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Straygoat

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Posts posted by Straygoat

  1. I'd sooner Martinez over Rafa, McClaren et al., but he is a bit of a wildcard...I like the type of football he strives for, but am worried that he is a bit soft - doesn't strike me as the sort of person who can deal with egos and in-house spats. Similar to Zola in that sense.

    Owen Coyle would be the better option - impressed with what he's done with limited resources at Bolton.

  2. My reasons for not wanting him are simple - I think he wasted a hell of a lot of money on some shoddy players and I don't like the way his teams play. I can't say I have much time for Liverpool, but the way he had them set up was a disgrace to their traditions. I didn't like watching our direct counter attacking under MON and fear it would be a return to that under Rafa. And God help us if he introduced zonal marking - like we don't leak enough goals already.

  3. Same here. Not one of the names on that list seem like a good long-term option to me.

    Ancelotti - always going to be looking for C.L and bigger clubs

    Jol - Did okay with Spurs but should have done better if you ask me. Not convinced.

    McClaren - Had he done well at Wolfsburg, then fine. But he was a disaster. I also don't think he is strong enough to deal with some of the off the pitch antics that go on at our club.

    Rafa - dismal anti-football, spent a fortune on some real duds, known to have a tantrum...the worst possible choice.

    Martinez - I kind of like him, but not sure if he is strong enough to deal with bigger players (and their egos).

  4. I think a move to Newcastle would be best for him. For whatever reason, he's not settled or proved himself at Villa and at 60k+ a week, he's probably a risk we can do without. A shame, because he has real attacking quality, but you just get the impression that unless he can get his head right, he will always be a shadow of his former self.

    If we are going to try and keep Young, we need him to be our highest earner and that must surely mean ditching high risk, high earners like Ireland. I'd rather we cut our losses and developed Bannan for that role.

  5. He played well, but tired. Understandable given the break in France. I thought he looked good - kept the ball a lot, even when under pressure. Good first time passing and lots of energy. When he went off, we lost momentum and Wigan came back into the game.

  6. I thought the price was absurd when I first heard the news, but having thought about it, it is realistic. Louis Suarez is being touted about at 17m and he has had what, 1 or 2 good seasons in the Dutch league and a half decent world cup? That's 17m for a player who may not cut the mustard in a top league. Bent gives you guaranteed goals at premiership level, even when he's in and out of the team. 18m plus bonuses is what he is worth (at least). Pavlyuchenko was 14m wasn't he? And he's only an average Prem striker at best.

    Getting Bent for under 25m is good business.

  7. Fonz has got to start unless we buy another striker. We looked a consistent threat when he came on. I said it after the Newcastle shambles and I'll say it again - Carew should not play for us again. He gives us no movement up front, isn't as good at holding it up as he used to be, and seems to have lost at least a yard of pace. We may as well put a shire horse up front.

    Gabby looks lost out on the wing, but perhaps GH is trying to get him to remember how to play facing the defence instead of with his back to them? Gabby seems to have turned himself into a target man...he doesn't look dangerous doing that. Maybe that is a downfall of him only having Carew and Heskey as 'elder statesmen' to learn from in training.

    I agree with the comment about Petrov and NRC too - they can't boss the midfield and it costs us. Hopefully, Makoun will adjust to the pace quickly and we can have him with one other and it'll make a difference. I'd have no problem with us letting NRC and Petrov go in the summer.

  8. I think you can then assume that we have no aspirations to keep NRC, if his salary demands are correct as reported in the press, then that is completely understandable, plus the fact, I think we could improve on NRC quiet easily.

    Agreed. He's committed and has a good engine, but he's not good enough on the ball.

  9. The lad was quality today. yeah he got skinned a few times but who wouldn't playing their first senior game at left back against both Anelka and Malouda?

    Like I said in another thread earlier. Warnock would never have been in the position to get that block in that led to our penalty and there is no way whatsoever he would have been far post to score the equaliser at the end! i can certainly forgive Clark being skinned a few times when he plays like that.

    I can't, in the second half alone 3 chances came from him being in terrible positions, yes he scored but that doesn't change what was a pretty poor performance. He's not a left back but that much is obvious.

    I agree. When we were under the cosh, we looked most exposed at left back. BUT it will only be of benefit for Clark to experience other positions as he is a versatile player anyway. He's still rough around the edges, but showing signs of being a top CB/DM for the future. We probably can't afford to play him at LB too often while we are still in the dogfight at the bottom, but we're not exactly spoilt for choice at the moment.

    Glad to see GH say he is a 'good footballer' after the game...I always thought Clark would end up being another Cahill for us.

  10. Friedel - ex-USA no.1 keeper. Top keeper whilst at Blackburn and very solid for the last 2 seasons for us.

    The warning signs were starting to show towards the end of last season. Unfortunately, age is catching up with him. He is still a decent number 1, but on a downward curve now.

    Luke Young - The campaign to get him playing for England after he turned them down was on for most of last season. Boro fans really didn't want to lose 'Mr Consistent' and MON was being derided for not signing him from Spurs, instead getting him from Boro for £2m extra a season later.

    Not sure what has happened with Young, but his form has been erratic to say the least.

    James Collins - Wales international CB who was our top defender last season. Not cheap from West Ham and rated very highly by their fans.

    Not at his best and suffering from lightweight midfield right in front of him.

    Richard Dunne - Ireland international very experienced defender, highly rated by their fans, but pushed out of City by Garry Crook.

    Shocking. Hasn't looked fit or sharp all season. You've got to question his professionalism when he looks like he's been on the wedding cake a day diet.

    Stephen Warnock - Outside of Bentley, the one player everyone wanted from Blackburn. ran the show against us a few times and was the stand-out player, picking up England caps before he came to us, rated by Capello as 2nd choice England LB, in front of Baines.

    Now Warnock is one player I think just doesn't want to play for Houllier for whatever reason.

    Stuart Downing - Harry tried to sign him. England international who was Boro's best player for years, still better than Adam Johnson and excellent again this season.

    I'd swap him for Johnson any day of the week. Has done well this year though.

    Stiliyan Petrov - Bulgarian international captain. Goes up against the best midfields in the world and competes. Player of the season 2 years ago and one of the consistent best performers of MON's reign. Outplayed England's CM in the friendly last year.

    You what? Outplayed? Not in the game I saw. Far too pedestrian.

    Ashley Young - Do I need to say anything?

    No, he is class. But the doubts over his future must be affecting him, even though he's been playing quite well.

    Gabby Agbonlahor - Always on the verge of an England call-up. Always dangerous when not injured. For years we've been saying he should be no.2 behind Rooney.

    Missed most of pre-season. Hard to get back to peak form after that.

    So yeah, I'd say most of our first team would walk into half of the teams in the PL. They don't suddenly become shit overnight so something else is going on.

    When you consider all of the above, do you really think they'd 'walk' into other teams? No manager would put up with Dunne's weight or attitude, Warnock's apparent disinterest, or Young's yo-yo form. Most teams have a keeper as good as Friedel if not better and I don't think Petrov would get in most teams' midfield either.

  11. I think it's important we don't judge GH too soon. These are not 'his' players and we've been hit by bad injuries. Give him time to buy some players who are good enough to play 'his' way and see how we go next season. If we are struggling this time next year, then fair enough, look at something else. I just think it will take time and money to get the players who can fulfil his vision. Given time, I think GH WILL get it right...I've more confidence in his philosophy than MON's.

  12. oh and gareth southgate is spot on - the senior players are just looking after themselves - they look they are sulking and that they aren't happy for whatever reason.. worrying but he is right imo.

    I agree. The kids need guidance from the senior players, but the old heads haven't stepped up to the plate at all. I hope we can bring in about 3 good players in Jan to steady the ship, then have a bit of a clear out next summer (hopefully still in the prem - we are in big trouble if we keep playing like this).

    We MUST get a striker and a 'thou shalt not pass' midfielder in Jan.

  13. Wow that feels the team and fans with confidence.. he thinks were shit.

    Does he know we finished in the top 6 a few times? Challenging for fourth for most the season?

    I think what he is saying is not that we are shit, but that we are just outside being a regular top 6 team. Don't forget that he is probably thinking about Villa when he was at Liverpool and the DOL years etc. Prior to Lerner taking over, we were in a downward spiral and I honestly think we would have been relegated if Lerner and MON hadn't stepped in. So if you consider Mr H's comments are based on the last 15-20 years, his assessment isn't that far off. During that period, we have made it into Europe, but not regularly.

  14. just trying to remember how long MoN hadnt managed in the premier league or had anything to do with football before we had him as our manager? cant understand the media crap about GH not managing in premier league for 6 years?.

    That's because the media LOVE MON. If Mr H gets off to a bad start, you'll see loads of articles praising MON and saying that Lerner has really made a mess of things, mark my words. The media is blatantly biased...take no notice of it.

  15. I'd welcome him, and to say most of his transfers have been shit is just wrong. Okay, some of his transfers at Liverpool were not up to it, but there is some real quality in the list of players he bought at Lyon.

    If Houllier could put us in a good position to land emerging talent in Ligue 1, that would give us a great starting point. Even in a DOF role, his name would make us an attractive proposition for French players, much like Wenger at Arsenal.

  16. We have won 2 out 3 in the league under MacDonald meaning we should be alright until the new man is hired.

    Yes, but let's be honest, we were poor against Everton and were lucky to get the points. We won't get away with that level of performance every week. Sorry, but I can't see us being top 10 come Jan, no matter who comes in. We just don't have the firepower...we're gonna have to rely on backs to the wall performances.

  17. Collins and Dunne, although I think Dunne hasn't been at his best so far this season. He looks off the pace a little. Collins reminds me a lot of Matt Elliot in the way he plays- you can see why MON went in for him.

    Cuellar is good, but he's just not as physical as Collins and Dunne. Anyone coming up against those two when they are on form is going to know they've been in a game.

  18. Good article Gazton.

    As someone pointed out earlier, the Milner-Ireland deal had to go ahead because Milner wanted out. You can't keep unhappy players in this day and age and then get top dollar for them, it just doesn't happen anymore. As soon as his head was turned, we had no choice but to get the best deal possible and Ireland plus cash is as good as we could have hoped for.

    While I am disappointed we didn't sign anyone (especially a forward), I can see it is the sensible way forward. It is imperative that we get a manager with an exceptional record in the transfer market - MON wasted far too much money on some very mediocre players.

    I'm a bit worried that come January, the players we need to take us forward will not be available and we could be left with some emergency 'make do' signings. I really think that if Gabby is out for an extended period, we could be drawn into a dog fight down at the bottom. Carew looks disinterested, Heskey NEVER attacks space in the box, which leaves us with Delfouneso if Gabby's out. We didn't score enough last year and I see us scoring even less this time around. I also worry about heads dropping if we go on a bad run.

  19. He's poor. The only reason people like him is because he has certain qualities that are really missing in our midfield - energy and aggression. He can't pass to save his life and for a top flight midfielder, that's pretty shocking.

    What we need is a player who gives us the footballing brain and technique of Petrov combined with NRC's athleticism and aggression. Then we might have a midfield that can actually keep the ball for more than 2 passes.

  20. I predicted 1-0 in the match thread! :D

    Excellent performance by the whole team, to be honest. Downing and Warnock could have done better, but still it was a great team effort.

    Our defence was solid, the only thing I disliked was the lack of composure on the ball for the last 20 minutes. We kept hoofing it upfield when we should have put our foot on the ball and forced Everton to chase our passes.

    Ash it my MOTM as he was chasing everything down and a lot of our best attacks were through him.

    Friedel - 9

    L Young - 9

    Dunne - 8

    Collins - 8

    Warnock - 7

    Albrighton - 8

    Petrov - 8

    NRC - 7

    Downing - 7

    Ash - 9

    Carew - 8

    Sub: Gabby - 8

    I think someone has the rose tinted specs on there! Their midfield bossed the game, so to give ours two 8s and two 7s is a bit suspect. I'm not a big fan of Petrov but he did a decent job of keeping Cahill quiet today. Albrighton worked hard providing defensive cover, but an 8? Piennar had the better of things on that flank IMHO. I'd say, Fellaini and Piennar were the stand-out midfielders.

    Carew an 8?!! Apart from the 5 mins before Gabby came on, he did absolutely nothing. Dunne was very suspect in the first as well.

    Friedel, Collins, the two Youngs, Warnock and Petrov did well, the rest were mediocre or worse.

    Until the midfield can keep hold of the ball we are going to struggle. Thank God Everton haven't got a decent strike force.

  21. A few points:

    The Ireland deal going ahead without us having a manager is not a problem at all. Do anyone really think MON's was the only opinion they courted for the transfer? There would have been discussions with several of our coaching and scouting staff, especially as the situation with MON was fragile. At the end of the day, we didn't want to sell Milner, but we had no choice...so if we are going to let him go, we need a replacement. Man City were offering a good replacement as part of the deal which takes away all of the uncertainty that comes with the transfer window, agents and getting outbid. It was good business all round. If Ireland doesn't turn out to be a good buy, he is young and we will get a decent return on him, plus we made a tidy profit on Milner.

    I'm a little worried about Ireland's attitude, but let's just see how he behaves. As for playing for Ireland, that's his own personal choice and I think it probably is down to a combination of how the whole grandmother's death/girlfriend miscarriage thing was handled and something iffy in the Irish setup. I remember Roy Keane saying how unprofessional the whole setup was, so maybe that's why Ireland is happy to walk away from it?

    I can't see how Milner can be compared to Gerrard. I seriously doubt he will ever have the same impact as Gerrard, even if he improves a lot - Gerrard's physical attributes put him ahead of Milner for a central midfielder - he's taller and stronger, and it does make a difference. Gerrard is more aggressive too.

  22. I want someone who doesn't seem to have been mentioned - Glenn Hoddle. He might have his unconventional views, but the fact is that he gets teams playing good football and is more adventurous tactically than many managers out there. He's been there, done it - just what we need.

    He might even have a few youngsters from his academy that we could have for nothing - that would please the board no doubt.

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