[Archived] Gary Flitcroft

[CAPT KAYOS]

Heh!! There's only one Capt around here

[92er]

Perhaps it shows that Souness has learned little about how to avoid upsetting players.It seems strange after all the fuss Souness made 12 months before about extending his contrct longer than the Club wanted to and praising him so much.

The LET yesterday said that Wigan had made no move for Flitcroft and no improvement for Todd.

[rover6]

Carsely (did we really stoop that low?)

A penalty taker extraordinaire - but not much good at anything else.

I might be wrong, but wasn't he our top scorer in our first season back in div 1?

Edited July 2, 2004 by rover6

[Billy Castell]

Perhaps we should put Garry on e-bay, along with Todd and Yorke.

[kingsleyamis]

Perhaps it shows that Souness has learned little about how to avoid upsetting players.It seems strange after all the fuss Souness made 12 months before about extending his contrct longer than the Club wanted to and praising him so much.

The LET yesterday said that Wigan had made no move for Flitcroft and no improvement for Todd.

I think you're right.

Flitcroft is supposed to be a loud voice in the dressing room - and one that has long given support to Souness.

So maybe the boss has shot himself in the foot if Flitty doesn't move on?

Though of course there have already been hints about a falling out between them - such as Flitty's comments in the LET about dressing-room disharmony a few months back.

[92er]

Simon garner was arguing that by stripping him of the captaincy it was increasing the chances of him leaving(LET). Maybe Souness can't get rid of Todd and Yorke.

[John]

What is Souness meant to do?

Flitcroft will not be guaranteed a place in the side next season as Ferguson is back. It is more likely he will play with Tugay.

So that means you need a change of captain as you cant really have your skipper in the stands or bench.

[TROOPER]

Maybe it is all a psych thing. Some players play like captains any how, some need to be told they are a captain to bring that bit extra out of them.

When we won the championship we had a team full of "captains", does it really matter who has the armband? Surely Flitcroft is now mature enough to accept that he still has a big influence around the dressing room.

Just the other day I was drawing up my second XI & feeling quite pleased with the strength in depth we have now got, an element that is essential if we are to avoid a struggle again. Hopefully Flitty is clued up enough to realise that if he stays in the top Div then he could have several more productive seasons, but age starts catching up with you very fast when you drop down a division or two.

[FourLaneBlue]

Carsely (did we really stoop that low?)

A penalty taker extraordinaire - but not much good at anything else.

I might be wrong, but wasn't he our top scorer in our first season back in div 1?

Yep, in what was probably our worst season in almost the last thirty years when considering how we expected to do, Crasley was top scorer with 11 goals (ten league, one cup). However eight (eight!!) of these goals were penalties, meaning he only actually scored three from open play all season.

It doesn't get any better when you look at who were next highest scorers on the list for that season...Ostenstad and Ashely Ward, both with eight goals each. (shudder....)

[bob fleming]

Flitty may well decide to leave - he might not. Who knows?

He's put one hell of a good stint in for us for 8 years and as far as I'm concerned he's always given us (a massive cliché) 110%.

All this about him being p***ed off really should be put into context.

Souness has bought the Captain of Scotland and the former Captain of Glasgow Rangers to the club for 7 million pounds. If you were Flitcroft would you really be that surprised that this has happened?

Second thing here is, whether he likes it or not, I would say that Flitty is no longer an automatic first choice. Thompson, Ferguson, Johnson, Tugay, Reid (?) and Flitcroft. If he's fit and up and running and showing the same form that he did before his injury I'd suggest that Fergie is the only automatic first choice. The others can fight it out amongst themselves.

As TROOPER said - I'm sure Flitty is big enough to take this on the chin and get on with establishing himself as the second central midfielder. I really hope he does. Who knows, now he's not Captain, he may go from strength to strength.

As an aside does anyone know Flitcrofts statistics in winning the toss for Rovers? I’d suggest no better than 50/50. Not good enough in my book.

[American]

He's put one hell of a good stint in for us for 8 years and as far as I'm concerned he's always given us (a massive cliché) 110%.

Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob.... You know that is imposible.

Everyone knows you can only give up to 105%!

And we all knew this was an inevitable decision anyhow. If Flitty is true captain material, he will know this is in the best interest of the club and take it as a good thing.

[rover6]

I would say that Flitty is no longer an automatic first choice. Thompson, Ferguson, Johnson, Tugay, Reid (?) and Flitcroft.

Flitty may have fallen from grace, but I don't think he's behind Jemal Johnson in the pecking order...yet.

[joey_big_nose]

Second thing here is, whether he likes it or not, I would say that Flitty is no longer an automatic first choice. Thompson, Ferguson, Johnson, Tugay, Reid (?) and Flitcroft. If he's fit and up and running and showing the same form that he did before his injury I'd suggest that Fergie is the only automatic first choice. The others can fight it out amongst themselves.

I thought we just signed seth Johnson, I nearly had a bloody heart attack!

[bob fleming]

I would say that Flitty is no longer an automatic first choice. Thompson, Ferguson, Johnson, Tugay, Reid (?) and Flitcroft.

Flitty may have fallen from grace, but I don't think he's behind Jemal Johnson in the pecking order...yet.

I really do need to stop doing that. I keep referring to Jonathan Douglas as Damian Johnson. It's poor and I shall seek councilling to beat this thing. It's not even as though they're similar players or anything.

At this point I'd also just like to apologise for any distress caused for any viewers who thought we'd bought Seth Johnson. It must have been awful - sorry Joey.

[chris]

strange comments by Souness in LET today, he appears to completely blank out Flitcroft from the midfield, rather mentioning De Pedro, Thompson Emerton, Tugay and Ferguson and the main 5 players, you would think he would mention Flitcroft with these players and a likely starter if Souness still had any faith in Flitcrofts abilities.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I would guess that Flitty is one of a number of players that, if somebody offered the right price, would be sold.

As has been said by a number of people on this thread - he has been a fantastic servant for the club, and shown loyality.

A mutual pay day for him and Rovers £750K - £1M, would be of great benefit to both parties. Then use the money to invest in somebody a wee bit younger

[Flopsy]

I think it might be that Ferguson plays along side flitty - that brough out his best performances last season

[chris]

I think it might be that Ferguson plays along side flitty - that brough out his best performances last season

yeah i think if Flitcroft can get some good fitness then he could be the perfect partner if he's still up to it, its like with Gerrard you have a Hamman, with Scholes you have a Keane, or Lampard a number of possible defensiv midfielders etc etc.

don't like the look of Tugay and Ferguson as a starting pair.

[percy]

I with Flopsy and chris - Flitcroft and Bazza would be my 1st choice partnership in the middle. De Pedro on the left and Thommo on the right would be my choice for a 4 man midfield. Hopefully, the return of Thommo will give Emerton the inspiration/kick up the backside he needs to start performing like he did early on in the season. That said, I think Emerton would have a better chance to perform in a balanced team if De Pedro settles in OK.

I don't like the idea of Bazza being used as the sole defensive midfielder, because I don't think he's the Hamman / Keane type who will chase midfielders and throw himself into tackles time and time again. From what I've seen of Bazza, he strikes me as more the type of midfielder who can run midfield if there is someone with him to win the ball for him (and let him control the play when we're in possession), and stay back to let him push up. I'm not saying he can't / won't tackle, just that there are better uses of his ability and other players (Flitcroft / Douglas) who can fill the midfield terrier role more effectively.

Bazza can be the link between midfield and attack without having to be an all out attacking midfielder. His passing abilty and determination to run with the ball and get into the box, means that he can provide this threat for us from a deeper midfield position. We just need to make sure that there's someone in midfield who's there to cover for him (on the off chance that Steadinho doesn't score ).

[92er]

Just as Souness seems not to be mentioning Flitty so he seems to be completely ignoring Andrew cole when talking about the strikers at the club.

i also thought a Glasgow Rangers fan had once posted that Tugay and Ferguson can't play together.

[roversmum]

Some thoughts here - interestingly suggesting the possibility of Thompson playing alongside Barry. This could make sense as Thommo is good at making a nuisance of himself and gets around the pitch a bit.

Souey also mentioned around the time of the signing of Tugay's contract that he wasn't anticipating playing him at every game.

And the mention that nothing official has been heard from Celtic concerning the Andrew Cole rumour made me wonder if there had been 'unoffical' contact...........

Edited July 7, 2004 by roversmum

[RevidgeBlue]

And the mention that nothing official has been heard from Celtic concerning the Andrew Cole rumour made me wonder if there had been 'unoffical' contact...........

Sounds as though the club are hoping there will be official contact soon.

Every time Souness is quoted regarding the strikers he praises Dickov to the heavens and pointedly avoids making any reference to Cole.

I'm afraid I can only see one outcome.

[Billy Castell]

Oh well, at least we'll have a lower wage bill if such a situation develops. How about a straight swap with Sutton ? . Perhaps there is a younger model we can buy if we get 1 million pounds or so for him.

[Tris]

And the mention that nothing official has been heard from Celtic concerning the Andrew Cole rumour made me wonder if there had been 'unoffical' contact...........

Sounds as though the club are hoping there will be official contact soon.

Every time Souness is quoted regarding the strikers he praises Dickov to the heavens and pointedly avoids making any reference to Cole.

I'm afraid I can only see one outcome.

Show us the quotes.

Oh you can't - it's another bee in the Revidge bonnet.

There was the one LET article the day we signed Dickov and suddenly you've turned it into a vendetta by the entire management structure at Rovers against Andy Cole.

Which would be completely understandable given the Lazy One's pick-and-choose attitude as to when he wants to perform rather than moan at his colleagues or test the hips with his hands, or jet off to Dubai on the back of a stupid red card, but it's not happening so don't invent things to suit your increasingly ridiculous agenda.

[chris]

i agree that Dickov is an ok deal but no way at the expense of Cole, he's different class to Dickov, just look at their careers, i know Dickov scored a few goals last season but he can't even play regularly in the Scottish team, Cole has got the second best scoring record of all time in the PL.

thankfully i think that Cole knows that the fan like him, we treated him well, i even remember a couple of situations where people we screaming abuse at Yorke when warming up with Cole, yet we were singing Cole's name which was common. Hopefully this will help him to stay.

Edited July 7, 2004 by chris