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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 16 2004 : 10:20:14 AM
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Mexx
Didnt read past the 1st sentence, but to The Mexx Man, Damien Francis
Thursday, September 16, 2004, 7:35:44 AM
IP:65.210.139.252
is a better option at DM (defensive mid) than Micah Hyde and Jamie Lawrence, now if I had a choice and need to play 2 DM's it would not be Micah and Jamie but Francis and Micah and that would be a substantial upgrade, over Phucky the Phowl Lawrence (must admit he placed a good game against weak El Salvador)
Karl
Disagree! Disagree strongly!
Thursday, September 16, 2004, 7:42:15 AM
IP:24.188.138.21
The Damien Francis I have seen always plays a weak game. He does not enthusiastically get stuck in.
Besides his touch for someone who wants to be given many touches of the ball is not up to snuff. In a nutshell he would give away the ball so often it would be termed ''playing for the other side''.
I have heard the talk of him as ''steel''...if he is ''steel'' it is light weght stuff - easily bent!
We do not need him! He will make our present team worse! ...and, this TEAM is not where we are looking. We are looking FORWARD! TOP OF THE WORLD is the aim!
Karl
RE:heheheeeee, Jamie Lawrence has touch?
Thursday, September 16, 2004, 7:57:25 AM
IP:24.188.138.21
Francis is a wanna be Tappa! Jamie is a different kettle of fish.
Jamie plays only one way - TEAM @ FULL 100!
BTW - Jamie is a better enforcer than Francis. Jamie's workrate is 1000% greater than Francis.
Jamie makes good passes on good surfaces! ...and, when fully fit does well at passing on any surface.
Jamie SUPPORTS both on defense and attack!
Francis as a player cannot walk in Jamie's shoes. |
Karl |
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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
Posted - Sep 16 2004 : 2:41:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Karl
Mexx
Didnt read past the 1st sentence, but to The Mexx Man, Damien Francis
Thursday, September 16, 2004, 7:35:44 AM
IP:65.210.139.252
is a better option at DM (defensive mid) than Micah Hyde and Jamie Lawrence, now if I had a choice and need to play 2 DM's it would not be Micah and Jamie but Francis and Micah and that would be a substantial upgrade, over Phucky the Phowl Lawrence (must admit he placed a good game against weak El Salvador)
Karl
Disagree! Disagree strongly!
Thursday, September 16, 2004, 7:42:15 AM
IP:24.188.138.21
The Damien Francis I have seen always plays a weak game. He does not enthusiastically get stuck in.
Besides his touch for someone who wants to be given many touches of the ball is not up to snuff. In a nutshell he would give away the ball so often it would be termed ''playing for the other side''.
I have heard the talk of him as ''steel''...if he is ''steel'' it is light weght stuff - easily bent!
We do not need him! He will make our present team worse! ...and, this TEAM is not where we are looking. We are looking FORWARD! TOP OF THE WORLD is the aim!
Karl
RE:heheheeeee, Jamie Lawrence has touch?
Thursday, September 16, 2004, 7:57:25 AM
IP:24.188.138.21
Francis is a wanna be Tappa! Jamie is a different kettle of fish.
Jamie plays only one way - TEAM @ FULL 100!
BTW - Jamie is a better enforcer than Francis. Jamie's workrate is 1000% greater than Francis.
Jamie makes good passes on good surfaces! ...and, when fully fit does well at passing on any surface.
Jamie SUPPORTS both on defense and attack!
Francis as a player cannot walk in Jamie's shoes.
Mexx
Karl, I am not the only one with the opinion of Damien Francis
PREMIERSHIP: Norwich’s Damien Francis has a touch of the Patrick Vieira about him
'Norwich City have a potential star, in his prime, who cost next to nothing and HAS Premiership experience. Who says there are no bargains out there?'
It’s difficult to make comparisons with great players, but in the early stages of the season it appears that Damien Francis may be the player to direct Norwich away from the bottom three. The accepted wisdom is that to survive you need to sign a series of journeymen with ‘experience of the top-flight’, probably on big money on the basis that they know just how hard to boot it into touch with five minutes left. In the 25-year-old Damien Francis, Norwich City have a potential star, in his prime, who cost next to nothing and HAS Premiership experience. Who says there are no bargains out there?
Although he physically resembles Vieira, Francis is a pacy and powerful six feet plus, it’s the way he moves about the pitch that really brings to mind an image of Vieira. Long striding and powerful, Francis has pace, power and the ability to score, create and deny goals. The Londoner really catches the eye with his simple but effective short passing game. All told he is the kind of destructive yet creative player that all footballing teams need. As Norwich like to keep the ball down and play football Francis appears to be pivotal.
At the weekend at Old Trafford all eyes were either considering excuses for an injury and suspension hit Manchester United or on the self-professed footballing genius that is David Bentley. Bentley’s interview with the Guardian on Saturday was either genius self-justifying genius or the kind of arrogant outburst you expect from American sprinters. Either way if Bentley is right then English football has the new Maradona – failing that a Cruyff at minimum. Bentley may have hit the bar but he was effectively replaced as a forward by Gary Doherty – hardly in the script.
Francis made his debut for Wimbledon (now Milton Keynes Dons) in the 1997/98 season as an 18 year old against Arsenal. He had been with Wimbledon since he was 9 years old, and, perhaps surprisingly, has more top-flight experience than many of his team-mates. Ligament damage restricted the appearances that the Wandsworth born player could make for Wimbledon and in the five seasons before he signed for Norwich City he played only 117 games, scoring 15 goals. His disciplinary record throughout his career has been good and he gets booked every 10 games or so and has never been sent off.
Norwich City signed Francis for £260,000 from Wimbledon in July 2003. 38 starts in his first season shows that he settled in quickly, and as he weighed in with 7 league goals from midfield he certainly was a major player in a title winning team.
Norwich have been handed a dreadful opening few fixtures on paper, playing five of last seasons top 6 in the opening seven games. But their brand of open football will surprise many teams, and nearly took a point from Old Trafford in a frenetic ending. Expect a couple of shock results from Norwich in the next month – and expect Damien Francis to be at the heart of them.
Antony Melvin
22/08/2004 |
Karl |
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Damien Francis/Jamie Lawrence - Mexx/Karl
