Post by nailseamark on Aug 22, 2016 20:44:56 GMT
After a recent thread about gasheads best 11 players I noticed that people seemed to pick Elliot but not much love for Lockyer despite the latter having a very successful on going career with the gas.
I thought it would be interesting to compare their careers and see if young Tom should rightfully dethrone the current Cheltenham town assistant manager as the best rovers centre back for decades.
Steve Elliot made 218 league appearances for rovers between 2004 and 2010. During his time with the gas he achieved promotion from league 2 and also was a part of two unlikely cup runs for the gas as we reached the finals of the jpt narrowly loosing to Doncaster and reaching the Fa cup quarter finals, in which we received a thrashing at the hands of West Brom.
Steve was also the best goal scoring defender I have witnessed in my time, wracking up 17 league goals in his time adding to his ever increasing popularity with the Rovers fans.
However, I do feel like a lot of his lasting popularity came from comments he made after leaving the Gas, and also the rumoured "I would of signed a new contract with Rovers and not needed to be paid" comment that fooled the gullable fans amongst us. His fun loving attitude pared with no nonsense defending made him a first choice for most Rovers fans who started watching in the 2000s. Steve Elliot's legacy with the gas remained untainted as he left at the end of 2009/2010 season and wasn't a part of relegation to league 2. On a side note Harrison and Ollie Clarke made their debuts the relegation season!
So that's an impressive career for a rovers defender but I think Lockyer edges it and this is how.
First of all the man is only 21 years old and has managed to chalk up 133 appearances since 2012! Tom generally has the potential to reach a number of appearances for the rovers that we haven't seen for years in this environment of cut throat footballers and agents, Tom shows loyalty.
Tom has recently started appearing as our captain in the abcence of mark mcrystal and how many 21 year olds could say that?
Tom can boast a promotion from the conference and a promotion from league 2 which is more than Elliot. Some of you might say it was from the conference so it wasn't much to brag about but need I remind you how important Lockyer was that season and how important it was for the gas to get out of the conference 1st attempt. Wael has already admitted he probably wouldn't be our owner right now if we were still in the conference.
Tom has 5 u21 Wales caps and that is something to brag about considering they came whilst being a league 2 player, the majority of Wales u21 players come from premier league academy's, Tom is special.
Lockyer hasn't had to do silly dances or speak of his love for the rovers to the media to win me over. He is a no nonsense, dependable and determined individual who's commitment was best summed up when playing against a Barnet side featuring Akinde who knocked Tom's teeth out during a match, but Tom managed to continue the match through sheer determination to win for rovers.
Now to address the elephant in the room. Yes Tom did feature as a player in the worst rovers 11 in our long history, but to blame him would be insane.
He was 19 playing under a clueless manager who played in midfield If he had been a more regular choice at centre back that year we would of stayed up I'm dead serious! And he went on to bounce back from that god awful season which is a big deal for someone who was his age.
Tom does need to add goals to his games as so far he can only claim 2 league goals but that's really the only criticism I have for him.
In my opinion Tom deserves respect as much if not more than Elliot. He goes about his career as a top professional, quiet but determined. He doesn't need to make me laugh to make me respect him and that's why I think Tom Lockyer deserves more respect from us and he would just about shade it when I compare the two players.
Who would you rather have at the back of your had to choose?
I thought it would be interesting to compare their careers and see if young Tom should rightfully dethrone the current Cheltenham town assistant manager as the best rovers centre back for decades.
Steve Elliot made 218 league appearances for rovers between 2004 and 2010. During his time with the gas he achieved promotion from league 2 and also was a part of two unlikely cup runs for the gas as we reached the finals of the jpt narrowly loosing to Doncaster and reaching the Fa cup quarter finals, in which we received a thrashing at the hands of West Brom.
Steve was also the best goal scoring defender I have witnessed in my time, wracking up 17 league goals in his time adding to his ever increasing popularity with the Rovers fans.
However, I do feel like a lot of his lasting popularity came from comments he made after leaving the Gas, and also the rumoured "I would of signed a new contract with Rovers and not needed to be paid" comment that fooled the gullable fans amongst us. His fun loving attitude pared with no nonsense defending made him a first choice for most Rovers fans who started watching in the 2000s. Steve Elliot's legacy with the gas remained untainted as he left at the end of 2009/2010 season and wasn't a part of relegation to league 2. On a side note Harrison and Ollie Clarke made their debuts the relegation season!
So that's an impressive career for a rovers defender but I think Lockyer edges it and this is how.
First of all the man is only 21 years old and has managed to chalk up 133 appearances since 2012! Tom generally has the potential to reach a number of appearances for the rovers that we haven't seen for years in this environment of cut throat footballers and agents, Tom shows loyalty.
Tom has recently started appearing as our captain in the abcence of mark mcrystal and how many 21 year olds could say that?
Tom can boast a promotion from the conference and a promotion from league 2 which is more than Elliot. Some of you might say it was from the conference so it wasn't much to brag about but need I remind you how important Lockyer was that season and how important it was for the gas to get out of the conference 1st attempt. Wael has already admitted he probably wouldn't be our owner right now if we were still in the conference.
Tom has 5 u21 Wales caps and that is something to brag about considering they came whilst being a league 2 player, the majority of Wales u21 players come from premier league academy's, Tom is special.
Lockyer hasn't had to do silly dances or speak of his love for the rovers to the media to win me over. He is a no nonsense, dependable and determined individual who's commitment was best summed up when playing against a Barnet side featuring Akinde who knocked Tom's teeth out during a match, but Tom managed to continue the match through sheer determination to win for rovers.
Now to address the elephant in the room. Yes Tom did feature as a player in the worst rovers 11 in our long history, but to blame him would be insane.
He was 19 playing under a clueless manager who played in midfield If he had been a more regular choice at centre back that year we would of stayed up I'm dead serious! And he went on to bounce back from that god awful season which is a big deal for someone who was his age.
Tom does need to add goals to his games as so far he can only claim 2 league goals but that's really the only criticism I have for him.
In my opinion Tom deserves respect as much if not more than Elliot. He goes about his career as a top professional, quiet but determined. He doesn't need to make me laugh to make me respect him and that's why I think Tom Lockyer deserves more respect from us and he would just about shade it when I compare the two players.
Who would you rather have at the back of your had to choose?
