Most overrated & underrated latics players..

To some extent I understand questioning what McCulloch brought to WAFC, it was a regular topic of conversation in our group at the time, he had no pace, reasonable in the air, worked hard, poor goal scoring record , seeing he was signed as a striker, probably would never get into any other premier league team, or even a lot of championship ones.

Based on all the above it was a minor miracle he played at all!

UNTIL he wasn’t playing because of injury or suspensions – then you know why he was in the team, we had a balance when he was there, he was an integral part of a team, and for some reason it was just right.

The f**k ton of goals he scored in our promotion season would be a start.[/quote]

The “f**k ton” of goals?? His contribution was invaluable no doubt, but is 13 a “f**k ton” of goals at that level?? Certainly not close to Roberts & Ellington that season.
Plus that was 1 season out of the 6 & a bit seasons he was at Latics. In the others he never got more than 6.
Lacked pace, regularly used to drift into the middle, regularly used to seem to forget to track his man back, didn’t have the skills to create much for his team mates to score from & even the manager who got teh best out of him said on numerous occasions that “for all the will in the world he isn’t a left winger”
So like I said, not denying he was an important player for Latics on their rise up the leagues & even once we got to the top flight (they all were), just that IMO for his all round contribution I feel he was over-rated by teh Latics faithful

I also thought the manner in which he openly admitted trying to force Latics to sell him was disgusting & (again IMO) worse than what Chimbonda did but that’s another debate altogether :evil: :evil:

Present day I would say

Over – Figueroa
Under – McArthur

My, my, you have got your knickers in a twist haven’t you?? ;)
1) The cockneylatic stats archive shows him getting 13 goals that season (Forest – H, Millwall – H, Derby – A, Crewe – H, , Stoke – A, PNE – H, Gillingham – H, Sheff Utd – A, Watford – H, BHA – A, Forest – A, PNE – A, Reading – H). Unless I’m missing one that I just can’t see despite having looked at it God knows how many times then blame their incorrect stats!! ;)
2) Like I said that was 1 season out of 6. He didn’t get more than 6 in any other season albeit 2 were in the top flight
3) I refer to him as a left winger as that is how Paul Jewell referred to him numerous times in interviews & it’s also where Lee McCulloch referred to himself playing several times too. You’d best have a word with them & tell em they were wrong
4) What has N’Zogbia got to do with my opinion that I felt Lee McCulloch was over-rated?? :blink: :blink:
5) Chimbonda’s sin was to hand in a transfer request, still in his kit, in the changing room straight after the game. Not the nicest thing a player has ever done but I never saw it as the great crime of the century. Not sure what difference it would have made had he waited till the next day but there you go. Lee McCulloch handed in a transfer request whilst Latics were in the middle of a relegation battle months after signing a new contract citing “family reasons” & didn’t feel that the club & manager who had helped make him into a club his boyhood hero’s wanted were worth repaying by him staying to help us get out of the relegation mess & then him leaving in the summer. By his own admission he kicked up “a hell of a stink” to try & force the club to sell him and that his performances suffered as a result.
Do i think all that is worse that what Chimbonda did? Yes I do

Rodellega was massively over rated.

Under rated, Bramble.

The numbered points are for ease of reference coz I can’t do the mini-quotes with my own comments underneath & then another mini-quote etc..!!!
And you misunderstand what I’ve said about both McCulloch & Ellington. McCulloch became a vital cog in what we achieved under Jewell but I think he was over-rated by many in comparison to what he contributed & compared to some other players
Same with Ellington. I’ve never said I didn’t rate him. Now he did score a f**k ton of goals for us but he was good for those 2 levels & to me Roberts was always the better player of the pairing. What I take issue with with Ellington is people saying he would have been a great success in teh top flight if he’d stayed with us & I just don’t think he would have ever cut it at the top level – with anyone. People talk as if he used to bang them in at a consistant rate & he didn’t. Look at his stats & they used to come in gluts. If he scored his confidence was sky high & he would go on a roll. if he missed a sitter or went a game or 2 without scoring you could visibly see his confidence drain & in some of those dry periods he could look downright awful. I’ve said people have let time cloud their judgement on him & its true coz I can remember coming away from a game at Stockport where he’d fluffed a 1 on 1 with the keeper with the score at 1-0 & Latics drew 1-1 & he was getting slated during & after the game by loads of people. I came away from a home game once where a group of people squared up to each other going over the Dougie bridge near the ground coz one group was slagging him off. And lets not forget that his form drastically dipped towards the back end of the championship season & people were blaming it on anything from his conversion to Islam to a bust up with Roberts or a combination of the 2, and Paul Jewell dropped him for a couple of games in the run in. He was great for us but he wasn’t the super duper best striker ever to play for us (I judge that not only on what they achieve at Latics but what they go on to achieve after leaving) & his career since pretty much proves that. So to summarise he was a great signing, a great player for us but I don’t think he’s the best striker we’ve ever had, I don’t even think he was the best striker in that team & I don’t think he’d have been a success in the top flight with any team

I can see what you’re saying about Rodallega as he was never as good as the media seemed to make him out to be – had to laugh at the comments in the summer from pundits saying that we’d struggle this season without him when he’d managed a total of 1 heavily deflected goal last season
But I would always have like to have seen him playing in a more conventional 2 up front system. Call Bobby’s system what you want but it does have a lone striker – I understand that the other 2 are asked to play up front when attacking but they’re not strikers. Anyway whatever you want to call ot, Rodallega didn’t have the attributes to play the role & at times you could see his frustration & his head dropping. Doesn’t explain some of the sitters from a yard out that he used to miss though

And I’ll agree on Gomez too. I don’t think he’s the greatest player in the world but nor is he anywhere near as bad as some people make out

I’ve just remembered another over-rated play in my eyes – Paul Rogers. Bloody hell I thought he was garbage but loads of people used to rave about him

Under – David Lee
Over – Paul Rogers