Hoop BlahP!ssed Off Don't have to go much further back to find a left winger better than Jobi tbh. Stephen Hunt was arguably better than Jobi on the left and none of McAnuff's season's have touched on Bobby Convey's 106pt promotion season either. Now we've got Drenthe in, who is almost certainly going to eclipse McAnuff's quality on the left.
If Jobi is going to be remembered it will be as captain of our second squad to get promoted, he certainly won't be remembered as an amazing left winger. Apart from anything else, he's not even a left winger, he only plays there because we've got better players for his preferred position on the right.
McAnuff has played over 150 games for the club now, the majority on the left wing. He's been by far our most consistent performer on the left since Gilkes (who was consistently inconsistent but great value at the same time).
Both Hunt and Convey were very good (or at least effective in Hunts case) at their best, but we only ever saw their best for short purple patches. Hunt couldn't get a game whilst Convey made the left wing his during the 106 season but then came into his own when injury basically ended Convey's career. Convey on the other hand was very poor in his first season, excellent during the promotion, and then hung around whilst injured for the remainder of his 100 appearances.
McAnuff stands up excellently against those two. He's not been quite as good or effective as them at their very best, but he's rarely had a bad game, let alone a bad couple of months or seasons like the other two.
I agree with P!ssed off, McAnuff wont be remembered for dazzling the Madejski with his skill, just for being captain of the title winning side of 11/12. He has had 4 very up and down mediocre seasons. All of you always say, "oh he is so consistent", yeah, consistently average. He drifts in and out of games, and when he's not playing ok ish, he's playing crap. And never had a bad game?? I mean, really? Do you actually watch Reading? He has had many a bad game, especially last season (im not saying he was the only one) but I cant remember coming back from a game and thinking, McAnuff had a blinder today. Maybe a few times I thought he played well, more in the early days, but he is never outstanding. If the team is playing well, he will play well too, (logically) but its never down to him, even though he is the captain. I think its a myth that he was great last season, you guys are kidding yourselves.