Topic: Danny Guthrie

[Yorkie]

Guthrie is the latest of our players to see his reputation enhanced by not featuring for the first team.

I don't see many people overrating him here. He's a good player and there's every chance he'll do very well in this league. The shame about Guthrie at the back end of last season was that he started giving possession away cheaply - where he'd previously been good at keeping the ball and finding his man. Although he isn't strictly one, he's the closest thing to a playmaker we've got in my opinion - and it'd be very satisfying to see two box-to-box centre-mids on the field. (As opposed to the generic 'attacker'/'defender' type combo we've become used to with Butt ever-present).

Part of me hopes Guthrie's injured until September; he'd be a huge loss cos he's one of those player's that makes us better than the majority of the dross in this league.

[palnese]

Hope he can get a start in the middle for once at Conventry!

[sander68]

He was actually one of our most promising players in the Premiership. This season he has been average at best.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

He was actually one of our most promising players in the Premiership. This season he has been average at best.

A lot of that is to do with him not being a winger.

[Otter]

Disappointing really that he's not pushed on this year playing against weaker opposition.

[Greg]

Disappointing really that he's not pushed on this year playing against weaker opposition.

Pretty much every game he has played this season he has been played out of position.

[sander68]

He was actually one of our most promising players in the Premiership. This season he has been average at best.

A lot of that is to do with him not being a winger.

Yeah, but that doesn't explain his sloppiness on the ball. He is the reason why our attacks constantly hit the wall.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

He was actually one of our most promising players in the Premiership. This season he has been average at best.

A lot of that is to do with him not being a winger.

Yeah, but that doesn't explain his sloppiness on the ball. He is the reason why our attacks constantly hit the wall.

Of course it does, playng through the middle is completely different in terms of options when you have the ball to playing on the wing.  He's not been good out there by any strech of the imagination, but he's been a lot better out there than Nolan or Smith would be.

[Ash]

Played really well today. Some very classy touches and passes that opened Watford up.

Disgraceful that he was taken off at the expense of Butt.

[colinmk]

Played really well today. Some very classy touches and passes that opened Watford up.

Disgraceful that he was taken off at the expense of Butt.

 

[Taylor]

I hope we see him in the middle on Wed but I have a really bad feeling it will be Butt there instead.

[Jayson]

Not been on the top of his game, he can do better than he has been. Giving the ball away a bit much recently & it gives Hughton an easy reason to drop him. Hope he's started instead of Butt though.

[TRon]

I hope we see him in the middle on Wed but I have a really bad feeling it will be Butt there instead.

If Hughton pairs Butt with Smith then he deserves all the flak he will get. Personally I reckon the lack of legs in central midfield is what got us relegated and it's the major reason why we don't play good flowing football even in this division. Not that Guthrie exactly drives forward himself mind. His best position is probably going to be in the holding role as well if he's going to have a future here.

[Yorkie]

Haven't seen the game today, but i was saying a few weeks ago about how Smith was undroppable - because he was forming a solid defensive triumverate with Taylor and Colo, that shouldn't be tampered with. However, recently i wouldn't really see him as undroppable at all really; he's occassionally sloppy in possession and is still a risk with his temperament and wayward tackles. The back-four as a whole are more to do with our lack of goals conceded, cos there's such a lot of quality and understanding there. Maybe if we were a bit more ambitious in the midfield we'd play better football and actually run away with this league.

I know Nolan's suspended so Smith will be in against Coventry anyway, but from a long-term perspective. Pancrate/Nolan/Guthrie/Jonas is pretty offensive midfield that will contribute to goals in this league. And with such a strong defense to fall back on we'd be pretty safe.

[TRon]

Haven't seen the game today, but i was saying a few weeks ago about how Smith was undroppable - because he was forming a solid defensive triumverate with Taylor and Colo, that shouldn't be tampered with. However, recently i wouldn't really see him as undroppable at all really; he's occassionally sloppy in possession and is still a risk with his temperament and wayward tackles. The back-four as a whole are more to do with our lack of goals conceded, cos there's such a lot of quality and understanding there. Maybe if we were a bit more ambitious in the midfield we'd play better football and actually run away with this league.

I know Nolan's suspended so Smith will be in against Coventry anyway, but from a long-term perspective. Pancrate/Nolan/Guthrie/Jonas is pretty offensive midfield that will contribute to goals in this league. And with such a strong defense to fall back on we'd be pretty safe.

Smith should be the first name on the sheet in the holding role, it's the attacking midfielder who is usually missing in our line up in generally controlling the game. If we are getting out-played in the midfield it's because Nolan can't keep up or dominate games with his running. He does score goals though.

[fredbob]

I rate Guthrie very highly, Im just a fan of his simple style, nothing extravagent always looking to hold onto posession and not 'float' it away, basically the anti-butt, but unfortunately i think this is ironically his biggest weakness in the sense that he doesnt actually have any "specialities", he's not got the craft or guile that maybe Emre had (although we rarely got chance to see it) and he doesnt hav ethe defensive solidarity that someone like speed had!

[Ash]

Guthrie - 5 - Poor passing, poor positioning.  One promising forward run.

Guthrie - 5.5 - Didn't look in the game today

Two comments from the match thread that seem to be following a trend this season. I honestly don't think he's been anywhere near as bad as some people claim he has been. Today, like I've already mentioned, he came up with some nice touches and generally looked dangerous. His positioning is 'poor' because he isn't a winger and if he didn't move inside, we'd have nothing being created through the middle due to the lack of movement from Nolan and Smith. What I don't understand is how those two always seem to get praised for their performances but Guthrie gets overlooked. If we didn't have Guthrie in the side, we'd have hardly any movement.

He plays a big part in a lot of our attacks due to him being able to pick out a good ball and the way he gets himself into a position to be given the ball back. He can also play a ball into space and in front of who he's passing it to rather than straight to the man all of the time, which is an area we're fairly poor in although it does seem to have improved a little recently. If Guthrie was to start in the middle, rather than having to drift inside from this wing, I'm sure he'd have many more assists to his name.

People knocking him for being poor on the wing need to remember he isn't a winger but for me, he still looks one of our better players when getting forward and if they really don't think he should play on the wing, then they need to decide which one of Nolan or Smith they drop from the side to accomodate Guthrie starting in the middle.

[GuyP]

out of our centre mids, id say he is the best passer (maybe Barton) and probably pushes for best shot (with Nolan), he can go past players when central (see his goals v Leicester or Hudders), but on the wing, he is forced to the byline where he doesnt have the pace to take on his man. Ironically, i get the feeling he'd do better on the left where he can cut in and orchestrate things from there. Barton also suffered by being stuck out on the right wing earlier this season, its a curse man...

[ChrisMcQuillan]

Guthrie - 5 - Poor passing, poor positioning.  One promising forward run.

Guthrie - 5.5 - Didn't look in the game today

Two comments from the match thread that seem to be following a trend this season. I honestly don't think he's been anywhere near as bad as some people claim he has been. Today, like I've already mentioned, he came up with some nice touches and generally looked dangerous. His positioning is 'poor' because he isn't a winger and if he didn't move inside, we'd have nothing being created through the middle due to the lack of movement from Nolan and Smith. What I don't understand is how those two always seem to get praised for their performances but Guthrie gets overlooked. If we didn't have Guthrie in the side, we'd have hardly any movement.

He plays a big part in a lot of our attacks due to him being able to pick out a good ball and the way he gets himself into a position to be given the ball back. He can also play a ball into space and in front of who he's passing it to rather than straight to the man all of the time, which is an area we're fairly poor in although it does seem to have improved a little recently. If Guthrie was to start in the middle, rather than having to drift inside from this wing, I'm sure he'd have many more assists to his name.

People knocking him for being poor on the wing need to remember he isn't a winger but for me, he still looks one of our better players when getting forward and if they really don't think he should play on the wing, then they need to decide which one of Nolan or Smith they drop from the side to accomodate Guthrie starting in the middle.

I'm not saying Guthrie is a poor player.  I love him in the middle.  But on the wing, his performances are poor, simple as, hence my poor rating.

I think if we want to play someone out there give Ryan Taylor the position - it's more his style.  Or Pancrate, of course.  A Simpson/Pancrate pairing with Enrique/Jonas on the other side could be 

[Jayson]

Where is R taylor now btw. Reports keep referring to Barton being our only injury, thought Taylor was out to.
Think from now on only he & Pancrate should occupy that right hand side. Its not like we dont have the options anymore.

In a perfect world an in form Barton would take up Smiths place & Guthrie or an advanced Nolan next to him. That would make us more premiership worthy.

[Thespence]

Find it f***ing bizzare that people still say "Guthrie is not a winger" maybe he does not fall into the stereotypical winger:  fast, tricky and enjoys 'hugging' the touchline, that is running downfield close to the touchline and delivering crosses. BUT most of his NUFC career has been there so he knows the crack.

[Thespence]

Where is R taylor now btw.

Not sure where he is now but between 3pm yesterday to approx 4:55pm he is was a unused sub.

[Kid Icarus]

Im looking forward to seeing him in the middle again. Last time was Leicester, he scored and controlled the midfield. More of the same please Danny boy.

[madras]

Guthrie - 5 - Poor passing, poor positioning.  One promising forward run.

Guthrie - 5.5 - Didn't look in the game today

Two comments from the match thread that seem to be following a trend this season. I honestly don't think he's been anywhere near as bad as some people claim he has been. Today, like I've already mentioned, he came up with some nice touches and generally looked dangerous. His positioning is 'poor' because he isn't a winger and if he didn't move inside, we'd have nothing being created through the middle due to the lack of movement from Nolan and Smith. What I don't understand is how those two always seem to get praised for their performances but Guthrie gets overlooked. If we didn't have Guthrie in the side, we'd have hardly any movement.

He plays a big part in a lot of our attacks due to him being able to pick out a good ball and the way he gets himself into a position to be given the ball back. He can also play a ball into space and in front of who he's passing it to rather than straight to the man all of the time, which is an area we're fairly poor in although it does seem to have improved a little recently. If Guthrie was to start in the middle, rather than having to drift inside from this wing, I'm sure he'd have many more assists to his name.

People knocking him for being poor on the wing need to remember he isn't a winger but for me, he still looks one of our better players when getting forward and if they really don't think he should play on the wing, then they need to decide which one of Nolan or Smith they drop from the side to accomodate Guthrie starting in the middle.

I'm not saying Guthrie is a poor player.  I love him in the middle.  But on the wing, his performances are poor, simple as, hence my poor rating.

I think if we want to play someone out there give Ryan Taylor the position - it's more his style.  Or Pancrate, of course.  A Simpson/Pancrate pairing with Enrique/Jonas on the other side could be 

this possibly sums up nufc for the last few seasons. are we good ? are we not ? when the probability is that it doesn't matter if you don't prove it on a regular basis.

[Cajun]

That is much more like it, he has a lot of quality on the ball and its about time he uses it.

Put some f***ing excellent balls into the box today. Its unlucky for him Nolan is such a goal machine because he would really do some good things in the centre of the park.