[Archived] Michael Gray

[ally]

Bridge out of england squad .surely micheal gray is one of the top 3 english left backs in country. had a good season last year and deserves it. article also says that he wont call anyone else up.cheers then

[LeChuck]

You kind of went on to answer your own question anyway, but he'll be behind Ashley Cole, Wayne Bridge and J'Lloyd Samuel in the pecking order for left back, I guess Phil Neville will also be ahead of him although I wouldn't do that myself.

By all accounts he was useless in Scotland though and Sven is very relectuant to bring new faces into the squad if they are in their 30's...Gray for England is a none starter really.

[Tom Pringle]

If Mickey did make the england squad then it would be because Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge are both unfit.

Otherwise i wouldn't see him making it in there.

[rover6]

Forget England, he's been a god send since arriving and lets hope he stays fit otherwise Gresko's in...

[Cocker]

I would definelty call him up however, I'm not Sven and I can bet you anything that Sven hasent seen him play so he has no chance

[greggyk]

Paul Dickov has withdrawn from the scotland sqaud with an injury says the BBC.

Expect the rovers official site to report this a day after the match.

[BuckyRover]

I wouldnt call him up if Bridge and Cole were fit, and even if Bridge isnt fit, Cole is by the better player so there isnt really much point.

[Radagast]

By all accounts he was useless in Scotland though and Sven is very relectuant to bring new faces into the squad if they are in their 30's...Gray for England is a none starter really.

That's a bit harsh. He couldn't break into the Celtic team because they used only one player on each flank - the way Alan Thompson played last season he never had much chance.

[krislu]

Bridge, Cole, Samuel, Carragher, P.Neville, Le Saux and Parnaby I think are infront of Gray for that left back spot for England...

Maybe Thompson and Stead can be included in the England squad if they perform well this season...

[Flopsy]

More importantly Barry Ferguson's is in the Scotland Squad and Voigts wants him to play the 90minutes.

Cant work out whether thats good or bad

[LeChuck]

That's a bit harsh. He couldn't break into the Celtic team because they used only one player on each flank - the way Alan Thompson played last season he never had much chance.

Fair enough, I'm just going by what followers of the SPL have said to me, none of them have had a good word to say about him. Not that it matters, he probably thought it wasn't worth the effort as they'd win anyway.

[American]

Yes, plenty of Celtic supporters were slating him, but O'Neill still wanted him to stay when we got him.

[FourLaneBlue]

More importantly Barry Ferguson's is in the Scotland Squad and Voigts wants him to play the 90minutes.

Cant work out whether thats good or bad 

It's a good thing definitely. Barry needs all the games he can get after the amount of time he has had out. Don't think we have to worry too much of burnout in mid-August.

With all this talk about Gray for England or what he was like at Celtic we seem to have missed the most important point.

That point being; where on earth is MickeysNo1fan? She gone off him or what?

Edited August 16, 2004 by FourLaneBlue

[herbergeehh]

Breeny'sNo1Fan at safc.com ?

[BRFC4EVA]

Who cares about Gray playing for eng, we dont want him too get injured or anthing.

[philipl]

Don't know about an England recall just yet but that was a sensational performance by Gray yesterday. He was up against the one of the trickiest, quickest wingers around and hardly ever let Ronaldo get past him.

Gray showed commendable discipline as Ronaldo got dirtier and dirtier the more frustrated he became.

Gray's passing and surging runs forward brought a dimension to Rovers' play we have been missing for ages no matter how solid Matteo has been at LB.

Gray has a great chance to make the LB slot his own- based on yesterday's performance I hope he siezes it and plays a blinder at the Bridge to make up for last season's nightmare.

[yellowsubmarine]

The question is can he perform like he did yesterday consistently.

[bellamy11]

My one criticism of the lad is that he can get forwards and put in crosses, but when he does he just seems to stand there and admire his own handiwork.

Two attacks down the flanks for us yesterday summed this up. Both in the first half. Lucas goes on a lung-busting run the length of the field and lays it off to Dickov who shoots really tamely at VDS. Neill turns round, put his head down, and sprints the whole way back. Gray does something similar, puts a cross in, then just stands there. I could see it happening a mile off. Pedersen had to fill in when it was cleared but it was a simple overlap down the rgith for United and Gray was nowhere whilst they created a good chance.

[Kennysuperbuyer]

Superb yesterday. On a par with performances given by Le Saux in our championship year. I always thought Gray was a good player at Sunderland but lets be honest he has been mediocre at Ewood up to yesterday. Hopefully he has rediscovered his enthusiasm for the game because he does have above average ability if he can be bothered.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

My one criticism of the lad is that he can get forwards and put in crosses, but when he does he just seems to stand there and admire his own handiwork.

Two attacks down the flanks for us yesterday summed this up. Both in the first half. Lucas goes on a lung-busting run the length of the field and lays it off to Dickov who shoots really tamely at VDS. Neill turns round, put his head down, and sprints the whole way back. Gray does something similar, puts a cross in, then just stands there. I could see it happening a mile off. Pedersen had to fill in when it was cleared but it was a simple overlap down the rgith for United and Gray was nowhere whilst they created a good chance.

349291[/snapback]

Iv'e been banging on for a while about the full-backs ( especially Left-Back ) getting forward more often and making our attacking play less predictable, yeterday showed the benefit of that, could anybody see Matteo , steady as he is, robbing Scholes on the edge of their box and putting Pedersen in for the winner ?

Trouble is can Gray defend ? Teams have latched on to the fact that a long diagonal ball over his head usually finds him wanting.

[Scotty]

My one criticism of the lad is that he can get forwards and put in crosses, but when he does he just seems to stand there and admire his own handiwork.

Two attacks down the flanks for us yesterday summed this up. Both in the first half. Lucas goes on a lung-busting run the length of the field and lays it off to Dickov who shoots really tamely at VDS. Neill turns round, put his head down, and sprints the whole way back. Gray does something similar, puts a cross in, then just stands there. I could see it happening a mile off. Pedersen had to fill in when it was cleared but it was a simple overlap down the rgith for United and Gray was nowhere whilst they created a good chance.

349291[/snapback]

Good point and I totally agree. However, Gray does give us a lot more going forward than any of our other left backs do. It's a balance isn't it and yesterday Gray's good points just about outweighed his bad points. If that continues than he's worth his place in the side.

[Uddersfelt Blue]

He was up against the one of the trickiest, quickest wingers around and hardly ever let Ronaldo get past him.

349287[/snapback]

That's coz Ronaldo was playing on the left most of the game

[Uddersfelt Blue]

But without doubt a polished performance from Gray

[Dr Rich]

Gray's performance, whilst being very welcome, was no doubt helped by the fact that MGP actually bothered tracking back and defending, unlike Bentley on the other flank. Granted Bentley did run back more than I would have expected him too, but he didn't seem to have a clue what he was up to once he got near his own box. Thought Lucas did an admirable job considering he was faced with two international wingers in Ronaldo and Richardson taking him on on his own all day. Matteo and Gresko haven't done anything wrong this season, but would still plump for Gray to start the next few games to see if he can regularly play to that standard.

[grizfoot]

I think Pedersen will benefit greatly with Gray in the side he'll actually have someone to support him on the left wing.

Edited September 25, 2005 by grizfoot