now.
"When people are negative towards him, it spreads and we've got a great squad here and a squad that can do something. But it's a small squad so we need every single person onside.
"When I've been out injured, I've read things myself and had conversations with certain players, and it does affect you.
"I just wanted to get back so I could help certain players and take a bit of pressure off. I want to help everyone in the team, not just Tommy."
It's a measure of Clarke-Harris' passion for the subject that he made a beeline for to question why Nichols has been the recipient of such criticism and wanted to get his feelings on record.
Nichols and Clarke-Harris have grown increasingly close since the No9 moved to Rovers from Coventry in January - on the field, through their roles leading the line and off the pitch where they regularly share gaming sessions.
The latter have increasingly become forums for Nichols to vent his frustration and feelings as his confidence begins to ebb away to the point where it's clearly influencing his performances on a weekend.
For Clarke-Harris, who describes his teammate as a "serious baller", hammering Nichols for not scoring enough goals completely misses the point regarding his best attributes and role in the team.
"I don't think I've met a nicer person," he added. "I just wish I could give him half of the goals I've got so people wouldn't get onto him as much.
"Confidence is key and he can seriously finish and he can seriously score goals. It's not going for him at the moment but we need everyone to be behind him at the moment because I'm pretty sure as soon as he gets two or three, that's it.
"If it was Tommy scoring all these goals and I was creating them for him, would people be getting onto me about it? I see myself as a strong-headed man who can switch off.
"When we speak, and people are onto him, it's not good, it's not nice."
Clarke-Harris' words and willingness to stick up for his mate speak of a increasingly mature individual who has become something of a dressing room leader in the Graham Coughlan era.
The manager is often mocked for repeating that Rovers are a united dressing room with a "good, honest bunch of lads" but when Clarke-Harris steps forward to state such feelings, it only supports that observation and Coughlan has built a rock-solid team spirit and togetherness that's worth emphasising.
Nichols is not the only individual who looks up to him, despite Clarke-Harris being a year younger, and it's further evidence of the transformative effect these 10 months at the Mem have had on him.
Clarke-Harris admits being at Rovers has "made him player" after a bizarrely nomadic career for someone so richly talented and young which has seen him accumulate nine clubs and 17 different managers.
"I do ask myself [why it's clicked at Rovers] but then I think this must be the place where it's meant to happen," he added, ahead of Satuday's trip to Shrewsbury.
"I feel as if I've matured as a striker, matured as a player - I know how to be a striker and what my main aim in the game is.
"I know how to get the best out of myself. I don't try anything unusual and keep it simple to what I know I'm good at.
"I've not really got a target if I'm being honest: just more minutes, more goals, playing and winning games."
Clarke-Harris' record of nine in 15 this season is all the more impressive given he missed the whole of pre-season due to a pelvis injury, and then suffered a calf strain in early October ruling him out for the next five weeks.
Although still not 100% fit, as he continues to undergo morning rehab before each training session, the 25-year-old is feeling good and categorically states he won't be holding anything back in terms of trying to manage his injury.
"It's good to be back out there with my friends and my teammates, doing what I love to do best - scoring goals, running around and bullying people!" Clarke-Harris said. "I'm pleased to get back because I've worked extremely hard.
"Even from the start of the season I've not been 100% but I feel like I'm getting stronger and fitter with each training session."
When asked if he's going to adapt his game, conscious of aggravating the injury, he added: "Absolutely not, that's something I'm not going to do - if it goes, it goes. If I'm going to push off it with maximum power, I am. If the calf tells me it's not ready, it's not, but in my head it is.
"You can't think like that, you've got to think positive."
I agree with him TBH and perhaps we need to get behind him more, as well as the whole team.
Full article: www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/criticism-tom-nichols-affecting-jonson-3544831
Jonson Clarke-Harris has had something he wants to get off his chest.
The Bristol Rovers striker is back fit and scoring goals, with Tuesday night's winner against Bromley his ninth of the season in all competitions, but one subject has been eating away at him - his strike partner Tom Nichols.
Criticism of his fellow forward has been gradually building since last season and after a lull between August and September, when Nichols delivered some fine displays against Brighton & Hove Albion and Oxford United, has erupted again in recent weeks.
Disquiet in the stands and a mixture of fury and mocking online; for Clarke-Harris it is out of order and is starting to affect both him and the rest of the dressing room.
"For me it's really disappointing," Clarke-Harris said. "Everybody seems to get onto Tommy for his goal record but when you look at the things he does for this team - he's created so many goals for me.
"Now that I classify him as a friend, it's starting to touch me now.
"When people are negative towards him, it spreads and we've got a great squad here and a squad that can do something. But it's a small squad so we need every single person onside.
"When I've been out injured, I've read things myself and had conversations with certain players, and it does affect you.
"I just wanted to get back so I could help certain players and take a bit of pressure off. I want to help everyone in the team, not just Tommy."
It's a measure of Clarke-Harris' passion for the subject that he made a beeline for to question why Nichols has been the recipient of such criticism and wanted to get his feelings on record.
Nichols and Clarke-Harris have grown increasingly close since the No9 moved to Rovers from Coventry in January - on the field, through their roles leading the line and off the pitch where they regularly share gaming sessions.
The latter have increasingly become forums for Nichols to vent his frustration and feelings as his confidence begins to ebb away to the point where it's clearly influencing his performances on a weekend.
For Clarke-Harris, who describes his teammate as a "serious baller", hammering Nichols for not scoring enough goals completely misses the point regarding his best attributes and role in the team.
"I don't think I've met a nicer person," he added. "I just wish I could give him half of the goals I've got so people wouldn't get onto him as much.
"Confidence is key and he can seriously finish and he can seriously score goals. It's not going for him at the moment but we need everyone to be behind him at the moment because I'm pretty sure as soon as he gets two or three, that's it.
"If it was Tommy scoring all these goals and I was creating them for him, would people be getting onto me about it? I see myself as a strong-headed man who can switch off.
"When we speak, and people are onto him, it's not good, it's not nice."
Clarke-Harris' words and willingness to stick up for his mate speak of a increasingly mature individual who has become something of a dressing room leader in the Graham Coughlan era.
The manager is often mocked for repeating that Rovers are a united dressing room with a "good, honest bunch of lads" but when Clarke-Harris steps forward to state such feelings, it only supports that observation and Coughlan has built a rock-solid team spirit and togetherness that's worth emphasising.
Nichols is not the only individual who looks up to him, despite Clarke-Harris being a year younger, and it's further evidence of the transformative effect these 10 months at the Mem have had on him.
Clarke-Harris admits being at Rovers has "made him player" after a bizarrely nomadic career for someone so richly talented and young which has seen him accumulate nine clubs and 17 different managers.
"I do ask myself [why it's clicked at Rovers] but then I think this must be the place where it's meant to happen," he added, ahead of Satuday's trip to Shrewsbury.
"I feel as if I've matured as a striker, matured as a player - I know how to be a striker and what my main aim in the game is.
"I know how to get the best out of myself. I don't try anything unusual and keep it simple to what I know I'm good at.
"I've not really got a target if I'm being honest: just more minutes, more goals, playing and winning games."
Clarke-Harris' record of nine in 15 this season is all the more impressive given he missed the whole of pre-season due to a pelvis injury, and then suffered a calf strain in early October ruling him out for the next five weeks.
Although still not 100% fit, as he continues to undergo morning rehab before each training session, the 25-year-old is feeling good and categorically states he won't be holding anything back in terms of trying to manage his injury.
"It's good to be back out there with my friends and my teammates, doing what I love to do best - scoring goals, running around and bullying people!" Clarke-Harris said. "I'm pleased to get back because I've worked extremely hard.
"Even from the start of the season I've not been 100% but I feel like I'm getting stronger and fitter with each training session."
When asked if he's going to adapt his game, conscious of aggravating the injury, he added: "Absolutely not, that's something I'm not going to do - if it goes, it goes. If I'm going to push off it with maximum power, I am. If the calf tells me it's not ready, it's not, but in my head it is.
"You can't think like that, you've got to think positive."
