Cod Almighty | Diary

Every Rose has its thorn

30 January 2019

Over the past week MJ has hinted at departures to free up the wage bill.  Thunderdiary speculated last Wednesday that this could spell the end for Welsh and Cook.

Seven days later and the aforementioned pair played their parts in the stoic win on Saturday and the two leaving Town are Akin Famewo (cue the Partridge 'shrug' gif) and Mitch Rose.

Mitch moving on was unexpected and has certainly polarised supporters on social media and the Fishy.  There are those that admire his coolness taking penos and keeping us up, whilst another school of thought questions his bench-warming, discipline and decision-making.

Ceratinly the penalties did us no harm at the end of last season but if you actually go over those last ten games again you might remember six-yard box misses against Stevenage, Chesterfield and Wycombe that would have made that run-in  a little more comfortable.

Then there are those who commented that Rose had 'Zaha in his pocket' against Palace, which is a credible view. What I would add is that Rose was a bigger part of Jolley's tactical masterplan and that the current manager has managed to impart more nous into Rose than previous bosses.

Which is my gripe with him.  There is no doubt that there is a decent player there somewhere.  He can occasionally pick a really good pass and affect a game but Rose is nowhere near as good as he thinks he is; he lacks urgency, determination and dallies on the ball.  Clifton and Hessenthaler (in imperious form recently) have demonstrated what a midfielder can achieve with good concentration and application - Rose had a tendency to switch off, sometimes at crucial moments.

The one thing I can't get out of my mind though?  The amount of training sessions and matches last season where he saw Nathan Clarke do his rubbish long throw and he never told anyone about his, suddenly mentioning it with five matches to go.  A bit arrogant and self-serving.  He'll do well at Notts County.