Ciaran Clark | Vital Football

Ciaran Clark

Toon_NoMatterWot

Toon_NoMatterWot

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Im obviously a Newcastle fan but I come in peace...

Just a mention about Ciaran Clark. I read some things when we signed him that it was a surprising move and he wasn't very good so didn't expect much from the lad.

However, he has been superb for us and was the closest (best) performer to an inspired Jonjo Shelvey today.

Im guessing that Rafa will either have made him a regular starter now or be close to doing so, such has been his performance level which brings me to my point.

Did he do similar things for Villa and his level drop, is he a good player anyway or has he found some hidden secret level that nobody knew about?

Also, are yous disappointed to lose him?
 
Personally I couldn't care less about Clark leaving. He looked promising as a youngster but just never improved at all. He's always been embarrassingly weak against physical strikers and couldn't go more than a few games without having a brain meltdown and costing us big. Perhaps he's found his level in this league but should you go up you'll need much better than him.
 
Yeah, agree with JW85, Clark had promise, but reached a level and then stopped. He did have a couple of good games for us last season and before that, but was always an accident waiting to happen.

He always tried though, so personally I have no ill feelings toward him. And for a defender he does get on the score sheet quite a bit too.
 
Ciaran Clarke never played in a well organised or protected defence for us. If he had played in MON's teams he might have had a chance but he was hung out to dry by a parade of useless managers.

I'm not surprised that Clarke is doing well at Newcastle and I wish him all the best.
 
Good luck to him, I think it was one of those moves needed for both parties. Here's hoping Ashley Westwood is the next time I say that.

For me, he needs to bulk up a little. I remember a game away at Spurs and he was held off by Dembele for a good ten yards, which I haven't seen in a while. My Irish supporting mates all seem to rate him higher than I did but perhaps there's a lot more loyalty there.

He'll probably do a Ridgewell and have a solid career at an average prem club. There are a lot of similarities between the two - build, lefty, decent passers of the ball for centre halves
 
Underrated. He's at his best when he's responsible for the defence, less so when fitting in with somebody else taking the lead. A couple of years or so ago when he played alongside Ron Vlaar he was a bit prone to the odd error; however, whenever Vlaar was injured and he stepped up, with Baker alongside, he looked a much better player.

He suffered through never being given an extended run in defence. Thanks to the appalling recruitment in the summer of 2015 he was behind Lescott and Richards in the pecking order. Of all our players he was one of the few who didn't show a lack of backbone.

Playing under a manager who knows what he's doing will do him the world of good. He will have a good career. He has joined that long, long list of Villa players who have been let go and go on to prove themselves. Good luck to him.

 
Still think Baker is better than Clark but Clark is better than Elphick or Chester .
You don't realise what you had until they are gone , Clark chose Newcastle over us and he didn't have to leave . Shows how much he thought of Villas signings in the summer . Looks like he was right
 
McParlandTheGreat - 16/10/2016 09:45

Underrated. He's at his best when he's responsible for the defence, less so when fitting in with somebody else taking the lead. A couple of years or so ago when he played alongside Ron Vlaar he was a bit prone to the odd error; however, whenever Vlaar was injured and he stepped up, with Baker alongside, he looked a much better player.

He suffered through never being given an extended run in defence. Thanks to the appalling recruitment in the summer of 2015 he was behind Lescott and Richards in the pecking order. Of all our players he was one of the few who didn't show a lack of backbone.

Playing under a manager who knows what he's doing will do him the world of good. He will have a good career. He has joined that long, long list of Villa players who have been let go and go on to prove themselves. Good luck to him.
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Totally right it makes me really angry how many decent players we have let go because we thought they where not good enough only to prove that they are more than capable in the right team.
 
Years of gradual decline and negativity around the club have played their toll on many players. So many decent players get signed up by the club, or come through the academy and end up getting worse and worse. Of course for another team they look half decent.

Idrissa Gana was shite last season, he moved to Everton and now looks a good player.
 
david-avfc - 16/10/2016 14:03

Years of gradual decline and negativity around the club have played their toll on many players. So many decent players get signed up by the club, or come through the academy and end up getting worse and worse. Of course for another team they look half decent.

Idrissa Gana was shite last season, he moved to Everton and now looks a good player.
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I fear the same will happen with some of the players we have now unless something fundamentally changes at the club i also think throwing more and more money at it will have no real affect
 
Marc Albrighton couldn't get his game for us in a team of relegation battling duffers. Now he's scoring in the CL.
 
Another one who is all of a sudden 'really good' now he has left us.

Seriously though. He is doing what we all thought he would do in that he is a good championship player. Problem will be when Newcastle get promoted. They will need to replace him because he is not premier league standard.
 
Melon Donkey - 16/10/2016 18:41

Another one who is all of a sudden 'really good' now he has left us.

Seriously though. He is doing what we all thought he would do in that he is a good championship player. Problem will be when Newcastle get promoted. They will need to replace him because he is not premier league standard.
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We have only seen him play in the premier league in a poor villa team I think he would do a decent job at that level with better players around him
 
thought he was the least bad of our defenders last year
(and not helped by years of poor management and dismal players around him)

wouldn't be a debate really if we'd replaced him with better but doesn't seem so at the mo.
 
jcm19760 - 16/10/2016 19:30

Melon Donkey - 16/10/2016 18:41

Another one who is all of a sudden 'really good' now he has left us.

Seriously though. He is doing what we all thought he would do in that he is a good championship player. Problem will be when Newcastle get promoted. They will need to replace him because he is not premier league standard.
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We have only seen him play in the premier league in a poor villa team I think he would do a decent job at that level with better players around him
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Can't keep saying he played in a poor team. If he was really, really able to consistantly play at that level I would have expected him to rise above the poor players around him occasionally. Did he?. Can't say i recall him doing so.
 
It was always hard to judge our younger players coming through because the so called experienced players were such gash.

Clark annoyed some in an interview once he left saying Rafa was already working on his game and improving him. He added he got none of that sort of thing at Villa.

Some saw that as disloyal, I saw it as a fascinating insight as to why we've had so many youth players come in with great promise only to be sold for next to nothing.

So many sold and not replaced by better. Was Clark a world beater? No. Is he as good as Chester/Elphick? I thought so.

 
Melon Donkey - 16/10/2016 19:35

jcm19760 - 16/10/2016 19:30

Melon Donkey - 16/10/2016 18:41

Another one who is all of a sudden 'really good' now he has left us.

Seriously though. He is doing what we all thought he would do in that he is a good championship player. Problem will be when Newcastle get promoted. They will need to replace him because he is not premier league standard.
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We have only seen him play in the premier league in a poor villa team I think he would do a decent job at that level with better players around him
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Can't keep saying he played in a poor team. If he was really, really able to consistantly play at that level I would have expected him to rise above the poor players around him occasionally. Did he?. Can't say i recall him doing so.
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If think its hard to rise above anything when you take into account the systematic failures we have seen at the club , as its already been mentioned on this thread there are other players who have thrived having left the club

You dont just gain the ability to play at the higher level you either have the talent or you don`t our club has dragged so many decent players down making them look like poor players when actually they have a lot to offer at the right club.
 
Well, we will find out next season jcm as clark will be playing premeir league football thats for sure.
 
Clark is what he is , a championship level at best defender who, if good players arecaround him, can hold his own

As soon as he either loses those good players, or, comes up against better players, he crumbles.

From a Villa point of view, may, and the word is - may - have done us a job this year but i doubt it.

From Newcastles view, an adequate squad player probably worth the 5m to cover injuries, but no more than that
 
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