FL2: Hereford v Torquay United Feb 6th 2010

Kingpin I will remove your last post as this is the third time you have posted the exact same post.

Nico has been a great player for our club and I have maintained he still could do a good job for us as there is no one better at long throw-ins, free kicks and corners.

Its clear he no longer fits into Buckles plans and should he be off this week as it is being reported then I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes and I'm sure he will do a first class job for his new club.

I couldn't disagree more Pete!

It was obvious last season that his lack of pace was the only reason he dropped into non league at such a young age given his pedigree of Sheffield Wednesday and Notts County and that once back in the League he would be horribly exposed from a defensive point of view; and this certainly showed itself from the very start of this season.

Unfortunately comparisions with Bobby Moore are rather fatuous when comparing one of the world's greatest ever central defenders with a journeyman lower league professional. Even the two positions they play bare no comparison....................Moore like many central defenders of class could overcome that lack of pace with incredible foresight and reading of the game whilst a fullback will always be exposed by a direct challenge of pace that is greater than his.

Moore's finest hour in my opinion came in the epic game with Brazil in Mexico in the 1970 World Cup when he was so masterful he could have still managed the pace of Rivelinho and Jair whislt sitting in an armchair, he was that good!

If we still want the ball thrown into the opposition penalty area we have Robertson and Nicho's crossing whilst very good is no better than Thomson's.

Time to move on with players who CAN cope with this level of football.

How people change their opinions, eh! the first year I thought Nico was brilliant and every set piece was on the money for Sills. Corners, free kicks, crosses etc all spot on. Several on here even moaned at that, as we only created goals from set pieces.

Last season Nico showed a vulnerability in defence mainly due to his lack of pace. we could forgive him the previous season because he created so much BUT even his creativity deserted him. I remember thinking at the time, why his accuracy had deserted him. his corners didn't hit the mark, free kicks wasted and crosses not beating the first man. i put it down to his confidence because, even back then, Buckle seemed determined to replace him by bringing in Hodges at the start of the season.

Hodges obviously did not work out but it took Nico a large part of the season to regain his confidence.

this season Smith is head and shoulders, in all departments to Nico. cox has the same defensive weaknesses but has potential to improve because he is young.

Sorry but it's thanks Nico for 2 great years and good luck in the Conference

just for the record the best part of the season so far result wise, was december and guess what ?nico hardly got on the pitch, granted the opposition may of been weaker but four clean sheets non the less !

So how can you justify the comparison of two players that play in different positions or are you some sort of football genius? Wing backs are generally faster than centre backs, now I wonder why that might be, am being sarcky enough? You can have a fast wing back cover the slower centre backs arris but you can`t have a fast centre back cover a slow wing back with opening massive defensive gaps in middle of the park, it`s glaringly bleedin` obvious!!!!!!!

Is using capitals your way of shouting? I have said in the past if Nicho had any pace he wouldn`t have signed for us because he would be playing at a much higher level and we would not have been able to afford him, he has some very good attributes but lacks any pace what so ever thus he`s plying his trade at the level he can play at, the foot of league 2 or the Conference no higher, I`m sorry if plain and blatant facts upset you but that`s just the way it is!! Look where he came from, big clubs liked the look of him and spotted definate ability but then let him go, why, ask yourself the question why did they let him go and what direction did he go in? As far as badges go, which ones and how long ago because I made it to semi-pro as a player but hardly any of what I learned back then is used or appropriate in this modern game, maybe the basic principles are the same but technique and formation plus various other factors such as diet and training have all changed radically over the years! Having old qualifications is about as useful as playing Championship Manager on the Xbox, useless!