He appears to have been practically sainted in the last few weeks - well not by IHE.

He is an established professional - He must have known that he was being played too early - He must have felt the atmosphere in the dressing room - He must have known that he was way out of form - At the end of the day Marius Niculae was always - and still is - looking after Number One.

Some may say that isnt anything strange these days - TRUE - but it is at ICT.

Marius is a mercenary who has got what he wanted and now will move on - and I predict that he will fall.

Lets not forget that if it wasnt fer Gretna the signing of Niculae and the standard of his play for the majority of the season would possibly have taken us into the SFL.

I think James makes some good points and the Marius digs should now stop. Lets hope he stays and we all get behind the guy. He didn't score today but had a few long range shots and a couple of close range chances but more importantly he had a part in goals that were scored.

IHE,  Hail Caesar--Brutus salutes thee, if only fer persistence...aye!  :003:

Some good points you make but I still think this thread has been flogged to death.

And Brewster in  his day and on his game was something else. He just dominated a game--strode through (oops, sorry, strolled through)the midfield  like a tall smooth, if albeit wee bitty slow, gladiator. Pity about all the subsequent controversy which somehow marred his image as a  classy footballer who was invariably calm and in control, popping up at all the right moments too to score when others would have fluffed it.

Let's be generous to him next season and really give him a chance to shine. Brewster I mean  :015:

This is not a dig..........but Marius was poor yesterday, probably our worst player, saving himself for better things maybe.

Marius has never been the dynamic, pacy player some people seem to think he was pre-injury. He's always had a slower style and its because of the style of football in Eastern Europe. Lots of slow patient build up where there is no need for pace or physicality. It's only here in the Uk and other Northern European countires that such emphasis is placed on pace and power. He has never been a prolific goalscorer other than his last 2 seasons at Dinamo and it must be remembered that the Dinamo team at the time won 2 doubles and had players such as Mutu etc.

I also don't think he's lost anything in particular other than a general match fitness. As I've said previously the guy hasn't had a pre-season since 2005 and thats the big problem. He hasn't had a sustained period of working at his fitness without the interruption of matches. If he stays this summer and gets a Brew pre season under his belt he'll be a completely different player. Considering the age he sustained his injury it shouldn't have a huge lasting effect on the rest of his career and alter his style of play too much. How do I know this? I sustained the same injury and other than the psychological issues (i.e. trepidation about playing at 100%) when you start playing again the only probelm was getting up to match speed again.

I think IHE is 100% right when he says the problem is when Marius comes deep. He is far more effective right up the park where he can take a ball in and turn his man or bring others into play. His display against Celtic when we won 3-2 was a perfect solo striker perfromance because he wasn't tracking back. he was up the pitch and this allows the rest of the team to get up and support him. Personally I think we should attach a device to him that gives him some kind of electric shock if he comes more than 5 yards into his own half.....

:clapping03: :clapping03: Cellic was his biggest match and he delivered - in the perfect role / system but Cowie was MOM. But "movement" is what the SPL demands - Marius "pre injury" was able to drift back and get back up again.

This is not a dig..........but Marius was poor yesterday, probably our worst player, saving himself for better things maybe.

This is not a dig.  :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

IHE,  Hail Caesar--Brutus salutes thee, if only fer persistence...aye!  :003:

Some good points you make but I still think this thread has been flogged to death.

And Brewster in  his day and on his game was something else. He just dominated a game--strode through (oops, sorry, strolled through)the midfield  like a tall smooth, if albeit wee bitty slow, gladiator. Pity about all the subsequent controversy which somehow marred his image as a  classy footballer who was invariably calm and in control, popping up at all the right moments too to score when others would have fluffed it.

Let's be generous to him next season and really give him a chance to shine. Brewster I mean  :015:

To me - this thread has been the most open and honest about Marius EVER - why should it close down !! We had TEN feckin pages about Hart and five plus about most of the others.

As I posted elsewhere about Niculae yesterday....he was marked out of the game...but being the professional he is he turned it to our advantage.  He had at least 2 mean on him for the entire game and instead of dragging them in to clog up the area he held back and dragged these guys all over the pitch....creating the opportunity for others to take advantage of the stretched defence.

I'd quite happily see him do that every game if it means we can score 6 goals.