[Archived] Morten Gamst Pedersen

[Majiball]

I agree - his corners used to cause havoc when we had Kuqi - if he could do that now with Samba making the runs then we would gain several goals that way.

I think MGP is worth keeping, we should offer him a new deal (no big pay increase though). If we sign Rothen and we have also got Elrio & Diouf so we would then have 4 wingers (3 of which can play on the left) and that would hopefully provide MGP with the competition to improve his game!

Perhaps thats all he needs if you've got someone chasing your place you tend to raise your game. Left wing is one position in which we have no cover and no-one pushing him. He's had no competition for several years.

Has anyone seen him play for Norway recently???? Is he the same as at rovers???

[JC4LAB]

Seemed to go off when Bentley stole his thunder with freekicks .MGPs were as good as Beckhams at one time..Hope of a return to those days is what keeps me on his side

[Hughesy]

If we sort out the position behind him then he will improve. He needs more stability behind him, he needs to know that the full back hasnt gone walk abouts and then he doesnt need to worry so much about covering for him!!

[47er]

Seemed to go off when Bentley stole his thunder with freekicks .MGPs were as good as Beckhams at one time..Hope of a return to those days is what keeps me on his side

I even remember Bentley rushing over and taking the ball off him one time and taking the throw-in himself! Threw it about 4 yards!

[Claytons Left Boot]

He's a quiet lad and not only has his confidence been missing for some considerable time, but Warnock is also on his case. There is definitely some friction there and unfortunately Gamst hasn't got the balls to give a bit back. Noticed it during the West Brom game when Warnock snatched the ball off him to take a throw in. Ironic because it's the one thing Pedersen is still good at.

[tcj_jones]

Pedersen's corners just under the bar were never dangerous and never caused havoc. They were bread and butter for any keeper worth his salt and easy to defend against. Half the time the keeper would either catch it or tip it over for another corner and the other half a free kick would be given in favour of the opposition. It used to drive me nuts that we tried this from EVERY SINGLE CORNER! ARGH, I'm remembering it now!

I cannot remember us ever scoring from one, yet we peservered with them for absolutely bloody ages. This despite having big guys who, undoubtedly, would have scored more with runs made from deep attacking a cross whipped in with pace. When we finally abandoned this infuriating routine, however, Pedersen then proved unable to beat the first man nine out of every ten attempts.

I will agree that he looks a shadow of the player that first burst on to the scene three or four seasons ago. He doesn't shoot from distance, doesn't try to beat his man, doesn't show any trickery and, in recent times, has allowed others to take over his free kick privalages - his best attribute. However, three / four seasons is a long time and I don't buy that he is underperforming. I just think that he had a purple patch of form.

He is a decent Premier League player and nothing more. He has improved on the defensive side of his game, but this less selfish approach has negated some of his attacking threat, and his long throws are a great asset to the side. However, he is easily replaceable.

[Mr. E]

Sorry but there is absolutely no way MGP can stay. He shows up once in every 6 games maybe. Has no fight in him and gets eaten alive by superior opposition. With Mokoena gone he only behind Andrews on the list of players we need to get rid off immediately.

[super_arran]

Sorry but there is absolutely no way MGP can stay. He shows up once in every 6 games maybe. Has no fight in him and gets eaten alive by superior opposition. With Mokoena gone he only behind Andrews on the list of players we need to get rid off immediately.

Are you on glue?

Suppose you think Treacy is a god send?

[Kelbo]

Pedersen's corners just under the bar were never dangerous and never caused havoc. They were bread and butter for any keeper worth his salt and easy to defend against. Half the time the keeper would either catch it or tip it over for another corner and the other half a free kick would be given in favour of the opposition. It used to drive me nuts that we tried this from EVERY SINGLE CORNER! ARGH, I'm remembering it now!

I

If every single corner is where you say, then he is playing off instructions from the manager, otherwise he would be getting a rollocking and would be dropped!!

Pederson actually does much more for the team than is seen by many and whilst he has probably sacrificed some of his attacking play, there can be little doubt he helped in making the defence more solid last season!!

It will be easier to make an assessment next season when hopefully we will be more of an attacking force.

[unluckymorton]

Sorry but there is absolutely no way MGP can stay. He shows up once in every 6 games maybe. Has no fight in him and gets eaten alive by superior opposition. With Mokoena gone he only behind Andrews on the list of players we need to get rid off immediately.

If MGP had scored 6 to 8 goals this season you would have been praising him saying he's worth £20m. His work rate is there, he just hasnt got as noticed because he hasn't been putting the ball in the back of the net.

MGP has had to concentrate on defence as much, if not more, than attack this season. He is always ready to play, not often injured, and more importantly doesn't demand a transfer to a more fashionable club every few months. More than I can say for the likes of RSC and Lazy Benni.

Andrews has come on a lot towards the end of the season, I think he is pretty promising. Not the finished article by a long way but he is coming on well.

Treacy is never a Premier League footballer. He's not exactly gonna keep MGP on his toes and make him give that little bit extra is he.

So, your saying there is no way he can stay, how much do we get for him and who replaces him?

[tcj_jones]

If MGP had scored 6 to 8 goals this season you would have been praising him saying he's worth £20m. His work rate is there, he just hasnt got as noticed because he hasn't been putting the ball in the back of the net.

MGP has had to concentrate on defence as much, if not more, than attack this season. He is always ready to play, not often injured, and more importantly doesn't demand a transfer to a more fashionable club every few months. More than I can say for the likes of RSC and Lazy Benni.

Andrews has come on a lot towards the end of the season, I think he is pretty promising. Not the finished article by a long way but he is coming on well.

Treacy is never a Premier League footballer. He's not exactly gonna keep MGP on his toes and make him give that little bit extra is he.

So, your saying there is no way he can stay, how much do we get for him and who replaces him?

Woah, wait a minute, are we talking about the same Pedersen whose agent was pushing for a move to Spurs at every possible opportunity for over eighteen months? The same Pedersen who kept saying publically how he wanted to play for a team in Europe, how he had always supported Man UTD etc etc?

The fact of the matter is that Pedersen hasn't scored six to eight goals this season. Surely a winger should be recognized more for other facets of their game as oppoosed to the goals they score anyway? He looked really promising in the 04/05 and then 05/06 seasons, but has gone off the boil since.

He still chips in with his fair share of assists, has a good work rate and a great long throw, but let's not kid ourselves that he would ever be worth £20m! However, he doesn't have any pace or trickery, is very slight and doesn't have the same knack of scoring goals, especially from free kicks, as he used to.

I think he came on a fair bit toward the end of last season when Sam came in and think he does a solid, if unspectacular job, for us and I definitely think there are other areas of the side that need strengthening before we look at the left wing position. However, IMO he is a decent Premier League player and nothing more. I'd offer him a new deal, because contracts are worthless and it would mean that, should we sell in teh future, we'd get a better price. However, the terms would have to be right and there is no way in hell he deserves a pay rise.

[FourLaneBlue]

Never in all his time here has he had any real competition for his place. Not that it has stopped him being dropped at times for players like Dunn or whoever that are not even real left wingers. MGP has great potential but has rarely been consistent. Hopefully Sam sees something there that he can help improve.

If he ever cheats again so blatantly like he did at The Emirates however he should be sent back to the Arctic Circle.

[Mr. E]

If MGP had scored 6 to 8 goals this season you would have been praising him saying he's worth £20m. His work rate is there, he just hasnt got as noticed because he hasn't been putting the ball in the back of the net.

MGP has had to concentrate on defence as much, if not more, than attack this season. He is always ready to play, not often injured, and more importantly doesn't demand a transfer to a more fashionable club every few months. More than I can say for the likes of RSC and Lazy Benni.

Andrews has come on a lot towards the end of the season, I think he is pretty promising. Not the finished article by a long way but he is coming on well.

Treacy is never a Premier League footballer. He's not exactly gonna keep MGP on his toes and make him give that little bit extra is he.

So, your saying there is no way he can stay, how much do we get for him and who replaces him?

Would this be the same "Lazy Benni" who scored 10 goals last season and kept us up? You can't expect everyone to run around like a headless chicken all the time like Dickov, there are more important things than that and Benni is doing them. He's been our best striker since Alan Shearer.

And, erm....if Mokoena had scored 15 goals last season I would have wanted him to stay too. But it doesn't work like that. I don't know what MGP has had to concentrate on, but he has neither been able to stop attacks, create attacks, score goals or contribute anything worthwhile to the team at all. It's like we're playing with a ghost. We can fool someone and sell him for 1-2 million, which would be enough to gamble on someone under the radar like we usually do. We really have nothing to lose.

[unluckymorton]

Would this be the same "Lazy Benni" who scored 10 goals last season and kept us up? You can't expect everyone to run around like a headless chicken all the time like Dickov, there are more important things than that and Benni is doing them. He's been our best striker since Alan Shearer.

And, erm....if Mokoena had scored 15 goals last season I would have wanted him to stay too. But it doesn't work like that. I don't know what MGP has had to concentrate on, but he has neither been able to stop attacks, create attacks, score goals or contribute anything worthwhile to the team at all. It's like we're playing with a ghost. We can fool someone and sell him for 1-2 million, which would be enough to gamble on someone under the radar like we usually do. We really have nothing to lose.

Firstly you've got to admit you can't compare Th'Axe with MGP.

We can do a lot worse than keep MGP and offer a new contract to him. I'd much rather keep him than sell him for a couple of million as you mentioned. Like I said earlier, who the hell do you replace him with???

As for Lazy Benni, yes he's the same fella, you've hit the nail on the head. I,like many others, would expect to see more than 10 goals a season out of our top striker. If he tried that bit harder and got those extra 3 or 4 goals that would make a world of difference to our season. Benni did not keep us up on his own, not by a long shot. His goals helped, but so did the fantastic performances from Warnock, Samba and Nelson. Not to forget the great defensive show's from Givet. A lot of players worked a lot harder that Benni, a hell of a lot harder.

Woah, wait a minute, are we talking about the same Pedersen whose agent was pushing for a move to Spurs at every possible opportunity for over eighteen months? The same Pedersen who kept saying publically how he wanted to play for a team in Europe, how he had always supported Man UTD etc etc?

The fact of the matter is that Pedersen hasn't scored six to eight goals this season. Surely a winger should be recognized more for other facets of their game as oppoosed to the goals they score anyway? He looked really promising in the 04/05 and then 05/06 seasons, but has gone off the boil since.

He still chips in with his fair share of assists, has a good work rate and a great long throw, but let's not kid ourselves that he would ever be worth £20m! However, he doesn't have any pace or trickery, is very slight and doesn't have the same knack of scoring goals, especially from free kicks, as he used to.

I think he came on a fair bit toward the end of last season when Sam came in and think he does a solid, if unspectacular job, for us and I definitely think there are other areas of the side that need strengthening before we look at the left wing position. However, IMO he is a decent Premier League player and nothing more. I'd offer him a new deal, because contracts are worthless and it would mean that, should we sell in teh future, we'd get a better price. However, the terms would have to be right and there is no way in hell he deserves a pay rise.

I'm in total agreement that he should never get a rise until he proves he can play the way he did when he first signed.

As for the links with Spuds, That is engineered by his agent and the media. At no time has MGP said he wants to leave, he has only ever said that he is happy at the club and wants to do well for the club. I'm in no way his beggest fan, but I think Big Sam can get a lot out of him, if he can turn Davies into an England candidate surely he can work wonders with MGP.

[super_arran]

Would this be the same "Lazy Benni" who scored 10 goals last season and kept us up? You can't expect everyone to run around like a headless chicken all the time like Dickov, there are more important things than that and Benni is doing them. He's been our best striker since Alan Shearer.

And, erm....if Mokoena had scored 15 goals last season I would have wanted him to stay too. But it doesn't work like that. I don't know what MGP has had to concentrate on, but he has neither been able to stop attacks, create attacks, score goals or contribute anything worthwhile to the team at all. It's like we're playing with a ghost. We can fool someone and sell him for 1-2 million, which would be enough to gamble on someone under the radar like we usually do. We really have nothing to lose.

Pedersen was top of the assists table for us this year! So therefore he has created attacks and has contributed something worthwhile to the team!

Now I know you won't like this but with these assists and his general workrate Pedersen has been a key factor in keeping us in the Premiership.

I'm guessin the truth hurts a little.

[unluckymorton]

Pedersen was top of the assists table for us this year! So therefore he has created attacks and has contributed something worthwhile to the team!

Now I know you won't like this but with these assists and his general workrate Pedersen has been a key factor in keeping us in the Premiership.

I'm guessin the truth hurts a little.

Good point Arran, people have turned against him like they did Wilcox.

[Mr. E]

Pedersen was top of the assists table for us this year! So therefore he has created attacks and has contributed something worthwhile to the team!

Now I know you won't like this but with these assists and his general workrate Pedersen has been a key factor in keeping us in the Premiership.

I'm guessin the truth hurts a little.

What "truth" ? As if I don't want MGP to be a good player for us? I've been supporting him up till last season even when others were already slating him, but the clock's run out.

Firstly you've got to admit you can't compare Th'Axe with MGP.

We can do a lot worse than keep MGP and offer a new contract to him. I'd much rather keep him than sell him for a couple of million as you mentioned. Like I said earlier, who the hell do you replace him with???

As for Lazy Benni, yes he's the same fella, you've hit the nail on the head. I,like many others, would expect to see more than 10 goals a season out of our top striker. If he tried that bit harder and got those extra 3 or 4 goals that would make a world of difference to our season. Benni did not keep us up on his own, not by a long shot. His goals helped, but so did the fantastic performances from Warnock, Samba and Nelson. Not to forget the great defensive show's from Givet. A lot of players worked a lot harder that Benni, a hell of a lot harder.

Judging by this you have to wonder how exactly we finished 15th and were steamrolled time and time again if we have so many fantastic players?

[beerwins]

His defensive work tends to be overlooked, i rememeber him from a few seasons ago scoring lots of goals at the back post from bentleys crosses but when i look at his placement when attacks come from the right now he isnt nowhere near enough to back post to create danger, that is due to him tracking back all of which had to be done to stop conceding goals and keep us up.

Next season i hope to see much more of him as a driving force, i dont think his decline was in any part his own doing when asking an atacking player to be more defensive, like asking ronaldo to cross from a free kick.

[super_arran]

What "truth" ? As if I don't want MGP to be a good player for us? I've been supporting him up till last season even when others were already slating him, but the clock's run out.

Judging by this you have to wonder how exactly we finished 15th and were steamrolled time and time again if we have so many fantastic players?

The truth that he has produced this year. which was a reply to your "but he has neither been able to stop attacks, create attacks, score goals or contribute anything worthwhile to the team at all"

and we don't have "fantastic players" we just have some that run theirs balls off and work hard for the team. Benni is not one of these players

[unluckymorton]

What "truth" ? As if I don't want MGP to be a good player for us? I've been supporting him up till last season even when others were already slating him, but the clock's run out.

Judging by this you have to wonder how exactly we finished 15th and were steamrolled time and time again if we have so many fantastic players?

We had some fantastic displays, far better than Lazy Benni's displays.

What "truth" ? As if I don't want MGP to be a good player for us? I've been supporting him up till last season even when others were already slating him, but the clock's run out.

Judging by this you have to wonder how exactly we finished 15th and were steamrolled time and time again if we have so many fantastic players?

I don't really think we're in a position to let 'the clock run out' on players that we know can do the job and with a relativity new manager.

[Mr. E]

We had some fantastic displays, far better than Lazy Benni's displays.

I don't really think we're in a position to let 'the clock run out' on players that we know can do the job and with a relativity new manager.

Well with these players it's not going to get that much better than 15th place. If we're happy with that...

[tcj_jones]

I really do feel as though too much is being made of this 'overlooked defensive side' of Pedersen's game. He used to leave the full back slightly exposed in his early days at the club when he was less disciplined and more selfish. Now he tracks back, just as most other wide players do. I don't see him putting in great last ditch challanges, out-muscling the opposition or making great interceptions. He just tracks back more than he used to.

[super_arran]

Well with these players it's not going to get that much better than 15th place. If we're happy with that...

With our form from christmas time, if that was the start of the season we would of been in the top 10 by the time we played West brom on the last day.

So yeh, the players we have can finish higher than 15th. The reason we finished there was due to a poor start to the season which IMO was down to some shoddy managment

[unluckymorton]

Well with these players it's not going to get that much better than 15th place. If we're happy with that...

Well lets go our ant spend £80m on a new squad then. I'm happy with our 9th successive season in the top flight. Not many clubs our size can boast that.

We played half a season with a useless manager, the second half of the season was much better. Big Sam has a lot of hard work to do, but if he has the players working for each other like he did in the back end of the season then we'll get a decent mid table finish. We've got to be realistic here, after the damage Ince had inflicted on our club we should be happy re-consolodating our Premiership status and building from there.

[Ronin]

So one incentive for Sam to finish higher, means that he should have a bit more money to spend the following season. In theory anyway.