I''m new to the forum so thought i would start with my end of term report: Whilst there is a lot of hate for Watford & Bournemouth on from elements of the ncfc support I have nothing but admiration for what they have achieved. Table does not lie at the end of the season and they fully deserve to go up automatically. In terms of NCFC I think our season has really been a "what if" season. The biggest "what if" being what if we had had a decent manager for the whole season. The job that Alex Neil has done only goes to show just how badly wrong McNally and the board got it when reappointing Neil Adams. In terms of Alex Neil I was very critical when they appointed him as I thought we were going from one unproven unknown manager to another however he has done a good job and seems to have earned the respect of everyone very quickly. In terms of the players my reviews are as follows: Ruddy - not had a great season by his high standards but seems to have come back into form of late following a serious crisis of confidence in the middle of the season. Still struggles with corners & crosses which baffles me given he is such a huge man. Whittaker - often the scapegoat for many but for me always gives his all. Limited footballer but fully committed to the cause. 6 out of 10 most weeks. Martin - another one who splits opinion. Not in the best two centre backs in the league in my eyes but fair play if his fellow pros think that. Fully committed & a decent bloke by all accounts. I always get the impression though he plays like a centre back who has pace but does not actually have that much hence why he gets caught out by mobile strikers with movement. Decent enough season. Bassong - been typical Bassong really once we swallowed our pride and played him. 90% of the time he is outstanding the other 10% of the time he switches off and gets caught ball watching. Uses his pace to get him out of trouble as don''t think he reads the game that well. Still our best centre back though. Fancy him to come up with a goal in the play offs. R Bennett - injury plagued season. Michael Turner - almost an ever present under Neil Adams and hardly seen under Alex Neil prior to his loan move. Says it''s all. Miguel - can''t comment as have never seen him play. Appears further away from the starting line up here than he was at Arsenal. Dreadful waste of money. Cuellar - looks exactly what he is an ageing centre back picking up a last pay cheque. Another strange signing from Adams. Ollson - played the first half of the season like he didn''t want to be at the club. Looked like he was going to move in January only to turn down a move to WBA. Talented player but another one who appears to switch off at times. Expect him to depart in the summer. Garrido - drawing a very decent wage for doing nothing. Hope we get rid of him in the summer and bring Toffolo through. Johnson - great season from Bradley. His goal scoring has been a a revelation. Still tends to give the ball away a lot but can''t fault his commitment to the cause. Tettey - think he has had a very good season. If there is a better defensive midfielder in the league I''m not sure I have seen him. Breaks play up and we always look a lot better when he plays. Howson - to me he''s a frustrating player. has great ability but never seems to take games by the scruff of the neck and dominate them by himself which i think he has the ability to do. Still has scored some good goals and when driving forward from centre midfield looks a class player. Wasted when played out wide right as he has been in recent times. Hollahan - another very good season from the Irish wizard. When on song he is still a class above at this level. Still has the tendency to give the ball away in silly positions but you can forgive him for that when you see some of the good stuff he does. Think he is coming to the stage of his career where he will be best utilised off the bench for 30 mins or so when the game opens up. Redmond - started the season very well but still flatters to deceive. Has so much talent and pace yet chooses to slow play down a lot. When he does skin his full back he frustratingly seems happy to rest on his laurels where as if someone like Hucks had the beating of his full back he would want to twist him inside out all game. Lacks a killer instinct but I think his final ball has got slightly better during the course of the season. Dorrans - looks a good player to me. Would like to see him here next season as think he will get better and better. Andreau - only seen in small glimpses but looked a long way off the pace and nowhere near a million pound player to me. Too lightweight and don''t expect him come good. Poor signing. Gary O''Neil - has looked a steady player when called upon and may have been a but underused. Vadis Ofoe - another who has been plagued by injury but again seems a poor bit of business by Neil Adams on face value. 4 million down the drain I reckon as do t expect him to be here next season. Josh Murphy - after a positive start to the season he has seemed to have disappeared and now not even getting in the squad at Wigan. Needs to start delivering soon or will end up being the next starlet who slips down the leagues. Jacob Murphy - seems to have performed well in his loan spells and the game time will do him good. Like his twin though needs to start to kick on for NCFC. Elliot Bennett - decent bloke but very little impact on the team. Injuries have not helped but think he will be on his way in the summer. Lafferty - much like David Healy I think he is one of those players who performs better at international level than club level. Looked lively at start of the season but never got a run in his preferred position up top. Jury still out. Hooper - to me his our most natural striker and has been underused in terms of starts. When he has played he''s has seemed to get used in a withdrawn role just behind main striker where as I see him as an out and our goal scorer/ poacher. 13 goals is a ok return considering he has been on the bench a lot. Grabban - not a natural goal scorer for me and appears a sulky type of player when things are not going well for him. 11 goals is an ok return but I expected more from a 3 million pound striker when you consider players like Freddie Sears only cost 100k in January and already has 10 goals. Let us down badly on Saturday and personally would get shot of him if anyone offered the money we paid for him. Average championship striker who works the channels well but would not cut it in the premier league. Jerome - been a very good signing for me although has tired a bit of late. Big strong and powerful and despite again bit being a natural goal scorer has netted a very good 19 goals. Scored some crackers as well. Loza - great intervention at Huddersfield but looks like he is going to struggle to make the grade with us. Anyway the play offs loom and hopefully a few of the above can make themselves heroes. It''s going to be nerve wracking though.
