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Post by pirate49 on Apr 7, 2016 9:16:51 GMT
Ollie Clarke!
- he doesn't catch the eye
- he doesn't grab the headlines
- he's probably not one of the first names on the teamsheet
- he's not likely to get MoM award
.....yet he's our longest serving player, signing on with Elliott Richards in 2009.
He's been on loan to Gloucester City, Mangotsfield United, Clevedon Town........
He's come back from a career threatening injury, and a succession of managers
from Paul Trollope; through Penney, Buckle, McGhee, Ward, Clarke have kept him
while many many others have come and gone.
What do they see in him that we, on the terraces, often don't seem to?
I remember seeing him in a reserve game in Trollope's time at Cheltenham's training
ground. He was by far the best player on the pitch, playing right midfield. He had a
turn of pace which he has lost since his injury.
He's featured in about 31 games so far this season......so DC obviously values him.
He does a job. I can picture 20 minutes to go. DC turns to Clarke, who gets ready to
come on. DC puts his right arm around him and points to a specific player or part of
the pitch, and says, 'Right Ollie, this is what I want you to do..........................'
He's a Bristol lad...one of our own; only 23. It may be that every team doesn't need an
Ollie Clarke, but I reckon every squad most definitely does.
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Post by Antonio Fargas on Apr 7, 2016 9:25:58 GMT
'Right Ollie, this is what I want you to do..........................' ...get the ball 35 yards out, and shoot. |
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Post by BishopstonBRFC on Apr 7, 2016 9:53:05 GMT
'Right Ollie, this is what I want you to do..........................' ...get the ball 35 yards out, and shoot. He's got a brilliant long range shot in his locker. Was a whisker away from scoring another beauty at Carlisle. |
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Post by stevek192 on Apr 7, 2016 10:26:54 GMT
My problem with him is that he does not impose himself on the game, he does not visibly WANT the ball and so for long periods of the game he is not in the limelight and is lost to the game. A good player is one who wants the ball as much as possible and MAKES sure he lets others know he wants it. Ollie may get this quality and may become a good player but at the moment he falls well short of the mark and only his long range shooting gets him a place in the team and the lack of fit alternatives. He is at best a reasonable alternative on the bench.
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Post by Gas Go Marching In on Apr 7, 2016 10:28:54 GMT
Ollie Clarke! - he doesn't catch the eye - he doesn't grab the headlines - he's probably not one of the first names on the teamsheet - he's not likely to get MoM award .....yet he's our longest serving player, signing on with Elliott Richards in 2009. He's been on loan to Gloucester City, Mangotsfield United, Clevedon Town........ He's come back from a career threatening injury, and a succession of managers from Paul Trollope; through Penney, Buckle, McGhee, Ward, Clarke have kept him while many many others have come and gone. What do they see in him that we, on the terraces, often don't seem to? I remember seeing him in a reserve game in Trollope's time at Cheltenham's training ground. He was by far the best player on the pitch, playing right midfield. He had a turn of pace which he has lost since his injury. He's featured in about 31 games so far this season......so DC obviously values him. He does a job. I can picture 20 minutes to go. DC turns to Clarke, who gets ready to come on. DC puts his right arm around him and points to a specific player or part of the pitch, and says, 'Right Ollie, this is what I want you to do..........................' He's a Bristol lad...one of our own; only 23. It may be that every team doesn't need an Ollie Clarke, but I reckon every squad most definitely does. Nice lad. Bristol lad blah blah blah. Harsh reality to me is he isn't good enough, especially if we go up a league. |
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Post by Henbury Gas on Apr 7, 2016 10:33:13 GMT
Ollie Clarke! - he doesn't catch the eye - he doesn't grab the headlines - he's probably not one of the first names on the teamsheet - he's not likely to get MoM award .....yet he's our longest serving player, signing on with Elliott Richards in 2009. He's been on loan to Gloucester City, Mangotsfield United, Clevedon Town........ He's come back from a career threatening injury, and a succession of managers from Paul Trollope; through Penney, Buckle, McGhee, Ward, Clarke have kept him while many many others have come and gone. What do they see in him that we, on the terraces, often don't seem to? I remember seeing him in a reserve game in Trollope's time at Cheltenham's training ground. He was by far the best player on the pitch, playing right midfield. He had a turn of pace which he has lost since his injury. He's featured in about 31 games so far this season......so DC obviously values him. He does a job. I can picture 20 minutes to go. DC turns to Clarke, who gets ready to come on. DC puts his right arm around him and points to a specific player or part of the pitch, and says, 'Right Ollie, this is what I want you to do..........................' He's a Bristol lad...one of our own; only 23. It may be that every team doesn't need an Ollie Clarke, but I reckon every squad most definitely does. Nice lad. Bristol lad blah blah blah. Harsh reality to me is he isn't good enough, especially if we go up a league.You could say that about ALL our current midfield including the Beard |
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Post by socrates on Apr 7, 2016 10:43:45 GMT
My problem with him is that he does not impose himself on the game, he does not visibly WANT the ball and so for long periods of the game he is not in the limelight and is lost to the game. A good player is one who wants the ball as much as possible and MAKES sure he lets others know he wants it. Ollie may get this quality and may become a good player but at the moment he falls well short of the mark and only his long range shooting gets him a place in the team and the lack of fit alternatives. He is at best a reasonable alternative on the bench. Similar to mansel I reckon . One of those players you don't always notice but they're busy filling in the gaps when others go forward and keeping the shape well through the team. Andy Reece was another ,you miss those players when they're not there. |
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Post by Topper Gas on Apr 7, 2016 11:09:28 GMT
My problem with him is that he does not impose himself on the game, he does not visibly WANT the ball and so for long periods of the game he is not in the limelight and is lost to the game. A good player is one who wants the ball as much as possible and MAKES sure he lets others know he wants it. Ollie may get this quality and may become a good player but at the moment he falls well short of the mark and only his long range shooting gets him a place in the team and the lack of fit alternatives. He is at best a reasonable alternative on the bench. One of those players you don't always notice but they're busy filling in the gaps when others go forward and keeping the shape well through the team. Andy Reece was another ,you miss those players when they're not there. Let's be honest if Manse or Sincs were fit OC would be struggling for a place on the bench, glad he's there as backup when needed but you sense he might always struggle to hold down a first team place even at Div 2 level. As Steve says he really needs to step up a gear and start imposing himself on a game, if we don't go up you do fear he may not be offered a new contract if DC has a bigger playing budget next season. |
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Post by scoobydoogas on Apr 7, 2016 11:24:23 GMT
Ollie Clarke doesn't score tap ins :-)
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Post by CrispPusher on Apr 7, 2016 11:38:52 GMT
Ollie Clarke! - he doesn't catch the eye - he doesn't grab the headlines - he's probably not one of the first names on the teamsheet - he's not likely to get MoM award .....yet he's our longest serving player, signing on with Elliott Richards in 2009. He's been on loan to Gloucester City, Mangotsfield United, Clevedon Town........ He's come back from a career threatening injury, and a succession of managers from Paul Trollope; through Penney, Buckle, McGhee, Ward, Clarke have kept him while many many others have come and gone. What do they see in him that we, on the terraces, often don't seem to? I remember seeing him in a reserve game in Trollope's time at Cheltenham's training ground. He was by far the best player on the pitch, playing right midfield. He had a turn of pace which he has lost since his injury. He's featured in about 31 games so far this season......so DC obviously values him. He does a job. I can picture 20 minutes to go. DC turns to Clarke, who gets ready to come on. DC puts his right arm around him and points to a specific player or part of the pitch, and says, 'Right Ollie, this is what I want you to do..........................' He's a Bristol lad...one of our own; only 23. It may be that every team doesn't need an Ollie Clarke, but I reckon every squad most definitely does. Nice lad. Bristol lad blah blah blah. Harsh reality to me is he isn't good enough, especially if we go up a league. Utter nonsense. OC has improved every season he's been in the senior squad, especially under Darrell, thankfully our Manager is clearly a much better judge of players than you obviously are. |
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Post by grayraydon on Apr 7, 2016 12:19:25 GMT
My problem with him is that he does not impose himself on the game, he does not visibly WANT the ball and so for long periods of the game he is not in the limelight and is lost to the game. A good player is one who wants the ball as much as possible and MAKES sure he lets others know he wants it. Ollie may get this quality and may become a good player but at the moment he falls well short of the mark and only his long range shooting gets him a place in the team and the lack of fit alternatives. He is at best a reasonable alternative on the bench. Really? Well short of the mark? You honestly think that DC would include him in the team(not the squad) on 31 occasions this season just for his long range shooting ability, sure he can lack a bit of consistency at times but DC obviously trusts him and that's good enough for me. As for the shout that someone else said that none of our midfield would be good enough to make the step up, weren't a lot of people saying that about our team last year and look how that's turned out, I think because of the teamwork that we show as a whole unit then we get a lot more out of what some people would class 'lesser' players because as has been proven a good team is greater than the sum of it's parts. |
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Post by Antonio Fargas on Apr 7, 2016 12:25:13 GMT
I think DC is a lot more likely to keep hold of OC next year than, say, Mansell or Lawrence.
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Post by grayraydon on Apr 7, 2016 12:28:50 GMT
I think DC is a lot more likely to keep hold of OC next year than, say, Mansell or Lawrence. I'm sure I read somewhere that Lawrence has a clause that if we go up he automatically gets another year, so hopefully we'll be seeing him next year. |
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Post by seanclevedongas on Apr 7, 2016 12:42:58 GMT
I think you will find that the promise to the whole squad is if we go up they will be offered new deals next season (bar 3 who will still be in contract)
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Post by fanboy on Apr 7, 2016 12:43:50 GMT
Ollie Clarke! - he doesn't catch the eye - he doesn't grab the headlines - he's probably not one of the first names on the teamsheet - he's not likely to get MoM award .....yet he's our longest serving player, signing on with Elliott Richards in 2009. He's been on loan to Gloucester City, Mangotsfield United, Clevedon Town........ He's come back from a career threatening injury, and a succession of managers from Paul Trollope; through Penney, Buckle, McGhee, Ward, Clarke have kept him while many many others have come and gone. What do they see in him that we, on the terraces, often don't seem to? I remember seeing him in a reserve game in Trollope's time at Cheltenham's training ground. He was by far the best player on the pitch, playing right midfield. He had a turn of pace which he has lost since his injury. He's featured in about 31 games so far this season......so DC obviously values him. He does a job. I can picture 20 minutes to go. DC turns to Clarke, who gets ready to come on. DC puts his right arm around him and points to a specific player or part of the pitch, and says, 'Right Ollie, this is what I want you to do..........................' He's a Bristol lad...one of our own; only 23. It may be that every team doesn't need an Ollie Clarke, but I reckon every squad most definitely does. Nice lad. Bristol lad blah blah blah. Harsh reality to me is he isn't good enough, especially if we go up a league. I thought that too but he's really proven me wrong this season. At the start of the season he was superb and since coming back in recently he's been fantastic. |
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Post by Topper Gas on Apr 7, 2016 13:01:09 GMT
"fantastic" that's a bit of exaggeration? he was good against Cambridge, seemingly shocking at Carlisle, then average against a poor Crawley. That really sums him at Rovers as he'll be dropped eventually and when he returns starts off good again but can't keep it going match by match. Not sure if 23 is just young for a CM or he's just never going to be quiet good enough to make it.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2016 13:01:33 GMT
I think DC is a lot more likely to keep hold of OC next year than, say, Mansell or Lawrence. If we go up Lawrence has a contract for next season. |
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Post by socrates on Apr 7, 2016 13:41:45 GMT
"fantastic" that's a bit of exaggeration? he was good against Cambridge, seemingly shocking at Carlisle, then average against a poor Crawley. That really sums him at Rovers as he'll be dropped eventually and when he returns starts off good again but can't keep it going match by match. Not sure if 23 is just young for a CM or he's just never going to be quiet good enough to make it. To be fair he has made it if he's a professional that's played in 31 games this season. I suppose it depends on what you mean by make it but I think he's been an important part of a successful side for 2 years and that's made it in my book. |
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Post by mehewmagic on Apr 7, 2016 13:50:02 GMT
reality check.
he's 23.
and for 23 he's progressing well.
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Post by Thatslife on Apr 7, 2016 14:18:55 GMT
reality check. he's 23. and for 23 he's progressing well. I agree he is still developing his game. What I do like about Ollie is when he tackles, he tackles hard, never been know to pull out of a tackle and the opposition know it early in the game. |
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