Rodgers: Pratley Will Come Good

[Manny]

At least somebody rates him because he's got one hell of a job to do if he is to win over the Bolton supporters.

Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Darren Pratley to overcome a difficult start to life at Bolton and become a regular in the side.

Pratley left the Liberty Stadium in the summer and signed a four-year contract with Wanderers.

After scoring 12 goals for the Swans last season, Pratley has failed to impress during his time at the Reebok Stadium, prompting criticism from the Trotters supporters.

The former Arsenal and Fulham midfielder could come into contention when Bolton and Swansea meet in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon and Rodgers believes it is only a matter of time before Pratley starts to find his form.

"I think the style and the culture here is very much team-based, and it can take time for players to adapt when they move away," Rodgers said.

"It's still early for Prats at Bolton. I don't know exactly how things have gone for him up there, but what I do know is that he is a terrific player who was great for me in his time here.

"He is a great team player who fitted in with our style of football well and scored some very important goals for us.

"Over time I'm sure he'll prove to people that he is a Premier League player."

http://www.burndenaces.co.uk/news/rodgers:_pratley_will_come_good_2195

[Darequam]

Well i wonder y he sold him to us if he was that good Huh !!

[Cheekybwfc]

Decent championship player at best!!

[267]

Well i wonder y he sold him to us if he was that good Huh !!

He came here on a free as he was out of contract.

[largehat]

Pratley saw his arse because rather than speaking to him, the club put a statement on its website saying they won't be discussing a new contract with Pratley until the end of the season. So much for the wonderful "team-based culture" down there.

[Paul Comstive]

Pratley has come from a team where they had a lot of posession. To come from a team like that to then try and fit into a team where the opposition tends to dominate posession mustn't be easy .. especially when you're stepping up a level too.

The problem has been that we've been struggling all season and he's probably been trying too hard.  He's not been helped by the fact that, up until recently, Coyle was chopping and changing the personnel week-in, week-out.

I think if we stay up then he'll be sold in the summer.  He'll be behind the likes of Holden, NRC, M.Davies and Muamba and it'd probably be best for all concerned if he moves on.

If we go down I think it will be a different story.  It is very possible that any of the afore mentioned midfielders could be cherry-picked from us and we'll need to keep some players.  Pratley has proven himself at Championship level and could be a real asset for us at that level.  He'll also be very keen to show us the form that made Coyle so keen to bring him in.

[largehat]

With his contract running to 2015 and his age, he's actually one of the few players in our squad who would actually command a transfer fee if we made him available in the Summer.

I think he is here to stay, but if he did leave, I would fancy Swansea to take him back for £800K or so.

[texan dave II]

I think we need to keep him
We will need depth when we play Europa or champions league the year after next

[Paul Comstive]

I like it Dave, I like it.

[H. Pedersen]

Spoiler alert: Pratley will not come good.

[Thaitrotter]

I think we need to keep him
We will need depth when we play Europa or champions league the year after next

Glass half full? No spilling over the top, well said Dave and where an I get tose happy pills?

[bwfc_wilson]

Does Rodgers have some kind of ability to see into the future after what Prately has done today....

[texan dave II]

Does Rodgers have some kind of ability to see into the future after what Prately has done today....

He is a damn good manager

[Manny]

Never doubted him. 

[Outpost]

Good at what

[aarons2009]

I still think he is better of just running marathons instead of playing football. All he does is just run around.

He did fcúk all apart from his goal.

[largehat]

Harsh. Was unlucky not to get a 2nd goal on two occasions. One where his header hit the underside of the bar, another where he anticipated a dodgy ball and ran on and hit a lovely first time shot which went a foot wide with the keeper closing down the angle. There was another where K Davies flicked on and he was one on one with the defender before the ref harshly gave a foul against him. Also made a few good tackles.

So in fact I'd go as far as to say you're doing more than being harsh.

[aarons2009]

Harsh. Was unlucky not to get a 2nd goal on two occasions. One where his header hit the underside of the bar, another where he anticipated a dodgy ball and ran on and hit a lovely first time shot which went a foot wide with the keeper closing down the angle. There was another where K Davies flicked on and he was one on one with the defender before the ref harshly gave a foul against him. Also made a few good tackles.

So in fact I'd go as far as to say you're doing more than being harsh.

Possibly, I just don't rate him but if he was to be given a run of games I suppose we would see just how good he can be.

I can never see him being given a solid run in the team though with the midfielders to come back in the team.

[largehat]

Well, if he can recapture his form and do the same sort of job he did for Swansea, in our current system he would provide competitionv and cover for M Davies and Muamba in the attacking midfield role. It's a squad game these days, and if he can keep making runs into the box like he did today, he will play a part.

I take your point about players we have to come back into the team, but we have to plan for the possibility Holden and Lee won't be back this season, and in any case we have to build a system designed around the current squad and any signings we might make in the next 48 hours.

[Bwfc4eva]

He had his best game in a Bolton shirt yesterday, he was still shíte though. I have more confidence in Muamba to put the ball in the back of the net than him, Pratley's composure is god-awful.

[largehat]

I don't suppose any of the geniuses slagging Pratley off in this thread have considered that Pratley's improved performance today might have something to do with the fact that he's not been thrust into a demotivated team for the first time since he joined the club.

[Big_Sharps]

I don't suppose any of the geniuses slagging Pratley off in this thread have considered that Pratley's improved performance today might have something to do with the fact that he's not been thrust into a demotivated team for the first time since he joined the club.

Possibly, he did look a lot better yesterday and those late surging runs should serve us well for the rest of the season just wish he was a little more composed in front of goal but hes not been in the team as of late so maybe hes a little rusty.

[Paul Comstive]

Pratley did well.

We need to bear in mind that he was up against a poor Swansea midfield though.  Didn't track back enough in my opinion.

A step in the right direction though and hopefully yesterday will give him some confidence. 

[Jamster26]

Yeah, here's hoping he improves now, after his display yesterday. I don't think he'll be starting many games for us but it's always good to have good competition.