Just got thinking this morning after reading a thread about players we had released.
This summer we have released McIndoe but offered Bell a new four year contact.
Now unfortunately my view is slightly affected by the fact that I am really not a very big Bell fan. My thought was though which player would we rather have Bell or McIndoe.
Bell is undoubtedly the better footballer but is prone to injury, disappearing in matches and general ineffectiveness. He may pop up with a bit of magic every now and again but can we afford to carry a player whose minutes played v effective contribution ratio is so poor.
Whilst McIndoe was never the player who was going to get you on the edge of your seat he was your average player - you know what you are going to get and he will put the effort in. He could put a decent cross in and was responsible for a number of assists. Comparing the stats of the two players shows that he had a greater effect then Bell.
Have we lost the ability to appreciate the players that will turn up and put in a shift?
Bell is 5 years younger than McIndoe, and McIndoe remains without a club since we released him. They both play the game differently and McIndoe was unable to adapt his game once he lost that bit of spark of pace. Yes he was industrious, however over the course of the season Bell will win more points for you. Now having said that Bell ought to be winning more points for us than he currently is, he ought to be running games and influencing them a lot more than he currently is.
I feel the only thing stopping Bell from being a very very good player for us is his head, I think he still feels fragile (due to the amont of niggling injuries etc) I think his default setting is to drift around playing short passes, it often takes something to get him going, a bollocking or a tackle, then when he does get going or he gets a run of games under his belt we have seen he can run games and do something the majority of this deivision cant.
The fact Sisu have offered Bell a long term contract has to (in my opinion at least) be an optimistic move, granted it was surprising that it was offered to Bell and not others but hey circumstances dicate us, as under Ranson, his hard nosed business acumen lost us a fair amount of players and potential transfer fees.
Now having said that Bell ought to be winning more points for us than he currently is, he ought to be running games and influencing them a lot more than he currently is.
I feel the only thing stopping Bell from being a very very good player for us is his head, I think he still feels fragile (due to the amont of niggling injuries etc) I think his default setting is to drift around playing short passes, it often takes something to get him going, a bollocking or a tackle, then when he does get going or he gets a run of games under his belt we have seen he can run games and do something the majority of this deivision cant.
I think Bell is a much better player than Mcindoe. The reason he has so many haters is because people are expecting too much of him as an individual rather than in the team as a whole.
We expect him to get his arse in to gear. We expect him to chase the ball. We expect him to break sweat. We expect him to pass the ball to a team mate. We expect him not to disappear for half the game. We expect him to earn his wages and at least look a little bit bothered.
We expect him to get his arse in to gear. We expect him to chase the ball. We expect him to break sweat. We expect him to pass the ball to a team mate. We expect him not to disappear for half the game. We expect him to earn his wages and at least look a little bit bothered.
Ironically Bell had one of his best games in ages against Derby I thought. Both him and Baker were much better then they have been all season, long may it continue.
Bell over McIndoe for me. I actually think he's one of our best passers, and is very good at keeping the ball moving when we do get the passing going. I don't think he's fully fit due to a badly timed injury at the start of the season, when players are still building up core fitness leveld. If he can get back to his levels of the last 10 games of last season, he'll be one of our top 2-3 players.
McIndoe would never score the type of goals that Bell has scored for us, either. He also incredibly wealthy for a guy who only ever played at Championship level or below. Maybe he knows where the bodies are buried? Questions should be asked!
I think one of the biggest things with McIndoe was that is was a signing that promised so much. He'd scored so many goals prior, played so well whenever we saw him at the Ricoh and Bristol fans loved him (despite him being "a bit flash").
I was excited when he signed but it never came off.
Bell has provided us with some great moments but could and should do better. I'd love for him to do well in a City shirt and maybe Saturday just gone is the start... maybe.
We expect him to get his arse in to gear. We expect him to chase the ball. We expect him to break sweat. We expect him to pass the ball to a team mate. We expect him not to disappear for half the game. We expect him to earn his wages and at least look a little bit bothered.