[Archived] New Deal For Mokoena?

[Scotty]

This thread makes for interesting reading.

[Fife Rover]

This thread makes for interesting reading.

Especially the January and early Feb one's. I wonder if we will get any honest retractions?

Edited March 12, 2007 by Fife Rover

[pleasure]

on saturday, axe's mission was to snub -out fabregas. he failed miserably.

there was no point him being on the park. he didnt mark him (he stood about 10yards off him), track him, or kick him.

his inclusion was baffling. when axe and savage are paired together, we have to miss-out the midfield area, and derbyshire and maccarthy weren't going to get much change out of toure and senderos (both are good in the air).

i've been a defender of the axe, but having witnessed him at wigan, everton and home to arsenal, in recent weeks, - he causes more problems than he solves.

if he cant carry out simple instructions/tasks, it's time to give him an aerial painting of ewood park and let him go.

after watching bowen slice the ball into the JW lower, it dawned on me, obviously, mokoena has been having

1-on-1 coaching sessions from 'the master.'

aaron, my apologies.

he's improved beyond all recognition, in the last couple on weeks, particularly with regards to distribution.

after his 'strikers finish' yesterday, we know where to turn if we have a 'striker crisis'! :ph34r:

[gbax]

aaron, my apologies.

he's improved beyond all recognition, in the last couple on weeks, particularly with regards to distribution.

after his 'strikers finish' yesterday, we know where to turn if we have a 'striker crisis'! :ph34r:

Did you also do a similar retraction regarding Daniel Craig not being up to playing James Bond? :-)

[FourLaneBlue]

Mokoena has definitely improved but it doesn't mean he is a natural central midfielder in a 4-4-2 formation. Better teams will still overrun a midfield pairing of Tugay and Mokoena.

The central midfielders need more help then compared to when Savage plays who is more mobile than The Axe.

It is a huge improvement from Mokoena and he does seem to revel in confidence after a solid run in the team.

Despite recent improvements though he remains at best a squad player and wouldn't normally be good enough to be considered for a regular starting place.

Still...it's another bargain for Hughes. Mokoena is cheap, cheerful and can come in do a job. Compared him to how much our squad players have cost in the past (2-3 million often) and the wages they must have been on. Mokoena is certainly worth a lot more to the club than he cost.

[joey_big_nose]

I would agree with FLB. It's great to see the axeman doing well, but you have to say that you would be disappointed, and suprised, to see him in the starting XI next season. For me he is the obvious weak link in the side.

[pleasure]

Did you also do a similar retraction regarding Daniel Craig not being up to playing James Bond? :-)

i was always behind him playing the role, as my signiture stated - "give him a chance."

bringing it back to the axe, he'd make a great bond baddie.... he reminds me of this gentleman -http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/villains/kananga.php3?t=lald&s=lald

[gbax]

i was always behind him playing the role, as my signiture stated - "give him a chance."

bringing it back to the axe, he'd make a great bond baddie.... he reminds me of this gentleman -http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/villains/kananga.php3?t=lald&s=lald

Sorry Pleasure, I know you fought his corner (like me). I just couln't resist. I hoped you would see the funny side being a Bond fan. :-)

[philipl]

Don't be silly Philip.

By that logic, rather than having a decent CB as back-up to Nelsen and Ooijer, in Zurab, we should've settled for keeping Nils Eric Johansson. After all, at times he did a job, with good grace.....(actually with no grace whatsoever but u know what I mean.)

Rovers can do better than Mokoena.

It's all very well saying that he can come on for the last 20 and use his bulk to obliterate the opposition's view of the goal. BUT what happens when we're losing and need a player to revive us in central midfield? What happens when a starter gets injured in the first minute and Mokoena is required to play as a normal central midfielder, not some one-dimensional spoiler?

And is he that good defensively anyway? A specialist spoiler who impersonates Tiny Taylor in allowing Matt Taylor to get by him? Or does a rather uncanny impression of Darren Peacock when trying to compete with Teddy Sheringham in the air?

I think Hughes (and guys on this board) have to accept that Mokoena is a bad player. He may have his uses at times, like Jon Douglas and Lorenzo Amoruso had their uses. However, there is no way that Mokoena should remain with us for too much longer - even in a utility role. He's not good enough for that.

Passing ability and basic technique are, despite the worryingly common contrary perception, are of paramount importance in a defensive midfielder. Think about it - a defensive midfielder is usually the deepest lying midfielder - if he makes a wayward pass - he is gifting the opposition a chance to go at an unguarded defence. Mokoena's lack of technique and passing capacity will be a liability.

Sorry for being silly enough to back the Mokoena extension.

PS I did despair of the Axe in one or two games but the lad is now very solid. Well done Aaron for coming good.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

A quick question - what is the main reason for our recent defensive improvement ? The pairing of Samba and Nelsen or the drastic improvement in the Axe ?

Personally I think it is a mixture of the two - if you watch matches carefully - you see that the Axe often covers for defenders when they move forward. His style of play contrasts greatly with Savage - who runs around like a headless chicken often leaving gaps that the better teams can exploit.

Even when Savage is fit - I think it would be dangerous to drop Mokoena on current form. Very often the best eleven players don't make the best team - and at the moment I think this is Rovers best attribute - they are playing as a unit - with the odd bit of magic from players like Bentley, MGP, McCarthy etc.

[daren]

It's a good point you make. Mokoena has been exceptional positionally for the last few games, although he has a tendancy to whack the ball anywhere if he's under pressure. That's improving, as has his ball control, passing and for the most part, tackling.

I thought he was unlucky on Saturday, frankly, Corradi (or was it Samaras) clearly started the grabbing and holding, but the linesman could only see Mokoena from the angle he was at. I suspect that if he'd kept his hand to himself the same would have happened. As for the first tackle, it was rash, and late. But he made an attempt to get the ball, unlike say, Hamann, or Barton.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

It's a good point you make. Mokoena has been exceptional positionally for the last few games, although he has a tendancy to whack the ball anywhere if he's under pressure. That's improving, as has his ball control, passing and for the most part, tackling.

I thought he was unlucky on Saturday, frankly, Corradi (or was it Samaras) clearly started the grabbing and holding, but the linesman could only see Mokoena from the angle he was at. I suspect that if he'd kept his hand to himself the same would have happened. As for the first tackle, it was rash, and late. But he made an attempt to get the ball, unlike say, Hamann, or Barton.

First tackle a sure booking, you can't go in like that in todays football, really stupid thing to do. The second one was harsh, I thought both players were holding each other- if we would have had the ball and made that pass at that point we would have probably got the free kick, that's how it is with modern referees, he just gave it to the attacking team.

[pleasure]

at this rate, and all the praise of 'the axe', i'm gonna go down the bookies and place a bet on him being a future president of south africa.

:ph34r:

Edited March 13, 2007 by pleasure

[American]

A quick question - what is the main reason for our recent defensive improvement ? The pairing of Samba and Nelsen or the drastic improvement in the Axe ?

Personally I think it is a mixture of the two - if you watch matches carefully - you see that the Axe often covers for defenders when they move forward. His style of play contrasts greatly with Savage - who runs around like a headless chicken often leaving gaps that the better teams can exploit.

Even when Savage is fit - I think it would be dangerous to drop Mokoena on current form. Very often the best eleven players don't make the best team - and at the moment I think this is Rovers best attribute - they are playing as a unit - with the odd bit of magic from players like Bentley, MGP, McCarthy etc.

Actually, one of Savage's biggest strengths in the team has been to track back and help out the defense. He just covers more ground to do it.

[Fife Rover]

Actually, one of Savage's biggest strengths in the team has been to track back and help out the defense. He just covers more ground to do it.

This is true but Sav is not as safe in the tackling dept as the Axe. He gives away a lot of silly fouls.

[American]

Yes, but offers more going forwards. I think one reason he gives away said silly fouls is that he has to expend more energy to get back, and isn't in the perfect position.

Mokoena would be perfect in a diamond midfield.

[Florida Rover]

I bring back this old topic to point some unnecessary comments the Axe has chose to make.You wonder if these guys are baited into making a verbal error or just don't think about what they are saying(or possibly he knows exactly what he is saying and hoping for some type of reaction?)

"I am happy at Blackburn now but you can never tell what will happen in the future"

[Eddie]

Not the greatest, but you don't know what he was asked. He may have been asked "would you ever consider playing in Scotland" and came up with that, which to be fair is a rather diplomatic answer for both sides. As he is really only a squad player I don't really blame him for having the thought of a move somewhere in his mind.

[disgruntled]

Clearly looks that way. He's in Scotland, some lazy journo asks an obvious question, and there's the story.

[dillo_dillo]

Moko in scotland...... oh, really?! yeah.... I'm happy that news ....sorry, Moko fans!

[Lathund]

I'm with Eddie on this. You can find similar comments from pretty much any European Cup or International game. Scottish journalists asks what the South Africans think about Scotland, when a Belgian and a Czech team meet they'll do the same. There's not much to it. Nothing wrong with the comments either is there? Maybe Moko will stay here for the rest of his career, but most likely he won't. Whether it's due to him wanting to leave or Rovers not needing him anymore. Either way he'll want to move on then, and not burn his bridges. Thus he says some positive things about two CL clubs. I won't lose any sleep over it.

[rover6]

Mokoena - please feel free to go! I accept he has done a job for us but we can do better than him and if we want to be a regular UEFA cup team, we have to do better than him. He failed the cut to get on the bench in the last game, which is something of a new experience for him - and with certain injured first teamers returning to fitness, Mokoena's appearances may become somewhat rare.

[philipl]

Nobody has picked up on the fact that he is described as a striker.

[Cocker]

Nobody has picked up on the fact that he is described as a striker.

Mokoena reveals Old Firm appeal

South Africa and Blackburn defender Aaron Mokoena insists he would love to show his skills off at Celtic Park or Ibrox in the future.

[DanLad]

A bit after the final whistle of the Vetra game I was on my way home and a big Hum-Vee jeep effort joined the motorway at Darwen and sped off at a real rate of knots. I reckoned it was a footballer, although the missus reckoned that she sees loads of these vehicles knocking about!

Surprisingly we caught up with it (I was in a Renault Megane!) enough to have a peer in the window and I'm pretty sure Moko was driving and Benny might have been a passenger.

I know that's nothing exciting, but there you go...!