LordSepulchrave

Bit on the old side, but should help bolster our lightweight midfield.

 

 

Weren't we 'linked' with Depay (dutch wonder kid at PSV - scored two goals this world cup) last summer or january??

Wish this was true now.

 

Yeah i can't remember where i saw this sorry - i swear i saw a shitty link about it. He's had a quality season and now he's gone and impressed at the world cup. I remember being excited when i saw the name because i'd heard of him before - but literally no chance we were gunna get him. Even less chance now. PSV have some crazy talent. 

 

Edit - obviously the link was bollocks haha!

 

I remember there was a thread on here - makes me sad when I see his name plastered everywhere after performances for the Netherlands.

Is there anything to be gained to comparing him to defenders who played when the game was a different beast than it is today?

I think it's more useful to compare him to, say, Stephen Reid or Curtis Davis or Ashley Williams or Dejan Lovren. Players who play for teams that we want to be competing with and exceeding. For me, only Dejan Lovren is a better CB outside of the top 7, although there might be someone I'm just not remembering.

If Lukaku can sort out his first touch he'd be an excellent player. He's fast, agile, big, strong and great at shooting, but people tend to overestimate his technical abilities. If he can keep getting better in that department, then I reckon he'll be a terrifying prospect.

So long as this injury doesn't set him back too much, however, I do think we have the superior player.

Woops - was getting him muddled up with that other WBA boy Berahino.

I like Amalfitano, but as a player with potential. Needs to be part of a solid team with quality around him to help bring him on. It's that quality we need to be looking at atm.

Talk of the end of an era for Spain. Slightly premature I think.

Got thumped in the confed' cup final, destroyed by the Dutch; Barca - who the Spain team are built around - was demolished last year in the CL by Bayern and this season won nothing.

Does look a bit like Spain's fall from grace is pretty much a done deal.

Honestly, goes beyond just a dodgy defence - at 2-0 Chile should have bossed the game and shut down any chance the Aussies had to test their defense. It just looks like as soon as their initial intensity dropped they just looked a lot poorer all over - lacking ideas and flair and organisation. I'm assuming it was nerves, and that Chile are better than they showed in that match.

Still, looks like they'll struggle to get past Spain no matter the goal difference.

I hope he does well for us if this is true, and I'll be right behind him.

But this feels like a pretty bad move. Can see him becoming Ireland 2.0.

Especially considering the fact that he dropped guys in positions where there were alternatives, like lowton for bacuna, benteke for kozak, Clark for baker.

The only under performers that id say kept playing without repercussion were Weimann and sometimes gabby, but it's because villa didn't have better options.

Well there were times when KEA, Westwood and even player-of-the-year Delph could have used a rest/kick up the backside. It's been well documented on here how little options there are in midfield though.

I find the "favourites" argument is a difficult one to make when there isn't really any alternatives in our squad. One thing that successful teams tend to have is a consistent first 11, and two of the relegated squads (Fulham and Cardiff) were terrible for not having a consistent first 11. Sunderland only started climbing when Poyet settled on a stable first 11.

Both Gabby and Weimann really should have been dropped more often last season, but who would have replaced them? Helenius? Tonev? Holt? We just didn't have the depth.

Unless there are clear alternatives, trying to talk about favouritism always seems like an argument based on dodgy logic.

it is worth pointing out that often even when our first 11 has been decent its never been for the full 90 mins. Usually we seem to play well for 20 to 30 mins a game and if we score during that period we sometimes get a result.

This is true, although it's probably more accurate to say we tend to have one good half, one bad half rather than just 20-30 minutes. Has been one of the big things that worried me over the course of the season was when we had a good half but didn't score.

 

 

So for those who want Lambert out. Any thoughts on who would seriously take the job right now?

Doesnt matter does it cos apparently anyone would do a better job

The thing is a better job might be a few places higher, mid table and no really threat of relegation lets say. A worse job would be relegation.

While Lerner owns the club I couldn't care less who is charge. It's gonna be shit and a struggle regardless. At least I know with the current manager as dire as it is we managed to stay up.

If on the other hand we are taken over I will be amazed if we do not have a new manager.

For most of the season we had this, but a large section of people were annoyed that we weren't top 10 and that our style of play wasn't better. I'm not sure it properly reflects the mood in here over the course of the season to say that just mid-table would be considered a better job unless the goal posts have moved since the end of the season.

It's actually our attack force that worries me - Weimann and Gabs just haven't scored enough. Both offer other things to the team - Weimann's clever movement and work rate and Gab's pace and ability to ping in a cross, but the lack of goals from both was worrying last season.

KEA, Westwood and Delph actually work well as a mid-three, and our back line at full strength is something that I'd be confident in. Terrible depth on both though.

A couple of quality additions, and I reckon we don't have relegation to fear next year. Will probably still be a fairly mediocre side though.

With full health and our best 11 on the pitch, I'd say we're a pretty good midtable side actually. When that isn't the case, however, we've been pretty badly exposed at times this season.

I'm not sure Lambert should stay on, but if he does I'm 100% behind him.

Feel sorry for Sherwood - he's been given the job, but from the start he's not really been given the authority by those above him to actually do the job.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/10822090/Please-Mr-Dyke-do-not-forget-the-coaches-or-our-game-will-continue-to-struggle-to-produce-good-players.html

Apparently the coaching issue is "still under discussion" by Dyke and co., which makes the whole attack on the foreign make-up of the league look like a populist move.

Seems to be gathering pace he is off to Celtic

Just as long as we don't get Lennon in return.

I'd be behind Lambert continuing, but I think his position is untenable. Probably for the best a new face is in the driving seat next season.

I place blame on lack of goals for the death of this season really. We struggled for form because only Benteke and Kozak looked like they had goals in them, and both had seasons wrecked by injuries. Our whole gameplan strangled our our offensive capabilities, but Weimann and Gabs have to shoulder a lot of responsibility too. As such we seemed to lack confidence as a team and struggled with consistency.

Really, our team is in an awkward place: KEA, Westwood, Weimann, Gabby, Bacuna, Clark, Baker, Albrighton have all shown that they can be very useful during spells but none of them have been consistently good enough. Do we replace these players? Keep going with them? It's unclear. Also how do you solve a problem like Lowton?

Positives? Vlaar's fantastic, Delph is beginning to deliver on his potential and we had some great games against bigger opposition.

It was always likely to be a dull, mediocre season but it did end up more disappointing than my fairly realistic expectations.

Bleh.

4-0 is harsh really - if we'd had Benteke or Kovak or Gabs we might have had more of a chance. As it was we were really playing for a 0-0.

Oh well, we're safe, so let's stay positive about the future.

And 'least we can console ourselves that the "long suffering City fans" finally have something to cheer about.

Well that's just annoying.

Ah boo.

Come on lads, lets see some good football here!

Strong disciplined performance, good work so far.

We need to keep it tight for another 15mins then start pushing forward. Pity pretty much all of our semi-reliable goal scorers aren't on the pitch.