Topic: Claudio Yacob (Left, now at Nottm Forest)

[KN22]

As is often the case in life we look back through rose tinted specs. I do not feel he would help at all. No pace, not a good passer and very prone to giving away free kicks in dangerous positions. We have enough guys already who fit that bill 

[LiamTheBaggie]

Letting Claudio Yacob leave was the right decision. Deciding not to replace him was the wrong decision.

Quite frankly, if someone had said to me that he would not be replaced then I would not have advocated his departure.

Instead, we get the luxury of watching Chris Brunt and Jake Livermore and their continuous powder puff performances.

And to add, when in a midfield containing three in the middle, Yacob often excelled. His ability to screen his back four, win the ball and move it onto someone technically better than him is something we are crying out for.

[baggie82]

As is often the case in life we look back through rose tinted specs. I do not feel he would help at all. No pace, not a good passer and very prone to giving away free kicks in dangerous positions. We have enough guys already who fit that bill 

I thought he was superb with us throughout his career. He played 160 games for us and barely had a bad game. His positional sense was superb, his tackling was tigerish and his passing was pretty decent actually, didn't give it away much. Much better than what we have now. No brainer to keep him. Obviously was more effective and a better midfielder than Livermore who does zilch.

[BalisPen]

If Yacob is the answer, we need to look at the question again.

Brunt and Morrison should have gone with Yacob and some energy should have been brought in.

Imo we should have signed Woods and tested the water at the vile in relation to Hourihane.

We need the box to box energy and never say die attitude of a Mulumbu.

[OldburyWBA]

If Yacob is the answer, we need to look at the question again.

Brunt and Morrison should have gone with Yacob and some energy should have been brought in.

Imo we should have signed Woods and tested the water at the vile in relation to Hourihane.

We need the box to box energy and never say die attitude of a Mulumbu.

I think the fact they are still considered two of the constants in the side is one of the big worries, this league requires youth and legs. They have legs but unfortunately both run like me, as though stuck in quicksand.

[BalisPen]

I think the fact they are still considered two of the constants in the side is one of the big worries, this league requires youth and legs. They have legs but unfortunately both run like me, as though stuck in quicksand.

The way we have been run of late with these players given new contracts and giving Barry a clause which allowed him another year if he managed so many appearances makes me want to cry.

It smacks of everyone being in a comfort zone, where players are retained because there is no alternatives that have been identified to replace them and there is just no desire to progress.

[Jimmy]

Would work in a treat in the set up we have now.

We have no real defensive midfielder at the minute, who is breaking up play? Who is chasing after the ball?

Opposition teams are just waltzing through our midfield.

[TheBrom]

Our biggest problem with this was not replacing him properly. Centre mid has been one of our biggest problems this season

[tommcneill]

I still think it was a ludicrous decision to let him leave

Personally think he would excel in this side and formation and provide the defensive cover in midfield that we are seriously lacking

Awful decision in my book

[seteefeet]

Completely agree.

Yeah, he was the only defensive midfielder we had. Couldn't pass for toffee but boy could he break up play. Livermore can't play the role because he has neither the discipline (positional not temperamental) or the ability. I really don't know what he offers to be honest, he can't tackle, pass (not forwards anyhoo), head or shoot, just seems to want to be wherever the ball isn't. No better than Craig Gardner, at least he scored a worldy every other season.

[skyclad99]

Yeah, he was the only defensive midfielder we had. Couldn't pass for toffee but boy could he break up play. Livermore can't play the role because he has neither the discipline (positional not temperamental) or the ability. I really don't know what he offers to be honest, he can't tackle, pass (not forwards anyhoo), head or shoot, just seems to want to be wherever the ball isn't. No better than Craig Gardner, at least he scored a worldy every other season.

You have summed him up perfectly there. I think an earlier poster said his distribution was superb and he could pass quite accurately - I personally didnt see any evidence of that but god could he tackle and break up play, and that is exactly what we are missing at the moment, especially in front of this back 3.......

[Dexy]

Big fan of Yacob but theres a bit of rose tinted going on here in my humble , firstly he was a top draw breaker but his passing was woeful in his last few seasons and not much better before it.
Secondly , he got trounced playing in a two under every manager that tried it . Saints at home under Pardew was painful to watch him struggle last season against their 3 man midfield .
The only way he shines is in either Steve Clarke's 4 2 3 1 or under early Pulis , don't get  me wrong I love the bloke but he couldn't be more ill suited to the current set up with poor passing and little pace(I'm totallly against the current set up BTW ) .
Sadly Yacob is suited to how Karanka sets up with one up top so will do well for them.
Thirdly we'll likely not know whether Jenkins axed him or as some say he walked away from the club .

[BigFrank20]

I always felt Claudio had a pretty decent footballing brain that had been thoroughly well schooled in the tough South American leagues which pretty much made up for his shortcomings in pace and occasional lapses
I miss his infectious and mischievous smile too but the team misses his nasty face 

[geoff]

If Yacob is the answer, we need to look at the question again.

Brunt and Morrison should have gone with Yacob and some energy should have been brought in.

Imo we should have signed Woods and tested the water at the vile in relation to Hourihane.

We need the box to box energy and never say die attitude of a Mulumbu.

I can't argue with that Mukka.

[Hull Baggie]

If Yacob is the answer, we need to look at the question again.

Brunt and Morrison should have gone with Yacob and some energy should have been brought in.

Imo we should have signed Woods and tested the water at the vile in relation to Hourihane.

We need the box to box energy and never say die attitude of a Mulumbu.

We need both types of player in my opinion. A Yacob to put his foot in an break up play and a Mulumbu to carry it forward and link up with the attacking players.

[Albionic]

We need both types of player in my opinion. A Yacob to put his foot in an break up play and a Mulumbu to carry it forward and link up with the attacking players.

exactamundo, those 2 in tandem were a force !

[Adder]

Yacob was just too one dimensional...especially playing in a central two. Mulumbu always struggled when he was closed down and out-numbered which is exactly what's happening to our current central two whoever plays there.

In the absence of two genuine CMs with quality and work rate, we currently need to play with 3 in there to get some parity in midfield.

 

[gerry m]

If Yacob is the answer, we need to look at the question again.

Brunt and Morrison should have gone with Yacob and some energy should have been brought in.

Imo we should have signed Woods and tested the water at the vile in relation to Hourihane.

We need the box to box energy and never say die attitude of a Mulumbu.

Correct! Brunt and Morrison's legs have gone! It looks like Big Dave has gone with experience but it is not working.

[VANDERLEI]

I can't believe anybody who has watched Yacob play week in, week out would ever think it was the right decision to let him leave. He was the best defensive midfielder we have had in a long time. He should be playing in the Prem, never mind us. One of my favourite Albion players of all time.

[costa blanca baggie]

I can't believe anybody who has watched Yacob play week in, week out would ever think it was the right decision to let him leave. He was the best defensive midfielder we have had in a long time. He should be playing in the Prem, never mind us. One of my favourite Albion players of all time.

Maybe so. But quite often he was a ticking time bomb. If he got booked early, he had to hold back with what he was good at.

[VANDERLEI]

Maybe so. But quite often he was a ticking time bomb. If he got booked early, he had to hold back with what he was good at.

I don't recall him holding back to often. His positional sense and tenacity was first class. Limited with his range of passing but actually had better passing stats than he is given credit for and let's face it, he'd still do a sterling job of protecting our garbage back 3.

[geoff]

Yacob was just too one dimensional...especially playing in a central two. Mulumbu always struggled when he was closed down and out-numbered which is exactly what's happening to our current central two whoever plays there.

In the absence of two genuine CMs with quality and work rate, we currently need to play with 3 in there to get some parity in midfield.

He was a old fashioned stopper someone who break up play at which he was very good. His motto should have been
" Take No Prisoners "

[Adder]

I can't believe anybody who has watched Yacob play week in, week out would ever think it was the right decision to let him leave. He was the best defensive midfielder we have had in a long time. He should be playing in the Prem, never mind us. One of my favourite Albion players of all time.

The reason he's not playing in the prem and not a regular starter in the Championship is a lot of good judges realise his limited style of play doesn't fit in with what is needed for their team in the modern game.
As for your first sentence, we all have opinions, you obviously wanted us to re-sign another player over 30 who is slow and doesn't play a forward pass....a lot of us think it was the right thing to do. We also should have let Morrison go and re-modelled our midfield further.

[Albionic]

Played in the WBA 5 Man U 5 (SAF retirement game) and the AVFC 5 v NFFC 5 game

not many players been in 2* 5-5 games i should think.

[Adder]

Played in the WBA 5 Man U 5 (SAF retirement game) and the AVFC 5 v NFFC 5 game

not many players been in 2* 5-5 games i should think.

Not great really if your trade is shielding the back four !