Promising Signs In Time for the Play-Offs (Fingers Crossed We Make Them)

Reminds me of Smallwood....shite at free kicks, shooting diobolical, has purple patches where he is awesome but then looks very poor on the ball for other games.

 

he is loads better than Smallwood

 

I think Smallwood gets a bad wrap, first season he was good, second season he was naff, third season he upped his standards but that red card sours some memories of him. I think Power is an upgrade on Smallwood but he has similar traits for sure. I think Power plays worse when he is in the edge of a ban, think he has said himself that he plays within himself when he cant run his mouth etc.

Using whoscored, which is the stats site the EFL use for their teams of the season type info. Max Power is statistically the 23rd best CM/DM in their listings, Metcalfe is 37th. Looks like Power doesn't really do anything terrible or fantastic in his stats, he's around the same sort of ranking for a lot of things but his accurate long balls per game is amongst the best in the league which probably boosts him up.

 

One thing for certain Power could not finish his supper

 

Do our captains always have to take every set piece? Is it in the contract?

 

Yes

 

Disagree, see very similar traits. Some good, some bad. Inconsistencies crept in for both.

Don't forget Smallwood was POTY last year, Power is nowhere near that this term. It is better standard of opposition but his impact on the team hasn't been close to what Smallwood brought. I dont mind either player tbh...

 

Smallwood had one (admittedly) excellent season out of the 3 that he was here. Prior to last season he was barely mediocre imo. I was surprised GA decided to release him, but given how he did in the first half of the season at Tranmere, I think thats proved to be the right decision.
Imo Power has been an upgrade both as a leader and in the middle of the park in a higher league. He's far from perfect, obviously but most definitely one of our better introductions this season.

 

I was also surprised when we let him go.

But then we signed Power who has done the exact same role at a higher level, so it's all worked out.

We've relied extremely heavily on that out-and-out defensive role, I think Power is for sure the better athlete and better organiser, that's a manager-in-the-making if I've ever seen one... but you can't take way from how pivotal Smallwood was. When we lost him to suspension, we weren't half as solid.

I think in terms of character and fit, Smallwood is also the superior option. I do think that was a genuine upgrade, though Power perhaps hasn't been as consistent, but as for why Power isn't in the running for POTY - well, let's be real, we've actually had a better season in League One and that's partly down to how efficient we've been in attack. Sarcevic has played more games, scored more goals, and scored at a better rate, while shining in that attacking midfield role. Pointon, alongside him, has flourished. If last season was Bobby's breakout season, this has really solidified him as a top, top League One player.

So I don't think that's much of a knock on Power. Smallwood didn't get as much out of his midfield as Power has, which is the other side of that coin.

 

I agree with pretty much all of that with the exception of Smallwood being a better character and fit. In isolation, he was outstanding last season, but well below what we needed and hoped we'd signed in the preceding 2 years. In fact, I believe the only reason he was still with us last season was due to the player himself triggering the extra year option on his contract.
As for character, one thing that has impressed me in particular about Power is how many times he's been the one to front up in post match media interviews after a bad performance/defeat.

 

Damn, yeah, you're right, I'd intended Power for that rather than Smallwood haha

Yeah, I agree, Power is the better fit, 100 percent, my mistake there!

 

I'd argue what he actually had was one excellent half a season, and the cynic in me wonders if that was because he was playing for a new contract (which turned out well for him!)