PASOTI Player of the Season?

[Ollieargyle9]

Criticise Feeney's ability all you like (I thought he was alright, link up play and passing superb), but he was a great club servant, here throughout the months of no pay and possibly the hardest worker I've ever seen play for us, top guy.

Agreed I liked him, he made a nuisance of himself in the area and as you say his link up play was very good. I would have to liked to have seen him play alongside a natural goalscorer. Playing him either up front on his own creating space for imaginary strikers or alongside Chadders who was a target man himself, also looking to support a goalscorer rather than score himself was never going to work in all honesty.

Of course he wasn't a world beater but what were we expecting for our money (or lack of it) back when Peter Reid was scraping together a team on the promise that they might be paid at some point? Hard worker, team player and a top bloke; that was exactly what we were after that summer, he came in and did the job. Its not his fault the club didn't have the money to find the goalscorer for him to support.

I know he was a great servant to the club, a hard worker and he was a decent veteran signing for a club with literally no money - and a fans' favourite because of this. I think's he's a top bloke, I'll always have a soft spot for him and I wish him the best of luck in the future.

But last pre-season, we were a club looking for a upper-mid-table finish under an experienced manager. Feeney was a pest and a decent passer but not strong enough to hold the ball up effectively, too small to win many headers, not skilful or deft at all and was coming off the back of a campaign where he scored one goal that wasn't a penalty. One goal! I know there are centre-forwards who don't have to score regularly to be effective but one goal a season just isn't good enough.

Reid and Alessandra are hard-working pests too, but it's hardly mentioned because they're also technically gifted - unlike Warren Feeney.

I never denied the fact that Feeney wasn't a natural goalscorer in fact that was the basis for my whole argument; Feeney was never a goalscorer, his only crime was being played upfront alone or alongside another forward who wasn't known for being a natural finisher. Given a decent goalscorer alongside him I would say that he would have made a much greater impact in the final third, I wouldn't have expected him to ever score goals aplenty but I'm firmly of the belief that he would have offered us another option up front as a supporting striker through the attributes you list above: his passing game and the all round nightmare he caused opposition defenders through his pest-like qualities. Oh how Reuben may have benefited this season having someone like Feeney alongside him taking care of one or two of the three men opponents seem to put on him.

As an aside it was 3 goals in 12 starts for us last season (thanks GoS), that's about 12 goals over the course of a 46 game season (8 if we account for sub-appearances as half a start). Again neither world beating but not bad tallies if they were in addition to the goals a natural finisher would have hopefully scored alongside him.

 

[Cobi Budge.]

Yep that, Feeney isn't a goal scorer, he's a great link up player and needed to be played with a scorer, a Reid-Feeney partnership wouldn't have been half bad. We didn't have the resources for most of Feeney's time here, Feeney was never the villain, the crime was playing him upfront alone.

 

[Mannamead Green]

I'm not buying that much. Alessandra's a better link-up player than Feeney and works pretty much just as hard.

 

[GreenSam]

I'm not buying that much. Alessandra's a better link-up player than Feeney and works pretty much just as hard.

And scores much more.

Feeney's link-up play was reasonable but it was very rare that you'd see him do something really out of the ordinary with the ball. He had a good first touch and did the simple things well but it wasn't at all often that he'd pull out a really impressive pass or cross. Another one of the 'not terrible but not good enough' players that were prevalent from the 2012/12 season. See also: Williams, Gurrieri (then not now), Gorman, Lennox, Molseley, Griffiths and probably a few more that I haven't considered.

 

[Greenpafcpete]

Really hard choice for me.

Gone for Lewi Alessandra for his goals, assists and sheer work effort which has given us the ability to push forward and attack.

Reuben Reid a very close 2nd for his goals.

Luke McCormick in 3rd place for keeping us in alot of the games where we should have likely lost.

 

[Ollieargyle9]

I'm not buying that much. Alessandra's a better link-up player than Feeney and works pretty much just as hard.

Who's comparing Feeney with Alessandra? If we had kept Feeney he would have been a back- up player, nothing more. Hardly fair to therefore compare the two if Feeney would have been used as Alessandra's cover, rarely is the reserve player of the same quality as the starter. If Feeney hadn't gone to Salisbury the question would have always been whether or not Feeney was capable of doing the job as a back-up player at this level whenever he was called upon. I believe he could/did that very well for a man that was never really given a chance to perform in the role that he specialised in, alongside an actual goalscorer.

 

[Liam Vercoe]

Warren Feeney's a hero, I won't have a bad word said against him!