Its time for Gerrard

I don't know whether Gerrard has upset Malky, but there has been a lot of animation between the two when Gerrard has been playing. I sit near the dug out and Malky would often shout instuctions to him and it seems that Gerrard was mouthing back at Malky.
However putting this to one side, I feel Gerrard is a far better player than Hudson and its Hudson who should be dropped.
Yes Gerrard was at fault for one of Hull's goals, but I think he should have stayed in the team.
Ben Turner will be a big asset to our team when fully match fit and I would like to see Turner and Gerrard as our centre backs. I don't know whether this will work, but only time will tell.
We have got to shore up our defence, because at the moment its not good enough

I have wondered why Gerrard has been dropped, hmm.

6 goals in two games worries me and tbh i wouldnt mind seeing Gerrard return to partner Hudson or Turner cause tbh we seemed more stable with Gezza playing and Midfield General Keinan's not fully fit according to Malky, don't know whether that true before people starting having a go saying "i need to take of my rose tinted glasses"

two out of the following blake,gerrard,turner

two out of the following blake,gerrard,turner

agree with this...

Bobbee Gee, For me its Darcy Blake and Turner

Bobbee Gee, For me its Darcy Blake and Turner

If Gerrard has been mouthing off back to Malky then he ain't going to last long. No league manager will take that shit from any player, DJ didn't and Gerrard was gone to Hull soon after.

In my opinion he's overated with limited pace and technical ability, i think he actually believes that he is a better player than he is ... if we can get a decent fee for him in January then lets move him on.

Must say that Gerrard seems unlucky to be the one dropped. Strange, that central defence seems well covered, but neither Jonesey or now Malky seem to have worked out what the best combination is.

Don't know what to make of Hudson. He plays well for a few games, then has a bad one. A good mate of mine is a Charlton fan, and tells me that Hudson was like that at The Valley.

Take a better football brain than mine to sort it out

IMO Gerrard has been average in most games.
Hudson is a better player

IMO Gerrard has been average in most games.
Hudson is a better player

agree there, Gerrard is awful, his distribution and positioning is crap

His positioning is unbelievable and he never covers the other cb either. Because he makes the glamour headers people seem to love him. Hudson, turner, Keinan, Blake, Gerrard in that order for me.

IMO Gerrard has been average in most games.
Hudson is a better player

agree there, Gerrard is awful, his distribution and positioning is crap

His positioning is unbelievable and he never covers the other cb either. Because he makes the glamour headers people seem to love him. Hudson, turner, Keinan, Blake, Gerrard in that order for me.

agree with your Gerrard comment once again, Kienan, Hudson, Blake, Turner (going on what Ive seen already), Gerrard is the order for me.

Glamour headers is a new one on me!

Seriously though, it's all about opinions and IMO, Gerrard is on a par with Hudson in the passing stakes, but considering Hudson is the captain, his positioning should be much better, which it isn't IMO and he cost us the fourth goal last night, by tring to play offside, when it wasn't on!

Forgot to mention, Hudson was also beaten in the air for the corner which led to their first goal Last night and whilst many people keep stating that Gerrard cost us a goal at Hull (which did appear to be a weak tackle in all fairness), watch the goal again and tell me who lost control of the ball and gave it away in the same move, shortly before they scored!

Bet you'll be right!

Forgot to mention, Hudson was also beaten in the air for the corner which led to their first goal Last night and whilst many people keep stating that Gerrard cost us a goal at Hull (which did appear to be a weak tackle in all fairness), watch the goal again and tell me who lost control of the ball and gave it away in the same move, shortly before they scored!

Bet you'll be right!

So come on then, you've given us plenty of your opinion on Hudson, let's hear what you've got to say about Gerrard.

Hudson all day long for me.

Forgot to mention, Hudson was also beaten in the air for the corner which led to their first goal Last night and whilst many people keep stating that Gerrard cost us a goal at Hull (which did appear to be a weak tackle in all fairness), watch the goal again and tell me who lost control of the ball and gave it away in the same move, shortly before they scored!

Bet you'll be right!

So come on then, you've given us plenty of your opinion on Hudson, let's hear what you've got to say about Gerrard.

Hudson all day long for me.

I've already given a bit of an appraisal on Gerrard in my post 2 above yours, but here's some more:-

IMO, if it hadn't been for Gerrard and his partnership with mainly Darcy 2 seasons ago, we wouldn't have got to the play offs, as the centre back pairings when Hudson was injured, was pivotal in us going on a fine unbeaten run, which we hadn't done whilst Hudson had been playing and marshalling the back four!

Gerrard's brute force and willingness to attack every ball, which he won in the main, Darcy's turn of pace and eagerness to do his own job and cover behind Gerrard and the full backs as well, was crucial in keeping us in the Play Offs hunt at least!

Unfortunately for us, Gerrard got injured just before we played Derby away and having secured a play off place, DJ put out a weakened team at Derby, bringing back the now fit Hudson!

It doesn't matter that we lost 2-0 at Derby, as the Play Offs were the priority and in the first leg at Leicester, Hudson had his only impressive game for me, before coming back down with an inept performance in the home leg, which we should have won easily, but lost overall, before going through to play Blackpool and finally overcoming Leicester on penalties!

Many people didn't perform at Wembley, but even taking into account the fact that things didn't go our way with losing Bothroyd so early, several other players underperformed miserably! Marshall was poor, Utuhu was even worse when he came on to replace Bothroyd, but the main reason we couldn't hang on to a match where we led twice, was down to a lack of leadership, a lack of organisational capabilities on the pitch and an ability to raise people's games, when things weren't going so well!

IMO, that was down to Hudson!

People say that he had a good season last season, well after the season he had previously, I'd admit that it was certainly an improvement, but a good season? No, not for me!

We still came up short, even with the superb strike force we had at our disposal and the common denominator for me, is Hudson!

Just to balance things up again, I think that Hudson is a decent centre half and if you ask me to compare his qualities alongside Gerrard's, then here they are:-

Passing
Both can be poor, but Gerrard is slightly better IMO!

Tackling
Both can tackle quite well, but Gerrard is definitely the better for me!

Heading
Both can win the ball consistently in the air, but I believe that Gerrard wins more than Hudson, but where Hudson loses this battle clearly for me, is heading direction, where Hudson doesn't appear to try and head the ball to one of our players, as it always seems to end up at the feet, of an attacking opponent!

Pace
Neither are blessed with blistering pace, but Gerrard is certainly a bit quicker!

Overall, I don't think there's a lot to choose between either player as out and out centre backs, but it's in the following category for me, that things go awry for Hudson!

Leadership & Decision Making
Hudson was captain of Cardiff 2 seasons ago, when we came up short in the Play Off final.
He was also captain during many games last season, when Bellamy was out injured, or just being rested.
He has been handed the captain's armband again this season, with Bellamy now departed.

Hudson has come up drastically short in this department for me, as whilst he appears a really nice bloke and can certainly talk the talk off the pitch, he cannot walk the walk on the pitch!

He has little or no organisational capabilities, he only seems to shout at his team mates, when things have gone wrong and usually after it has been himself, that has made the cock up!

We play too deep with Hudson in the team and that's to make up for his lack of pace IMO, so if you don't believe me, have a look at the Ipswich game last Saturday, when he was pointing to defenders to pick up left and stood off, instead of going forward to close down Scotland, who he allowed to come forward and blast a 25 yarder, firmly into our net! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15328167.stm

Have a look at his decision making for the Peterborough winner on Tuesday night, where he tries to play their scorer offside, gets caught out and can't get back to close him down! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15376131.stm
I've already mentioned that he got outjumped at the corner, which led to them scoring their first equaliser, but I'm not blaming Hudson for that, as no centre back wins every ball in the air!

It's difficult to compare Hudson alongside Gerrard as captains and judge their leadership qualities alongside each other, as we haven't seen Gerrard captain our side and it would be unfair to judge him on 2 games played against us last season!

All I can say on this category, is that Hudson comes up miserably short, but whilst Gerrard was captain of Hull last season, he was also given their fans player of the season award!

It would also be wrong to possibly judge Gerrard on this award, as I didn't see many of Hull's games last season, but having watched every home game that Hudson has played for us and umpteen away games as well, I can say that Hudson is not and never will be, completely competent in this department and will come up short far too often for me!

I’m not saying that Gerrard will do better than Hudson as captain, but IMO, Hudson needs to be dropped and somebody else needs to be given a chance!

I was expecting this to say "to f**k off" but surprised to find it full of praise to someone who gives the ball away and far, far too often and hangs on to the ball far too long.

Its time for Gerrard - to start playing simple balls
Its time for Gerrard - to stop attempting glamour balls, you're just giving the ball away you numpty
Its time for Gerrard - to stop getting caught in possession

I was expecting this to say "to f**k off" but surprised to find it full of praise to someone who gives the ball away and far, far too often and hangs on to the ball far too long.

Its time for Gerrard - to start playing simple balls
Its time for Gerrard - to stop attempting glamour balls, you're just giving the ball away you numpty
Its time for Gerrard - to stop getting caught in possession

Totally agree. He tries to be like his cousin Steven too often and as a result possession is given away far too cheaply.

I was expecting this to say "to f**k off" but surprised to find it full of praise to someone who gives the ball away and far, far too often and hangs on to the ball far too long.

Its time for Gerrard - to start playing simple balls
Its time for Gerrard - to stop attempting glamour balls, you're just giving the ball away you numpty
Its time for Gerrard - to stop getting caught in possession

Totally agree. He tries to be like his cousin Steven too often and as a result possession is given away far too cheaply.

Great point lad, not seen enough of Turner personally, but for me Gerrard should still be starting but he has a lot to improve on. Keinan is a classy CB but gives away far to many fouls

Forgot to mention, Hudson was also beaten in the air for the corner which led to their first goal Last night and whilst many people keep stating that Gerrard cost us a goal at Hull (which did appear to be a weak tackle in all fairness), watch the goal again and tell me who lost control of the ball and gave it away in the same move, shortly before they scored!

Bet you'll be right!

So come on then, you've given us plenty of your opinion on Hudson, let's hear what you've got to say about Gerrard.

Hudson all day long for me.

I've already given a bit of an appraisal on Gerrard in my post 2 above yours, but here's some more:-

IMO, if it hadn't been for Gerrard and his partnership with mainly Darcy 2 seasons ago, we wouldn't have got to the play offs, as the centre back pairings when Hudson was injured, was pivotal in us going on a fine unbeaten run, which we hadn't done whilst Hudson had been playing and marshalling the back four!

Gerrard's brute force and willingness to attack every ball, which he won in the main, Darcy's turn of pace and eagerness to do his own job and cover behind Gerrard and the full backs as well, was crucial in keeping us in the Play Offs hunt at least!

Unfortunately for us, Gerrard got injured just before we played Derby away and having secured a play off place, DJ put out a weakened team at Derby, bringing back the now fit Hudson!

It doesn't matter that we lost 2-0 at Derby, as the Play Offs were the priority and in the first leg at Leicester, Hudson had his only impressive game for me, before coming back down with an inept performance in the home leg, which we should have won easily, but lost overall, before going through to play Blackpool and finally overcoming Leicester on penalties!

Many people didn't perform at Wembley, but even taking into account the fact that things didn't go our way with losing Bothroyd so early, several other players underperformed miserably! Marshall was poor, Utuhu was even worse when he came on to replace Bothroyd, but the main reason we couldn't hang on to a match where we led twice, was down to a lack of leadership, a lack of organisational capabilities on the pitch and an ability to raise people's games, when things weren't going so well!

IMO, that was down to Hudson!

People say that he had a good season last season, well after the season he had previously, I'd admit that it was certainly an improvement, but a good season? No, not for me!

We still came up short, even with the superb strike force we had at our disposal and the common denominator for me, is Hudson!

Just to balance things up again, I think that Hudson is a decent centre half and if you ask me to compare his qualities alongside Gerrard's, then here they are:-

Passing
Both can be poor, but Gerrard is slightly better IMO!

Tackling
Both can tackle quite well, but Gerrard is definitely the better for me!

Heading
Both can win the ball consistently in the air, but I believe that Gerrard wins more than Hudson, but where Hudson loses this battle clearly for me, is heading direction, where Hudson doesn't appear to try and head the ball to one of our players, as it always seems to end up at the feet, of an attacking opponent!

Pace
Neither are blessed with blistering pace, but Gerrard is certainly a bit quicker!

Overall, I don't think there's a lot to choose between either player as out and out centre backs, but it's in the following category for me, that things go awry for Hudson!

Leadership & Decision Making
Hudson was captain of Cardiff 2 seasons ago, when we came up short in the Play Off final.
He was also captain during many games last season, when Bellamy was out injured, or just being rested.
He has been handed the captain's armband again this season, with Bellamy now departed.

Hudson has come up drastically short in this department for me, as whilst he appears a really nice bloke and can certainly talk the talk off the pitch, he cannot walk the walk on the pitch!

He has little or no organisational capabilities, he only seems to shout at his team mates, when things have gone wrong and usually after it has been himself, that has made the cock up!

We play too deep with Hudson in the team and that's to make up for his lack of pace IMO, so if you don't believe me, have a look at the Ipswich game last Saturday, when he was pointing to defenders to pick up left and stood off, instead of going forward to close down Scotland, who he allowed to come forward and blast a 25 yarder, firmly into our net! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15328167.stm

Have a look at his decision making for the Peterborough winner on Tuesday night, where he tries to play their scorer offside, gets caught out and can't get back to close him down! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15376131.stm
I've already mentioned that he got outjumped at the corner, which led to them scoring their first equaliser, but I'm not blaming Hudson for that, as no centre back wins every ball in the air!

It's difficult to compare Hudson alongside Gerrard as captains and judge their leadership qualities alongside each other, as we haven't seen Gerrard captain our side and it would be unfair to judge him on 2 games played against us last season!

All I can say on this category, is that Hudson comes up miserably short, but whilst Gerrard was captain of Hull last season, he was also given their fans player of the season award!

It would also be wrong to possibly judge Gerrard on this award, as I didn't see many of Hull's games last season, but having watched every home game that Hudson has played for us and umpteen away games as well, I can say that Hudson is not and never will be, completely competent in this department and will come up short far too often for me!

I’m not saying that Gerrard will do better than Hudson as captain, but IMO, Hudson needs to be dropped and somebody else needs to be given a chance!

Well it looks like, sadly, nothing will change your mind

So the Gerrard/Blake partnership. You're obviously someone who was a huge advocate of it, so what did you make of the Hudson/Keinan partnership last season? For my money it was just as good if not better until it was unfortunately broken up when Hudson was injured at Millwall. That certainly looked like a partnership for the long-term, i.e. 2 or 3 seasons, whereas the Gerrard/Blake was a temporary thing like the Keinan/McNaughton partnership at the end of last season.

I must also ask you what you made of that last partnership? Missed Hudson quite a bit then didn't we. It didn’t look like we had anyone there to organise things.

I agree to a certain extent that perhaps we needed more from him against Blackpool in terms of rallying the troops etc., but was it his fault that Marshall couldn't deal with corners/crosses to save his life and that his mistake for their second goal was an absolute howler/catastrophe which arguably lost us the game? It'd certainly be a bit harsh to say the least, blaming him for that!

And I'm sorry, but what you say about him last season is bollocks, pure and simple! He was one of our key players last season (that might have something to do with losing the team captaincy to Bellamy, but there were numerous occasions when he captained the side last season - on 12 occasions he started a game as captain in the league, resulting in 5 wins, 4 draws, and 3 defeats, which is 19 points out of a possible 36), narrowly losing out to Kevin McNaughton regarding the player of the year award! Remember beating the jacks away? I know they only played one up front (and still do), and everyone was raving about Ramsey's performance (which was admittedly excellent), but for me, and many others, Hudson was the clear MOTM and was superb throughout. And I don't know what the hell you're on about when you say he's the "common denominator"! This is football, not maths. But if you're trying to say he's the reason why we weren't promoted last season, then that, again, is rubbish.

Gerrard's passing is better?! What are you on?! He obviously tries to impersonate his more successful cousin's 40-yard Hollywood passes but can't pull them off. He just needs to be simpler and no overdo the long-range passes but I'm not too sure he'll ever learn. Hudson is a centre-half therefore he will obviously play it long some times; he's not Xabi Alonso. But he tends to be more accurate, a lot more accurate actually, when 'lumping' it up to whoever is up front. And if he does play it short or square to McNaughton, then what's wrong with that? As I said, he's a centre-half, not a "deep-lying playmaker", to quote the Football Manager video game series!

We all know Hudson isn't that quick, but neither was Sami Hyypia, and look how good he was. What gets me though, is when one of the Hudson 'bashers' uses a stupid cliché like "I've seen milk turn quicker"

They’re on the same level for me with regards to tackling - you win some, you lose some. On some occasions the ball will bounce/deflect your way; on others, the opposition's way.

I agree on part of your point about heading - Gerrard does probably attack the ball more aggressively and generally does win more in the air, presumably because he has 'passion'! But there's no point winning the headers if you don't win the second balls! Oh, and I'm sorry, I didn’t realise Gerrard is always looking to head the ball in a pinpoint manner directly to one of his team-mates?! I thought you said you were a centre-half yourself? Fine, fair enough, try and get it to a team-mate if you can, but you can try all you want, it won't always happen. When I was younger and playing for junior teams, all you get told is, basically, get as much power/purchase on the ball when you head it as you possibly can! They didn't tell me "Oh, and remember, try not to head it directly to the feet of an opponent precisely 20 yards from the goal which you are defending!" Hudson is actually more skilful (most of the time when he is unchallenged, to be fair) in directing a header or laying it off to a team-mate with a 'cushioned' header than Gerrard is.

I won't bother too much about the leadership stuff that you are soooooooo convinced about, but I will say that if you think he has "little or no organisational capabilities", then why was he captain under Neil Warnock (a manager twice promoted from the Championship, each time in the top two) at Palace for half a season, missing only one game all season (if Wikipedia is correct), in a season which saw Palace reach the play-off semi-final, losing only in extra-time of the second leg away from home to Bristol City? Why was he appointed captain at Charlton (I know they were relegated, but you can't blame him for a whole squad being relegated!), and then again, at City? I know Joe Ledley and the club were in contract negotiations that were eventually not resolved, initially resulting in him losing the captaincy, but it could easily have gone to someone else like Stephen McPhail, or even Bothroyd (who was temporary captain in March/April 2010)! But Dave Jones, a manager with quite a lot of experience (and a Championship play-off final victory on his CV) and who has managed in the Premiership, chose him. When he was appointed captain upon his arrival at the club that meant we became the third successive club he had been appointed captain of. It can't all be coincidence can it?

And when Malky stepped in to the manager's 'hotseat' back in the summer, he appointed/kept him on, as captain.

As for the Ipswich game last Saturday, it was the f*cking midfield (namely Aron Gunnarsson)'s fault that Scotland was not closed down early enough! It's happened before - the midfield have failed to be there, in place, ready to close a shot down, it's resulted in a goal, and the defence, somehow, has got the blame!

I haven't seen the Peterborough game, but to be fair, the defence can at least say they're not heavily reliant on the offside trap working, unlike some defences! You complain about him and the defence being too deep, but it's better to be safe than sorry! You should know! Every defender will eventually get caught a couple of times, but by no means does it happen every game with City/Hudson! I thought I'd heard the goal on Tuesday night that you are referring to was a fairly controversial offside call actually!

But there we go, each to their own. I don't think he comes up "miserably short" at all - like I've said, he must be doing something right if this is the third successive club he's been appointed captain of! And Gerrard, Hull's captain last season? I can't remember that, at all, but correct me if I'm wrong. I thought Robert Koren was and still is Hull's captain. And wow, player of the year at Hull. It's a bit like people getting tricked by the Darcy Blake thing when he played for Wales against England/Rooney. It deceives you a bit - Hull weren't really in contention for promotion last year, so it's a fairly pointless/worthless award, and Rooney was completely isolated against Wales and received no support from his team-mates, therefore rendering him useless.

I guess that we can conclude that you will never be satisfied/content/happy/pleased with Mark Hudson as our captain, but I wouldn't go as far as saying he needs to be dropped! Admittedly he isn't perfect, but who is?

Thank you and goodnight!

I was expecting this to say "to f**k off" but surprised to find it full of praise to someone who gives the ball away and far, far too often and hangs on to the ball far too long.

Its time for Gerrard - to start playing simple balls
Its time for Gerrard - to stop attempting glamour balls, you're just giving the ball away you numpty
Its time for Gerrard - to stop getting caught in possession

Totally agree. He tries to be like his cousin Steven too often and as a result possession is given away far too cheaply.

Great point lad, not seen enough of Turner personally, but for me Gerrard should still be starting but he has a lot to improve on. Keinan is a classy CB but gives away far to many fouls

Got to agree. Keinan certainly is (as Midfield General said) the best 'footballing' CB at the club. Gerrard is a good player but he's still young, and as you said, has a lot to improve on.

Well it looks like, sadly, nothing will change your mind

So the Gerrard/Blake partnership. You're obviously someone who was a huge advocate of it, so what did you make of the Hudson/Keinan partnership last season? For my money it was just as good if not better until it was unfortunately broken up when Hudson was injured at Millwall. That certainly looked like a partnership for the long-term, i.e. 2 or 3 seasons, whereas the Gerrard/Blake was a temporary thing like the Keinan/McNaughton partnership at the end of last season.

I must also ask you what you made of that last partnership? Missed Hudson quite a bit then didn't we. It didn’t look like we had anyone there to organise things.

We went on a superb run of results after Gerrard & Blake got together before the Play-Off Final and it only went tits up, when Hudson returned from injury (apart from the Leicester away leg)!
I didn’t like the Hudson/Keinan partnership, as we were still playing too deep, but as we had such a good attacking midfield and forward line during that time, that carried us to some of our wins, although we still lost too many games whilst they were together! When McNaughton came in after Hudson got injured, we stopped playing so deep and McNaughton played a sweeper type role, much the same as Darcy had the previous season and we went on another superb run, whilst Hudson was out of the side! After the 3-3 draw at Millwall, where Hudson got injured, we won our next 4 games in a row, then drew unluckily against QPR, before going to one of our bogey grounds (Deepdale) and winning 1-0 there as well! So out of 6 games played with Keinan & McNaughton playing together, we won 5 and drew with the league leaders, picking up 16 out of 18 points! It clearly went tits up during the next home game against Middlesbrough, but that appeared to be more down to the p!ssheads and especially JLS! Just have a look at our run of results whilst Hudson has been in the side and show me anywhere where we went on anything like the runs we went on, whilst Gerrard & Blake and Keinan & McNaughton were playing together! As I’ve already said, the common denominator IMO, is Hudson, so I cannot agree with you, that we’ve missed Hudson at anytime during his playing career with us, let alone for any part of last season! Missed Hudson’s organising? Locks Boll!

I agree to a certain extent that perhaps we needed more from him against Blackpool in terms of rallying the troops etc., but was it his fault that Marshall couldn't deal with corners/crosses to save his life and that his mistake for their second goal was an absolute howler/catastrophe which arguably lost us the game? It'd certainly be a bit harsh to say the least, blaming him for that!

I agree to a certain extent that perhaps we needed more from him against Blackpool in terms of rallying the troops etc., but was it his fault that Marshall couldn't deal with corners/crosses to save his life and that his mistake for their second goal was an absolute howler/catastrophe which arguably lost us the game? It'd certainly be a bit harsh to say the least, blaming him for that!

The first goal, was a superb free kick from Charlie Adam, although it had been awarded for a hand ball, which shouldn’t have been given, as it was ball to hand. Marshall was definitely to blame for the 2nd goal, as we’ve already identified, he flapped at a cross. The 3rd goal however, was down to a complete shambles of a defence, where we again played too deep, with the ball appearing to bounce around our penalty area, like a ball bearing in a flipper machine (showing my age now), with pretty abysmal organising, from your obvious idol!

And I'm sorry, but what you say about him last season is bollocks, pure and simple! He was one of our key players last season (that might have something to do with losing the team captaincy to Bellamy, but there were numerous occasions when he captained the side last season - on 12 occasions he started a game as captain in the league, resulting in 5 wins, 4 draws, and 3 defeats, which is 19 points out of a possible 36), narrowly losing out to Kevin McNaughton regarding the player of the year award! Remember beating the jacks away? I know they only played one up front (and still do), and everyone was raving about Ramsey's performance (which was admittedly excellent), but for me, and many others, Hudson was the clear MOTM and was superb throughout. And I don't know what the hell you're on about when you say he's the "common denominator"! This is football, not maths. But if you're trying to say he's the reason why we weren't promoted last season, then that, again, is rubbish.

Hudson was only a key performer last season, whilst he was out injured! Same for previous season IMO!

Gerrard's passing is better?! What are you on?! He obviously tries to impersonate his more successful cousin's 40-yard Hollywood passes but can't pull them off. He just needs to be simpler and no overdo the long-range passes but I'm not too sure he'll ever learn. Hudson is a centre-half therefore he will obviously play it long some times; he's not Xabi Alonso. But he tends to be more accurate, a lot more accurate actually, when 'lumping' it up to whoever is up front. And if he does play it short or square to McNaughton, then what's wrong with that? As I said, he's a centre-half, not a "deep-lying playmaker", to quote the Football Manager video game series!

Gerrard’s passing is slightly better IMO, but I didn’t say that his passing is that good, as IMO Keinan’s passing is the best of all our centre backs and I’d also say, that whilst Gyepes is clearly very slow, his passing is far better than Hudson and Gerrard’s as well! It’s about weighing up all our players strengths and weaknesses IMO and playing the best all round performers, which is why I’d prefer any of our other centre back options to play instead of Hudson, except for Gyepes!

We all know Hudson isn't that quick, but neither was Sami Hyypia, and look how good he was. What gets me though, is when one of the Hudson 'bashers' uses a stupid cliché like "I've seen milk turn quicker"

This term though, whilst quite disparaging, is quite apt! To repeat what I’ve said on many other occasions though, it’s not that I find Hudson a poor centre half, it’s that he’s also there to command the back four and if he had somebody playing behind him, like a sweeper in the Gary Mabbutt mold, then I suspect he’d do a good enough job! The problem for me, is that as a captain and supposed marshaller of the back four, he has to think too much!

They’re on the same level for me with regards to tackling - you win some, you lose some. On some occasions the ball will bounce/deflect your way; on others, the opposition's way.

I agree on part of your point about heading - Gerrard does probably attack the ball more aggressively and generally does win more in the air, presumably because he has 'passion'! But there's no point winning the headers if you don't win the second balls! Oh, and I'm sorry, I didn’t realise Gerrard is always looking to head the ball in a pinpoint manner directly to one of his team-mates?! I thought you said you were a centre-half yourself? Fine, fair enough, try and get it to a team-mate if you can, but you can try all you want, it won't always happen. When I was younger and playing for junior teams, all you get told is, basically, get as much power/purchase on the ball when you head it as you possibly can! They didn't tell me "Oh, and remember, try not to head it directly to the feet of an opponent precisely 20 yards from the goal which you are defending!" Hudson is actually more skilful (most of the time when he is unchallenged, to be fair) in directing a header or laying it off to a team-mate with a 'cushioned' header than Gerrard is.

Utter drivel!

I won't bother too much about the leadership stuff that you are soooooooo convinced about, but I will say that if you think he has "little or no organisational capabilities", then why was he captain under Neil Warnock (a manager twice promoted from the Championship, each time in the top two) at Palace for half a season, missing only one game all season (if Wikipedia is correct), in a season which saw Palace reach the play-off semi-final, losing only in extra-time of the second leg away from home to Bristol City? Why was he appointed captain at Charlton (I know they were relegated, but you can't blame him for a whole squad being relegated!), and then again, at City? I know Joe Ledley and the club were in contract negotiations that were eventually not resolved, initially resulting in him losing the captaincy, but it could easily have gone to someone else like Stephen McPhail, or even Bothroyd (who was temporary captain in March/April 2010)! But Dave Jones, a manager with quite a lot of experience (and a Championship play-off final victory on his CV) and who has managed in the Premiership, chose him. When he was appointed captain upon his arrival at the club that meant we became the third successive club he had been appointed captain of. It can't all be coincidence can it?

And when Malky stepped in to the manager's 'hotseat' back in the summer, he appointed/kept him on, as captain.

It seems that these other managers must have had limited resources, whilst Hudson was playing for them! I suspect that Malky has given Hudson a chance to shine alongside Turner, who is clearly going to be one of his first choice centre backs, but if he continues to play like he has the last couple of games, he’ll be out on his arse, which is where he belongs (like Bothroyd to some respect)!

As for the Ipswich game last Saturday, it was the f*cking midfield (namely Aron Gunnarsson)'s fault that Scotland was not closed down early enough! It's happened before - the midfield have failed to be there, in place, ready to close a shot down, it's resulted in a goal, and the defence, somehow, has got the blame!

Gunnarson had a poor game last Saturday and was to blame for losing possession, just before Chopra scored, but centre backs pick up centre forwards (thought you played centre back ), so have a look at the footage I posted for you in my previous post! You’ll see Hudson pointing to players to his left to pick up, whilst he allows Scotland to advance and ping one from 25 yards! McNaughton, eventually ran over to close down Scotland, but it was too late! Have a look at the footage again and tell me who Hudson is supposed to be marking, whilst Turner is keeping tabs on Chopra? The defence (Hudson) got the blame, because the goal had been coming, as we’d been playing too deep before Scotland’s goal, which was down to Hudson not pushing the defence further forward! As I said, have a look at the footage again, although it’s far clearer on the footage from Cardiff City player!

I haven't seen the Peterborough game, but to be fair, the defence can at least say they're not heavily reliant on the offside trap working, unlike some defences! You complain about him and the defence being too deep, but it's better to be safe than sorry! You should know! Every defender will eventually get caught a couple of times, but by no means does it happen every game with City/Hudson! I thought I'd heard the goal on Tuesday night that you are referring to was a fairly controversial offside call actually!

I posted the link to the Peterborough footage for you, so have a look, you’ll see that Hudson gets caught out trying to play the offside and you’ll be able to give a more reasoned response! With most teams only playing a maximum of one player up front these days, I cannot see any reason to play for an offside decision, as it’s cost us many times in the past!

But there we go, each to their own. I don't think he comes up "miserably short" at all - like I've said, he must be doing something right if this is the third successive club he's been appointed captain of! And Gerrard, Hull's captain last season? I can't remember that, at all, but correct me if I'm wrong. I thought Robert Koren was and still is Hull's captain. And wow, player of the year at Hull. It's a bit like people getting tricked by the Darcy Blake thing when he played for Wales against England/Rooney. It deceives you a bit - Hull weren't really in contention for promotion last year, so it's a fairly pointless/worthless award, and Rooney was completely isolated against Wales and received no support from his team-mates, therefore rendering him useless.

I guess that we can conclude that you will never be satisfied/content/happy/pleased with Mark Hudson as our captain, but I wouldn't go as far as saying he needs to be dropped! Admittedly he isn't perfect, but who is?

Thank you and goodnight!

So it’s okay to use the fact that other managers chose Hudson to captain their teams and highlight that he nearly got our player of the season award, as a badge of honour for him, but the fact that Blake has done so well recently for Wales, the fact that Gerrard played so well for Hull as their captain, whilst also picking up their player of the season, you regard as completely undeserving of any recognition?

Forgot to mention, but we’ve picked up far more points proportionally, whilst Hudson has been out injured, than we have whilst he’s been in the team!