Pre match. Pies v. Blues - all comments please

[Lazza]

[Piesnchess]

[quote="Lazza"]

[HAL]

I am glad you find this funny. Where are you now?

[Stupied]

[matrix10]

[HAL]

Doesn't it?

[Clifton Hill-Billy]

[Collingwood Crackerjack]

[jackcass]

[David]

Not taking a win for granted here at all. We're indisputably a better team than Carlton at this point in time, but they're improving and will be up for this one. As much as percentage would be handy, I'll take the 4 points by hook or by crook.

[JC Hartley]

Dale Thomas will be pushing up daisies.

[Dave The Man]

[4everpies]

The weather on Friday is predicted to be wet. As of today there is 15-25mm of rain predicted, mostly in the morning and easing to showers in the evening. Possible hail also predicted for the evening.

Will need to be smart with team selection and emergencies with the view of making late changes on the night depending on the weather.

[MagpieBat]

On the Armstrong thing, I've been one of his noisiest critics (see my summations in the VFL forum). I'm in full agreement with the assessments of Dave the Man, Pies4Shaw and others. He is a fair dinkum spud.

He is chronically unaccountable, which when you play as a defender, is like playing with a man down (or giving the opposition a 23rd player). Time and again in VFL games (and for that matter, during the NAB Cup), he has allowed his opponent at least 20 metres of space on him, usually within scoring distance of goal. If he were played against Carlton, Jeff Garlett would kick a bag.

He offers literally NOTHING in the way of dangerous rebound. Whenever he gets the ball, he almost always goes sideways to a loose man. Which, when you consider that one of the habits we have been trying to stamp out is slow stagnant ball movement, is counter-intuitive, to say the least. Worse still, is his habit of chipping 15m up-and-over the mark to a man (the Sidebottom special).

His so-called best asset, his kicking, looks good when delivering to a man under zero pressure. He's no Nathan Buckley or Alan Didak.

Armstrong's lack of an inside game is not so bad, given I've stood up for another outside specialist in Young. But I don't see how people can argue for Blair on the grounds of pressure, then be prepared to give Armstrong a go. In the 3 months worth of games that I have been watching him at Collingwood, I have seen him lay 1 actual tackle and offer nothing in the way of defensive pressure.

All of these could perhaps be excused if he were a 1st or 2nd year player. But he has been in the AFL system for six years, now into his seventh. He has also been at two clubs prior to ours, Sydney and Adelaide. Those two clubs are regarded as having development systems on par with the best in the league (Sydney in particular). If they can't get the best out of him, why do people think we can suddenly turn him into a gun?

Yagmoor would be a better alternative to Armstrong as a small defender. Marty Clarke would be a better alternative. Ben Sinclair, a player I don't rate, would be an infinitely superior choice if available. I'd even pick Jackson Ramsay or Caolan Mooney ahead of him. That's how bad Armstrong is!

[MattyD]