Craig Noone

I don't know whether anyone else feels like this, but it seems to me that Craig Noone has lost his way somewhat. I also believe that the more negative defensive strategy that we have discussed on here can largely be attributed to that.

He arrived at the end of August like a breath of fresh air and his performance in his first game against Wolves was one of the most impressive debuts I have seen for years.

Things continued to go well until he came up against Carlos Edwards at Ipswich, who stifled Noone's attacking flair and pushed up on him and subsequently gave Noone a defensive nightmare. For the first time, we saw Craig Conway come on for Noone and he did a pretty good job of nullifyng Edwards and City went on to win. That game, I think, was the tactical turning point of the season.

I have no doubt that Noone's confidence was knocked that day, but it was the game away at Derby, when Noone came on as a substitute and was then sent off for two fairly innocuous "forward's challenges" that really affected him.

I don't think he has been the same player since then and the obvious lack of confidence in him shown by the manager, in leaving him on the fringe of things, has probably done more harm than good.

We have recently had several discussions on the merits of Malky Mackay's management approach, but this, to me, is another example of a defensive-minded coach not really having a clue how to blend real flair and ability into a side.

I've agreed with this point of view many, many times. I genuinely believe defensive soldiarity is Malky's one and only gameplan sometimes. For whatever reason he screwed up the job of fixing our shaky defence in January, and now has started to rely on players like Whittingham and Conway to bolster the defence at te expense of the midfield. It's true players like Noone don't offer much defensively but why should they? A decent full back should do his job without needing his hand held, ever heard anyone critiscising Cristano Ronaldo for not stepping up in defence?

I'm not saying that a winger shouldn't be expected to defend if it is required, but I don't see the logic in destroying any attacking flair we have because another player is better at doing something that isn't tha positions job anyway.

While it has often been seen as a case of choosing Conway over Noone i think it should be pointed out how the chronology actually occurred. The main reason for Noone's absense in the side might be more to do with Smith's return although it has to be granted that Malky is putting more value on the defensive qualites of Conway than the attacking qualities of Noone.

Conway's reintroduction to the team began with a substitute appearance in the same Derby game that Noone got sent off. I can't recall how he did until the end of the game but Conway held onto his place for the next game - a 1-0 win against Sheff Wed where he scored the goal and where Noone was obviously suspended.

Noone returned and started on 4 of the next 5 games playing opposite Conway. Noone's run of 3 games not starting at all began with the Blackpool away game where Smith started his first game for months and scored the winner. Noone then returned against Bristol City in place of Conway and held onto his place for the next game against Brighton where i think he was poor. He unsurpisingly got substituted and replaced by Conway who, i seem to remember, looked one of our most dangerous players after he came on.

Craig Noone, in an attacking sense, at his best, is definitely better than Conway.
Conway, in a defensive sense, at his best, is definitely better than Noone.

Malky's mindset has become more defensive over the season and this has definitely benefitted Conway more than Noone. Conway has found a niche in the side which suits how Malky has been trying to play. For Noone to alter this mindset enough and secure a starting place in the side his performances, in my opinion, need to be better. As much as Conway being unwilling to take on his defender is a criticism then so is Noone's tendency to lose the ball trying to take on everyone, even when outnumbered and when a safe pass to a colleague is available.

The defenesive set up of the team is something that is in Malky's court. Given that set up i would argue that Conway has made a more consistent contribution to the team than Noone has when he has had the opportunity. Whether Smith is making a more consistent contribution to Noone is a different matter. I think Malky's desire to have as much experience in the side as possible may be influencing his decisions some of the time.

He will bounce back and be a better player. Roberto Martinez had been scouting him for a little while before he signed for us and Wigan are extremely astute with their signings. They wouldn't have been tracking him for so long if they didn't see potential

There's some good intelligent analysis of the Noone situation above and I'm going to ruin it all with my daft point but here it comes anyway. I think he's a warm weather player and will finish the season like he started it. Pitches will get better, games will open up and the tackles and collisions won't sting so much. Then Noone will be back on song.

If we could sell him on that basis to Barcelona, we'd make a fortune!

Some great analysis above. I just think he is lightweight and not up to the physical rigours of football. Something of a luxury item. Having said that he does offer something different going forward and if he played wide left we might see more from Craig. However the other Craig is a far better option wide left. Also its probably no coincidence he was third or fourth choice winger at Brighton when we bought him.

Caer y Glyn wrote:Some great analysis above. I just think he is lightweight and not up to the physical rigours of football. Something of a luxury item. Having said that he does offer something different going forward and if he played wide left we might see more from Craig. However the other Craig is a far better option wide left. Also its probably no coincidence he was third or fourth choice winger at Brighton when we bought him.

He made 33 appearances for Brighton in his last full season,and had appeared in all 3 games played that season up to when we bought him. I'm not sure on what planet that makes you a fourth choice winger. He seems to be currently our second choice winger behind Conway, but even if he starts every game from here on in he'll have less appearances for us than he did for Brighton last season.

And regarding him being a summer player - has Hodgson picked him for the Qatar World Cup yet? If the warmer it is the better he gets he should make Messi look like, well, Torres