So how do we rate Puncheon?

[doddisalegend]

Jasons been with us for a few months now so how do people rate him now they've had a chance to watch him.

 

I have to admit every time I've seen him play (Swindon at home, Dons away and Orient at home) he hasn't impressed me. While he's comfortable with the ball, has a good first touch and has some pace. When ever I've seen him he seems to try to hard going on mazy little runs that go no where, putting in sloppy corners/free kicks or missing the easy pass for something more spectuacular that doesn't come off.

 

Now having said that I know others have told me that he has looked total quaility in the three 5-something drubbings we've handed out this year. The cynic in me says that most players look good when we're hammering someone by five goals but I think it's safe to say Puncheon has ability (he just chooses not to show when I go to games;)).

 

I really can't make my mind up about him, no player plays well all the time but Puncheon seems very inconsistent to me. I certainaly don't think he is in Lallanna's League and I think I prefer Antonio's more direct though less technically gifted style. So what does everyone else think about Jason? good, great, legend in the making or something else.

[SO16_Saint]

I've only ever seen him play on highlights, never live, and he's been 'ok'.

 

I've spoken to a player a fair bit recently through work and he's said that Punch is a very very good trainer and very skillful player.

 

give him time

[stockbridge_saint]

I've seen him in a few games and I think he's got a lot of potential, he'll improve I reckon.

I do agree with you though - at the moment he can be a very frustrating player to watch, with aimless runs and not playing the ball at the right time (as on saturday against charlton...)

[madruss]

I think puncheon's been superb. He's had a couple of dodgy games but he's the sort of player who can create/score a goal out of nothing even when he's not having a good game. In that respect he's quite similar to Lallana. Consistency will come with time, he's quick, very skilful, and can run with the ball at pace-plus he's got a fantastic left foot (even if sometimes he doesn't make good use of it for corners)

[SparkySaint]

I've seen quite a bit of Puncheon and a game that stood out for me, or a half that stood out for me, was against Leeds. He turned their left back inside out. I think he has massive potential and has shown what he is capable of on numerous occasions. I guess that sometimes we might remember the off performances which have happened in off games. I believe he will turn into one of our main threats

[SNSUN]

I saw him in the 5-0 drubbing of Huddersfield (how we could use on of those right now...), and he was immense. He was the creativity I felt we were missing earlier in the season, and offers a bit of pace which we were lacking when Waigo and Antonio were out of the side.

 

I saw him on Easter Monday against Leyton Orient and thought he was poor. Irrespective of that, I still think he is a very good signing, and could be our "Wes Hoolahan" next season.

[SO16_Saint]

i think the thing to remember with him, and Antonio, is that theyre still very young - 20ish each??

 

They'll mature into good, if not great players one day IMO

[revolution saint]

Personally I rate him a lot but sometimes I question the position he's played in. Wide left or right he's been great but imo not so effective in the middle, behind the front two or up front.

 

I think Barnard has a lot to thank him for - I don't think it's a coincidence that Barnard started scoring as soon as we played with genuine width. Lallana too has more freedom on the pitch when Puncheon plays. All in my opinion of course.

[krissyboy31]

A good, good player who like some of the others, is not yet the finished article, will grow with the team and will be a decent player at Championship level and possibly higher.

[Give it to Ron]

Like all players at this level ...inconsistent....thats why they are at this level and not Premiership.

On his day he is very good but on several occasions he has tried to be too flash and not play simple ball and ****ed up and played poorly.

Good signing though and added a different dimension to the team.

[SparkySaint]

A good, good player who like some of the others, is not yet the finished article, will grow with the team and will be a decent player at Championship level and possibly higher.

 

I think that the beauty of this team. Good young players with bags of potential who in time will develop and mature into a very good team. We will lose the odd one here and there but thats the nature of football. There will always be that next player who will light up our lives

[L1Minus10]

Excellent player and he's scored 3 already and assisted a load as well. He doesn't play percentage balls all the time so there's aways a chance of him losing it. You can have someone like that if others (Morgan, Deano etc) are keping the ball. In our last 2 matches he's scored one and had a hand in the other 5. If that's not good enough then I'll live with it and so I suspect, will Alan Pardew.

[Dig Dig]

as with most wingers consistency is the issue but you can't argue with the number of assists and goals he's chipped in with. his worst games for me has been when he has played through the middle but with some additions in the summer I'm hopin there isn't a need for him to play there.

 

definetly an assist at this level and CCC due to his touch, eye for goal and creativity.

[Andy_Porter]

He's a good player, seems to give us something different that we didn't have before, love the way Lallana, Antonio and Puncheon interchange when we play with the three of them in attacking midfield. They're all so fluid, it must be a defenders nightmare.

[SparkySaint]

Pardew did say he was a bit of a maverick but if it has results then i'm not complaining. We can afford to have these kinds of players considering the strength of our squad

[Andy_Porter]

I saw him on Easter Monday against Leyton Orient and thought he was poor. Irrespective of that, I still think he is a very good signing, and could be our "Wes Hoolahan" next season.

 

Hoolahan is this season's Lallana.

[South City Si]

A great player at this level and will be a good player at the next.

With bis mazey runs I think that is a 'tactic' as mentioned by Pardew the other day, i.e. will work 1 in 5 times sort of things.

[corsacar saint]

Typical winger, either brilliant or poor. Having said that,he is surely one of the most skilful players in this league,and will surely one day play at a higher level.[Hopefully with us].

[Saint_Ash]

I love him! Was well excited when he joined and have enjoyed watching him play. He can be hot and cold sometimes but the best of them can, overall an excellent purchase for a league one side looking for promotion.

[Saint_clark]

I think he's been a fantastic signing. Even in his "off" period, he still created goals.

[CWD]

When he is good we are great. Even one bit of magic from him and we create stuff (im thinking charlton) and against Leeds he looked a class above

 

brilliant signing

[saint_boysie]

he reminds me of Fernandes in a way, frustrating at times, but good as well. Interesting read about him on Wikipedia.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Fernandes

[Scudamore]

he reminds me of Fernandes in a way, frustrating at times, but good as well. Interesting read about him on Wikipedia.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Fernandes

 

He'll never come close to match the frustration of Fabrice and his crop circles.

 

Absolute quality signing imo.

[Jimmy_D]

Has brilliant days and bad days, but that's to be expected, he's a young player.

 

As he gets older and more experienced, the good days will happen more often and the bad days not so much.

[Arizona]

He was brilliant at Norwich, crap against Orient and forgettable at Wycombe. They're the only times I can remember seeing him play TBH.

 

Overall I rate him though. I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to players who are occasionally brilliant but inconsistent, other people might not see it that way.

[B Rabbit]

He's bloody brilliant...super quick, excellent touch and skillful..strong on the ball. Delivery is not quite there yet (especially on corners) but he has a cracking shot on him...he has scored plenty already and got alot of assists in a few games...can't quite believe anyone actually doubts his ability.....

[B Rabbit]

...on top of that...go and watch the Bristol Rovers highlights.... A smashing goal..brilliantly finished showing his skill and strength on the ball...and 2 assists... can't really ask for any more than that and that isn't the first time i've seen him play that way..infact he plays like it most weeks.

Granted he's had a couple of off games but who doesn't...?

[Genk]

Like others have mentioned, he has the talent but isn't consistent enough which is why he is playing at this level. I quite like him and he is a genuine threat for 90minutes which is great to have on the pitch. Just like other players, occasionally he doesn't turn up but he has been a good signing so far and i expect him to continue to improve into next season.

[austsaint]

...on top of that...go and watch the Bristol Rovers highlights.... A smashing goal..brilliantly finished showing his skill and strength on the ball...and 2 assists... can't really ask for any more than that and that isn't the first time i've seen him play that way..infact he plays like it most weeks.

Granted he's had a couple of off games but who doesn't...?

 

The other thing that caught my eye in watching the highlights was his good right foot cross in the first half

[rooney]

A very good player with bags of pace and good first touch. Creates goals for his colleagues and will continue to improve.Glad we signed him as should do well for us for many years to come.

[BristolSaint]

Saw him on Wednesday night for first time, he looked like a quality player for this league, and hopefully the Championship next season.

[doggface]

Only seen him vs Leeds & he was unplayable, low centre of gravity. Leeds were unable to tackle him. A bankrupt man's messi

[thesaint sfc]

I thought he was immense against Leeds. Our best player on the field. I think like most brilliant players that come our way, consistency is what they lack; he's another one. I think if Pardew was able to sort that out he could be awesome.

Edited 15 April, 2010 by thesaint sfc
errr, he's not on loan.

[Sour Mash]

Probably going to be on my own on this one, but I don't rate him. Gets a lot of the ball, but his final ball, crosses and set pieces too often don't even beat the first man, he's laazy and doesn't track back and tackle as much as he should and he gives the ball away in dangerous positions.

[saintmatt]

ive got a st and get to the odd away game as well, ive only seen him not play particularly well against orient; i reckon he's absolute quality - comfortably championship standard. on a (sort of) separate note id still like to keep papa waigo and antonio, still terrified lallana's off this summer!

[Fan The Flames]

I've seen quite a bit of Puncheon and a game that stood out for me, or a half that stood out for me, was against Leeds. He turned their left back inside out. I think he has massive potential and has shown what he is capable of on numerous occasions. I guess that sometimes we might remember the off performances which have happened in off games. I believe he will turn into one of our main threats

 

I agree. He was excellent against Leeds although I thought that he has to develop and understanding with Lallana, when they click watch out Div1/championship.

[Little Bazza]

On the whole I've been pretty impressed with him - in most of the games I have seen him in he has either scored, or created a goal for someone else. Even against Charlton where I thought he had one of his more frustrating days, he set up the winner - can't really argue with that. He has a lot of skill, and some pace - a combination which most defenders (certainly in this league) can't cope with.

 

All I would say to him (if I had the chance) would be that he doesnt need to show us how skilful/talented he is EVERY time he gets the ball. Sometimes the simple ball is the best option, and sometimes you can cross it without beating the man in front of you.

 

On the whole though, very pleased with his signing and as others have said, he should only get better as he matures.

[Saintandy666]

Had a few dogey games like the one against Charlton and obviously isn't the full product yet. However, on the whole he has been a very good buy for us and does seem to work hard. Also definitely a player we could take with us to the championship.

[Chez]

I bigged him up massively before he joined us, having seen him play for Barnet a few years back and subsequently suggesting we sign him several times on the HCDAJFU threads. I simply could not understand why Plymouth didn't fancy him. Seven and a half games into his Saints career and that opinion had escalated along the lines of `Plymouth have gone bloody mad'. However, the next four and a half games explained exactly why they had let him go as he was bloody woeful.

 

He appears to have improved over the last couple of games so let's hope those games constituted a blip in form rather a sign of what we might see in the future. The lad has great feet, decent control and the ability to beat a man - all very rare at this level. So I'm hopeful that he will prove to be a big success over the next couple of seasons and that will allow me to continue feeling smug that I picked him out as having great potential long before he signed here. Chez Souting Services Ltd available now.

Edited 15 April, 2010 by Chez

[benjii]

He was excellent on Tuesday. That sort of player is bound to have games that occassionally make them look worse than they are because they're prepared to try things and take people on. You need a couple of those otherwise your play is safe and boring.

 

Players like him and Lallana have the bottle to demand the ball and do things with it. You won't see better in League One so you'd better learn to appreciate it.

 

benjii Patronising But True Statements Ltd (2010)

[ottery st mary]

Puncheon like Lallana is top drawer and will only get even better in this world class team.

 

 

ottery who knows everything about quality...just ask the missus.

[St Marco]

Great player, his goals and assists speak for themselves.

 

I would understand those complaining if he was not contributing etc.. but he has and by a lot. He has emense potential. Just look at the quality of his goals. He is a type of player we have missed at this club for a long time. Someone with the ability to create something out of nothing while also chipping in with goals.

 

Good player and glad he is here.

[Clifford Nelson]

It's funny how opinions vary about a player we have actually seen play. In my opinion he has been the weakest player on the pitch in the last two home games and I can't understand why he hasn't been subbed. The hangs on to the ball until he loses it or misplaces the few reluctant passes he makes. And still lots of people can't see him as anything but brilliant.

 

I thought there must be a reason for him not really making a success of wherever he's been, with a tendency of sliding down the league system repeatedly. The lack of ability to concentrate on the task in hand might be an answer, because I've also seen him being much better than what he recently has demonstrated.

[Weston Saint]

He is very much a confidence player.

 

Many asked why Plymouth let him go. Well, some of his performances of late have been poor and that may be the player Plymouth saw.

 

When he went on loan to MK Dons, Puncheon said that Ince made him believe in his own ability and gave him renewed confidence. That was the player Pardew saw and signed.

 

We have seen the best and worse from Puncheon in the short time he has been with us but with the right management and encouragement the best will outweigh the worse by large margins. Pardew has to understand the the sort of player he has. Screaming at him from the touchline will not do it. Encouragement is what he needs. Suporters may have a part to play as well

 

Maybe that is why Pardew has not taken him off during those poor games?

[Matthew Le God]

Many asked why Plymouth let him go. Well, some of his performances of late have been poor and that may be the player Plymouth saw.

 

He played 6 games for Plymouth. Few Argyle fans could make a good assessment of him in that time, also that would include away games where even fewer saw him. He is a very good player at this level imo.

[Weston Saint]

He played 6 games for Plymouth. Few Argyle fans could make a good assessment of him in that time, also that would include away games where even fewer saw him. He is a very good player at this level imo.

I was thinking more of management rather than fans but agree, 6 games is no time to judge

 

I think he is a good player as well. All I am saying is that he is a confidence player.

[ottery st mary]

He was a lost soul in Plymouth and very homesick.....He just did not settle in Guz...

[Ziggy]

I rate him. I'm always pleased when he's in the line up and seems to create plenty of openings. Yes he messes up from time to time but he more than makes up for it with the good bits. He's unpredictable and defences find it difficult to play against him.

[sidthesquid]

It's funny how opinions vary about a player we have actually seen play. In my opinion he has been the weakest player on the pitch in the last two home games and I can't understand why he hasn't been subbed. The hangs on to the ball until he loses it or misplaces the few reluctant passes he makes. And still lots of people can't see him as anything but brilliant.

 

I thought there must be a reason for him not really making a success of wherever he's been, with a tendency of sliding down the league system repeatedly. The lack of ability to concentrate on the task in hand might be an answer, because I've also seen him being much better than what he recently has demonstrated.

 

I think he will always drive us mad - taking too many touches, not playing the easy ball etc, BUT he has quick feet, some genuine flair and a good football brain and, like Lallana, will get better and better with time. Another shrewd Pardew signing imo

[benjii]

Can't believe anyone's moaning. FFS. He's mint and you're dullards.