Tom Carroll

[Tarbie]

He's a number 10 arry plays him too deep imo

Not sure about that, from what I've seen and heard Carroll likes to play as a deep lying central midfield playmaker in the mould of Pirlo or Xavi and isn't comfortable playing as an attacking midfielder. I think the real issue here is the lad needs a lot of game time and a lot of development, not sure it makes sense for us to give him that when we have so many good midfielders waiting in the wings!

[QPRDave]

Or maybe he's just out of his depth at a top championship side?

I have wondered the same....But he hasn't cost us yet and 'arry knows his onions so if he thinks he can get something from young Carroll then i'll remain patient

[W12_Ranger]

Wasn't at the game, so can't judge. I do have a pre-disposition to disagree with W12 based on his previous form, so maybe not giving him a fair shake in this case.

I would have been more accurate with Carroll's passing stats though tbh, which is pretty damning.

Oh come on play the game do you think I actually calculated the stats, Carroll must have gave the ball away nearly a dozen times to put us on the back foot and made another half a dozen hospital balls. Also somebody who wasn't even at the game pulling up most probable inaccurate stats is hardly a trump card to play in the argument. The vast majority of posters on here have said the same about his performance you're just looking for an angle to have a dig!

[sirles9]

I thought Carroll's attitude was first class throughout the entire game today. Despite the fact that the majority of our fans were understably getting frustrated with him for giving away the ball quite a few times in the opening half, he remained confident and was constantly wanting the ball, refusing to go into his shell. I noticed when he gave the ball away he always chased back and often won the ball back. It was great to see our fans applauding him when he eventually got his game going. I'm sure he'll learn a lot from playing alongside the classy Niko Kranjcar, who was the best player on the pitch today

[W12_Ranger]

I have wondered the same....But he hasn't cost us yet and 'arry knows his onions so if he thinks he can get something from young Carroll then i'll remain patient

He might not have cost us nothing Dave but should he become our playmaker...further more does he deserve to?

Its clear Harry wants him to become a focal point of our team, but we are looking strong and Carroll is the weak link at present for me.

[Rangers77]

I thought Carroll's attitude was first class throughout the entire game today. Despite the fact that the majority of our fans were understably getting frustrated with him for giving away the ball quite a few times in the opening half, he remained confident and was constantly wanting the ball, refusing to go into his shell. I noticed when he gave the ball away he always chased back and often won the ball back. It was great to see our fans applauding him when he eventually got his game going. I'm sure he'll learn a lot from playing alongside the classy Niko Kranjcar, who was the best player on the pitch today

His attitude really is first class. Keeps wanting the ball, even when he's just dropped a clanger and always makes himself available to his teammates. Played safe balls all day, though. Evan Ale, whom I don't really rate, was more adventurous. Think the jury's out on Tom, but I really hope he does well for us. Pretty sure Harry's going to play him every game, so let's all get behind him.

[DeepcutHoop]

Oh come on play the game do you think I actually calculated the stats, Carroll must have gave the ball away nearly a dozen times to put us on the back foot and made another half a dozen hospital balls. Also somebody who wasn't even at the game pulling up most probable inaccurate stats is hardly a trump card to play in the argument. The vast majority of posters on here have said the same about his performance you're just looking for an angle to have a dig!

I've also seen plenty of views that said he improved after a dodgy start, and that he's improving.

That you grossly exaggerated how bad his passing was, suggests you weren't giving him a fair crack of the whip.

If I'd taken your initial post at face value, I'd have been doing Carroll a disservice. It seems he wasn't brilliant, but not anywhere near as bad as you suggested, and showing improvement.

The debate seems to come down to the fact that he isn't the finished article quite yet, and some are willing to give him a little more time to settle in, seeing as he's with us for another 37 games, and some that think he's not our player, so if he's not good enough now, it's not our job to wait for him to be 'ready'.

I tend towards giving him a shot, the potential is there from what I have seen of him, and it's far easier to bed him in while we're on a decent run, than if we weren't getting results.

[QPRDave]

He might not have cost us nothing Dave but should he become our playmaker...further more does he deserve to?

Its clear Harry wants him to become a focal point of our team, but we are looking strong and Carroll is the weak link at present for me.

Yeah fair enough, i take it from Harry's football knowledge that he thinks he can do a job. He seems to be out of his depth at the moment but did you think he was better?..Not saying getting better is good enough
with the midfield we have at our disposal, but if he can get up to speed, we all saw that we needed more creativity in our early games.
But if no creativity then he's gonna struggle to get a starting spot with our embarrassment of riches

[W12_Ranger]

I've also seen plenty of views that said he improved after a dodgy start, and that he's improving.

That you grossly exaggerated how bad his passing was, suggests you weren't giving him a fair crack of the whip.

If I'd taken your initial post at face value, I'd have been doing Carroll a disservice. It seems he wasn't brilliant, but not anywhere near as bad as you suggested, and showing improvement.

The debate seems to come down to the fact that he isn't the finished article quite yet, and some are willing to give him a little more time to settle in, seeing as he's with us for another 37 games, and some that think he's not our player, so if he's not good enough now, it's not our job to wait for him to be 'ready'.

I tend towards giving him a shot, the potential is there from what I have seen of him, and it's far easier to bed him in while we're on a decent run, than if we weren't getting results.

It would not be a gross exaggeration to say I can't rememeber a player in recent memory giving the ball away so badly whilst we are in possession and that includes Barton against Liverpool when he was booed off. As said previously had it been Karl Henry making them mistakes this board would be in meltdown right now. There you go again talking about potential...he is Tottenhams potential not ours. Do we need Carroll to win the league....no is definately the answer, rather we signed our own potentail in January and send him back to the ####.

Yeah fair enough, i take it from Harry's football knowledge that he thinks he can do a job. He seems to be out of his depth at the moment but did you think he was better?..Not saying getting better is good enough
with the midfield we have at our disposal, but if he can get up to speed, we all saw that we needed more creativity in our early games.
But if no creativity then he's gonna struggle to get a starting spot with our embarrassment of riches

He did improve at the start of the second half but started making sloppy mistakes towards the end. He did produce a sublime touch to Kranjcer on the counter as well but Adel does that a dozen times a match.

[bushcelt1]

you have to give the young lad a chance-he clearly is a talented prospect and given a run to find his feet in one of the hardest lge's in the world he could be a player for us. long way to go and as the season goes on he could prove a little gem. give the kid a chance.

[twranger]

Some strange comments on here. We win, we keep another clean sheet, we're top of the league, we play what is considered by the manager our best game this season, and still some want to moan.

And how one or two can 'totally agree' with a guesstimate of 30% pass rate completion for Carroll when it was 86%, is bemusing.

I dread to think what some of you will be like if/when we eventually lose.....

A very good post this......some people just love a post mortem to find anything they can in which to pick holes and find fault. As you rightly say, God help us when we suffer a loss.....the nit picking is bad enough when we win, with a dominant performance, another clean sheet, the seventh on the trot, and top of the pile by three clear points. Amazing!

[vblockranger]

What's the Subbuteo set got to do with it eh? Change the record, you always bring that up. You're fixated!

On way back now as it goes.......just crossing Putney Bridge now. My driver likes this route, pretty sure there's a quicker way!

Did you go, or were you minding the laundry as usual eh?

Yes mate i was working again today
Still i hope you enjoyed the game and i saw that you lot lost to Cardiff today so i can understand your mood this evening.

[Wolfy]

He must be coloured blind. Simple passes cocked up.

[DeepcutHoop]

He must be coloured blind. Simple passes cocked up.

[moon_safari]

I'm flabbergasted the boy was stunning today and will only get better, was willing to receive the ball in every position on the pitch helping the defence by giving them an out instead of going long.
He tracked players and made positions to have a crack on goal.
He did give the ball away a bit but probably received the ball more than any other so probably highlight more.
The boy is class and will play for England one day