Sonny Carey

Dougall

Dougall

Well-known member
I know we've had a few threads about him this season but I genuinely don't get what he brings to the team. An occasional great goal but I watched him for a while last night because he caught my attention after he ballooned a shot and I'd forgotten he was on the pitch. He offers very little, his positional play is questionable and won very few 50/50 balls. Is his contract up this season?
 
Jonnyseasider said:
He's a passenger.
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We carried a few passengers in the first half last night and why it takes so long to hook players is beyond me.
Connolly was a liability until the formation change, CJ was just CJ and as above Carey has games where he is just ineffectual for most of the time.

JR has looked like a shadow of himself the last 2 games also but that's forgivable with his season so far.
 
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Simonized said:
We carried a few passengers in the first half last night and why it takes so long to hook players is beyond me.
Connolly was a liability until the formation change, CJ was just CJ and as above Carey has games where he i just ineffectual for most of the time.

JR has looked like a shadow of himself the last 2 games also but that's forgivable with his season so far.
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I keep seeing this formation change. There wasn't one. It was 343 all night
 
He works really, really hard but unlike Morgan or Dembele, just never seems to pick up the ball in the right areas of the pitch or be in the right place at the right time.

It's a bit of a conundrum as, when he has the ball at his feet, he can be a very useful player for a side in this division but as I say, never seems to do so at the key moments and for that, he is slipping down the pecking order for me.
 
We need to sign a midfielder. Nothing wrong with Norburn with the right players around him. Morgan has made the other position his own but needs some stiff competition. Virtue isn't that in my opinion. Dembele is a starter but you can't rely on him for the full 90 minutes.

Two crucial positions needed:

- Experienced centre half who can organise the defence as it's an absolute shambles at present and difficult to watch at times. I know the formation doesn't help so not blaming individual players.

- Centre midfielder to replace Dougall and provide competition to Morgan/Dembele.

Failing to do this will result in our season ending in February.
 
For me he's too ineffectual to be a consistent starter. He tends to be "nearly" there too often. Nearly made a block, nearly pulled off a great pass, nearly got back into position. He has a great touch but you need more grit in these leagues.
 
Last season I felt like Carey needed a season in league one, and after the first maybe 10 games of this season, I felt he needed a season in league two.

After his goals in the Fleetwood game I actually think he looked a good player in the next few games. Far more confident and always looking to go forward. I actually started to change my opinion on him.

After that Critchley dropped him for Morgan which I thought was an odd choice because I hadn’t seen much from Morgan other than a couple of decent sub appearances and cup appearances.

To be fair though to both Critchley and Morgan, Morgan has gone from strength to strength since then and has made the position his own. I’m now once again feeling like Carey needs a full season in league two. He needs a really good run of games (I’m talking a full season and not 5 or 10 games) where he’s one of the first names on the team sheet, playing in the same position most games, and ideally in a team that is performing well and winning games, and I just don’t think he’s going to get that here as it stands.
 
A_Tense_Grin said:
We need to sign a midfielder. Nothing wrong with Norburn with the right players around him. Morgan has made the other position his own but needs some stiff competition. Virtue isn't that in my opinion. Dembele is a starter but you can't rely on him for the full 90 minutes.

Two crucial positions needed:

- Experienced centre half who can organise the defence as it's an absolute shambles at present and difficult to watch at times. I know the formation doesn't help so not blaming individual players.

- Centre midfielder to replace Dougall and provide competition to Morgan/Dembele.

Failing to do this will result in our season ending in February.
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Agree with this although I'd slightly tweak the CB needed to left sided as Casey whilst still young I think is very good in the middle of the 3.
 
Critchknows said:
Agree with this although I'd slightly tweak the CB needed to left sided as Casey whilst still young I think is very good in the middle of the 3.
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Ideally we would change formation as the back three is embarrassing to watch at times. Failing that, it just needs a Keogh or someone who can organise them. There are three main flaws which might be down to quality and/or the formation itself - I don't know.
- Stopping crosses. We really let too many crosses in.
- Players marking nobody. It looks like because there are three of them, they leave the man and hope another defender deals with it.
- The line is all over the place. One goes, one drops. Simple balls are cutting through us.

Honestly, people talking about a play-off bid is mental whilst we are defending as we are. It needs sorting quickly or forget this season.
 
Didn't look fit and was blowing out of his arse after 10mins. He just doesn't impact a game enough. Clearly has a lot of talent but it isn't matched by workrate or football intelligence at times.
 
I felt a little sorry for Sonny. Was on his best form for us at the start of December, then has barely played since.

To throw him straight into a start against Forest was a big ask on him.
 
I appreciate this thread is about (mainly criticising) poor Sonny, but in fairness to him, we have several players who are only average or worse L1 players.
Last night we competed well, worked hard & didn't embarrass ourselves against a decent PL team. We are rightly proud of our performance - a huge well done to our players.
But Forrest (as a PL team) were better, player for player both technically & physically (especially height wise). They closed down quicker & marked closer. That was our weakness, which resulted in each of their 3 goals.
If we're to push for promotion, in this window we need to ship a few out and bring a couple of championship standard players in.
 
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He is too anonymous too often for me. I genuinely thought he would have benefitted from being in league 1 but he just doesn’t positively affect games enough for a central midfielder.

On a couple of the other names mentioned in this thread - Norburn is involved in the game more than Carey but his default position is to keep possession backwards which is fine if that’s the only option but he very rarely even looks for a forward pass and Connelly does seem to have gone backwards rapidly.

I don’t think any of these are bad players, just that they don’t affect our performances/ results as much as they should.
 
Middxile said:
I’m more concerned about Norburn. He was steady last night, but adds little to the counter attack. I think Matty Virtue is as good in the holding role, if not better.
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Maybe because he’s a holding midfielder? Are you expecting him to be bombing up the pitch?

Norburn adds a sense of calm and technical quality to the team that we’ve been missing for ages and I’m genuinely shocked to see people question what he brings to the team week in week out.

He’s our 3rd most important player behind Dembele and Rhodes.
 
The position he played last night doesn't suit him, he's much better in the midfield 2 when he can get on the ball more. He's not bad technically and his passing is good. When he had that run with Dougall in midfield he massively improved and then was dropped. He could definitely produce more but he's not been as bad as some say.
 
Dougall said:
I know we've had a few threads about him this season but I genuinely don't get what he brings to the team. An occasional great goal but I watched him for a while last night because he caught my attention after he ballooned a shot and I'd forgotten he was on the pitch. He offers very little, his positional play is questionable and won very few 50/50 balls. Is his contract up this season?
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Two Players were completely anonymous last evening

But I thought of those that played pretty well included;

Both keepers
Eki Thump
Husband
Morgan
CJ & Rhodes (we’re ok, no criticism)
Lyon’s (more so as the game went on)
Subs
Dembele &
Joseph

That‘s about it
 
I am a fan of Sonny ,however we need to remember he's still pretty young ,he certainly puts a shift in,gets about all over the pitch,just why Cric decided to drop him is a little baffling, but I reckon he will bounce back ,maybe it's a confidence thing
 
Joey_Rex said:
The position he played last night doesn't suit him, he's much better in the midfield 2 when he can get on the ball more. He's not bad technically and his passing is good. When he had that run with Dougall in midfield he massively improved and then was dropped. He could definitely produce more but he's not been as bad as some say.
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Maybe a spell in Thailand? Can Kenny take a friend?
 
The second half of the season no time for playing under performing players
Everyone has to play for their place
The team that ended the match deserve their place
I know Lyons Morgan and Norburn played the whole game and Gabriel most but they will definitely want to play
 
Pauls_Boutique said:
One thing I did enjoy about Carey last night. When the Forest player acted like he was stopping play for one of theirs lying injured then he passed it to his team mate who still didn’t put it out of play straight away. Carey decided he would plough straight into said player on the touch line. I liked that!!
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Got booked for it. Should have been a throw in at worst. They got a free kick. Why?
 
bfc1993 said:
Last season I felt like Carey needed a season in league one, and after the first maybe 10 games of this season, I felt he needed a season in league two.

After his goals in the Fleetwood game I actually think he looked a good player in the next few games. Far more confident and always looking to go forward. I actually started to change my opinion on him.

After that Critchley dropped him for Morgan which I thought was an odd choice because I hadn’t seen much from Morgan other than a couple of decent sub appearances and cup appearances.

To be fair though to both Critchley and Morgan, Morgan has gone from strength to strength since then and has made the position his own. I’m now once again feeling like Carey needs a full season in league two. He needs a really good run of games (I’m talking a full season and not 5 or 10 games) where he’s one of the first names on the team sheet, playing in the same position most games, and ideally in a team that is performing well and winning games, and I just don’t think he’s going to get that here as it stands.
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Spot on.was getting better and better until Critchley rested him.Poor since then.
 
Insider said:
I've been a critic of Carey in the past but his form had picked up in November then Critch rested him and his subsequent appearances have not been very good.
I just can't understand why Connolly doesn't get a breather????
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Connolly will always give you one hundred percent and goes in here it hurts. Obviously not the most gifted footballer, but all squads need their Connollys.
On the other hand we have Carey who has so much ability, but hates the physical side of the game, and does not want to know a tackle. Give me Connolly every time!
 
P t Barnum said:
I am a fan of Sonny ,however we need to remember he's still pretty young ,he certainly puts a shift in,gets about all over the pitch,just why Cric decided to drop him is a little baffling, but I reckon he will bounce back ,maybe it's a confidence thing
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He’s 22. 2 years older than Apter.
 
It's time for Critchley to decide whether he rates him or not, because the way he drops him just when he starts to get going is bizarre and quite damaging to his development I think.
Personally, I think he has ability, but he has always played his best games alongside Dougall in a midfield two. Any other system and he's ineffective. I don't know why that is, but that's quite evident I think. I think back to when we played at Huddersfield in the championship, and we were outplaying them (who at the time were in the p/off places) until Gabriel got his marching orders. The midfield in that game was Dougall and Carey. If he can do it in the championship, there's absolutely no reason he can't in league one ability wise.
All that said, we can't wait all season for him to get back to that kind of form, and if he doesn't fit into this new system we're playing - and we're intent on sticking with it - then we need to think about selling.
 
Camberwell1 said:
Two Players were completely anonymous last evening

But I thought of those that played pretty well included;

Both keepers
Eki Thump
Husband
Morgan
CJ & Rhodes (we’re ok, no criticism)
Lyon’s (more so as the game went on)
Subs
Dembele &
Joseph

That‘s about it
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Lavery?
 
I agree that Sonny has looked best in the midfield two and he gets moved around a fair bit as well as left out. With Kenny going we need him and Virtue as back up to Norburn and Morgan. Playing him in other parts of the pitch doesn't seem to work and moving him around might do him more harm than good. He must feel frustrated. He obviously has ability.
 
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