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Semi-Pro
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Norwich, "A fine city! .... full of inbreds!
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Real target!
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02-15-2008, 10:28 AM
#1 (permalink)
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Why not?!
Quote:
STEVEN Fletcher laughed off a report last weekend linking him with Real Madrid. According to the Hibernian striker's manager, however, if he keeps up his present rate of improvement, a move to a club of that stature may soon be a lot more plausible.
As a former striker himself, Mixu Paatelainen is well placed to judge Fletcher's attributes. The Finn knows his player has some way to go before he is the finished article, but he is convinced that, crucially, Fletcher has the right attitude to make it to the top.
"There is no doubt, if someone like Steven Fletcher keeps working hard and keeps improving, he will go somewhere, Real Madrid or something like that – I don't know," Paatelainen said yesterday, having seen the 20-year-old score his first senior hat-trick on Wednesday night in Hibs' 4-2 win over Gretna.
"He has got a good head and he is really determined to make it to the top level, play for Scotland many times and be the top man. He works very hard (and] does extra training sessions after team sessions. He has got the right amount of arrogance and self-belief without being big-headed – he is a social guy in the dressing room as well.
"He has got all these assets that a good top-class player needs. To be a top striker you need to be selfish and you need to be arrogant – let no-one bully you. He has got that, which is great. Hopefully, it carries him far."
It may be too early in Fletcher's career to predict precisely how good a player he can become, but his manager is convinced he is already good enough to give a good account of himself if selected for Scotland. "He can score because of his technical ability," Paatelainen continued. "He gets into the right positions inside the box and he wants to shoot. He has got great technique with shooting and ball control. I think he can score goals at international level already.
"The next period is going to be important, because he is carrying loads of responsibility and the speculation will get bigger. How he handles that and how he keeps his head down we will see in the future. I don't think he will get carried away."
Fletcher agreed an extended and improved deal with Hibs at the end of last year, and is now under contract at Easter Road until 2013, which means that any club coming in for him over the next couple of years will have to pay serious money for his services. But Paatelainen is in no mood to sell him off.
"There is speculation and you can't stop it. You have to live with it. My job is to make sure he doesn't get carried away or big-headed, and to tell him he still has plenty of weaknesses and he should concentrate on those."
Having put on muscle over the last year or so, the striker is now stronger on the ball than he was previously, and can now be more readily employed as a back-to-goal target man. Now that Colin Nish is at Hibs, though, Fletcher can also play just off his burlier striking partner, and should benefit from having the former Kilmarnock man shoulder the burden.
The more direct style of play employed by Paatelainen compared to his predecessor John Collins should also help a player as fast, and as willing to strike first time, as Fletcher is. The manager pointed out, however, that the change of approach has not come at the expense of the aesthetic side of the game.
"I think we are more direct, but not lumping the ball forward," he said. "We want to pass through midfield. We want to create chances, and you create chances if you are positive and pass the ball forward, not in an uncontrolled manner, but man to man. We are working a lot on our movement on the pitch, and that is the key, I feel. When you look at the top clubs in the world, for example Arsenal, their movement is unbelievable.
"They pass the ball forward, they get it to the strikers early with plenty of movement in midfield, and they create chances through that. It's only been one month we have been working together and I am sure we will get better at it.
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He's young, strong, scoring goals in probably the most frenetic league in the world, and for Madrid he'd be as cheap as one of their poorest paid players. I'd be very surprised if he's currently on more than £1,500 a week at Easter Road. |
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There ARE two teams in Edinburgh, Hearts .......... and Hearts reserves!
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