From the Accy forum

[redrobo]

Re: Rochdale away thread
Is it me.. or does Phillips appear to be totally disinterested ?..
Our midfield is being completely outplayed because of his incapacity to play football !..
I hope he makes me eat words !

Feel sorry for the guy as we all know that he can be superb and has until he left been one of our outstanding players.

Wouldn't surprise me if he's a permanent fixture with us next season.

I for one hope so....

[BerlinWaller]

Adam shone here because the team worked around him.

I had the same complaints as the Accrington fans do at the start of the season. He drifted in and out of games and very rarely got involved. Brilliant with the ball at his feet but I thought he drifted out wide too much rather than getting involved in the middle of the pitch. Derek seemed to know how to get the best out of him and with Yann doing the battling and Aaron making the forward runs we seemed able to absorb Adams lack of work rate.

[Keith]

Wouldn't surprise me if he's a permanent fixture with us next season.

I for one hope so....

I think it depends entirely on how Derek viewed him leaving. It sounds like it was manipulated by Phillips. If that has left a bitter taste in Derek's mouth, I don't think he'll have a future here. As we know, loyalty is important to Derek. On the other hand, if it happened with Derek's blessing, then you could be right. But I can't see Derek would have happily let one of our best players leave on transfer deadline day...

When he left,I thought that our season was over. But in fact, I think we're a much better side without him. We'd become overly reliant upon him. Now, we're potent all over the pitch. I liked him, but apart from a couple of games after he left, we've not missed him and are better now than we were in January.

[RapidShrimp]

Wouldn't surprise me if he's a permanent fixture with us next season.

I for one hope so....

I think it depends entirely on how Derek viewed him leaving. It sounds like it was manipulated by Phillips. If that has left a bitter taste in Derek's mouth, I don't think he'll have a future here. As we know, loyalty is important to Derek. On the other hand, if it happened with Derek's blessing, then you could be right. But I can't see Derek would have happily let one of our best players leave on transfer deadline day...

When he left,I thought that our season was over. But in fact, I think we're a much better side without him. We'd become overly reliant upon him. Now, we're potent all over the pitch. I liked him, but apart from a couple of games after he left, we've not missed him and are better now than we were in January.

Agree, everything is in Derek’s hands. We had a few games after Adam left that ‘showed’ we missed him, but we managed to adapt well and other players, notably O’Sullivan, stepped up and have delivered.

Adam shone here because the team worked around him.

I had the same complaints as the Accrington fans do at the start of the season. He drifted in and out of games and very rarely got involved. Brilliant with the ball at his feet but I thought he drifted out wide too much rather than getting involved in the middle of the pitch. Derek seemed to know how to get the best out of him and with Yann doing the battling and Aaron making the forward runs we seemed able to absorb Adams lack of work rate.

Agreed, he wasn’t the greatest at general passing or dribbling, but was superb in decisive movements of the game, hence how he became the league’s most creative player - that’s a fact not just an opinion. This mirrors our general play, how we don’t have much possession, but our attacking threat, particularly on the counter, has been exceptional - as shown by us topping the ‘Chances Created’ stats for the league.
Adam suited the system, and the system suited Adam - I don’t know if he realised how much Derek did for him, and certainly the system at Stanley hasn’t suited him!

If Derek wants him back, I trust that’d be the right decision, but personally, Adam left the club in the dark until the final 12 hours of deadline day, not only meaning we couldn’t sign a proper replacement, but he also forced the move himself. He made his bed and now he has to sleep in it!

[Little Shrimp]

As Rapid Shrimp has alluded to, I don't think Phillips really appreciated or understood how much DA and the team were helping him perform. Hindsight is 20/20 etc!

I think he put in a half decent shift defensively - although not at the level of Songo'o/Wildig. But mainly I think the big issue will be the freedom we gave him when we had the ball.

You have to be happy to take a few wayward passes to get the best out of him. Early in the season DA shifted him to right wing which looking back, I think was probably to mitigate for those loose passes that didn't go quite right. But he didn't produce much from there and the shift back to CM with a really free role to drop deep and run in seemed to really get the best out of him. When we had the ball, he had plenty of license to drop deep and create, or to run in behind and be a danger that way. I think Phillips improved with being less wasteful as his form improved through December when DA really got the best out of him.

I'm guessing Coleman probably wants a few more tasks on the ball done by Phillips, whereas really he needs license to be a bit more free, or himself needs to up his game.

[glagys]

If we get promoted would we still want him ? Accy fans not impressed, so perhaps he can’t cut it in
L1

[Keith]

If we get promoted would we still want him ? Accy fans not impressed, so perhaps he can’t cut it in
L1

Still only 23 years old. We're all assuming Burnley will be releasing him? I think they will, but they may feel he's still got potential, but the Accrington move certainly hasn't helped his position.

[BerlinWaller]

Adam Phillips on a free transfer? No brainer for me. Local lad who we know has the ability to be a good player with a Manager who knows how to get the best out of him.

[jbc.shrimp]

If we get promoted would we still want him ? Accy fans not impressed, so perhaps he can’t cut it in
L1

Still only 23 years old. We're all assuming Burnley will be releasing him? I think they will, but they may feel he's still got potential, but the Accrington move certainly hasn't helped his position.

Could it be that the Accrington style of play doesn't suit him, or possibly the attitude of some of their players ?

[redrobo]

Adam Phillips on a free transfer? No brainer for me. Local lad who we know has the ability to be a good player with a Manager who knows how to get the best out of him.

Good to see that we can agree on something.....

[BerlinWaller]

Adam Phillips on a free transfer? No brainer for me. Local lad who we know has the ability to be a good player with a Manager who knows how to get the best out of him.

Good to see that we can agree on something.....

Doesn't mean we are friends though

[redrobo]

Adam Phillips on a free transfer? No brainer for me. Local lad who we know has the ability to be a good player with a Manager who knows how to get the best out of him.

Good to see that we can agree on something.....

Doesn't mean we are friends though