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Desert Fox

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Posts posted by Desert Fox

  4. Posted

    The key to Dortmund''s performance last night was the way that they completely denied Arsenal any space or time to play the ball. Then using this pressure, when they did get control of the ball, they had players of sufficient class to capitalise. Yes, the tactics were good, but I cant see how you can really divorce tactics from the quality of players at your disposal. One shapes the other to a large extent. It was a very enjoyable game to watch though.

  6. Posted

    There are some really encouraging signs that our central midfield three are starting to gel and no longer look frightened rabbits with the ball. We were outclasssed by better players today, but we were never overurn or bullied into our own half like we were at Spurs.However, a major area of frustration is that when we get the ball out wide, our widemen (I wont call them wingers) repeatedly seek to cut inside. This slows down the attack and means that we seldom get to the byeline. Defenders know what to expect when they play us. Also, said wingers have got to learn to look for the forward in the box rather than constantly trying to score themselves. Both Wolf and Hoops have come in for criticism, but if you look at their movement and positioning, they are often in the right place in the box and in space, but the ball is never squared to them. We had sveral great opportunities today where our players were simply being too selfish and werent looking for the simple sqaure ball to the free man.Please please Mr Hughton, I have three requests:1. Can we have a right footed winger playing on the right and and a left footed winger on the left. 2. Can we practice passing to each other in the final third. 3. Can we consider picking players on form and not giving a player is so patently out of form 90 minutes every week. Yes, I realise that Eliiot Bennett is injured, but there are other options.Otherwise, despite the scoreline today, we are miles better than some of the earlier dross and there are signs of improvement. Our season wont balance on the likes of Arsenal, and if we make a few changes, I really can see us winning our next three home games and being mid-table.

  7. Posted

    T,You and I have had our differences in the past regarding the whole land business, but you are absolutely correct in all of your comments in response to PC re both debt repayment and player amortisation. This is not a matter of taking sides but simple accountancy fundamentals which would be apparent to any qualified accountant.The issue of valuation can only ever be crystallised when a transaction takes place (i.e. it is simply whatever someone proposes to pay on the day). Like you, I feel that the £30 notional valuation per share is meaningless in an unquoted and illiquid stock such as NCFC. This is simply the price that punters areasked to pay if they want some shares, but this price massively overvalues the club on any tradational valuation methodology given that there is nil proespect of any dividends and that voting control is in the hand of two individuals.

  10. Posted

    Nigel,You asked "So cards on the table. What team would you guys have put out today and how would you have set them out to play?".In all honesty, give or take the timing and sequencing of the subs, I wouldnt have done a lot different to CH. This doesnt make me feel great about today''s performance, but is perhaps a relaity check of the depth of the squad that we have and its ability to fit into our current system.

  11. Posted

    Highland,I guess that you have to place results in to a context. Against both Fulham and QPR we were playing sides who were sitting deep (much like ourselves) with the hope of winning 1-0. These formations tend to nullify each other. However, against a more open Spurs, we could have score more than the one that we did. I guess what I am trying to say is that we often look better against better teams who have the cofidence not to stifle. Having said this, I am not hugely optimistic of getting much out of our next two matches against top 5 teams and would bite your hand off for a couple of boring 0-0 draws. Needs must, but once we get past say 33 points, teh finisging line is is within touching distance of a victory. Like many on here, I dont think 40 points will be needed for safety this year.OTBC

  12. Posted

    Highland,I have a tendency to worry too, but even so, at the current

    trajectory I still feel that we will avoid the last day of the season anxiety

    by a few points. I know the bookies odds bring no security, but they don’t seem

    to think we will go down and unless there is a huge improvement from the

    current bottom three, I think we can grind out enough points, however

    dissatisfying this may be for some, myself included.

  13. Posted

    Yellowbeagle,I think your post probably sums up the views (give or take) of a fair few posters on the board. Lets just hope we can secure safety as soon as possible so that we can start planning for next year early and from a psoition of strength. I dont think I coudl stomach another last day of the season scenario al al Fulham, but this time against Citeh!

  14. Posted

    Cambridge Canary,A really good post and I agree with virtually all of your sentiment. For me, the main issue is that the club is already in advnced plans to do something about our squad depth and that Ewan Chester is already lining up players who are in weaker contractual psoitions than those that we have been lined with. With the near absence of debt and a big increase in Sky money, CH will probably have a war chest of somewhere circa £25M to £30M. Part from the club doing th encessary homework behind the scenes, I hope that we can have a good run before the end of the season so that payers that maybe thinking of joing us are persauded that we can play attractive footbal.

  15. Posted

    Morty,I really dont think we are a long way apart in our views, but I think the main difference is that we have players in our squad (like Fox and Surman who you have mentioned) that dont fit into our system. They have not suddenly become bad players overnight, although when thrust into roles that dont suit their style, I would admit they have looked poor. I guess what I am trying to say is that I am not 100% convinced that the system we play is not the only system available to us. This feels a bit like a chicken and egg debate, because I am sure that the counter argument is that CH only plays this sytem because of the limitations of the players that he has available. Even so, I still think CH has done an accepatble job edging us forward to the promised land of £75M p.a. Sky money with the one proviso that the club has advanced plans to recruit sufficient players and in depth to play whatever system the manager prefers. I reiterate that, if we lose BJ and AT for the same game, we will get murdered playing this system.

  16. Posted

    Canary Girl,Ok then, here''s looking forward to the Everton game, where subject to fitness, CH will make the bold move of changing our system. If so, I genuinely both looking forward and anxious!!Does anyone have an opinion about who will lose out if we play two strikers and how the hell we are going to accomodate Wes in this sytem (4-3-3?)

  17. Posted

    Morty,I think most reasonable fans would agree about QPR away, what is more concerning is our home form. I think part of our problem is that we have too settled a first 11, which means whenever key players are not available (Ruddy, Holt and particularly Bassong) we dont look like the same side. We have been incredibly lucky that our only two DMs have remained injury free, because whenever we play Howson in the middle, we look two open in the middle. So yes, CH has to make best use of what he has, but I still cant help feeling that we have suffered from a lack of rotation and too rigid a systmen, which means that firnge squad players look like rabbits in the headlights when they get their 90 minutes. if we stay up, one of the key issues that we need to address (if we are to stick to our rigid system) is that we need viable replacement players that can play to this system. I  was amazed that we didnt seek to strengthen our DM position in the window, because after the striker position, this is the area where we seem most exposed in terms of cover. God help us if BJ and AT get injured.

  19. Posted

    Yes, the manager has to work with the players that he has got, but we have 25 players and the manger controls what system we play as well as any player motivation skills. For me, one of our issues is that we have become incrediby predictable in terms of our system and first 11. One of Lambert''s strengths was that he would chop and change the syatem and players, which would keep the opposition on their toes as well as generating helathy competition in the squad. I dont actually think Hughton is doing a bad job and I am actually happy-ish with our league position, but to pretend that we coudl not be playing better and that there are no alternatives is a bit disingenuos in my opinion.

  20. Posted

    This thread (and many others like it tonight) is not about being armchair managers or expressing that we know better than a professional like CH, it is simply an outpuring of growing frustration that we are simply grinding our way to what would normally be a low total to stay up. It is quite reasonable for fans that have been bred on attacking football to be a bit unhappy about our current sequence. This does not mean we are all doom mongers who know best - after all this forum is an outlet for expressing opinions or feelings. Nobody should feel the right that they can tell someone that they are wrong about their feelings and we should recognise that (as with most other teams) there is a range between super optimists and super pessimists. There are no rights and wrongs, but there is evidently a growing anxiety that we are not fighting for our lives like say Southampton and Reading are.

  21. Posted

    Morty,I also think we will be safe (just) but you shoudnt confuse some genuine frustration after a poor run with panic. After all this is a forum for fans to share their thoughts aloud. I am less than convinced that we are making best use of the players available, but that is just my opinion. If we stay, there will be more money available (as there will be for everyone else too), but we must really think about our remaining 12 games as an opportunity to put ourselves in the shop windown for potential summer recruits. If was a player that we were speaking too (there must be some), I would be slightly anxiosu about style of play say compared to the likes of Reading and Southampton that seem to eb playing without fear and going for it.

  22. Posted

    Ricardo,We have a GD of -15 and we simply dont look anything like secure enough if Bassong is not playing, so its not like CH has massively improved our net GD position. I would settle for more defensive outlook if we had say the GD position that the versy defensive Stoke have. Instead, we are getting unambitious football and still conceding too many goals.I think some of the posts on this thread can be better described as constructive critiscim rather than negativity. Yes, I would have bitten the proverbial hand off for our leagie position as the start of the season, but I cant help but feel we have been lucky that the teans below us have not put a run together yet al a Wigan last year. I still think we will be ok, but I would rather not have to face the anxiety that we have put ourseleves through.

  23. Posted

    That''s a truly excellent post CUSDP and eloquently sums up all my frustrations. However, I dont think Fox is the answer, we simply need a better version of BJ/AT who can pass as well as defend. Lets hope this is just a holding strategy until CH can bring in better players in the summer and let''s hope that Ewan Chester is already working on targets to avoid the anxiety of the last window again.

  24. Posted

    I never thought I would want West Ham to win as much as I do tomorrow. If they do (which is unlikley given their shocking away form), the bottom three will start to feel adrift. Next week, QPR have Man Utd at home, Villa have Arsenal away and Wigan have Reading away. With the way that Southampton and Reading are responding, the bottom three could start to run out of games - subject of course to Villa not winning tomorrow.
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