Steve Morison

[flynnfan]

What did people make of him then? I thought he did OK- not spectacular, but then Eastwood had a spectacular debut and wasn't able to follow it up with consistent performances (especially at club level). I suppose conidering he's only played in on league and league one (with 1 championship appearance) we shouldn't really set our expectations too high. His touch let him down a bit, he doesn't look as able to hold the ball up as a Hughes or Hartson, but even though things weren't always coming off for him, it was great to see that he really kept going. He doesn't look short of confidence. Obviously he was a threat in the air and his precense seemed like a helpful distraction for Cotterills goal (where he was free on the back post) and King's (where the defnders seemed more concerned with Morison) Good awareness to nod Williams in too, when he could have gone for goal himself. He doen't look likely to score bags of goals at international level to me, but I feel his value will be in allowing people like Bellamy(especially) Bale, Cotterill, possibly Andy King in future, to really shine instead. Bellamy thought he did well, and Bellars is happy, then so are we! I think that with Vokes out injured, and Church and Evans more likely to be playing our important U21 games, he looks to have cemented his place in the starting line up for Montenegro.

[Deleted]

I thought he was very good- I mean, if we had drogba available to us then I would be laughing in your face and telling you to jog on.

But compared to what is available to us I think Morison on last nights display is the pick of the bunch.

He has an aerial threat that I haven't seen for years in a wales shirt. In Morison and king we have two cracking headers of the ball. He closed down well and put their defense under pressure. He showed he could play when he fed cotterill when to me it looked like nothing was on.

I get frustrated with ched and church that if they don't score you hardly notice them, at least we knew Morison was there and he was putting himself about. And with these types of heskey strikers it's not about goals, it's about creating a platform to play other people in, the kind of player bellers benefits from as I don't think he benefits from Evans/church.

I think a Morison/Eastwood partnership would be a very interesting proposition for a friendly, although it looks like 4-5-1 all the way from here.

[saints19]

4-5-1 with Morison up front is how we should start the Montenegro game. I have to say, wasn't totally convinced by Morison last night but he did well to set Williams's goal up, and good selflessness when he could have tried for goal himself but instead chose the best option for a team-mate to score.

Storm is right, compared to what we have he shapes up reasonably well. And the others have had chances and haven't really nailed down the shirt.

[bale-droed]

theres no way he will start in monty. not saying he shudnt but he wont.

[Tim P]

i thought he did well, if not spectacularly so.

what encouraged me most of all was reading that it was HIM who contacted US about playing. that is excellent news.

providing he keeps playing for milwall, and has an impact at champ level, he's a sure fire squad member. up to him to take his chances from there.

[cardibach]

Aug 12, 2010 16:54:36 GMT Tim P said:

i thought he did well, if not spectacularly so.

what encouraged me most of all was reading that it was HIM who contacted US about playing. that is excellent news.

Says it all. Shouldn't the FAW know about him, rather than him having to tell the FAW? Maybe Jonathan Ford can use all that spare time he's got to spend time on the internet researching the backgrounds of up-and-coming potential Welsh internationals? He's got spare time because he's certainly not doing much marketing, is he?

[Deleted]

Aug 12, 2010 18:28:02 GMT cardibach said:

Aug 12, 2010 16:54:36 GMT Tim P said:

i thought he did well, if not spectacularly so.

what encouraged me most of all was reading that it was HIM who contacted US about playing. that is excellent news.

Says it all. Shouldn't the FAW know about him, rather than him having to tell the FAW? Maybe Jonathan Ford can use all that spare time he's got to spend time on the internet researching the backgrounds of up-and-coming potential Welsh internationals? He's got spare time because he's certainly not doing much marketing, is he?

That's a bit harsh imo, I agree with the frustration regarding the idiots at the top who are all aboard the free holidays for life gravy train, but flynny has done some amazing work in uncovering welsh ancestry in the most unlikely of figures.

It's no joke to say that he has a job as a researcher lined up for him when he eventually retires.

One or two will obviously slip through the net and we have to rely on them to contact the faw. In a lot of ways trendy is right, the fact they are banging the door down is a good thing. Maybe a case could be made that it puts them in the shop window, but after they have committed to us at senior level there is no turning back so it's in their interest to settle in for the long haul with us.

As long as it gets us to a world cup then frankly I couldn't care less. Our long suffering fans deserve to see wales at one tournament in our lifetime.

[Tim P]

I should have mentioned: when he said that he contacted us, he also said that he thought we already had his details.

and given our recent record of unearthing good, committed, Welsh-quals, i think it's a bit harsh to use this to beat the FAW with.

[cardibach]

Ok, ok! I'm just saying the FAW should be aware of players like Morrison who play at a high standard of football. I take your point that there will be some who pass through the net, but we should be making more of an effort to find them.

[Tim P]

just saw the milwall highlights on soccer sunday - obviously it's early days, but morison is devastating in the air. we've had a real find here i think. looking forward to seeing bale swing some crosses in for him.

[cymroircarn]

Aug 12, 2010 21:03:56 GMT cardibach said:

Ok, ok! I'm just saying the FAW should be aware of players like Morrison who play at a high standard of football. I take your point that there will be some who pass through the net, but we should be making more of an effort to find them.

To be fair Morrison was still playing non-league until a few years ago!

[welshcule]

Whilst I agree that Morison is good in the air, my opinion is that he's no better than Vokes/Evans/Church

[no1skewenjack]

Aug 12, 2010 16:54:36 GMT Tim P said:

i thought he did well, if not spectacularly so.

what encouraged me most of all was reading that it was HIM who contacted US about playing. that is excellent news.

providing he keeps playing for milwall, and has an impact at champ level, he's a sure fire squad member. up to him to take his chances from there.

The last player I remember doing this was Ricketts who in my opinion has been commited has anyone in the Wales camp.

[Deleted]

Check out his goals against Scunthorpe, especially the first.

I think he could be going on to much bigger things sooner rather than later. In many ways he seems a different player at club level, and I dont think thats just down to the fact hes playing in the championship as his touch seems to be a lot better with Millwall, as some of the goals hes scored this season indicate.

I dont feel we have got the best out of him yet and hes worth persisting with at international level. I think he just needs some confidence in a Wales shirt and Im hoping that if we can get some consistent creativity out of our midfield, especially when Ramsey gets back he may 'settle' and we will see the player that Millwall see. He reminds me a lot of Eastwood, whereas where Eastwood faded in the Championship Morison seems to be kicking on. He certainly scores some special goals.

Edit: In fact given Swanseas striking situation I think he would be an ideal buy for them in January. Doubt he would come cheap though.

[georgetm1]

I think he needs more time in a Wales shirt before we get to see what he's really about. Brilliant decision by the FAW not to have a friendly last month because im sure all our players will gel perfectly together for the Ireland game.

[Deleted]

Hmm...I see it both ways. A chance for players like Morison to adapt to international football and get used to the team, or another game for a stand-in manager who is out of favour and likely on the way out. Plus we would have had a scratch team with all the injuries etc so utlimately the bad outweighs the good.

We will have to take the Ireland game as seriously as possible and hope that the players can learn a hell of a lot about each other in the 90 minutes. That might be the missing ingredient with Morison- it cant help that he doesnt play regularly with the Wales players.

Judging by his recent goals I wouldnt necessarily use him as a target man either. Hes like Crouch in the sense that although hes a big bloke that distracts from the fact that his main strength is with the ball at his feet. For Wales he displays a poor first touch more often than not but thats not evident with Millwall.

[llannerch]

His touch to control the ball when he had that one on one vs Bulgaria was terrific....the finish less so. He's worth persisting with but he'll not amount to much in a Welsh shirt IMHO. Vokes is a better long-term option for the target man role

[youngdragon]

He is easily our best option at present becuase he is the only striker we have who scores in actual games. However a striker is only as good as the service he gets.

[Deleted]

Dec 6, 2010 18:59:27 GMT youngdragon said:

He is easily our best option at present becuase he is the only striker we have who scores in actual games. However a striker is only as good as the service he gets.

Thats the key for me. Get people on his wavelength and we could see him get a few for us- against the weak to mediocre sorts of sides at least.

[bellamyforever]

hes crap

[rhys]

Dec 10, 2010 11:09:42 GMT bellamyforever said:

hes crap

Bloody hell mun, give him a chance.

[saints19]

I'd like to see us play 4-4-2 against Ireland in Feb with Bellamy and Morison alongside each other. It's a combination we haven't tried before; Morison's previous caps have come as a lone striker.

[llannerch]

Dec 11, 2010 0:06:34 GMT saints19 said:

I'd like to see us play 4-4-2 against Ireland in Feb with Bellamy and Morison alongside each other. It's a combination we haven't tried before; Morison's previous caps have come as a lone striker.

I like it. Unfortunately I don't think Bellamy will play for Wales again. Montenegro was, I repeat, his swansong

[welshposh]

I suspect you're right, although it'd be no surprise to see him against England in March.

[perthdragon]

I would definitely like to see us Morison in a 4-4- 2 with Bellars.

If Speed takes over I reckon we'll see Bellars , Sav & possibly even Davies coming back for the England game (although I think Davies' recent contract extension may have had clauses in it restricting his involvement in international football)

[llannerch]

Savage won't play for Wales again, irrespective of whether Speed gets the job. Davies? I'm not sure, but highly unlikely.

[cilmeri]

Dec 12, 2010 13:22:25 GMT perthdragon said:

I would definitely like to see us Morison in a 4-4- 2 with Bellars.

If Speed takes over I reckon we'll see Bellars , Sav & possibly even Davies coming back for the England game (although I think Davies' recent contract extension may have had clauses in it restricting his involvement in international football)

Well then, thanks for that sparky.

[walrus]

Dec 13, 2010 7:07:35 GMT cilmeri said:

Dec 12, 2010 13:22:25 GMT perthdragon said:

I would definitely like to see us Morison in a 4-4- 2 with Bellars.

If Speed takes over I reckon we'll see Bellars , Sav & possibly even Davies coming back for the England game (although I think Davies' recent contract extension may have had clauses in it restricting his involvement in international football)

Well then, thanks for that sparky.

And what about Hartson, Pembridge, Gabbidon, Giggs will they all be back too? Sparky and Stumpy Bowen might even get kitted up.

[georgetm1]

Players who have quit early don't deserve to wear the Wales shirt again. They made their choice.

[Tim P]

newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13584227.stm

a written request normally means they know there is something concrete.

EPL level striker? not sure, but could help him adapt better at international level.