Robert Walls and a few callers on 3AW after the game were calling for Hoolas head. Walls even suggesting he should be dropped and never called up again! Was he that bad? I may have a bad memory but i don't recall him being our worst player, thought he was OK. I must have missed something! someone fill me in please.

_________________
Happy Days Are Here Again!!

Match and post match threads Brian, this will probably be merged with them soon enough.

he was @#$%&! hopeless.

id rather someone get 10 touches and use the flower thing rather than be a softcock like houla and turn it over every 2 mins.

some of those half arsed efforts shouldn't be tolerated

_________________
SMFC 1959 : ONE LIFE, ONE LOVE, ONE CLUB

Tell us what you think next time, why don't you?

_________________
And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Registered 2 long kicks for the game. Another to suffer from the Par3 game plan.

_________________
Mjonc signing off at 8888

Not often I would defend Houlihan but I thought he was very good and dont agree with Walls who I do rate as someone with good footy know how....didnt think his efforts were half arsed and thought he gave some slick handpasses under pressure not one of his usual traits....I'll always prefer a Mark Riccuito than a Ryan Houlihan but I think we need to give unbiased thoughts on players even though we tend to pidgeon hole them and judge them on past perfomances...

_________________
"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Garry Lyon was apparently at a different game to Walls & gave him votes- only Carlton player to score votes. Said his disposal hurt the opposition.

15 effective kicks out of 17.

5 scoring assists: perfectly weighted kick to Murphy to set up his goal, another 2 to Fev, Fisher, Whitnall. One of the few to consistently use the ball well.

Keep talking like that and someone with Blue, Carlton or an underscore in their screen name will call you a moron.

I learnt this from experience.

That just proves both Lyon and Walls are only as good as their statisicians... I thought everyone used Champion Data these days?

walls was more critical of his defensive game.

we know houla can get the footy and kick but allowing his man to run wild isn't really helping us.

some of his positioning and defensive pressure was pathetic

_________________
SMFC 1959 : ONE LIFE, ONE LOVE, ONE CLUB

Houla played very well, brilliant disposal in close and hit hard targets all night. If you can't appreciate his game on friday then you'll never be happy as long as he's wearing the navy blue, this is a shame for you, because judging by his season to date, he's going to be wearing it for a bit longer.

Do we?

yep he can find the footy and kick just like the 15 metre straight in the air shit myself kick

_________________
SMFC 1959 : ONE LIFE, ONE LOVE, ONE CLUB

Houlihan in captain material.

Dream team is messing with your head!

Houla is having to do too much in a game, he and Stevens need a hand in midfield play, rather than them giving the defense a hand.

It is easy to kick Houla even though he is our best player this year,it's time Stevo copped the flak for giving in when it get hard.

He is the first to go missing the first to miss kcik when we really need that goal or hit the chest of Fev.

He should be traded at years end,there is no doubt he is a B+ player so lets try to get a top 5 or 6 pick for him and move on with our new group who will play for the jumper and not just for himself.


RED for captain 2007.

_________________
"Go blues"

Feel my love...............

Robert Walls is a vindictave commentator who picks his targets and then lampoons them.When the other specialist commentator was giving his sun scores he gave Houlihan 4 out of 10.Walls interrupted with the word generous.This is why he was given the arse by 3 clubs as a coach.Whilst i respect his knowledge of the game and the majority of his comments he doesnt look at the big picture at times .Houlihan used the ball effectively.He is one of the few players who we as supporters have confidence when he has the ball in his hands .His pass to Fevola using the outside of his right boot was brilliiant.Walls lets himself down by not weighing up all the pros and cons of the argument on whether or not Houlihan should be in the team.Twenty nine possessions are meaningless if you do nothing with them.Houlihan had one clanger for the match and did some ripper handballs in close.Some of his passes were fantastic. I agree with Walls that he needs to improve his defensive game,lift the tackle count and chase more ,but what Walls didnt do on Friday night was balance the argument in relation to his skills.


For the majority of the night Houlihan's direct opponent was Tuck who had 7 less possessions kicked 1 point and gave Houlihan too much latitude but we didn't hear any complaints from Walls over his non defensive side of his game.


Unless your name is Luke Hodge most midfielders are either inside or outside players.What hurt us the most on Friday night was Bentick's poor game possibly due to Richo crashing into his shoulder.


I personally have come to expect Walls' at times one way biased comments on certain players and willl it effect the selection process.No.At times Houlihan does frustrate me but he is in the team because he is one of our better players at the moment and he has taken some positive steps to improve his game.

I came home and blasted Houla after the game, I was furious. Have since watched the game twice more so;

I gave Houla votes in the MVP - did a lot of really good things and set up goals. Too many times at crucial stages he turns the ball over or he does not take the hit coming and take the ball also. He does not chase hard and he is loose - another loose player just what we need. Now some of this may be because he should be getting rested but some is inherently Houla. He is frustrating.

_________________
This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

I didnt think Houla was the problrm Fri night. He did shirk one ball very bady in front of where I was sitting, but I thought he ran hard all night and at least created an option even if it was wide. Driving home , listening to 3AW I thought I must have missed something. Havent watched the replay yet.

If people excpect Houla to win the hard ball and crash the packs they are expecting something he isnt capable of. He is a finisher and playing him half forward suits him nd Carlton.
Compared to Lappin at least he can hold a tackle

_________________
T E A M

2nd qtr - 2.13 left on the clock?

Wonder what his team mates thought of that?

What will his team mates think of it if he does it in a future final or Grand final?

Don't shoot me down....just posing the question.

_________________
There's so much I could say...