Funny thing is, that's how I saw him when he played for Hull against us a few years ago and when he was on loan from the Mancs at Spurs. Loads of effort but not a lot of end product. I still had those reservations when he signed for us but at £600k for a player with his experience it seemed a good deal. Like most fans we can forgive a lack of finesse if a player gives his all and there is no doubt Fraizer always gave 100%. I have to admit my views changed after his good start for us in the Championship and I still believe he can do a good job for us at that level provided he gets more support than we gave him in the Prem. However, if he goes to Leicester or anyone else, as long as we get our money to re-invest I will thank him for his efforts and applaud him (before the game) if he plays against us in the future.
I can't see him coming here as first choice so maybe that might tempt him to stay, last season was his first real season were he was involved from start to finish apart from his loan at Hull. If I was him in that sense I would probably look to stay at Cardiff, prove yourself in the championship and try to come back into the prem then. And anyone who thinks he is better then Jamie Vardy then watch this. [video=youtube;GeM12TVwk2k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GeM12TVwk2k[/video]
A nice compilation of Vardy, however you have to realise that he will be up against a much better class of defender in the PL. However i for one will keep an eye out for him next season. Although saying that i didnt watch M.O.D much last season, for obvious reasons. But i wish Leicester all the best.
It will be a massive challenge for Vardy and one I expect him to do reasonably well. His main assests his pace and work rate, he is probably the fastest footballer I have ever seen and his work rate is beyond real. It took him a year to adjust but he was nothing short of phenomenal at times. He pressure defenders into mistakes but it won't be as easy in the perm. Defenders will be a lot more comfortable on the ball and won't panic as often as the championship defenders do. As for Campbell if the terms of the deal is right for us in terms of wages then I would be more then happy signing him especially with it being so cheap. I won't be too bothered if it fell through though. As for you lot you all know the championship inside out as like us your tried for years to get up and always fell short, that experience will do you well and if you can keep hold of the majority of the squad then I think you and Norwich if they keep their squad should do very well next season
Really? Against defending like that on many of the clips I don't think you can tell. We attacked so rarely and made so few chances last season last year it's hard to compare the two. One played in a team full of confidence who knew what the white sticks at the other end were for. For those who think Frazier is not a decent goalscorer: 1. Hull away, last game of Championship season - world class timed run and finish past advancing keeper following Kimbo's pass. 2. Mancscum at home last season - that goal following the pass from Mutch. Just made it look easy - clinical. The problem was he scored so few because moments like this, when we created chances, were so rare. He just ran and ran - never to be given the ball.
Love the effort put in by FC but I don't think we need him in light of our signings. He just never had the first touch to be a better than average striker. He had the attitude to be a great striker
Sorry that's just not what I saw. He ran down blind alleys, miss controlled most passes sent his way and broke up more of our attacks than the opposition defence most weeks. To be a pl striker you must be able to do more than once a season time a run into a gap created by poor defending. The only benefit of doubt I'll give him his confidence was shot BUT that was mainly because he'd spooned a f**k load of chances!
Frazier Campbell was not the problem. We were relegated, not because we couldn't score, but because we couldn't defend. Our midfield wasn't brilliant either or the system for that matter meaning Campbell was isolated. The effort he put in was incredible and worked harder than any City player I can recall. He struggled because he often had 5 or 6 of the opposition to cope with. In a better side, or a side playing with two upfront or in a system which better suited his style of play, he would do far better.
Afraid I don't see it as clear cut as that Whoops. I agree that Campbell was often hung out to dry and was unsupported in many of the games he played, but his lack of ability to bring others into play when he did have the chance was also very poor. His first touch was lacking and tended to take him into trouble rather than away from it. He also can't play with his back to goal and maybe that was the problem - the wrong guy for the job the way Malky (and even Ole later ) was setting up. Defensively, were very naive on times, but we held Spurs until the last minutes of stoppage time, and Everton home and Southampton away were fine examples of defensive togetherness - not pretty at all, but pretty effective nonetheless. Not enough I know, but it could be done and we blew it as a team. I've posted this before, but here goes again. The lack of an effective strike force cost us our place in the Prem. We could not pressure the opposition, and they had very little fear of being punished by a slow and ineffective offensive combination. Only when Noone started to be played after being frozen out by the "master-plan" did other sides look scared. We failed to score in exactly half of our 38 Premier League games - that 19 big fat zeros that a single goal in just a few of them would have kept us up. We're down and that's it, but we had no offensive player in the squad who was ever likely to change the inevitable - and that includes Campbell.
Thanks Sparkey. I based my conclusion on the fact we conceded the second highest number of goals in the Division at 74 for the season. You are right that we did pretty well defensively against some teams but the statistics don't lie. Our attacking prowess was not great either. But I don't think we can lay the entire blame for that on Campbell's door as I believe he would have performed better as a second striker and certainly not in sole role he was asked to play. It's probably a little easy to say if we scored a single goal in those games in which we failed to score we might have stayed up as the same could probably be said of the other relegated teams who lost or even failed to draw by a single goal. I think Campbell could do very well in the Championship; in the previous season he scored 7 goals in 12 (including substitute) appearances which is a good record by any standard. If/when he moves he will be a loss in my view. I accept though I'm probably in the minority here but that is often the case.
For all I've said id be happy to have him in the squad in the championship. He'd be an asset. His shortcomings will always render him as a pl nearly Man IMO but we'll probably find out next season as I'm sure someone will pay the money. He's played for better PL sides than we were and not scored goals. We were relegated because we were poor at both ends of the pitch as both your stats prove. In no way am I blaming FC entirely for our issues up front. We were a very limited attacking side but he was a major almost ever present part of that.
No probs Whoops - I was just quoting a few games with good defensive performances against three top half sides. On the other side of the coin you could equally ask where was our goal coming from to beat Villa both home and away - we could (should) have won both games with an effective striker. That again would have kept us up. It's fair to say that other teams suffered from the same goal shyness, notably Norwich who were the only team to score less than us, but we're not talking about anyone else's problems, only our own. Another half dozen goals could have put us clear, and if we'd got hold of Le Fondre in January instead of KJ, then it could have happened. Jones's performances and a single goal as a result from someone who was brought in to do that specific job was a disaster. I agree it's all about balance, but you have to be able to worry opposition defences, not just allow them to come onto us with no fear of consequences themselves. We were being picked off by holding such a deep line because we had no one to keep the ball up the pitch. Yes, Campbell was trying very hard, but there are no prizes for effort in this game, only end product.
The other side effect of our toothless attack was the 'all out' Keegan style tactics employed by Ole in an attempt to actually score. Hull was a prime example. They just sat there and waited for the gaps. Our defenders can defend in a balanced team our attackers don't score even when we're throwing the kitchen sink at teams.
It is not a minority of one. I believe that in an Ole team next year Campbell would be a real asset and would, on past Championship performance (for us and Hull), be guaranteed to get over 20 goals in the season. I will be very sorry to see him go, and think that if he plays consistently for Leicester next year (who could not fail to be more attacking than we were under Malky) he will score far more goals than he ever did for us. Then people will moan ' why didn't he do that here?' Obvious really - style of play.
