FAO Chris Gunter

[tidus_mi2]

Is that a goat that escapes? Or is Gunter going to be our scapegoat?

Know your HNA memes.

.?? pardon

I didn't get it at first either but it's not hard to understand, they say escapegoat instead of scapegoat. I don't know if there's any backstory to it though.

[Ian Royal]

I can't remember the exact details, but iirc someone daft said escape goat, not knowing what the real phrase is, everyone copied them taking the piss, it stuck. I could hazard an educated guess as to who it was if that's right, but they might get all upset.

[The Cap]

Signed a new contract then. R & G section refers.

[taipairoyal]

Gunter has been an ever present for every manager he has played for since he left Spurs, and his national team. His work rate is immense, he was even our captain. Thought he had a good game, a 'fall over' instead of a 'dive' may have got a penalty. These things happen in football these days. Get over it.

Correct, even my media chums cant understand the virulent abuse he gets.

[andrew1957]

Excellent news. Consistently one of our better players and the club clearly agrees.

Shame on the hobnob boo boys who pick on players like Gunter and make then scapegoats for every loss. Whereas the reality is that we are very lucky to have him and the fact that he was so desperate to stay endears him to me even more.

Come on URZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[royal67]

# Devils advocate mode 'on' #
Or he's told the club that he wants to leave in the summer but the club applied a condition that he extends his contract so we get a decent fee for him?
# Devils advocate mode 'off' #

[Dixeyroyal]

Excellent news. Consistently one of our better players and the club clearly agrees.

Shame on the hobnob boo boys who pick on players like Gunter and make then scapegoats for every loss. Whereas the reality is that we are very lucky to have him and the fact that he was so desperate to stay endears him to me even more.

Come on URZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

By hobnob boo boys you mean those that have an opinion that is different to yours, and can clearly see that Gunter offers us nothing going forward and remains hopelessly out of position on many occasions when defending?

Personally I think that he needs a bit of competition for his position to get the best out of him, but you cant just label everyone as a boo boy because they don't rate a player that you clearly think is one of the better ones.

Unfortunately these days even full backs get judged on their contribution going forward and IMO Gunter's is non existent, constantly a pass sideways or backwards, and when it does go forward it is a big hoof whilst looking at the ground!

Just my opinion by the way

[BR2]

# Devils advocate mode 'on' #
Or he's told the club that he wants to leave in the summer but the club applied a condition that he extends his contract so we get a decent fee for him?
# Devils advocate mode 'off' #

I hope this is the right version.
If not, and Kanu gets his contract extended, we can probably look forward to a prolonged stay in the Championship warding off relegation each year.
Has Madejski come out yet and said "This signing shows the ambition of our club that we can keep international players who can only help in our desire for a quick return to the Premier League........................................................................."?

Personally am underwhelmed but I am not one of the boo-boys that Andrew has gone on about which IMHO don't exist at our club or at least there is a tiny minority that you get at every club other perhaps than Barcelona or Bayern Munich.
Far better to have a moan on here amongst friends (o.k. "friends is pushing it a bit", let's say "keyboard acquaintances") than boo as part of the match day "experience"
This is as sad a contract extension as that given to Kanu 3 years ago (opinion not statement).
BTW have we done the same for our better players like Williams and Norwood?

[Top Flight]

I'm absolutely delighted that Gunter has extended his contract. He is one of our better players and most consistent performer.
He has all the tools and attributes to be an even more effective player for our team once McDermott gets the whole jigsaw sorted out.

I hear the fans that are saying that Gunter offers little going forward but I have to disagree on that one. Quite often he surges down the flank gets into a decent crossing position and then when he looks up and assesses the options in the penalty area he does not see any blue and white shirts in there. There is nobody to cross the ball to. McDermott has to work on our entire mentality as a team, the footballing philosophy and make clear to players what he wants them to do and of course have the right players in the right positions. Under the great manager that is McDermott that will eventually come.

Under Coppell, players like Hunt, Little, Shorey and Murty had targets of how many crosses they needed to get into the box during a match. They were paid bonuses if they hit those targets. Kitson and Doyle knew that there were going to be crosses coming into the box so they were making sure that when they see our wingers flying down the flanks, they knew the intention was there that crosses would be coming in to dangerous areas. The likes of Sidwell would be busting a gut to join the attack and get on the end of something too.

If the team understands the philosophy, have the right incentives and understand their roles, they will become more effective. This is something that McDermott will work on and resolve. Then I am certain that when Gunter flies down the wing and Kermorgant and Vydra know that crosses are coming in, they will be making more of an effort to get in there and get on the end of something. Williams and George Evans, Norwood too will also be trying to get in there as well.

Gunter is the one player that I could compare to a member of the 106 team and say that Gunter is every bit as good. He may not be as effective. But that is because the team is not effective and they don't have the right phisophy or incentives. Once McDermott really gets to grips with the situation that will change and Gunter will be one of our shining lights in the forthcoming seasons. He will eventually gain legend status in my opinion.

[Silver Fox]

# Devils advocate mode 'on' #
Or he's told the club that he wants to leave in the summer but the club applied a condition that he extends his contract so we get a decent fee for him?
# Devils advocate mode 'off' #

Then why would Gunter deny himself the exaggerated signing bonus he would get by going somewhere on a free ?

This is of course great news

[Gunny Fishcake]

That means he's off in the summer

[royal67]

# Devils advocate mode 'on' #
Or he's told the club that he wants to leave in the summer but the club applied a condition that he extends his contract so we get a decent fee for him?
# Devils advocate mode 'off' #

Then why would Gunter deny himself the exaggerated signing bonus he would get by going somewhere on a free ?

This is of course great news

Surely any 'exaggerated' signing on bonus would be greatly outweighed by the vastly improved wages that he is likely to benefit from by signing for any Premiership side........?

[andrew1957]

Excellent news. Consistently one of our better players and the club clearly agrees.

Shame on the hobnob boo boys who pick on players like Gunter and make then scapegoats for every loss. Whereas the reality is that we are very lucky to have him and the fact that he was so desperate to stay endears him to me even more.

Come on URZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

By hobnob boo boys you mean those that have an opinion that is different to yours, and can clearly see that Gunter offers us nothing going forward and remains hopelessly out of position on many occasions when defending?

Personally I think that he needs a bit of competition for his position to get the best out of him, but you cant just label everyone as a boo boy because they don't rate a player that you clearly think is one of the better ones.

Unfortunately these days even full backs get judged on their contribution going forward and IMO Gunter's is non existent, constantly a pass sideways or backwards, and when it does go forward it is a big hoof whilst looking at the ground!

Just my opinion by the way

Fair point. My comment was not aimed at those who have different opinions and fairly consider players strengths and weaknesses. All players have such plusses and minuses but it appears to me that there is a vociferous minority on hobnob who seem to develop an almost irrational and unreasonable hatred towards certain players when things are not going well.

This season it is Gunter and HRK who have IMO unfairly been the main targets. Gunter has not been one of our worst players and defence has not been our problem this season, whereas the lack of goals has been.

And HRK has been so much better this season than last. He was not great last time out but to me he has been one of our better players this season - although very much lacking in goals as with all the forward players except Blackman - who we then sold. I very much hope that HRK can also be persuaded to stay for another two years too - although I rather doubt that he will.

And I also rather doubt this is all some conspiracy to get a fee for Gunter in the summer. Obviously if a huge bid came in from a PL team we might sell, but that applies to all our players, but my belief is that McD sees Gunter as very much part of next season's squad.

[Maneki Neko]

Happy we managed to get someone to stay.
We already have a big enough rebuilding job to do.
Hes a good solid pro. Needs a bit of competition though

[Silver Fox]

# Devils advocate mode 'on' #
Or he's told the club that he wants to leave in the summer but the club applied a condition that he extends his contract so we get a decent fee for him?
# Devils advocate mode 'off' #

Then why would Gunter deny himself the exaggerated signing bonus he would get by going somewhere on a free ?

This is of course great news

Surely any 'exaggerated' signing on bonus would be greatly outweighed by the vastly improved wages that he is likely to benefit from by signing for any Premiership side........?

He'd get those wages plus as the club he was going to wouldn't need to pay a fee he'd also get a hefty signing bonus

[Top Flight]

Excellent news. Consistently one of our better players and the club clearly agrees.

Shame on the hobnob boo boys who pick on players like Gunter and make then scapegoats for every loss. Whereas the reality is that we are very lucky to have him and the fact that he was so desperate to stay endears him to me even more.

Come on URZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

By hobnob boo boys you mean those that have an opinion that is different to yours, and can clearly see that Gunter offers us nothing going forward and remains hopelessly out of position on many occasions when defending?

Personally I think that he needs a bit of competition for his position to get the best out of him, but you cant just label everyone as a boo boy because they don't rate a player that you clearly think is one of the better ones.

Unfortunately these days even full backs get judged on their contribution going forward and IMO Gunter's is non existent, constantly a pass sideways or backwards, and when it does go forward it is a big hoof whilst looking at the ground!

Just my opinion by the way

Fair point. My comment was not aimed at those who have different opinions and fairly consider players strengths and weaknesses. All players have such plusses and minuses but it appears to me that there is a vociferous minority on hobnob who seem to develop an almost irrational and unreasonable hatred towards certain players when things are not going well.

This season it is Gunter and HRK who have IMO unfairly been the main targets. Gunter has not been one of our worst players and defence has not been our problem this season, whereas the lack of goals has been.

And HRK has been so much better this season than last. He was not great last time out but to me he has been one of our better players this season - although very much lacking in goals as with all the forward players except Blackman - who we then sold. I very much hope that HRK can also be persuaded to stay for another two years too - although I rather doubt that he will.

And I also rather doubt this is all some conspiracy to get a fee for Gunter in the summer. Obviously if a huge bid came in from a PL team we might sell, but that applies to all our players, but my belief is that McD sees Gunter as very much part of next season's squad.

I agree with you. Gunter and HRK are two of our best players. If not, the best players.

[Ian Royal]

Utterly expected, utterly uninspiring.

Great athlete, nice guy. Mediocre defender, decent crosser, timid passer. The soft underbelly of the team. Was awful as captain.

Way better than we could have, not as good as we should aim for.

Oh well, better the overpaid devil you know.

[floyd__streete]

Excellent news.

[Top Flight]

Jeez Ian Royal, you're usually quite positive.

I think the mediocrity is more about the collective efforts of the team. Gunter is one of those players that will be an absolute star once the team develops an effective way of playing based on a 4-4-2 formation. One target man striker with one number 10 off him. Two good wing stars with overlapping full backs. McDermott has to coach this philosophy and style into the players and provide them with the right incentives. Coppell was brilliant at offering the right incentives and system so that everyone knew what they had to do and they had the incentive to do it.

Gunter has the potential but is not being used in a way to draw the best out of him. Once the team develops it's 'way' you will see a much more effective Gunter. We have seen this evolution in players before. As the 106 team developed in the preceeding years we saw how players like Murty and Shorey became more and more effective each year in the lead up to the 106 year and then they were unbelievable. Since Shorey left the Royals, he never was the same player. Not because he was any less of a player but he joined a different philosophy with different incentives and different structure which didn't draw the best out of him to be most effective. Have faith people.

[floyd__streete]

By hobnob boo boys you mean those that have an opinion that is different to yours, and can clearly see that Gunter offers us nothing going forward and remains hopelessly out of position on many occasions when defending?

Personally I think that he needs a bit of competition for his position to get the best out of him, but you cant just label everyone as a boo boy because they don't rate a player that you clearly think is one of the better ones.

Well, I 100% agree with you this time, fair play.....