Does Tom Cairney

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

I think TC was voted player of the year and I saw an interview with him basically saying
he feels the Supporters voted with their hearts..
This tells me one thing.
1/.  He is loved by a vast majority of fans (not on here)
My conclusion is that award was not a "Goodbye Tom"

Goal of the season, actually...


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Oops, but my sentiment remains the same, we scored so many fantastic goals

[FreiBird]

Coaching staff changed his plan and had him lose a good amount of weight. Still not Usain Bolt but he was faster this season than any other.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

A starter without a doubt in my opinion.

Of course he's good enough.



yes, at least a try and see how he goes.
He certainly shouldn't be a liabiility and he is a reasonably good tackler, his main objective
is to "supply" and with a strong defensive midfield behind (and around him) he should
achieve that.

[perry geyton]

has some of the attributes needed, ie  skill, vision and creativity as well as being excellent in possession. But for the PL you have to be mobile too . Upand down the pitch especially if your in central midfield ,and TC sadly lacks these qualities .

What like Berbatov you mean
Not buying into all this he's too slow nonsense

[MartyFFC]

Assuming he'd be playing as a number 8, I really don't see that he needs blistering pace

[Lordedmundo]

He will be valuable member of the squad next season.  Maybe not as a first choice starter, but playing a fair few games and a great option of the bench, either as a 10 or deep lying playmaker.

[blingo]

has some of the attributes needed, ie  skill, vision and creativity as well as being excellent in possession. But for the PL you have to be mobile too . Upand down the pitch especially if your in central midfield ,and TC sadly lacks these qualities .

What like Berbatov you mean
Not buying into all this he's too slow nonsense

You can't compare TC to Berbatov, Berbatov was different class.
He is too slow Piri, I know you love him but he's going to get caught out time and again at the top level.

[Matt10]

has some of the attributes needed, ie  skill, vision and creativity as well as being excellent in possession. But for the PL you have to be mobile too . Upand down the pitch especially if your in central midfield ,and TC sadly lacks these qualities .

What like Berbatov you mean
Not buying into all this he's too slow nonsense

You can't compare TC to Berbatov, Berbatov was different class.
He is too slow Piri, I know you love him but he's going to get caught out time and again at the top level.

Slow relative to what? If defensive positioning, yes I'd agree. If attacking and maintaining possession - he is one of the best. There's plenty of footage of the years he's played in the PL and he rarely lost the ball, rarely made a mistake with it.

[colinwhite]

not being mobile enough is a question of how you can up and down the pitch. Tc is not especially mobile and following players or playing in defensive set up is his not one of his strengths either. great player ,but in the Pl just being able to play (in a team like ours ) simply isn't enough. Agree with Matt otherwise.

[RaySmith]

An astute through pass to an attacking player who has moved into a good position, can save minutes of players knocking the ball around, running into space to receive, knocking it back again, and still not getting anywhere, as the defence regroups in front of them.

That telling through ball is one of TC;s main  strengths - to keep possession, and look up and be aware of what's happening, see someone in space in a good position to go through on goal, and have the skill and insight to pass  it to them.

I think he has worked on the rest of his game too, tackling back, covering etc. though defensive duties don't come that naturally to him.

He can score a great goal too, often when we most need it - finding space in an attacking area, using close control to get himself in a shooting position, and coolly placing the ball through a crowd of players, beyond the keeper's reach and into the back of the net.

[FFC In Oz]

Essentially, being able to play TC will be down to the running his comrades in midfield will be able to do.

If you have Palhinha and Reed next to him (for example), he can probably get away with lurking around the middle of the park trying to play the killer ball.

[Twig]

An astute through pass to an attacking player who has moved into a good position, can save minutes of players knocking the ball around, running into space to receive, knocking it back again, and still not getting anywhere, as the defence regroups in front of them.

That telling through ball is one of TC;s main  strengths - to keep possession, and look up and be aware of what's happening, see someone in space in a good position to go through on goal, and have the skill and insight to pass  it to them.

I think he has worked on the rest of his game too, tackling back, covering etc. though defensive duties don't come that naturally to him.

He can score a great goal too, often when we most need it - finding space in an attacking area, using close control to get himself in a shooting position, and coolly placing the ball through a crowd of players, beyond the keeper's reach and into the back of the net.

Precisely my point too.  TC doesn't need to rely on physical pace, he uses his ability to find a telling forward pass to get us moving. In that sense he doesn't slow us down, quite the opposite. As to those arguing that his lack of pace means he will get caught in possession time and again, well I don't think that happened in the past so no reason why it should next season.  I also agree that he has worked on his defensive duties and has improved somewhat, even though it's not his forte and not why he's in the side.

Having said all that, I don't see us getting anything like a full season out of TC and anyhow, there will certainly be games where his attributes are not deemed to be our highest priority and where he will likely start on the bench.  For all these reasons, depending on our transfer business, I probably see TC as a valuable squad player rather than a guaranteed starter next season.  We shall just have to wait and see.

[perry geyton]

An astute through pass to an attacking player who has moved into a good position, can save minutes of players knocking the ball around, running into space to receive, knocking it back again, and still not getting anywhere, as the defence regroups in front of them.

That telling through ball is one of TC;s main  strengths - to keep possession, and look up and be aware of what's happening, see someone in space in a good position to go through on goal, and have the skill and insight to pass  it to them.

I think he has worked on the rest of his game too, tackling back, covering etc. though defensive duties don't come that naturally to him.

He can score a great goal too, often when we most need it - finding space in an attacking area, using close control to get himself in a shooting position, and coolly placing the ball through a crowd of players, beyond the keeper's reach and into the back of the net.

Precisely my point too.  TC doesn't need to rely on physical pace, he uses his ability to find a telling forward pass to get us moving. In that sense he doesn't slow us down, quite the opposite. As to those arguing that his lack of pace means he will get caught in possession time and again, well I don't think that happened in the past so no reason why it should next season.  I also agree that he has worked on his defensive duties and has improved somewhat, even though it's not his forte and not why he's in the side.

Having said all that, I don't see us getting anything like a full season out of TC and anyhow, there will certainly be games where his attributes are not deemed to be our highest priority and where he will likely start on the bench.  For all these reasons, depending on our transfer business, I probably see TC as a valuable squad player rather than a guaranteed starter next season.  We shall just have to wait and see.

He's not really an off the bench type of player though, he needs to play and thrives on consistency, he generally gets better with every game, if he's fit and can handle it that is

When Tom plays well Fulham play well IMO