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Rudi Skacel-What Did You Think Of Him!?!


dannysfc
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Am watching the Spurs v Hearts Europa League game and I see that a player in the name of Rudi Skacel is playing for Hearts tonight and I think that he is doing OK atm and I was just wondering what people made of him as I thought he did Well at times for us!

Thoughts!?!

Thanks!

COYR :D!!!

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Am watching the Spurs v Hearts Europa League game and I see that a player in the name of Rudi Skacel is playing for Hearts tonight and I think that he is doing OK atm and I was just wondering what people made of him as I thought he did Well at times for us!

Thoughts!?!

Thanks!

COYR :D!!!

Is this a joke? Can't wait for all the hilarious "has skacel signed yet?" replies. That joke never gets old. True wit

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I'll be controversial and give a serious response. ;)

 

The problem with him was the combination of the hype on here from our own supporters who were impressed with his performances the prior year with Hearts under George Burley and the amount of time it took for that to stew over the couple of months or so it took for him to sign.

 

He wasn't bad, he did a decent job for the team but he just couldn't live up to the artificially elevated expectations many had for him. He wasn't the box to box goalscoring dynamo many had hoped for.... he was just a decent left back and supporting forward.

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I'll be controversial and give a serious response. ;)

 

The problem with him was the combination of the hype on here from our own supporters who were impressed with his performances the prior year with Hearts under George Burley and the amount of time it took for that to stew over the couple of months or so it took for him to sign.

 

He wasn't bad, he did a decent job for the team but he just couldn't live up to the artificially elevated expectations many had for him. He wasn't the box to box goalscoring dynamo many had hoped for.... he was just a decent left back and supporting forward.

 

He was made to look much better than he was by having Gareth Bale play at left back behind him.

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I thought he was ok. The best game he had for us was the first game Dodd and Gorman were in charge. Rudi played in midfield and was outstanding. Next thing he was on loan to some bloody German club !!

 

Burley was to blame for us not seeing the best of Skacel. He was average at left back yet good old George decided that was the best place to play him !

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His start with us was cocked up by his lack of pre-season, this was due to Romanov at Hearts dragging his heals in any transfer.

 

Once we did get him, we started to see the best of him around October-November time, only for him, along with Rasiak to mysteriously drop from being first team players.

 

After that he didn't really get going again for us, and then the following season we decided to waste him by using him as a left back. He was such a waste of a talent, our current management would have got so much more out of him.

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I thought he was played out of position. He was superb for Burley at Hearts in a central midfield position. Burley didn't use him in that position for us and he wasn't as good.

 

I know he had played in other positions for his country and other teams, but his best performances and those that ultimately brought him to us - with much excitement, let's not forget - was a central role.

 

We ignored that.

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Is this a joke? Can't wait for all the hilarious "has skacel signed yet?" replies. That joke never gets old. True wit

 

No it's not a joke St Lej and was just wandering what people made of him n that!

Is Good that the WGS is there as well in the studio tonight so Good to see him too!

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never liked him simply because he dived and fell over all the time. I hate cheats even if he was winning free kicks for us. Some of the`falls', especially when he was defending close to our own corner flag, were embarrassing. That's my opinion and nothing will ever change it.

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He was made to look much better than he was by having Gareth Bale play at left back behind him.

 

I think Bale actually had quite the opposite effect. With him bombing forward and giving overlapping runs and expecting one twos it rather stifled Skacel. Oh and having his free kicks taken off him by a seventeen year old obviously hurt his ego.

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He would have been an excellent player for us in different circumstances, but fate just seemed to transpire against him. There was always something stopping him from delivering his best and it really wan't his fault. The first couple of months he was unfit, having been frozen out by Romanov and being unable to sign for Saints. Then he picked up a knock, then Burley dropped him, then Burley decided to play him at LB. I think his partnership with Bale was one of the best aspects of our playoff season. Bale got forward well to support and Skacel tracked back and covered him when he did. I remember one game, at home to Sunderland when Belmadi played on the left in front of Bale. The pair of them got Mullered.

 

Went to Staplewood once to watch the squad train, back in the Poortaloo days. Met Rudi briefly, seem a very friendly and approachable chap. Good luck to him.

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Thought it didn't help that Saints couldn't find a pair of shorts to fit him. Seemed to have pair several sizes too large, that were probably hand-me-downs from Matt LeTiss along with the shirt number. Never rated him myself, seemed fairly ordinary.

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I'll be controversial and give a serious response. ;)

 

The problem with him was the combination of the hype on here from our own supporters who were impressed with his performances the prior year with Hearts under George Burley and the amount of time it took for that to stew over the couple of months or so it took for him to sign.

 

He wasn't bad, he did a decent job for the team but he just couldn't live up to the artificially elevated expectations many had for him. He wasn't the box to box goalscoring dynamo many had hoped for.... he was just a decent left back and supporting forward.

 

Good evaluation Colin, however I also recall George Burley's comment (referring to his time managing at Hearts) that...

" Skacel had played all over the park for him ".. meaning that he was highly versatile and could perform in almost any role.

 

Unfortunately, at that time we had a serious problem filling the left back spot (unlike today) and Rudi ended up with the position which in all fairness, he filled quite well, but might have been better used elsewhere instead.

Rather, as with Rory Delap, who was a forced to fill in for injured players many times, his overall performances weren't consistant enough to have him considered a good asset. Quote the reverse was true when he moved to Premiership Stoke and became a star player.

 

I noted recently that Rudi (now 33) has had a contract extension at Hearts and is playing better than ever.

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I thought he was played out of position. He was superb for Burley in Scottish football in a central midfield position. Burley didn't use him in that position for us and he wasn't as good.

 

I know he had played in other positions for his country and other teams, but his best performances and those that ultimately brought him to us - with much excitement, let's not forget - was a central role.

 

We ignored that.

 

There, corrected that for you...

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Two things here. Firstly, Skacel was very good for us for the six months when he played at left midfield, leading assister in the division when he suddenly stopped getting picked and then reappeared after Bale's departure in the left back role, which only Bale could attack from.

 

The other thing is that Rory Delap's "star" role for Stoke started and ended with his throw ins, and had no relevance to anything he actually did as a footballer. In fact there was one stat bouncing around the Guardian Football pages at one point a few years back which showed he had taken more throw-ins than made completed passes in once match the were monitoring...

 

Ah, here it is, from Stoke v Wolves - it wasn't even COMPLETED passes, it was ATTEMPTED passes : http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/04/11/rory-delap-throw-ins-stoke-wolves/

Edited by The9
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I'll be controversial and give a serious response. ;)

 

The problem with him was the combination of the hype on here from our own supporters who were impressed with his performances the prior year with Hearts under George Burley and the amount of time it took for that to stew over the couple of months or so it took for him to sign.

 

He wasn't bad, he did a decent job for the team but he just couldn't live up to the artificially elevated expectations many had for him. He wasn't the box to box goalscoring dynamo many had hoped for.... he was just a decent left back and supporting forward.

 

mmm. Nail on the head pretty much.

 

I actually thought that Skacel was a very consistent and solid player throughout 06/07 and probably one of our best players throughout the following two seasons when he wasn't on loan. But with the ridiculous hype before he came and the GENUINE EXPECTATION rather than harmless hope from our fans that he'd get 15 goals and 25 assists whilst walking it to c/ship best player it meant that the lad could never get the credit he deserved.

 

Decent lad, decent player - wish him all the best for the future.

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