a1canary

I''m not passing judegment of the quality of our signings and the credit Hughton gets for those. Plus I don''t think for a minute that the manager goes out and signs players all on his own. In my entirely made up process i''ve imagined the manager asseses suggestions from scouts for players to sign (a job that a DoF would do but we don''t have one of those) and then makes the case to the board to sign. Although if you take an example like Gutierrez, clearly he hasn''t been scouted, he would have been a suggestion by the manager himself. But as i keep saying, i''m not in a position to know the process and City1st has often intimated that he is. Hence i''m inviting him to tell us! Incidentally, the goings on at Newcastle are pertinent to this discussion. I note a recent quote from Pardew: "If i was in charge, solely, of transfers, things might be different. I think i''ve made my opinions very clear this week and all the rest in confidential." Note the world SOLELY, in reference to not having a DoF.

Excellent - you know how it works then. Could you tell us? I''m genuinely interested to know, as i imagine are others who can''t claim with certainty to know exactly how transfers work at NCFC. My summary above - scout finds player, presents to manager, manager/management team decides if he''s worth going for, manager presents to board -  is just a guess. It''s also a process that essentially puts the manager in charge of transfers but for the final yay or nay at board level. So, please, enlighten us (minus the insults if you can)! As i say, i''m genuninely interested to know.

[quote user="Jim Smith"]There is no more damning indictment of the manager in my view than the fact that we travelled to a newly promoted team, no wins in 6, bottom of the league and still put out a team aimed primarily at negating them rather than playing our own game.[/quote] Disagree with this. I think we need to knock on the head the idea that just because we set up with one up we''re playing negatively. Just look at all the teams who play that way for a start and ask if they''re all negative. It can''t be right that a negatively set up team goes away from home and has 27 shots at goal or however many it was. Fact is, two up isn''t working. Ever since RvW came back and we''ve tried going two up our performances have actually got worse if you ask me. Cardiff showed that we should probably stay with what we know play Hoops as the single striker either with Elmander or preferably for me Hoolahan off. The game at the weekend showed how this doesn''t have to be a negative set up.

[quote user="H4H"]The most frustrating thing for me, is the fact that CH has know idea what his best starting 11 is - For me Redmond would have run circles around the Cardiff defence on Saturday. This weekend was the first time that I actually believe we are going to get relegated, I don''t think the guy has a clue what he''s doing.[/quote] No question that was the most depressing weekend in a long time, really tough to take. But equally, that''s the first time, maybe even this season, that we can really say we played well. It would have been even worse, and i''d have the relegation feeling too, if we''d been as awful as we''ve been recently. There''s no question for me that we can get the 5 wins we need if we keep playing like that (minus the poor mistakes at the back that maybe Yobo can help us eradicate). So for me there''s still hope. Plus the fact that if we''d one that as we should have done we''d be level 10th now. It''s so bunched up now a win and everything''s rosy, a defeat and we''re going down for sure.

[quote user="City1st"]"You may be right but the upgrading of the pitches and other developmental improvements to the facilities were Hughton''s initiative. Plus of course, Hughton was right behind Academy status and did his bit."if not, then the work was NOT carried out as part of the club''s compliance with applying for Cat 1 status !You are clueless and have have merely spouted out some idiotic guff in defence of Hughton and are now trying to back pedal out of it...........and as to what some believe about the manager being given a sum of cash maybe you should read some of the similarly idiotic bleats on her, or even your own come to that [/quote] Wow, Prince Charming strikes again! It''s only a suggestion/idea - it''s not one i''d agree with personally so why not just stick to saying why rather than resort to calling it ''idiotic guff'' and calling the OP clueless.  Back on topic, since we DON''T have a director of football, whose job in other clubs is often to identify potential new signings, i would expect that CH, working with his scouts, is currently IC of identifying new players. I.e. scout finds a possible target, presents to CH, who presents to board if we want to sign that target. So tell me oh knowledgeable one, is that how you imagine things happen, or is that idiotic clueless guff?

I know what you mean - we need Chelsea to give them a tough examination tonight, maybe see them loose a player (or two!), and go in to the game with a combination of frustration, positivity and desire to get the Cardiff result out our systems. I still now feel totally gutted by that result as everyone does so imagine how the players feel. If they can channel that in the right way, i think we have a chance. And if City have a bit of an off day...!

This reminds me of some games last season, particularly Spurs and Swansea away. Played really well, really expansive football but 3 different results. All very fine margins. If we had Howson today it probably would have made the difference we were looking for. There are so many teams right among it and there''s still plenty of time to find some form. At the moment its Sunderland and Palace finding form but they''re still right in it. If we can find some form from our current position we can put some real distance between us and the bottom.

Ironic isn''t it, after so much screaming to go with Rv and Hoops together, we now find, as is often said, that it''s often very hard to compete against a 5 man midfield playing with two up and a 4 man midfield. We were over-run by Hull early on before losing a player and switching systems, and Newcastle throughout. Sherwood is doing a very similar thing at Spurs, opting for two up and they were also overrun by one of the better proponents of the 5 man system (Swansea) when they played recently. However, even if you are the team doing the midfield dictating, if you can''t make the dominance count, you might find that even with fewer chances, your 4-4-2 oppostion manage to score the chances they get whie you don''t. This is the constant balance we are looking for. Neither Hull nor Newcastle, despite periods of dominance, managed to score. Unfortunately for us, nothing seems to make any difference! We can''t score whether we''re two up or one up! It seems to me the only option left that we haven''t tried properly is one up with Hoolahan off and Fer/Tettey behind. I think we need to bring Hools back in the side and challenge him to perform like a pro and earn himself a move in the summer. If he goes off in a huff now, he is consigning himself to the championship and a contract half the size of the one he could earn in the prem if he could show he still has something to offer.    

 Didn''t West Ham play that formation at Chelsea last night? Still, at least when they go somewhere like that for a shut out they actually manage to achieve it rather than get hammered!!  

[quote user="Gingerpele"]Were you being sarcastic a1?Otherwise why are you given him credit for something extremely obvious?And he should be able to get things right, he''s a paid football ''expert''. And reportedly gets paid quite a bit. When in reality he knows no more than the average football fan who gets to watch and research as much as him. Plus he''ll have people telling him things to say etc. Match of the Day could easily be completely scripted.[/quote] Come off it GP - if anyone had come on here yesterday and said Cabaye will go but PSG will pay more like £20m than the £14m they bid... they''d be crowing to the roof tops today. It''s a decent enough shout from the guy. Kindness and humility are wonderful things. You should try them sometime [:)]

"Paris St-Germain reportedly came in with a £14m bid for Magpies midfielder Yohan Cabaye over the weekend and they do not strike me as the sort of club that will walk away from a deal like that with the wealth that they have. I would be very surprised if PSG do not secure Cabaye by the end of the week. They might end up paying nearer £20m but, if they want Cabaye, I would expect them to get him." Whatever you think of him, he''s more often right than wrong!

If it''s a straight swap, or rather one in and one out, fine, but it''d be totally pointless to bring in a 5th striker when we already have furstrated strikers on the bench. Also we have the option of playing Wes behind Hooper or RvW. As others have said, it''s the supply we need to sort out - the relevant and correct investments in our strike force have already been made.

Oh my god smart phone keyboards are annoying! Why do they think they know what you want to type and get it so completely wrong?! Corrections as follows: Get = Fer RvWs CA''s = RvWs case The go trail = the goal trail

Errrr... not a lot, which is precisely the point. We acquired RvW in plenty of time for the new season and he has scored one goal. Can Cardiff afford a similar return half way through the season and in the middle of a relegation battle? No, they can''t. Get has settled in a bit faster and I would say the one difference is that they are more experienced and in RvWs CA''s has experienced a new league in a new country. OGS''s signings are bigger gambles IMO and even then in RvWs case he has struggled to settle. I do think he''s going to get back on the go trail against Newcastle tho :)

Assume you mean in their times at the respective clubs? Can beleive that with Pulis but Poyet''s arrival didn''t signal a huge change of fortunes in their league form. What is their the ppg since he arrived?

[quote user="chicken"]That article on the Birmingham Mail website is shocking: Quote: "The stats show a player who gets stuck in, a busy player in the centre of midfield. A player happy to sit and play the easy ball and put an attack into life. In terms of assists and goals scored the stats aren''t as striking as many fans would like. Let''s ponder that for a moment though, the nature of this midfield role means quite often some midfield players are the assist of the assist His successful pass rate and passes per game suggest that could easily be the case. Hoolahan needs a new lease of life and his steady approach in the middle of the Villa midfield could be just what the claret and blue cause needs." A player happy to sit? Really? Sounds like they have never watched him play. Centre of midfield - well be my guest but unless it is advanced of the rest of the midfield it''s pretty dangerous. If Hooly has any sense he''ll look at this and realise that people in Brum have no idea of his talent.[/quote] Well he''s not a sitting midfielder in the sense of David Fox or Michael Carrick but the point about assist to an assist is valid and correct imo. When he has played and been influential he is very much the player through which our attacks go as he starts counter attacks and finds passes that will spring the winger to provide an assist

I agree he''s probably not up to standard (yet) but if he can do a job and we were to lose Bennett or Bassong... Bassong reminds me of my old Ford Focus diesel. I was always convinced it was about to breakdown and leave me in the sh1t at any moment... The fact that it never did and limped on and on relentlessly never made me any more confident about it! I''d would much much rather we find someone better than Ayala between now and the end of the month but it''s all looking a bit quiet isn''t it! And Ayala looked a prospect not so long ago. 

I don''t think anyone (a part from the inevitable idiot fringe you get at any club) blames Wes for the current situation we and he finds ourselves in. He has gone about it in the right way (save for the Cup "injury" which was almost certainly an agent inspired stunt that achieved nothing) and so long as he gets his head down for the remainder of the season no-one will resent him for it. Hopefully we can reach a compromise where he can be allowed to move on in the summer and he can see out the rest of his career with Villa in the Championship...[;)]

Simple question... answers on a post (card)!

I was thinking exactly that just now reading about their latest Norwegian recruit. A 23 year AM/forward that he had at Molde. Does he think a player who was useful at Molde is just going to fit right in to the premier league at that age? He may do in time, but that''s one thing OGS doesn''t have and we know how quickly best laid plans go off the rails. Plus he has ''Insanity Tan'' on his shoulder not making it any easier.

It''s desperation on Villa''s and Lambert''s part to be trying to get both Holt and Lambert to join his sinking ship. Granted our ship isn''t in much better shape right now but if you''d said to Villa fans that Lambert''s transfer targets in his second January transfer window, well in to his second full season at Villa Park, were Holt and Hoolahan... they''d have laughed you out of Birmingham!

Wow, quite some revelations in there. I find the one about PL wanting to sell Hoolahan after he arrived at Carrow Road quite hard to believe or understand given the role he was subsequently given in the side. Also, Hughton pulling Holt off the transfer list and getting him to sign a new contract when he arrived was a coup in itself, but then using him to spearhead our successful survival campaing before selling him afterwards for £2m quid looks like something of a master stroke in hindsight!

[quote user="lake district canary"]On the fence or off the fence, I put this scenario on another thread and City 1st nearly blew a gasket - If Hughton gets the team playing better football with more goals and better results during the rest of this season, then surely he would be starting to fulfill everybody''s requirements and we would all have less to complain about and we would be enjoying the fruits of two years hard work and struggle.  So if that happened, then wouldn''t it be sensible to keep him on for a third season?  It seems a fair question to me.  [/quote] If that happened i and even City1st would have to concede it would be very difficult to maintain and defend a Hughton out position. And i for one would come off the fence and on to the inners side! In fact i''d be delighted to do that if we start scoring and finish where we did last year. I''m still hoping but not expecting for that to happen. But the evidence so far this season and the horrendous capitulations are what had pushed me in to the out camp, but with the caveat of "not right now".

I blame tunnel cam. And Snodgrass. Long term I''m definitely out. For this season, I think the bigger risk is changing now. Dont get me wrong, if we stick we will continue with the sequence of disappointments, dour draws and narrow victories but if it keeps us up - and I think it just about will - let''s make the change in May. And concentrate on backing the team (rather than on ousting the manager) in the meantime.

[quote user="damn that Ralph Coates"]great watch - noted at beginning that Jonas and Luciano were communicating in Spanish on their way to the warm-up....[/quote] Yes, i spotted that - which made me realise we have two Argentine''s in the squad. I think that must be a first! And could be helpful to both Becchio and Jonas. Becchio clearly wants to be here and could be a great asset if he could get on the goal trail. But realise it''s difficult to fit him in.