Arthur in Team of the Week

Last updated : 22 November 2002 By Tony Scholes

Arthur and Mark McGregor were superb at the back as we faced an aerial bombardment from Rotherham and they restricted Rotherham to very few opportunities all afternoon.

In awarding him a place in the team it was also suggested that he could play at a higher level than the First Division. It said,

"The big defender made his presence felt on a number of occasions. It was only the Clarets’ third clean sheet of the campaign in the league and Gnohere played a full part in that achievement. Since his arrival from Caen, he has become a regular at Turf Moor and at only 24 years old, he can still make his mark at a higher level."

Praise indeed for Arthur but the Nationwide League need to take a look at their records, it was our fourth clean sheet in the league this season. The previous three were Crystal Palace (home 0-0), Franchise (home 1-0) and Leicester (away 1-0).

There was one familiar face in the team with the goalkeeping place going to Nik Michopoulos. Of Nik’s performance it said,

"Despite the Greek keeper’s stunning display at Carrow Road, he couldn’t prevent the Eagles from slumping to a 2-0 defeat. He produced a string of superb saves to deny, in particular, Paul McVeigh, Malky Mackay and David Nielsen, but could do little to stop McVeigh and Iwan Roberts from giving the Canaries a 2-0 victory.

"In his seventh game on loan from Burnley, Palace boss Trevor Francis must be delighted with the form of the ex-PAOK Salonika stopper and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he made his deal a permanent one."

The full team, dominated by Nottingham Forest with five players, was:

Nik Michopoulos (Crystal Palace), Matthieu Louis-Jean (Nottm. Forest), Arthur Gnohere (Burnley), Des Walker (Nottm. Forest), Michael Dawson (Nottm. Forest), Dennis Wise (Millwall), Alex Rae (Wolves), Kevin Harper (Portsmouth), David Prutton (Nottm. Forest), Jack Lester (Nottm. Forest), Neil Shipperley (Franchise).