Dave Kitson.......Regrets, I've had a few.....

[Royalee]

Looks like he's already doing his part to help us out by making sure Bikey gets picked instead of Doobs!

Nice one Kits, should've done that to Oster last season.

[Woodcote Royal]

Surprised to hear people talking about him being suited to 451 and being a target man.

He plays 2nd striker, I actually think if he played further up he would be a better player.

Absolutely right. One thing he is not is a target man, that was he mistake Stoke seemed to make when they bought him. He is a talented footballer who is fairly tall and plays up front, but a target man he isn't. If he was he would not cover half the amount of grass that he does in a game.

Kitson is ideal as the "one" in a 4-5-1 simply because he's much more than a target man.

He's not just good in the air but good on the deck, holding the ball up and dropping deep when required.

Believe it or not, not every 4-5-1 involves lumping the ball onto the head of a lone striker...................if that was the case, Nicky Forster would not have been any good at it.

We were forced to play Kitson as the lone striker last season when Gunnarsson was sent off at West Ham and he did such a poor job that he scored the equaliser, allowing 10 man Reading to return home with a very valuable point.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Kitson has played for us as a lone forward before, it didnt work

He likes to play clever touches and flicks to bring others into the game. He doesnt hold the ball up or generally work the channels as he hasnt the pace to get in behind defences like a Forster, or to a lesse extent Lita and Doyle (or Long and Hunt these days). When he played upfont he didnt have anyone to work the ball to and bring into the game so it didnt work

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

Absolutely delighted the most intelligent, articulate and hard working big head ever to play for RFC is back.

I expect a 442 with Harps, Glenda and Kits all starting. Harps playing in front of back 4, Marek creating and Kits dropping off Long and coming deeper. Doyler on the bench.

Would love to see 3412 though, with Long and Doyler up front and Kits in the hole. Blakey, Harps, Cisse and Shunt, with Stretch, Pearce and Bikey at the back and USA in goal.

[Woodcote Royal]

Kitson has played for us as a lone forward before, it didnt work

He likes to play clever touches and flicks to bring others into the game. He doesnt hold the ball up or generally work the channels as he hasnt the pace to get in behind defences like a Forster, or to a lesse extent Lita and Doyle (or Long and Hunt these days). When he played upfont he didnt have anyone to work the ball to and bring into the game so it didnt work

He'd have 5 midfielders to work with and bring into the game and he's done it in the past. This is exactly how very average teams in this division have beaten Coppell's very predictable and outdated 4-4-2.


Having said that, I'm only expecting 4-4-2 (with Kitson starting) today and I certainly agree with our manager in that he brings another dimension to our game that other strikers don't. Part of this is his liking for dropping into midfield, which can only help our easily over run centre ground.

However, make no mistake, he will be used as a target man at times even in a 4-4-2 but his ability will allow him to create from those situations.

The prospect of seeing Kits back in the hoops is worth the entrance fee alone.

[Broxroyal]

I would expect a 442 but Kitson does have the ability to drop deeper into midfield if the situation requires, i.e we are getting overrun by a five man midfield.
None of our other strikers are really any good at doing that. (Indeed some would argue that Kitson drops too deep too often but at least he is flexible). I don't see Kitson as a lone striker but I do see him as the one to work back into midfield when needed leaving Doyle (or Long) up.
NHunt hasn't done much wrong but this does move him down the pecking order a bit. Can't see Lita featuring till he walks on a free at the end of the season.

[Rex]

Kits drops deep to go looking for the ball if he's not getting the service. Lets hope he doesn't have to do that too often today. It will be interesting to see if he starts (probably partnering Doyle) or it's a Doyle / Long combo with Kits warming the bench. If so where does this leave Nunt.

[Gordons Cumming]

Kits drops deep to go looking for the ball if he's not getting the service. Lets hope he doesn't have to do that too often today. It will be interesting to see if he starts (probably partnering Doyle) or it's a Doyle / Long combo with Kits warming the bench. If so where does this leave Nunt.

I will be shocked if Kitson starts. I suspect Noel Hunt will drop out if Kitson is in squad.

[tomrfcurz]

I'm really hoping Dave starts today, either him and Doyler or Shane, its great to see him back although i did have a few doubts when i first heard the news, glad to see he's admitted Stoke was a mistake and to be honest i always thought it was for him, typical RFC player, tracks back and scores goals. Welcome back Dave.

[Scrappy]

He clearly has something he wants to proove. We have definatelly missed his presence on the pitch as he clearly has an arrogance about him which we lack. Stoke have many players similar to him and he wont have liked that with his arrogance. I hope he starts today and I can guarantee, if he talks like he plays, he will be out there today going for everything, making sure he can help the cause. He owes Coppell a lot and now is his moment.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Kitson has played for us as a lone forward before, it didnt work

He likes to play clever touches and flicks to bring others into the game. He doesnt hold the ball up or generally work the channels as he hasnt the pace to get in behind defences like a Forster, or to a lesse extent Lita and Doyle (or Long and Hunt these days). When he played upfont he didnt have anyone to work the ball to and bring into the game so it didnt work

He'd have 5 midfielders to work with and bring into the game and he's done it in the past. This is exactly how very average teams in this division have beaten Coppell's very predictable and outdated 4-4-2.


Having said that, I'm only expecting 4-4-2 (with Kitson starting) today and I certainly agree with our manager in that he brings another dimension to our game that other strikers don't. Part of this is his liking for dropping into midfield, which can only help our easily over run centre ground.

However, make no mistake, he will be used as a target man at times even in a 4-4-2 but his ability will allow him to create from those situations.

The prospect of seeing Kits back in the hoops is worth the entrance fee alone.

Its not how teams have beaten us at all

They have played forwards who are adept at either holding the ball up and playing with their back to goal or ones who have the pace to cover the ground and run in behind defences (in the way that Forster used to make it work)

Kitson has played there before and failed to make it work, no idea which games your suggesting he has played it in the past and made it work. They were games with 5 in midfield too, it isnt something his game is suited to

He does play as a target man for us yes, but when he does he doesnt hold the ball up in the way a loan forward needs to, he plays clever little flicks and passes to his teammates