Jack Sparkes

[SEA Grecian]

I don't think Sparkes has played as freely and well since his ligament injury.

This is also the concern with Joel Randall. He is another player with outstanding potential if his body can stand up to the challenges of professional football.

 

[manc grecian]

I don't think Sparkes has played as freely and well since his ligament injury.

This. He was never quick but has seemingly lost half a yard that enabled him to put in so many decent crosses.

 

[Red Devon]

Has quality delivery with his left foot that we need to see a lot more of next season.

 

[The Proper Chap]

Best crosser of the ball at the club, needs to be in the final third of the pitch a lot more.

 

[andrew p long]

But yes, lots of players are moving on but is it really any more than any other season. Maybe I'm wrong but I still don't see any evidence to back up your original assertion that more players are leaving than usual because they have an issue with the manager.

what I see is a) more than half a team *choosing* to move and b) a manager who has been negative in public about individual players. Is there a connection? Of course I don't know (Banksy may well be right about some individuals), but I do worry about the pattern. I really hope that the club has someone in place who conducts exit interviews with departing staff.

Back to Jack Sparkes, the manager's bracketing of him with Ben Seymour was unfair to Jack Sparkes.(who amongst us would like our recent effectiveness compared to Ben Seymour's effectiveness last season?).

First it was inaccurate. Seymour is 22 and Sparkes is 20. To say they will be 22/23 next season is accurate about Seymour but not about Sparkes.

Jack Sparkes aged 20 was coming back from a long time out due to a serious injury. He was then played out of position. He started in 27 league games last season. Ben Seymour aged 22 started 7 league games.

OK so Jack didn't have his best season and didn't become an automatic first choice (though 27 league starts and 50 appearances overall is decent). But he's still young ( at the same age Key Randall and Hartridge had just a handful of league games between them). We are entitled still to be optimistic that recovered from injury and played further forward he can have a better season and become really valuable to ECFC.

 

[IndoMike]

what I see is a) more than half a team *choosing* to move and b) a manager who has been negative in public about individual players. Is there a connection? Of course I don't know (Banksy may well be right about some individuals), but I do worry about the pattern. I really hope that the club has someone in place who conducts exit interviews with departing staff.

Back to Jack Sparkes, the manager's bracketing of him with Ben Seymour was unfair to Jack Sparkes.(who amongst us would like our recent effectiveness compared to Ben Seymour's effectiveness last season?).

First it was inaccurate. Seymour is 22 and Sparkes is 20. To say they will be 22/23 next season is accurate about Seymour but not about Sparkes.

Jack Sparkes aged 20 was coming back from a long time out due to a serious injury. He was then played out of position. He started in 27 league games last season. Ben Seymour aged 22 started 7 league games.

OK so Jack didn't have his best season and didn't become an automatic first choice (though 27 league starts and 50 appearances overall is decent). But he's still young ( at the same age Key Randall and Hartridge had just a handful of league games between them). We are entitled still to be optimistic that recovered from injury and played further forward he can have a better season and become really valuable to ECFC.

I think Taylor making critical comments about players in public can either work as a motivation for a player (a healthy kick up the arse) or as a downer : depending on the character of the player. With Sweeney it worked, I think. With a more sensitive player it might not.
Since Jack is not blessed with speed it might also be worth trying him as a left sided midfielder or even an old-fashioned inside left position. He can dribble and he can shoot imo.
Although it's true that he has got a good cross on him, the problem is he has to get in the position to cross first. I think if Seymour is worth persevering with Jack certainly is

 

[SEA Grecian]

what I see is a) more than half a team *choosing* to move and b) a manager who has been negative in public about individual players. Is there a connection? Of course I don't know (Banksy may well be right about some individuals), but I do worry about the pattern. I really hope that the club has someone in place who conducts exit interviews with departing staff.

Back to Jack Sparkes, the manager's bracketing of him with Ben Seymour was unfair to Jack Sparkes.(who amongst us would like our recent effectiveness compared to Ben Seymour's effectiveness last season?).

First it was inaccurate. Seymour is 22 and Sparkes is 20. To say they will be 22/23 next season is accurate about Seymour but not about Sparkes.

Jack Sparkes aged 20 was coming back from a long time out due to a serious injury. He was then played out of position. He started in 27 league games last season. Ben Seymour aged 22 started 7 league games.

OK so Jack didn't have his best season and didn't become an automatic first choice (though 27 league starts and 50 appearances overall is decent). But he's still young ( at the same age Key Randall and Hartridge had just a handful of league games between them). We are entitled still to be optimistic that recovered from injury and played further forward he can have a better season and become really valuable to ECFC.

Well, I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree on this. Personally, I would be more worried if all these players who are choosing to leave were making hard-to-explain sideways moves to other League 2 clubs, or were drifting out of the professional game completely, as used to happen far too often in the late 90's. Instead the players are leaving for clearly explained and entirely understandable personal reasons or for the chance to challenge themselves at a higher level/ earn more money than we can justify paying them. Indeed, if Page and Williams do, as expected, end up signing for League One clubs isn't that a good thing because it shows to potential signings that this is a good club to move to if you want to improve as a player and move up the divisions.

And as for the public criticism of players, I'm still struggling to remember too many examples. There were the veiled comments about Aaron Martin mid-way through Matt Taylor's first season; he was then left out of the team in favour of a player who has gone on to play in the Premiership and internationally but then performed pretty well the season after. There were then the comments about players being free to leave at the start of last season; although the players were never named it's widely assumed it was Sweeney, Ajose and possibly Parkes. Of those Sweeney responded brilliantly, Parkes had an ok season and Ajose was probably a lost cause.

Ironically, I actually agree with you about the comments in this interview. If I was Jack Sparkes I would be pretty disappointed to read in the newspapers that the manager thought I'd had a disappointing season and that I'd only been picked so many times because the club couldn't afford a replacement. However, let's see how he responds next season; if he goes on to have a very good season maybe this interview will be seen in hindsight as having been a well-judged attempt to motivate an under-performing player.

 

[denzel]

I think Taylor making critical comments about players in public can either work as a motivation for a player (a healthy kick up the arse) or as a downer : depending on the character of the player. With Sweeney it worked, I think. With a more sensitive player it might not.
Since Jack is not blessed with speed it might also be worth trying him as a left sided midfielder or even an old-fashioned inside left position. He can dribble and he can shoot imo.
Although it's true that he has got a good cross on him, the problem is he has to get in the position to cross first. I think if Seymour is worth persevering with Jack certainly is

Not sure it has worked with Pierce as he is still mulling over a contract.

 

[SEA Grecian]

Not sure it has worked with Pierce as he is still mulling over a contract.

Pierce went from being told he wasn't in the manager's plans and could find a new club if he wanted to starting 32 league games and earning himself a new contract so I would suggest the criticism worked in forcing him to up his game.

 

[IndoMike]

Not sure it has worked with Pierce as he is still mulling over a contract.

I agree with SEA, Denzel, that Pierce did make a big effort to impress Matt T.
We don't know if he is weighing up other options now or still negotiating a contract with City. I hope he stays.