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Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: GazLaz on September 20, 2011, 09:52:42 pm

Title: Heffs
Post by: GazLaz on September 20, 2011, 09:52:42 pm
Hattrick. Quality finisher that was never given a proper chance.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Glyn_Wigley on September 20, 2011, 09:53:35 pm
When we play teams as shit as Queen Of The South we'll know who to call for.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Filo on September 20, 2011, 09:54:41 pm
He`s gone, move on, he`s playing in a vastly inferior league now
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: MrFrost on September 20, 2011, 09:58:07 pm
Its ironic isn't it. People were blowing their load when were signed Shiels, from Scotland funnily enough.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Glyn_Wigley on September 20, 2011, 09:58:47 pm
I didn't. I'd never heard of him.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: RoversAlias on September 21, 2011, 12:32:24 am
Heffernan was given plenty of chance, let's be honest. He was great here for a time but yes, he's gone now. I always look out to see if he's bagged a goal or two for Kilmarnock, but no point looking back.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Chris on September 21, 2011, 12:45:41 am
Quote from: \"GazLaz\" post=184020
Hattrick. Quality finisher that was never given a proper chance.


89 starts and 39 appearances from the bench.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: GazLaz on September 21, 2011, 05:38:50 am
How many under SoD though??
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: MrFrost on September 21, 2011, 08:11:16 am
Heffs was given a chance in our first season in the Championship and more than proved he was what it takes. Have people forgot that?
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Thinwhiteduke on September 21, 2011, 08:23:35 am
Quote from: \"MrFrost\" post=184067
Heffs was given a chance in our first season in the Championship and more than proved he was what it takes. Have people forgot that?


Yep.....Lets not forget the fact we were struggling like hell until he was given a run in the team...and his goals basically kept us up.

He'd still be the best Striker at this Club at the present time if he was here, and his record in The Championship stands up reasonably well with Sharps.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: big fat yorkshire pudding on September 21, 2011, 08:25:48 am
And let's remember how well he took his chance when given it at the end of the season after..... How many goals did he get again?
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: timdrfc on September 21, 2011, 08:28:56 am
Quote from: \"GazLaz\" post=184020
Hattrick. Quality finisher that was never given a proper chance.



Yawn
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: MrFrost on September 21, 2011, 08:32:36 am
Quote from: \"big fat yorkshire pudding\" post=184071
And let's remember how well he took his chance when given it at the end of the season after..... How many goals did he get again?


How many starts did he get?
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: GazLaz on September 21, 2011, 08:59:49 am
Quote from: \"timdrfc\" post=184072
Quote from: \"GazLaz\" post=184020
Hattrick. Quality finisher that was never given a proper chance.



Yawn



What's the point?? If you are not interested in Paul don't read a thread in which his name is the title. Don't yawn me pr!ck.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: donnygreenjeans on September 21, 2011, 09:17:47 am
To be fair to Heffs, he was a great divsion 1 player but he got found out in the championship.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: PACMAN on September 21, 2011, 09:30:18 am
An ex player scores a hat-trick against Conference North standard opposition who were down to ten men........................move on, we have!!!!!
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Wade Falana on September 21, 2011, 09:35:23 am
Richard Offiong looked good in that league.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Thinwhiteduke on September 21, 2011, 09:57:53 am
Quote from: \"donnygreenjeans\" post=184081
To be fair to Heffs, he was a great divsion 1 player but he got found out in the championship.


Check his stats (Goals to Starts) as a Championship player. You are wrong...again.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: MrFrost on September 21, 2011, 09:59:56 am
Quote from: \"donnygreenjeans\" post=184081
To be fair to Heffs, he was a great divsion 1 player but he got found out in the championship.


Are you serious??
Heffs goals are what made the difference in our first year in this league. Wasn't given a chance the year after.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Chris on September 21, 2011, 10:13:23 am
Quote from: \"GazLaz\" post=184050
How many under SoD though??


Erm, a lot.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: timdrfc on September 21, 2011, 11:08:58 am
Quote from: \"GazLaz\" post=184077
Quote from: \"timdrfc\" post=184072
Quote from: \"GazLaz\" post=184020
Hattrick. Quality finisher that was never given a proper chance.



Yawn



What's the point?? If you are not interested in Paul don't read a thread in which his name is the title. Don't yawn me pr!ck.
J
Yawn yawn & double yawn :)
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: BRMC_rover on September 21, 2011, 11:42:32 am
Rod Wallace looked like Ibrahimovic in that league. You simply cant compare a performance to how he'd fare in the Championship. Stokes, Hooper, Samaras, 36 yr old Claudio Caniggia. All look head and shoulders above anyone in SPL
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Popeye on September 21, 2011, 11:53:27 am
Liked heffs as a player. guess he found his level. Yes he was a good player but every year older he lost a bit. Even at Bristol he didn't pull any trees up.
Like i said found his level now, good luck to him.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: wilts rover on September 21, 2011, 11:54:31 am
Great player for us in his day - but quite telling that no other Championship side signed him up when released on a free don't you think?

Anyone there at Swansea that day when he missed an open goal?
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: ditch_drfc on September 21, 2011, 12:28:33 pm
Quote from: \"wilts rover\" post=184105
Great player for us in his day - but quite telling that no other Championship side signed him up when released on a free don't you think?

Anyone there at Swansea that day when he missed an open goal?


At least we didn't pay £50mil for that privilege! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: MrFrost on September 21, 2011, 12:36:10 pm
I guess the fact he had a Championship scoring record just as good as Billy's is through blind luck then.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: andysly on September 21, 2011, 01:23:29 pm
Championship quality - I'm sorry but no. And as was posted earlier 23 other managers felt the same as SoD.  However I'd have had him these past six weeks, but you can't keep players in squad and on the payroll in case of a severe injury crisis.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: MrFrost on September 21, 2011, 01:31:51 pm
Quote from: \"andysly\" post=184128
Championship quality - I'm sorry but no. And as was posted earlier 23 other managers felt the same as SoD.  However I'd have had these past six weeks, but you can't keep players in squad and on the payroll in case of a severe injury crisis.


Again, the stats say otherwise.
What eveidence are you using to back up your claim that he wasn't good enough?
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: andysly on September 21, 2011, 01:37:39 pm
He WAS good enough in 2008/9 as his goals showed.  But it is now 2011/12 season, he was never the quickest, first touch wasn't great and he is now 3 years older and apparently not good enough for any other championship side since we released him.
Never made an impact at Wednesday.
I don't want to slate the fella as he was involved in some of great days but everybody has a best before date
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Wade Falana on September 21, 2011, 02:41:46 pm
Quote from: \"andysly\" post=184134
He WAS good enough in 2008/9 as his goals showed.  But it is now 2011/12 season, he was never the quickest, first touch wasn't great and he is now 3 years older and apparently not good enough for any other championship side since we released him.
Never made an impact at Wednesday.
I don't want to slate the fella as he was involved in some of great days but everybody has a best before date


I feel exactly the same, really pleased he's scoring again though. Yes or no, would you have Heffs over Sharp, Parkin, Hayter or Lalkovic?
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: northerncasual on September 21, 2011, 03:59:10 pm
just because a certain player doesnt fit in at a certain doesnt mean the players not good enough. sharp didnt at sheffield united and remember how poor john sheridan looked playing for us.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: VikingJames on September 21, 2011, 04:18:00 pm
His build up play might not be Championship standard, but his goalscoring record certainly can't be called into question. He scored around 1 in every 2 when given a run of games in 08/9, and then fell out of favour the following season after a slow start. I believe he could've replicated that in 09/10 if given a run of games similar to what he was given in 08/9.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: benaldo on September 21, 2011, 04:44:52 pm
I couldn't stand Heffernan, but he did score some goals. More than anyone else bar Sharp, I think in recent years?
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: andysly on September 21, 2011, 07:13:21 pm
Quote from: \"northerncasual\" post=184153
just because a certain player doesnt fit in at a certain doesnt mean the players not good enough. sharp didnt at sheffield united and remember how poor john sheridan looked playing for us.


Fair enough but don't forget he was at Oldham and Bristol Rovers on loan as well and never set their world on fire.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: john_donc857 on September 21, 2011, 08:22:02 pm
Quote from: \"andysly\" post=184128
Championship quality - I'm sorry but no. And as was posted earlier 23 other managers felt the same as SoD.  However I'd have had him these past six weeks, but you can't keep players in squad and on the payroll in case of a severe injury crisis.
                                                                                     I had to have a little giggle at this post. If you cannot keep players in the squad and on the payroll in case of injury what exactly have we been doing with the likes of wilson, hird, and lockwood for the past 3 years. Paul heffernan doncaster rovers legend
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Jonathan on September 21, 2011, 08:27:07 pm
This is a good debate, can we have it again next week, and the week after that?

Pleased to see Heffs doing well, good player for us. He was always going to do well in that league, he's a goalscorer and people with that gift will score no matter where they play, even moreso in such a terrible division as he's in now.

Truth is he's better than that league but he's moved on and so have we. There have been a number of past players it would have been nice to have back through our injury crisis, we could talk about it forever.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: andysly on September 21, 2011, 08:33:45 pm
Lockwood was a regular until injured last season.
Hird played as a starter often last season and is almost always on bench.
Wilson regular sub.

Heff would've been no where near the first 16 until the 3 injuries in first 2 games. And probably still wouldn't have made first 11 in past few weeks.
And I wrote severe injury crisis not just in case of injury.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: john_donc857 on September 21, 2011, 10:51:11 pm
Quote from: \"andysly\" post=184205
Lockwood was a regular until injured last season.
Hird played as a starter often last season and is almost always on bench.
Wilson regular sub.

Heff would've been no where near the first 16 until the 3 injuries in first 2 games. And probably still wouldn't have made first 11 in past few weeks.
And I wrote severe injury crisis not just in case of injury.
                                                                                      He was no where near the 1st 16 in our 1st season in the championship untill crowd pressure and the fact that we were bottom of the league forced S.O.Ds hand. He made him luck a c--t and he never forgive him for it.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: andysly on September 22, 2011, 09:18:35 am
It was an 18 man squad in that season and heff was in it though didn't get on the pitch a great deal. If anything it was the headbutt sending off at Southend that got SoDs back up.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: jonnydog on September 22, 2011, 09:40:37 am
Quote from: \"andysly\" post=184251
It was an 18 man squad in that season and heff was in it though didn't get on the pitch a great deal. If anything it was the headbutt sending off at Southend that got SoDs back up.



Pissed me off too, though I was in a bar in Barcelona at the time and quite a few english said that was our hopes of reaching the play-off final down the drain. How wrong could they be, as the next game was one of, if not THE best Rovers performances I've been to, not to mention the atmosphere that night!!

... What was funny was us all wondering round Barcelona trying to find a pub with it on. We got to an Irish bar and asked two english lads who were having a smoke at the front door \"what game are they showing?\", to which one replied...

\"Dunno, some shite Unibond league game I think\".

... I knew we were in business at that point :laugh:
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: BillyStubbsTears on September 22, 2011, 01:30:38 pm
Quote from: \"andysly\" post=184251
It was an 18 man squad in that season and heff was in it though didn't get on the pitch a great deal. If anything it was the headbutt sending off at Southend that got SoDs back up.


He was actually our equal top league scorer that season, including a proflic run in the winter when Hayter was injured.

Actually, whatever Heffernan did to piss off O'Driscoll pre-dated that stupid headbutt by a good length of time. O'Driscoll has rarely criticised individuals in his time here, but Heffernan was an exception, drawing critical press comments from O'Driscoll almost from the off.

I fully appreciate that Heffernan was never the style of striker that O'Driscoll preferred. He's always wanted strikers who work hard for the cause outside the box as well as sticking the ball in the back of the net.

With Sharp, and sometimes with Hayter, you get both. Heffernan was never in that mould, and that clearly irritated O'Driscoll, certainly judging by his public comments. But it's no co-incidence that two of our best runs under O'Driscoll (Dec 06-Jan07 and Dec08-Feb09) came when we played to Heffernan's strengths. The lesson I take from this is that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and more than one way to set out a successful football side.

The really key moment for me in O'Driscoll's approach to Heffernan came in April 09, after we'd beaten Ipswich to more or less secure our Championship status. Heffernan scored in that game - his eight goal in the last 14-15 starts. He was immediately dropped. We went into the next game with Hayter and Guy up front and Heffernan on the bench. We lost and to be honest, we were dreadful, looking woefully short of punch. Other sides near the bottom won that day and suddenly we were potentially being dragged down into the relegation scrap again. Heffernan was immediately recalled, and scored as we won comfortably at Plymouth to finally all-but put relegation behind us. O'Driscoll's post-match interview went into raptures about how well Hayter had played, and what a vital player he was for us. Not a single mention of the bloke who had scored the goals that had actually saved us. That always seemed a strange couple of weeks - as if O'Driscoll genuinely resented the player who had been so central to saving our season.

And by the way, of course this is ancient history, but the fact that it raises so much interest 2-3 years down the line is indicative of the fact that it is one of the 2 most controversial issues during O'Driscoll's reign - the other being his preference from Wilson over Green for most of that dire run in 2008.

All in the past, but, Jonathan-permitting, I guess we're allowed to discuss our past?
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: The Red Baron on September 22, 2011, 04:51:35 pm
Quote from: \"BillyStubbsTears\" post=184292
Quote from: \"andysly\" post=184251
It was an 18 man squad in that season and heff was in it though didn't get on the pitch a great deal. If anything it was the headbutt sending off at Southend that got SoDs back up.


He was actually our equal top league scorer that season, including a proflic run in the winter when Hayter was injured.

Actually, whatever Heffernan did to piss off O'Driscoll pre-dated that stupid headbutt by a good length of time. O'Driscoll has rarely criticised individuals in his time here, but Heffernan was an exception, drawing critical press comments from O'Driscoll almost from the off.

I fully appreciate that Heffernan was never the style of striker that O'Driscoll preferred. He's always wanted strikers who work hard for the cause outside the box as well as sticking the ball in the back of the net.

With Sharp, and sometimes with Hayter, you get both. Heffernan was never in that mould, and that clearly irritated O'Driscoll, certainly judging by his public comments. But it's no co-incidence that two of our best runs under O'Driscoll (Dec 06-Jan07 and Dec08-Feb09) came when we played to Heffernan's strengths. The lesson I take from this is that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and more than one way to set out a successful football side.

The really key moment for me in O'Driscoll's approach to Heffernan came in April 09, after we'd beaten Ipswich to more or less secure our Championship status. Heffernan scored in that game - his eight goal in the last 14-15 starts. He was immediately dropped. We went into the next game with Hayter and Guy up front and Heffernan on the bench. We lost and to be honest, we were dreadful, looking woefully short of punch. Other sides near the bottom won that day and suddenly we were potentially being dragged down into the relegation scrap again. Heffernan was immediately recalled, and scored as we won comfortably at Plymouth to finally all-but put relegation behind us. O'Driscoll's post-match interview went into raptures about how well Hayter had played, and what a vital player he was for us. Not a single mention of the bloke who had scored the goals that had actually saved us. That always seemed a strange couple of weeks - as if O'Driscoll genuinely resented the player who had been so central to saving our season.

And by the way, of course this is ancient history, but the fact that it raises so much interest 2-3 years down the line is indicative of the fact that it is one of the 2 most controversial issues during O'Driscoll's reign - the other being his preference from Wilson over Green for most of that dire run in 2008.

All in the past, but, Jonathan-permitting, I guess we're allowed to discuss our past?


No problem with discussing the past, so long as we don't re-write history. In April 09 Heff was suffering with a hernia (or groin, not quite sure which but one of our usual abdominal problems). As a result, he was \"benched\" for the Preston game on Easter Monday after scoring in the 3-1 win at Ipswich. As you say, we lost 2-0 to Preston (Chris Brown scored) and played poorly, although Heff replaced Guy on 64 mins when we were only a goal down. Heff was then restored to the team that won 3-0 at Plymouth, but didn't play in the final two games as our safety was assured. He had his op and started the first two League games in 2009-10 (although he was subbed in both).
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: BillyStubbsTears on September 22, 2011, 09:00:12 pm
TRB. I generally bow to your knowledge on matters historical, but I've got to take issue with that.

There was absolutely no comment at the time if the Preston match about Heffernan having an injury. It appeared to be a straight case if him being dropped for the fit-again Hayter. (Hayter had been out since early December. When he got injured, O'Driscoll bemoaned our luck saying (and I quote) \" You feel that if any player in our side was capable of going on a goalscoring run, it'd be James.\" Discuss...)

Heffernan went in for a cartilage operation after the Plymouth match. Quite why we rushed him in before the season ended, given that he clearly was still match fit, and  we clearly weren't going to rely on him the following season ( we selected him for only 1 league start in the next 9 months) is anyone's guess.
Title: Re: Heffs
Post by: Viking Don on September 22, 2011, 10:35:19 pm
I gave up on the Heffs debate a lomg time ago. For me he's second only to Kitch in my favourite strikers list, and will be for a while longer until Billy gets a season or two under his belt.