Alex Pearce - Rated as the best defender in the league

[Maguire]

To think, he was an absolute donkey before Gorks paired up with him

Only in the minds of the unbalanced.

lol, anyone who can't see how much better he is this year has been spending too much time at BBQs and not enough time at games

[Ian Royal]

But also, anyone who thinks he was an absolute donkey last year has some sort of footballing mental deficiency.

[leon]

But also, anyone who thinks he was an absolute donkey last year has some sort of footballing mental deficiency.

Ian - how many times have you actually seen him play? ie Live, in the flesh? Exactly. He was "inconsistent" to say the least - Gorks has really brought the best out of him, in part because there's calm in the defence - not last ditch madness.

[rfcmatt]

Gorks has brought out the best in him ofcourse, but would he be this good without Gorks? Put him up with Khumalo and see what happens. Could be shambles but i doubt it, he does seem alot more level headed and thinks ahead of what might happen and position himself accordingly.
POTS
2nd Karacan

[royalsteve]

To think, he was an absolute donkey before Gorks paired up with him

lol agreed. Pearce is the Shane Long this season as the most improved player over the season. Gorkss has been a great signing - my player of the season. Karacan is not far behind Pearce

Player of the season
1. Gorkss
2. Pearce
3. Karacan
4. Feds
5. Mcanuff
6. Legs
7. Hunt

But to be honest anyone could win

[royalsteve]

Nice to see Nolan way down the list too

good cause he is a total bell end

[royalsteve]

To think, he was an absolute donkey before Gorks paired up with him

Only in the minds of the unbalanced.

eh, he was correct, pearce at the beginning of the season was shite - but to be fair he was finding his feet in this league

[royalsteve]

But also, anyone who thinks he was an absolute donkey last year has some sort of footballing mental deficiency.

Ian - how many times have you actually seen him play? ie Live, in the flesh? Exactly. He was "inconsistent" to say the least - Gorks has really brought the best out of him, in part because there's calm in the defence - not last ditch madness.

spot on - i thought mcd would drop him as hewas that shite then but what do i know - guess thats why mcd is a manager and im watching in the stands, lol - tbh im glad pearce proved me wrong - just like Long proved everyone wrong except me and mcd

[soggy biscuit]

Not even the best defender in our team. Shows how misleading (and often pointless) stats are.

[Extended-Phenotype]

I think he’s become an ace player, and certainly the POTS is between him and Gorkss (though for me it’s Gorkss, because without him I’m not sure any of our players would have had the chance to shine).

However, Actim stats are completely slanted towards attacking stats. Not taking away anything from the goals he has scored, but I don’t rate a defender by how many time they find the back of the net.

Well done to him, and I’m sure he’d be up there regardless, but Actim stats for defenders are utter toilet.

[melonhead]

To think, he was an absolute donkey before Gorks paired up with him

oooo you cheeky monkey

[Ian Royal]

But also, anyone who thinks he was an absolute donkey last year has some sort of footballing mental deficiency.

Ian - how many times have you actually seen him play? ie Live, in the flesh? Exactly. He was "inconsistent" to say the least - Gorks has really brought the best out of him, in part because there's calm in the defence - not last ditch madness.

Live and in the flesh? No idea, I don't keep a tally - I'd hazard a guess at a minimum of 20 though. I don't quite see what makes live and in the flesh so special. I've seen him play probably another 20 times via broadcast games.

He had his faults last season and those before it, he has definitely improved this season and benefitted from Gorkss a great deal. In fact I have spoken about what I thought his faults were before and how I thought they'd hold him back from ever being a Prem quality defender, now I'm not so sure about that because of the way he has stepped up.

But he was far from an "absolute donkey" before.

I'd have had him in the defence last season with Khizanishvili. I don't care how good Mills could be on occasion. He was an unreliable retard who caused more problems than he was worth.

[Snowball]

It wasn't PEARCE who played poorly in the first few games this season, it was the defence as a whole

Getting rid of the Spurs player was the key, and settling the FBs

You can't play 5/6 FBs and 3 CBs in 5 games and not expect to be disjointed

but we played Harte, Cummings, Mills, Griffin, Gunnarson, plus a midfielder and Pearce, Khumalo, Gorkss, in the back four

It's very hard to lay the blame on an individual for that shambles
and it isn't really accurate to say that Gorkss settled everything

We started to get results when CUMMINGS came in (and Mills) because Griffin
was carrying an injury (and broke down in two games) and Harte was off-form
and Khumalo was (it appears) just useless.

[RockheadRumple]

Not even the best defender in our team. Shows how misleading (and often pointless) stats are.

I disagree. Pearce is the better defender in my opinion, the reasons being that he makes fewer mistakes than Gorkss seems to make, his all round defence (i.e. marking and positioning), and I think he has a better cross. He also passes into the midfield very often, something I am a fan of. Not that Gorkss doesn't do any of these things, of course, and he also has his own 1-ups on Pearce, such as his pace and height.

But of course, this debate is pointless. It's not like we're playing one or the other - they are a partnership and are all the better for it.

[Simon's Church]

What's he even celebrating here? The final whistle?
Gorkss and Kebe don't look that bothered.

[muddyfeet]

grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Forbury Lion]

Brendan Rodgers called it when he was here. He said Pearce would be our John Terry and will play at the top.

as long as he doesn't play on top of his team mates wives.

[Snowball]

Not even the best defender in our team. Shows how misleading (and often pointless) stats are.

I LOVE statements like this.

Translation

"Not even the best defender in our team according to ME.

Not even the best defender in our team according to ME, based on gut feel.

Shows how misleading (and often pointless) stats are."



When you decide a defender is better, even if you say it's "gut-feel" you do it based on headers made v headers lost, tackles made, tackles missed, passes made and passes completed, last-ditch blocks or goal-line clearances, his ability to (legally) rough up the opposition, the way he fits with other players, how he leads or encourages, whether he scores now and again etc etc etc

All these things are statistics

[NR_Royal]

WHY DOESN'T HE HAVE HIS OWN CHANT?

[Franchise FC]

What does 'stepped up to the plate' mean?

Probably means he's been tapped up by 'Arry and stood too close to 'Arry's head.