Keith Andrews - Whats the problem

I am wondering why Keith Andrews is singled out for so much stick. I have seen all this seasons home games bar one and several away and although he hasn't been a spectacular success he hasn't IMO, been the worst performer in any of them. Our midfield has been guilty of giving the ball away and not being "up for it" all season but that applies to every one of them and not just him. He made a poor pass against Millwall that resulted in a goal but has scored 4 out of 4 penalties. Is it because he's ex rovers or what?

NickFazer wrote:I am wondering why Keith Andrews is singled out for so much stick. I have seen all this seasons home games bar one and several away and although he hasn't been a spectacular success he hasn't IMO, been the worst performer in any of them. Our midfield has been guilty of giving the ball away and not being "up for it" all season but that applies to every one of them and not just him. He made a poor pass against Millwall that resulted in a goal but has scored 4 out of 4 penalties. Is it because he's ex rovers or what?

I tend to agree with you. I was expecting more from him, based on his track record, but he hasn't let us down from the penalty spot. I suppose when the team are not doing well, us fans have to level the blame at someone. If it's not Mears it's Mills, if it's not Knight it's Bogdan, if it's not Ngog it's SKD, if it's not Eagles it's Andrews, etc etc

Whilst he rarely puts a foot wrong as such, he doesn't inspire effective attacking moves, nor is he often found breaking up those of the opposition.

How many times have you gone "What a ball, Andrews!" or "Well in, Keith!"?

Me neither.

His pass completion rate is probably second to none but we need more than this. He generally opts for the easy ball, which in fairness fits with the approach Dougie seems to favour.

Andrews doesn't inspire anyone to think he has improved the team. That makes him an easy target.

He doesn't seem to have delivered the promise seen when he's played for his national team, when he appeared a real tough tackler who was always determined to win.

Anyone think that since Kevin Nolan left the club we have missed a leader ?? The Captaincy has generally been given to SKD but its in midfield where the leadership is needed. Too many times insipid performances have not had the commanding performance in the middle to cajole,bully and inspire the team to fight for the badge as Nolan so often did. Spearing at the moment is the obvious choice to fulfill this void ?? No one else fights and gives 100% as he does ??

Welcome Tigermin.

With hindsight I agree Nolan would make a good leader for us now but when we sold him it seemed like the right decision. His performance had dropped and we got a reasonable price for him. What is now clear is that Megson was a poor manager and he couldn't get Nolan to play the way that Allardyce could (and still does).

We haven't had a great captain since Bergsson.

To be quite honest, I rarely even notice Andrews is on the pitch, same goes for Mavies too.

I thought Andrews was a great signing in the summer but he is being asked to play a defensive role when his biggest strength at other clubs has been his nack of scoring goals and getting forward.

The Millwall game highlighted this for me, a 442 but both Andrews and Spearing were siiting too deep and not getting forward enough to support the wingers and front two.

I regret Letting both Kevin Nolan and Matt Taylor go if im honest, I think both could have a big role to play.

Taylor for his set piece and shooting ability - Eagles is just not the same standard.

And Nolan, because we miss his leadership and general attacking threat, closest player we have at BWFC to him now is Holden, and I don't know if he is going to be the same player or how long his glass legs will hold out this time.

Andrews was a decent player but his legs are not what they used to be and as we need an athletic midfield that gets stuck in to shield our creaky defence he is something of a luxury we can't afford IMO. If we have him in the team to stroll around and spray passes about, then he is a poor man's Holden because Holden also puts the necessary mileage in when we are not in possession. For me, scoring penalties doesn't compensate for putting our defence at risk - we need more energy in midfield than Keith can bring as evidenced by the performance against Sunderland and I don't think he should start games if we have a choice.

Nolan and Taylor were two of the most chastised bolton players in history.

Bolton fans always hate players with a passion until they leave and then they become the best players ever who we shouldn't have sold.

Nolan was utter utter garbage for two years before sold him and Taylor was ALWAYS singled out as "shit"

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Nolan was utter utter garbage for two years before sold him and Taylor was ALWAYS singled out as "shit"

Agree with the Nolan bit, he'd been rubbish for a couple of seasons when Newcastle bid £5m.

And Taylor was shit, the quality of his crossing was awful. I know two West Ham fans very well and they think he's shit too!

So why is it so many Bolton fans cry and whine about how they'd love Nolan and Taylor back, oh and Joey O.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:Nolan and Taylor were two of the most chastised bolton players in history.

Bolton fans always hate players with a passion until they leave and then they become the best players ever who we shouldn't have sold.

Nolan was utter utter garbage for two years before sold him and Taylor was ALWAYS singled out as "shit"

Nobby was rubbish when he left .... Taylor I thought was always usefull. Even in the Utd game yesterday he found the knack of being in a position to score.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:So why is it so many Bolton fans cry and whine about how they'd love Nolan and Taylor back, oh and Joey O.

They were pretty demotivated at the time that Nobby left and it seems all the ex-wanderers performances improved when they left, even Vaz Te.

They got slagged off by Bolton fans who felt we deserve better if we were going to push on for a Champions League spot. How deluded were they? When we got rid and brought in less experienced "promising" players (i.e. cheaper/lower wages) reality bit.

Hence the nostalgia for those unsustainable, spend loads for mediocre results days

Vaz Te had a bit of good form for a bit, but he also had a spell of good form in the white shirt. Toward the end of one season i remember a good header against Brum being one of the goals.

He also had a disastrous spell in Scotland. So i wouldn't say he turned a corner.

The fact of the matter remains, Nolan was slagged more than anyone, as was Taylor. Now they've gone they get nothing but praise. Odd.

Joey O'Brien was always considered a good player, but we couldn't get him on to the pitch.

I never rated Taylor and still don't, always looked dead after an hour, didn't have the pace to go past a man or the footwork to create openings.

He was excellent from a dead ball in fairness to him.

Nolan I was happy to sell, think Allardyce gets the best out of him with the system he plays, he again didn't look fit enough when he was with us (towards the end) and his passing was useless, played off a target man is his only position in my eyes.

Think people hold a higher opinion of him and Taylor now because they're classic MOTD players, grab a goal or an assist but all round contribution isn't that great.

Glad to see Joey O'brien getting his career back on track, always liked him and wish he was still with us same goes for Vaz Te although I thought they'd both had it due to injuries too.