[Archived] Emerton Blow For Rovers

[broadsword]

Why is it when a Rovers player gets criticised some people's reaction is: "Rovers fans have always got to have a scapegoat".

Why can it not be accepted that it is just an opinion. I mean there's no reason to have a scapegoat is there, there is nothing that's gone wrong for him to be scapegoated for, is there?

I just don't rate Emerton as a player at all. I think he's just really ordinary, that's my opinion.

[Fife Rover]

I agree with Den and Dave. Fans' always have a pantomime villain. We've had a few in past seasons now only Emerton fits the bill. Wilcox used to get slated for the exact same things I'm reading about Emerton; now he's a hero. Dave's right about the fans; we have no idea what goes on. I'll wager that it is far easier for Hughes to keep Emerton who knows the training, knows the system and knows the players, making it easy for the manager to stick with him rather than getting a new player in who is supposed to be better but has no idea of how Rovers are. Familiarity really helps football teams, managers would rather keep their players for as long as they can as it makes preparation much easier.

I think the topic headline is absurd. How can a current player signing a new deal hurt our team? Myopic and stupid are words I would use.

Might be better calling it the Bigots Thread.

[T4E]

I'm not particularly an Emerton fan, bryan. he's lost his way career-wise.

My point is simply, how can Emerton signing be bad news ? Why get on his back ?

Same way that giving Douglas a new four year deal was bad news - we now have to pay the feckless git for 4 more years!

[Fife Rover]

Question for all the people who so obviously hate Emerton so much that they cannot judge and criticise him in an objective way.

IF Emerton actually has a good season for Rovers this time out ( never mind how; just answer the question) will you have the good grace to come on here and admit that he has in fact played well?

I am not asking or expecting any of you to say you were wrong in your refusal to see or admit any good in him up to now. Just that IF he does produce the goods this season you will have the balls to admit that much.

Edited August 18, 2006 by Fife Rover

[broadsword]

I dunno, maybe teh coaching team can get hold of him and coach some hitherto unseen ability out of him. We could have the next Slim Jim Baxter/ Jairzinho/ Maradonna/ Geoffrey off of Rainbow on our hands.

What is clear though is that having scapegoats is verboten. And that means no criticism of players! You're allowed allowed to pass comment on a player if you say that he is absolutely terrific, a World-beater and very nice to his Mum as well, of course.

[thenodrog]

I am not saying that any of us are managers but can YOU list any of Berts good points Mr Birch?

Be positive. Look at it another way and he's a damned good squad player for just £800,000.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Question for all the people who so obviously hate Emerton so much that they cannot judge and criticise him in an objective way.

IF Emerton actually has a good season for Rovers this time out ( never mind how; just answer the question) will you have the good grace to come on here and admit that he has in fact played well?

Already have done FR - where you been the past two seasons

Think I have done it once - because that is the amount of times when I can actually remember him doing anything.

Its not a scapegoat scenario and as for judging him I feel us anti Berts have more reason to criticise than those who for the life of me seem to think he is any good.

And certainly , if and thats a big IF he does do anything worthy of note on a consistent basis of a Premiership player I will certainly come on here and eat humble pie - however as I have said before and been proved correct thus far...I doubt very much I or anybody else will have to.

Edited August 18, 2006 by CAPT KAYOS

[T4E]

Question for all the people who so obviously hate Emerton so much that they cannot judge and criticise him in an objective way.

IF Emerton actually has a good season for Rovers this time out ( never mind how; just answer the question) will you have the good grace to come on here and admit that he has in fact played well?

I am not asking or expecting any of you to say you were wrong in your refusal to see or admit any good in him up to now. Just that IF he does produce the goods this season you will have the balls to admit that much.

Can I assume I'm one of those that this was directed at?

Allow me to answer a seperate question first - why are so many people anti-Emerton? It's very rare that we sign a player and the fans hate him immediately. It's only usually signings who have been failures at most recent junctures in their career that get a rough ride.

Now consider Emerton. We got him at a time when he was very highly rated in Europe. Loads of clubs were after him. Personally, I thought it was a fantastic signing. Then I saw him play vs Wolves. I thought we had a World beater. "Duff who?" I cried. How wrong I was.

I am anti-Emerton as he is the biggest under-achiever I've ever seen in a Rovers shirt. I'm not a big fan of Matteo, for example, but I can accept he's a limited player. Emerton is not. Emerton is actually very talented. He just doesnt have the bottle to step up and show it.

Now - IF he has a good season, I'll be delighted. My dislike for Emerton as a player is very rational - there is no illogical hatred here.

[Brownie]

My dislike for Emerton as a player is very rational

Can honestly say I have never 'disliked' any Rovers player whilst at the club.

I think T4E, its time to put your dislike of Emerton to bed for the time being, before it becomes dull.

[mattjansen]

My dislike for Emerton as a player is very rational

Can honestly say I have never 'disliked' any Rovers player whilst at the club.

I think T4E, its time to put your dislike of Emerton to bed for the time being, before it becomes dull.

Dont you know that every player thats on Rovers books is crap except for the "amazing" Bentley?!

[Fife Rover]

Can I assume I'm one of those that this was directed at?

Allow me to answer a seperate question first - why are so many people anti-Emerton? It's very rare that we sign a player and the fans hate him immediately. It's only usually signings who have been failures at most recent junctures in their career that get a rough ride.

Now consider Emerton. We got him at a time when he was very highly rated in Europe. Loads of clubs were after him. Personally, I thought it was a fantastic signing. Then I saw him play vs Wolves. I thought we had a World beater. "Duff who?" I cried. How wrong I was.

I am anti-Emerton as he is the biggest under-achiever I've ever seen in a Rovers shirt. I'm not a big fan of Matteo, for example, but I can accept he's a limited player. Emerton is not. Emerton is actually very talented. He just doesnt have the bottle to step up and show it.

Now - IF he has a good season, I'll be delighted. My dislike for Emerton as a player is very rational - there is no illogical hatred here.

T4E & Capt Kayos: Please read my first para. I deliberately did not name or single out anyone, but did specify that I was asking the question of only those who could not look at Emerton objectively and criticise him fairly.

From what you have said above I would accept that as genuinely held opinion and fair criticism even if I and others don't necessarily agree with it. There are a small number of people who continually rant on about Bert in a totally irrational manner and they come across to me as people who are not prepared to try and judge him fairly or to give him any credit at all. Bert has had several good games and scored or assisted at a number of good goals. He obviously has lots of ability otherwise why would so many people like Sparky and other managers continue to rate him. He had a very good WC and IMO he deserves a chance to be judged objectively on how he performs this season. Let's all give the guy a chance. That was the point of my earlier post.

[T4E]

Can honestly say I have never 'disliked' any Rovers player whilst at the club.

I think T4E, its time to put your dislike of Emerton to bed for the time being, before it becomes dull.

Good for you. I cannot claim to have liked every player to have ever played for Rovers. Especially ones that under-perform so badly.

I will put my dislike for the player "to bed" when he puts his inneffectual, lazy, negative and nigh on embarrasing perfomances to bed and starts to make the effort to become the player we all know he could be.

Until then, I cannot and will not pretend to rate him.

[neekoy]

I think a lot of it comes from the fact he is an Aussie as well, it makes it alot easier for some to dislike or rubbish at the opportunity.

He underperforms the majority of the time, but maybe that is just him?

It's not about bottle, it's about consistency and until he realises that we have what we have.

[Ste B]

I think a lot of it comes from the fact he is an Aussie as well,

RUBBISH. (well apart from Jim, but does anybody take him seriously ??)

I'm really not that arsed if he signed a new deal or not, but the positive factor I look at is that he could easily have moved on to better terms elsewhere, but he chose to remain part of all the good work Mark Hughes team are putting in.

[stuwilky]

I think a lot of it comes from the fact he is an Aussie as well, it makes it alot easier for some to dislike or rubbish at the opportunity.

He underperforms the majority of the time, but maybe that is just him?

The second line is amazingly contradictory considering the first.

Emerton has been @#/? for us since his debut, there have been the odd decent ball, the odd decent shot, but nothing anywhere near the standard expected, nay demanded by fans of top flight football.

It has nothing to do with him being a convict in the slightest.

And Fife, I would love to be wrong on this, absolutely love it. I have no desire to see anyone crap playing for Rovers and I will happilly criticise those who are consistently crap (like Bert) but will give credit where credit is due.

Edited August 19, 2006 by stuwilky

[bob fleming]

I think a lot of it comes from the fact he is an Aussie as well, it makes it alot easier for some to dislike or rubbish at the opportunity.

I very much doubt that that has anything to do with it to be honest. We've always had scapegoats let's not forget, even when we were winning the Premiership we had to have one, and he was English. That fact that Emerton is Australian is probably just an added bonus as it annoys you.

What do I think? He hasn't done the business has he? Surely there can't be any debate on that. I think he's a bit slow in the footballing brains department. Having said that he is versatile and maybe Hughes has him down for the right back slot? So it's a strange one alright. I don't dislike the fella, far from it, he's a Rovers player after all, I just don't look forward to seeing him play as much as some of the others.

Let's see how he gets on, his confidence may be up after the World Cup and Rovers have just showed what they think of him with a new 4 year contract. Maybe a new Bert will emerge next season? Then again.....

[Bobby G]

The Australian press is widely reported as quoting Emo saying that Hughes has told him that he will play him primarily as a right back this season.

Good news or what? I reckon so, as it would allow Lucas to play center back alongside Nelsen, or maybe its a contingency plan for if Lucas leaves.

[philipl]

'Arry with his £30m, Villa / O'Neill rebuffed by Celtic, Rovers with Ooijer, Rovers with Nelsen, Reid, Gamst, Gray and now Emerton- The common thread is that short of specific escape clauses, clubs everywhere have smartened up on hanging onto players and the supply isn't there in the market short of splashing sums like £5.5m for Heskey and £18.6m for Carrick.

Emo is not my favourite player but boy, have we progressed since we hid in the cellars waiting for a Souness team sheet? Or even worse, a line-up including Peacock, Ward, Dailly, and other such lummaries of the Kidd era.

Quite simply, there was no guarrantee we'd get a player at least as good as Bert so absent a realistic offer from Boro, he was going to sit out his contract. So sensible chap took a small pay rise and security and has thrown his lot back in with the Rovers.

Pragmatism all round.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Personally I am fairly neutral about Emerton. I think it was worth retaining him - as has been pointed out it would have cost Rovers far more than £800k to get someone of similar ability.

For me Emerton's main problem at Rovers has been the level of expectation. I remember seeing his first pre-season - and then the Wolves game, and thinking we had a potential world beater. Everything that has followed has been at best average. He has all the physical atttributes to be a top player - but there is something missing - maybe its confidence - who knows.

One thing I am certain - he is a reasonable player. Not the world beater that we thought - but even at 27 - one with potential. I am sure that MH can fit him into a team pattern that will make his retention worthwhile.

For those that doubt this - see Reid, Neil, MGP, Bellamy, Nelsen (lots of people questioned his signing), Kuqi (to an extent). All players who MH and his coaching staff have seen something in and improved as players. Believe me, MH is ruthless, if he thought he could do more with £800k - he would have got rid of Emerton. The fact he has retained him for a further 4 years, IMO, means that he feels he can get more out of Emerton than we have seen so far (maybe at right back as has been reported).

[James No. 7]

The fact he has retained him for a further 4 years, IMO, means that he feels he can get more out of Emerton than we have seen so far (maybe at right back as has been reported).

Aye, he needs that extra space that right-back would bring him and he's finally seen sense that he should let the manager have all the say in the position he plays that suits the player and the team, not give an ultimatum of sorts to play on the wing which doesn't do the manager nor himself nor the team any favours.

I'm sure we'll see him excel in Europe, should the team do a bit of progression, rather than getting knocked out very early.

[den]

The recent discussion about Brett is being misinterpreted by those who don't like him. It stems from Stevens post here:

I thought he had a good world cup and was one of the best players on the park against Brazil in Munich. I was there, and maybe the TV showed a different picture, or maybe its because the guy can do no right in your eyes?

Not many deny that he hasn't been great, but the point is that for some people, he NEVER does anything good.

Patently not true is it? A bit like some people who said Neill was totally useless. He patently isn't useless either.

Don't hide behind the "I don't think he's played well since he's been here" argument. We all know that, but he does have some qualities. Any of his distractors care to name some of his qualities? Or can you see none whatsoever?

[rover6]

I accept that as a squad player he is decent.

But I have two concerns, when we signed him he was flavour of the month. Recently named Aussie Player of the Year, included in the UEFA team of the Year, put in some good showings as Feyenoord reached and won the UEFA cup final (although i think Emerton missed the final).

Now if I am not mistaken, for Rovers to lure such a player - who was also being coveted by Newcastle and others, we would have had to offer him a big chunky first teamer, top of the range wage.

Unless he took a pay-cut, which is highly unlikely, that means he is still on a big chunky integral first teamer kind of wage. No way should he be on that.

Secondly, as Guus Hiddink said during the World Cup (whilst bigging up Emerton's atheticism, stamina, etcl) - he is not a "creative" player. So if we have MGP on the left, Reid and Savage in central midfield and Emerton on the wing (Tugay taking a rest on his zimmerframe) that makes ONE player with creative talents in our midfield (and that's the mercurial MGP).

One creative player in midfield? It was enough last year with Bellamy probably making up the defecit.

Maybe Emerton won't play regular (so why the wage?) and it'll be either Bentley or Gallagher on the right. Now both of those have a bit of creativity but whether they have the consistency or application to make use of their talents remains to be seen.

Imagine if Brett Emerton, with his great work-rate, had Paul Gallagher's flair. Now there would be a player worth retaining.

[bob fleming]

he does have some qualities. Any of his distractors care to name some of his qualities? Or can you see none whatsoever?

He scored a great goal last season from an acute angle, I think it was against Charlton, he also scored a good goal against Wolves in 2003. He's scored 7 league goals in 3 seasons. He's versatile apparently. He's good at running up and down. He's sorted his hair out over the last couple of years and we get to call him Bert instead of Brett. Other than that I'm struggling.

[rover6]

He had a great game on the left wing against Liverpool and more specifically, Josemi. But that was more a flash in the pan.

He's here to stay so let's just hope that he undergoes the kind of transformation that we saw in ... erm .... Keith Gillespie or Andy Todd????! I'm sure there's parallels there somewhere, although I can't see them.

Edited August 19, 2006 by rover6

[Blueboy Downunder]

i am probably gonna kop it for this...but what the heck.

brett emerton is not a ###### footballer, he is, however the most frustrating footballer in the premier league. he has pace, a great engine etc etc

but brett, for (Please don't use that word again) sake lad, take them on!!