Raph Must Be Dropped!!!

[evertonfc]

Raph wasn't the only bad player last night, but Christ, he was horrific.

The well of patience has been exhausted, his sympathizers have turned this whole thing into a crusade, which is a real shame. The honest debate about an average player has turned into some pathetic pissing contest.

Let's keep it to the footy-related stuff.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

It happens every week, I am desperate for it not to happen, but it does, and nothing more can be said.

Raph just can't find his way against frontal pressure and quick ball movement. He likes an open, unaccountable game - but I fear that got left behind in the 1990s.

I can't bear to bag the bloke like some do but I can't bear to see him cough the ball up, fail to contest, etc so repeatedly.

It's just too much. He is now being targeted by opposition coaches and players as the weak link, something I noticed that was picked up on in the commentary.

I'm not sure you can carry that kind of player to a premiership.

It's not personal. It's business.

[bigred]

Raph wasn't the only bad player last night, but Christ, he was horrific.

The well of patience has been exhausted, his sympathizers have turned this whole thing into a crusade, which is a real shame. The honest debate about an average player has turned into some pathetic pissing contest.

Let's keep it to the footy-related stuff.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

It happens every week, I am desperate for it not to happen, but it does, and nothing more can be said.

Raph just can't find his way against frontal pressure and quick ball movement. He likes an open, unaccountable game - but I fear that got left behind in the 1990s.

I can't bear to bag the bloke like some do but I can't bear to see him cough the ball up, fail to contest, etc so repeatedly.

It's just too much. He is now being targeted by opposition coaches and players as the weak link, something I noticed that was picked up on in the commentary.

I'm not sure you can carry that kind of player to a premiership.

It's not personal. It's business.

Great, fair post Everton.

Seriously, it would be the first fair post written about Raph in a long time.

I think that his omission is not far away. My main issue with this is that I fear that we have no one ready to replace him.

I also fear that his whole problem is between the ears and another demotion might be the end of him. A lot has been invested here.

[Moccha]

Raph wasn't the only bad player last night, but Christ, he was horrific.

The well of patience has been exhausted, his sympathizers have turned this whole thing into a crusade, which is a real shame. The honest debate about an average player has turned into some pathetic pissing contest.

Let's keep it to the footy-related stuff.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

It happens every week, I am desperate for it not to happen, but it does, and nothing more can be said.

Raph just can't find his way against frontal pressure and quick ball movement. He likes an open, unaccountable game - but I fear that got left behind in the 1990s.

I can't bear to bag the bloke like some do but I can't bear to see him cough the ball up, fail to contest, etc so repeatedly.

It's just too much. He is now being targeted by opposition coaches and players as the weak link, something I noticed that was picked up on in the commentary.

I'm not sure you can carry that kind of player to a premiership.

It's not personal. It's business.

Great, fair post Everton.

Seriously, it would be the first fair post written about Raph in a long time.

I think that his omission is not far away. My main issue with this is that I fear that we have no one ready to replace him.

I also fear that his whole problem is between the ears and another demotion might be the end of him. A lot has been invested here.

Then so be it. If you're right and he's not mentally tough enough to accept being dropped then he should be moved on right away.

[Beej]

Raph wasn't the only bad player last night, but Christ, he was horrific.

The well of patience has been exhausted, his sympathizers have turned this whole thing into a crusade, which is a real shame. The honest debate about an average player has turned into some pathetic pissing contest.

Let's keep it to the footy-related stuff.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

It happens every week, I am desperate for it not to happen, but it does, and nothing more can be said.

Raph just can't find his way against frontal pressure and quick ball movement. He likes an open, unaccountable game - but I fear that got left behind in the 1990s.

I can't bear to bag the bloke like some do but I can't bear to see him cough the ball up, fail to contest, etc so repeatedly.

It's just too much. He is now being targeted by opposition coaches and players as the weak link, something I noticed that was picked up on in the commentary.

I'm not sure you can carry that kind of player to a premiership.

It's not personal. It's business.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

That about sums it up for me.

Good post, unfortunate, though it is, that you felt it required an almost apologetic tone.

[joffaboy]

Raph wasn't the only bad player last night, but Christ, he was horrific.

The well of patience has been exhausted, his sympathizers have turned this whole thing into a crusade, which is a real shame. The honest debate about an average player has turned into some pathetic pissing contest.

Let's keep it to the footy-related stuff.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

It happens every week, I am desperate for it not to happen, but it does, and nothing more can be said.

Raph just can't find his way against frontal pressure and quick ball movement. He likes an open, unaccountable game - but I fear that got left behind in the 1990s.

I can't bear to bag the bloke like some do but I can't bear to see him cough the ball up, fail to contest, etc so repeatedly.

It's just too much. He is now being targeted by opposition coaches and players as the weak link, something I noticed that was picked up on in the commentary.

I'm not sure you can carry that kind of player to a premiership.

It's not personal. It's business.

Fair enough.

Critisism of a player is not a bad thing, but just out and out abuse is the thing that rankles most here.

Well done for articulating why you believe he should be dropped, not the usual hatefest that associates a post about Raph from the Facebook crowd who only comes over here when we lose.

thumbsup.

[dcstkfc]

Raph is very much in the same boat that Jason Blake was in for much of his early career with the club he was the scapegoat but his persistance and work rate to improve himself finally clicked and he has become a pillar in our backline. If given the same time Raph could be better as he has more natural ability than Blake ever had.

Fair point, it took the Blake 7 years on our list before he became a lock in the side, and look at him now, three straight top 10 bnf finishes.

[shmic_s]

Raph wasn't the only bad player last night, but Christ, he was horrific.

The well of patience has been exhausted, his sympathizers have turned this whole thing into a crusade, which is a real shame. The honest debate about an average player has turned into some pathetic pissing contest.

Let's keep it to the footy-related stuff.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

It happens every week, I am desperate for it not to happen, but it does, and nothing more can be said.

Raph just can't find his way against frontal pressure and quick ball movement. He likes an open, unaccountable game - but I fear that got left behind in the 1990s.

I can't bear to bag the bloke like some do but I can't bear to see him cough the ball up, fail to contest, etc so repeatedly.

It's just too much. He is now being targeted by opposition coaches and players as the weak link, something I noticed that was picked up on in the commentary.

I'm not sure you can carry that kind of player to a premiership.

It's not personal. It's business.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

That about sums it up for me.

Good post, unfortunate, though it is, that you felt it required an almost apologetic tone.

I agree in a way. I feel his mistakes are magnified as hes playing in the backline. He's a player who likes to take risks. Not all risks are going to come off. I feel he should be on the wing or HFF. Those risks could turn into goals or won't be as damaging if they result in a turnover. Once he gets his confidence up he can dominate a game. Don't know why he plays back, or why they put Gwilt forward for that matter.

[spert]

Don't get stuck into the poor bugger, Raf has his faults, but the poor effort of our midfield against Carlton, and the poor defensive work of our forwards put too much pressure on the backline and most backs will start getting shakey when that happens.

[Solar]

Raph wasn't the only bad player last night, but Christ, he was horrific.

The well of patience has been exhausted, his sympathizers have turned this whole thing into a crusade, which is a real shame. The honest debate about an average player has turned into some pathetic pissing contest.

Let's keep it to the footy-related stuff.

He does some good things, but then, so would any player given the opportunities he's been given. Players should do good things; it's the mistakes - the sheer calamity of them - that hurts us.

It happens every week, I am desperate for it not to happen, but it does, and nothing more can be said.

Raph just can't find his way against frontal pressure and quick ball movement. He likes an open, unaccountable game - but I fear that got left behind in the 1990s.

I can't bear to bag the bloke like some do but I can't bear to see him cough the ball up, fail to contest, etc so repeatedly.

It's just too much. He is now being targeted by opposition coaches and players as the weak link, something I noticed that was picked up on in the commentary.

I'm not sure you can carry that kind of player to a premiership.

It's not personal. It's business.

Fair enough.

Critisism of a player is not a bad thing, but just out and out abuse is the thing that rankles most here.

Well done for articulating why you believe he should be dropped, not the usual hatefest that associates a post about Raph from the Facebook crowd who only comes over here when we lose.

thumbsup.

agree, fair analysis but I still believe he has something to give on the forward line if given a few games.... but if he was dropped I wont be upset either. Just can't believe we focus on the likes of clarke when it was the top tier that lost the game for us

[st_Trav_ofWA]

we really miss Maquire right now could have played forward or back we did say not to delist him in case of such a situation!!!!!!!!

yes we really miss him sitting in the stands dont we