Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[The Cult of Sammy Harris]

Ecky,

I must apologise for my tardiness in getting around to registering properly on this Forum.

The main reason is that I have been unable to make up my mind about which image to use on my profile.

Even after several hours of scouring through dusty old Alty programmes, I have yet to settle on my choice!
My indecision is now officially worse than that of Ray Dennis when a cross came into the penalty area...

Anyhow, I promise to resolve this matter soon and then you can all slaughter my karma rating...

Oh, and, like yourself, I am one of the elite group to have witnessed both of Joe O'Neill's goals for Alty!

 

[Alty Dave]

At the moment Joe is the best option we have in that position, He works his socks off and has generally been very consistant.

As the other forwards get fit then GH will have to decide who plays upfront.

Perhaps on Sunday he'll go back and haunt York with a hatrick?

Let's get behind the lads!

Come on you Robin's

[Amsterdam Alty]

Oh, and, like yourself, I am one of the elite group to have witnessed both of Joe O'Neill's goals for Alty!

If you mean the CSC 'goal' then i too am in that elite group, however a goal for joe it was not.

cult i put it to you that even if you were to register there is no way you would be able to change the alty player of whom you worship at the time,

[babybrads]

jo is best option for now! i am wundering how many first team injuries do we atually have at the moment ?

i am also wundering about lee hendley would he make a good inpact coming on at the start of a game instead of coming on as a sub all the time ...

[Jacko]

I have to agree joe's got decent holding up ability but im sure we've got players on other area's of the pitch with that attribute so 2 in 19 says it all really

[Phil Howden]

I had a long conversation only yesterday afternoon with York City Manager Billy McEwan and the topic soon turned to Joe, and he confirmed to me that he would have liked to have kept him but at the time we didn't have the money to offer him a decent contract and so he recommended him to Graham Heathcote at Altrincham. He described him as a "really nice lad", "my kind of player" and a player who was "great to work with". Believe me, having spoken to Billy McEwan a number of times, he is not the kind of guy who recommends bad players to fellow managers because he is really conscious of his reputation in the eyes of other coaches.

O'Neill makes goals, he doesn't score them. Ironically we have replaced Joe with Craig Farrell who is I think a better player but has only scored 3 goals in 19 games, and yet I would put him as one of the first names on the teamsheet as I am sure many of you would with Joe O'Neill.

Sometimes, at the level we play at, you just can't have 2 strikers who will get you 15-25 goals a season. You have a class act in Colin Little (from what I saw the other week) and I think Joe will make goals for him. Clubs like York City and Altrincham will never have 2 goal machines up front while we are in the Conference because it's difficult enough for us to hang on to one - look at Andy Bishop! The sniff of some cash and he was off and the vultures have been circling over Donaldson for a while now. Mick McCarthy was at the York-Alty game sniffing after players, and he's the manager of a Championship side!

Believe in Joe, and he will repay you.

[Ballers]

Sometimes, at the level we play at....
Clubs like York City and Altrincham will never have 2 goal machines up front while we are in the Conference....

Come on Phil, you ol' NLL keep the faith

Have some karma old boy

[Jimmy Hill]

O'Neill makes goals, he doesn't score them. Ironically we have replaced Joe with Craig Farrell who is I think a better player but has only scored 3 goals in 19 games, and yet I would put him as one of the first names on the teamsheet as I am sure many of you would with Joe O'Neill.

Sometimes, at the level we play at, you just can't have 2 strikers who will get you 15-25 goals a season. You have a class act in Colin Little (from what I saw the other week) and I think Joe will make goals for him. Clubs like York City and Altrincham will never have 2 goal machines up front while we are in the Conference because it's difficult enough for us to hang on to one - look at Andy Bishop! The sniff of some cash and he was off and the vultures have been circling over Donaldson for a while now. Mick McCarthy was at the York-Alty game sniffing after players, and he's the manager of a Championship side!

Believe in Joe, and he will repay you.

Firstly, Phil is right. We aren't likely to have two frequent goal scorers up front, however it is possible to have the next best thing; a goal scoring partnership. Had Colin Little not been injured from the Halifax game to the FA Cup game against R&D it is doubtful whether we would be having this conversation regarding Joe O'Neill and his worth to the team. Against Exeter in just their third league game as the front two some of the link up play between O'Neill and Little was sublime; neat, crisp one touch passing that directly led to the first goal. With this is mind O'Neill should be judged not in terms of how many goals he scores but how many the front two and even the team scores.

I suppose on a smaller scale O’Neill’s role can be seen as similar to that of Sheringham at West Ham, when Sheringham starts he isn't starting because Pardew thinks he is going to get a goal or two (although he may) he is starting for what he brings to the team and to the attacking options of the team in general. Let Little and O'Neill try to re-establish a partnership that was originally disrupted through injury in its infancy, if things don't work out then we can raise questions. However what we shouldn't do is question O'Neill's inclusion in the side on the basis of his goal scoring record, as strange as it may seem for a striker, scoring goals is not his primary function within the team.

Secondly, Phil you must be going soft. I can't believe you used the phrase; "Clubs like York City and Altrincham..."

What is the world coming to?

[Jenga]

I can not believe people are saying Joe cant hold the ball up. He is excellent at holding the ball up.

The question has to be how long can he actually hold the ball up for before he gets tackled. He generally has no one to pass to because the midfield dont support him.

We play two up front with Joe generally playing behind Colin. Colin is therefore always marked by one or two defenders. So where does Joe lay the ball off to?

Without the midfield moving up to support there is no one. We have no one pushing wide usually, perhaps Lawton does a little but he is not really bombing on is he. We have to look at the centre of the park and where our attacking options are coming from. How often due you see Bushell, Owen or whoever moving up to support the attack. We dont. Why? Because all our centre midfield players are holding players. We dont have a Paul Scholes type players in the squad. Probably because we dont want to get beat 5-0 every game. So this is understandable.

This is I believe is our problem.

I say lay off Joe, he is one of the classy players in our team who is not getting the support he needs.

Joes goal scoring is another issue. How can he realistically score if he always has his back to the goal and has no assistance. Yes he has been in front of goal of sometimes and missed. I accept that, but without regular opportunities he is never going to score. Look at Andy Cole. 10 chances a match and scores 1. Joe gets 1 or 2 chances and scores none.

Please dont just look at the individual, look at the formation, the team and the tactics and everything on the pitch.

[Jacko]

I think the joe o'neill debate is a good one with divided opinions but how many of you think joe would be a starting striker for any other conference side?

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

Surely, the definition of a striker implies that the player is someone who strikes!

Does one goal in 18 league games merit the use of such a noun or do we need to find another term for Joe O'Neill?!

Rod Thornley has managed twice as many goals in half as many appearances!

[Amsterdam Alty]

Forward Joe o'neill is a forward colin is the striker and joe is the forward supply man

[Jenga]

Forward Joe o'neill is a forward colin is the striker and joe is the forward supply man

Agreed.

[Alty Dave]

In response to Jacko,s question, I think he would be pushing for a place in half the conference teams?

Other than the poor return on goals he is playing well in my opinion!

[baldrick]

I think he is too good for the other players. They don't read the game as well as him.