Le Juge

[quote user="Essex_Canary"]Sat in the Jarrold stand for the first time on Tuesday and had a perfect view of his overlapping run for the first goal. Crofty isn''t exactly slow and he was at full sprint, Semi just flew straight passed him in a blur. [/quote]I also sat in the Jarrold  and saw the exact same thing. The boy is unbelievably fast, he went past Croft like he was standing still.

[quote user="ricky knight"]Its easy to pick on the Doc but the whole defensive unit need looking at imo.[/quote]I agree. The Doc is the worst of a bad bunch Ostembor aside. However, I feel Shackell is just about capable but needs people either side of him that will help him out, which Drury and Doherty don''t, which leads me onto.... [quote user="jas the barclay king"] ok Drury was injured but the first goal came down his side (Yet again!) and the doc really isnt up to it! we need to replace these 2 players to give us a better shape at the back. jas :) [/quote]I couldn''t agree more.

[quote user="ob1"] "Why bring Chris Martin a striker on at left wing when you have Luke Chadwick" Maybe because he wanted to... "Put out a strong team to begin with and then make the changes to give the youngesters a chance.." Chris Martin being "youngester" after all! [:)] [/quote]Fair enough I see I contradicted myself but I still think he was wrong, bring Chrissy Martin on for Cureton then and Chadwick on the wing. I advocate playing youngsters as often as is appropriate but only as long as they are in their position. Martin is a striker, I was not impressed when he played ''in the hole'' against Vitesse or on the left yesterday. Put the lad upfront or don''t put him on. Note: I rate Grant and think he''ll do well for us but some decisions such as this leave me baffled.

[quote user="ob1"] I''m gonna get roasted for this... but thank god he has gone! He was absolutely rubbish as a commentator... irritating and general thick as two short planks. I was greatful that canariesworld offers commentry from the opposing team, when he was commentating... [/quote]I agree. Nice bloke but truely awful commentator.

[quote user="Grumpy "] And what a goal from Lappin. When did you last see a goal scored like that at home from free play.[/quote] A left footed peach from distance in the top corner? For me Svensson was probably the last to do that. Player Ratings: Marshall: 6 - Made a decent save within seconds of the game starting but dodgy kicking and not much else to do apart from flap at a couple of crosses was worrying. Still rate him but needs a bit of work on crosses and kicking. Ostembor: 7 - Absolutely fantastic in the first half but went fairly quiet in the second. He''s quick, can beat a man, good tackling and got good delivery. If he''d stayed playing as well as he did first half he''d definitely have got a 9 but barely saw him apart from a couple of crosses in the second half. Drury: 6 - Lost what he had three years ago. Used to be awesome and made up for his lack of attacking play because he was quality defending. Now can''t do either particularly well. Might as well replace him with an attacking left back (if we had one) and sacrifice the defence as he doesn''t do either. Doherty: 5 - Handy in the air but anyone who can run beats him in a race and can beat him with skill. Replace with anyone. At fault for goals. Was useful at defending their ten million corners though. Shackell: 6 - Did ok, covered a couple of times but also got caught out a few times. Would benefit from having Drury and Doherty replaced next to him so he didn''t have to keep shouting at them. Croft: 6 - If this boy could cross or shoot he''d be a diamond. What point is there going on a run and beating your man, getting to the byline and aimlessly kicking the ball into the area where more often than not nobody is? Make him practice deliveries every day. Lappin: 7 - Got about, put in a decent cross or two and scored a peach. Didn''t shirk a tackle and looked stronger than last season (still not strong enough though) Russell: 7 - Supported attack and defence, moved the ball about effectively and scored a tap in. Not spectacular but solid and definitely worth having. Fotheringham: 6 -  Dalied on the ball and got caught once or twice, when attacking makes decent runs into space but with the ball doesn''t look like he makes the killer pass we were told he would. Still definitely worth having as a backup for Russell and Brellier. A good squad player but not first choice. Lived up to typical Scot hard man by getting an elbow to the face (I heard the crack at the very top of the Jarrold Stand) but got up after a bit rubbed his head and he was back on. Cureton: 7 - Goal poacher, give him 5 chances and he''ll generally score 4. He missed a relatively easy chance and scored two in the first half. Not sure I''d count the greedy bit in the second half as I bet anything that had that game been 0-0 and he wasn''t on for a hattrick, he''d have rolled that ball across for big dave. Brown: 7 - Big, strong, fights for the cause. Always looks like winning the ball and has good link up and fairly decent feet too. Missed a chance he probably should have scored but what people forget is that he did really well to get to the point after beating the defender and keeper, tried to play it past last defender with keeper pressuring him and hit the bar. Was unfairly targetted by a nasty set of Barnet players (liked their crowd but hated their players) and right move to be taken off as they were out to get him sent off. I rate Brown. Dublin: 6 - A couple of nice flicks that didn''t quite come off but didn''t do much else. Which he didn''t really have a chance to, coming on with a team who were just going through the motions. Martin: 5 - Thought he was terrible but got a 5 because he was played out of position. Play the lad upfront or don''t play him at all. Dave: 5 - Has the attributes to be a good player, good technique, good feet, good speed, good height, decent movement (needs a bit of improving but generally moves into the right places) but looks out of his depth. I think he''ll hopefully come good if he can adapt but at the minute almost useless. Grant: 5 - Why bring Chris Martin a striker on at left wing when you have Luke Chadwick who has played many times on the left for a good Man Utd side sitting beside him on the bench when playing against a Barnet team who would struggle to cope with a good player running at their right back? Would like to have seen more youngsters on the bench or starting. I''d have started Spillane and Gilks and had Renton, Smart, Halliday, Marshall and Cave Brown on the bench. Put out a strong team to begin with and then make the changes to give the youngesters a chance.. Would probably give Ostembor MOTM purely for first half performance.   

[quote user="canaryjock"] [quote user="give it a rest"]I think Gordon had recently signed a 5 year deal up there, not sure though. Also Hearts are backed by Romanov which puts them in a strong bargaining position.[/quote] He signed a new deal a year or so ago from memory, though I can''t remember how long for. Another 3 years I''d guess, though he only signed that because he''s a Hearts fan and wanted to ensure they got a good deal for him when he did choose to leave. Having seen Gordon play several times for club and country, I can confirm that he is top quality but I agree that he surely isn''t 9 times the player David Marshall is. In other words, our much maligned board surely deserve credit for signing him for the purported fee we did. [/quote] Yes but the differing prices of players are not directly relative to the differing ability of the player. A small increase in ability can yield a very large increase in value. Having said that, Gordon for 9m was stupid in my opinion but hey if they stay up it was genius. [quote user="NCFC_Chris"][quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"] Hearts only conceded 35 and 31 goals in their last two seasons, thats a damn good record.  I can only assune Gordon has been a major part of this. Only time will tell, but he kept a clean sheet against Tottenham so has already started to repay Roy Keane''s faith in him. [/quote] Le Juge helped also [/quote]I do what I can.

I agree with both sides really. What point would there be to Man Utd loaning Shawcross out for him not to play. From our point of view, we simply can''t guarentee anything, if he''s in bad form he shouldn''t play so rather than taking Shawcross and then not doing what we said we would. Grant has done the honourable thing and said sorry I can''t make that kind of commitment.

He was on far too much money and to get a reported 250k for him is excellent business (I''d have sold him for 50k/free personally because his wages were far too much for his ability) Having said that, I''m sort of sad to see him go too - a nice bloke who has the mental attributes to be a very good player (determined, high work-rate, team player, hard worker, encourages team mates, etc etc) but unfortunately was put in the body which has little skill. He''d have been an ok backup player due to versatility (he could play in every position just as badly as the next!) but his ability is sadly lacking. I think Leeds have done themselves well, Hughes lack of ability won''t be obvious at that level, he''ll run around tackling and getting the rest of the team motivated. Think he''ll do well for them. Good luck Andy, hope you do well at Leeds and the crowd love you but hopefully Leeds will be relegated again despite your single handed Roy of the Rovers attempt to keep them up.

The goal is the most important position on the pitch. It''s no coincidence Chelsea won the league as Cech came in (even though Cudicini is a quality keeper he isn''t as good as Cech) or that Man Utd were unstoppable when they had Schmeichel in goal, when he left it went downhill and took them quite a while to recover. If you have an exceptional goalkeeper (which I believe we have for this level - lets not compare him with those keepers previously mentioned but I believe is easily the best in the Championship and would get in quite a few Prem teams) then you can go far. Marshall is definitely a quality  piece of business.

[quote user="can u sit down please"]Was it Kevin Mcallister? Im pretty sure the other city player is Tim Sherwood.....[/quote]Wasn''t he the kid in Home Alone?  

I was going to reply (essentially saying yes but much longer) until I read Tumbleweed and Branston Pickle''s replies - Between them they both say exactly what I wanted to. Totally agree with you both.

Marshall - 8 - He gets an 8 purely because he made some fantastic saves when called upon even though he didn''t have to do too much. One dodgy kick was all he did wrong all game (and that was only dodgy because it went straight out rather than to the player) He''s far too good for Championship, this guy will be a legend. Ostembor - 8 ½ - Was awesome, pace, dribbling, overlapping were all fatastic. He was much quicker than their winger so every time they tried to beat him he either came away with the ball or got the ball to safety. He offered an attacking side to his game which we haven''t had from a full back for a long while. Put a fizzing cross/shot across the face of the goal which only needed a touch. I did notice his positional sense defensively wasn''t great, his man often drifted away from him and between him and Doc managed to let them nearly score by not tracking (Shacks had to cover and put the cross out for a corner) Drury - 6 - Turned up, took a shot which was deflected into the top corner (didn''t look like the shot was going even on target to be honest but at least he had a pop) I don''t remember him making any significant contribution to the game. He loses every header going, lets crosses come in our box too often and his attacking side is shocking. In the first half all he did was lump the ball upfield toward Cureton and Brown (Brown did well but as you imagine Cureton wasn''t that effective!) We desperately need cover here, if only to give him a kick up the arse! It''s no good being a quality player three seasons ago, we need one now. Shackell - 7 ½- Looked good,  covered the others, won headers, looked relatively quick and strong and didn''t do anything wrong. Doherty - 6 - First half let the attackers get away from him on multiple occasions but second half didn''t have as much to do and won every header. If we could get a 1st choice replacement I wouldn''t be too unhappy having Doherty as a reserve. His attacks from corners are woeful, catching the ball from one and then randomly kicking the ball out and asking for another corner from another. Brellier - 7 - Thought he was good, not great but good and shows signs that he will help our defence quite a lot. He hassled the opposition and seems to enjoy kicking others. Think he''ll be awesome (if you couldn''t guess I thought this anyway due to my name...) Russell - 7 - Solid, got forward to support attacks, got back to support defence. Linked well with Ostembor. Nothing special but solid and at the minute definitely think him and Brellier are our first choice CM''s Lappin - 6 ½ - I''m a fan of Lappin, looked a bit stronger than last season and has good final ball. Did some nice runs but didn''t beat the many too many times, usually retained posession though. Martin - 7 - I still think we played more of a 4-3-1-2 with Chrissy playing in the hole as he was always behind the strikers and just in front of the midfielders. Was bypassed mostly by long balls, when he got the ball he looked pretty sharp and made good runs. Cureton - 6 ½ - Wasn''t in the game too much in the first half as the defenders decided to lump the ball forward and he''d have trouble winning a header if he was up against Earnshaw (that''d be an aerial battle I''d like to see) but made good runs always looking for flick ons and knock downs. Will get goals. Brown - 8 - I think he is slowly proving everyone wrong, he won most things in the air, kept the ball and had one or two decent efforts. A big strong lad who I believe will forge a good partnership with Cureton. Gives his all and doesn''t mind putting his body on the line - I''ve changed from undecided on him to a fan. I know two games doesn''t make a good player but I think he''ll do well. Subs Dave - 7 - Has very good touch. The ball was lumped up to him a few times and he seemed to instantly control it and try and lay it off (although some of his lay offs were inaccurate and put the man in trouble) I expected more from him when he first signed but he''s got to get used to English football and it''s too early to tell but will be a decent player I hope. Jarvis - 6 - Didn''t do too much apart from one decent run where he beat a man and hit a shot which was blocked. Hughes - 6 - Even in a friendly made me cringe when brought on in central midfield. To be fair didn''t do much wrong, ran around a lot and even made some good attacking runs (but wasn''t picked out) Fotheringham - 6 ½ - Decent but not brilliant, didn''t have too much time on though. Good squad player.  

[quote user="Shack Attack"] Anton Ferdinand is hugely overrated and only gets the attention he does due to his considerably more talented brother. Discuss. [/quote]I agree (having said that I don''t think Rio is all that great) but he''s still far, far better than any defender we have.

Drury hit a shot that wasn''t going on target, took a deflection and went in the far top corner. I used to be a big fan of Drury but more often he''s been looking weak, letting crosses come in, letting his man get past him, losing practically every header he can! As for the game, was a typical friendly - going through the paces trying to win but not get hurt. Ostembor was absolutely brilliant, his speed and attacking was quality, well worth MOTM. Marshall, Brellier, Russell, Lappin looked good. Cureton, Brown and big Dave all looked useful but didn''t really have many opportunities and Martin didn''t really get into the game all that much. The game really could have gone either way, wasn''t that exciting and didn''t have many clear cut chances - we got a flukey goal but generally played well (doc got caught out a few times in first half but seemed decent the second) I''d say it was more a 4 - 3 - 1 - 2 with Brellier taking the CM role, Lapping LCM, Russell RCM and Martin in ''the hole'' but ended up when Croft came on as a 4 - 4 - 2 with Crofty RM, Lappin LM, Fotheringham and Hughes CM.

[quote user="Shack Attack"] [quote user="bromsgrove canary"] Safri was never a creative midfielder - he was the holding midfielder which allowed the "more creative types" such as Etuhu to get forward. [/quote] Nonsense. It''s possible to be the deep lying midfielder AND be creative you know. If you honestly think the Etuhu is a more creative player than Safri then I think you need help. I think Safri will be sorely missed but this has nothing to do with any "unfounded animosity towards PG" as you rather childishly suggest. [/quote]To be honest, neither were particularly creative. Dickson got himself forward and attacked the ball (which doesn''t make you creative, just attacking) Safri sat back and played the ball around trying to break up play. He played nice passes and retained possesion but that doesn''t make you creative either. A creative player is Huckerby, Koumas, Rooney, Ronaldinho etc. Someone who is capable of running at a defender, commiting him and either passing/crossing the ball to someone else to create an opportunity or to take him on, beat him and make an opportunity for himself. Someone who you can give the ball on the halfway line with nothing on and suddenly you''ve got a good chance of a goal from nothing -That really doesn''t describe Dickson or Saf. You exceptionally rarely get a creative player like Crook or Hoddle who can''t beat the man but is so exceptional at passing he can play everyone else in but they are so unbelievably rare I can''t think of anyone in the modern game who does this like they did.

Should have read "I needed to be sure I''d play week-in-week-out, well, when I can be arsed to"

Why oh why do people continually go on and on about the "We don''t have to sell" statement! It''s ridiculous. I''m getting fed up of replying the same thing. It was stated we didn''t have to sell but what they actually meant was "We don''t have to sell - from a financial point of view" Financially, we didn''t have to sell but contractually (due to release clauses) we did have to sell - assuming the player in question wanted to go (which when the statement was made, the board did not know) As for Safri we didn''t have to sell him at all, we could have stuck him in the reserves never playing him for a year, taking x thousands each week draining the club. It was clear Grant was never going to play him again so simply getting him off the wage bill regardless of the fee was good business. I think I might save this message in notepad and the next time someone brings it up I can copy and paste it in. As for replacements, that''s personal opinion. I personally think that each of the new players will be pushing for a first team place, meaning the squad is much stronger even though it has the same numbers because the players going out had a few first team regulars but mostly had people we were just waiting until we could wave goodbye to (Thorne, Louis-Jean, McVeigh, Fisk, Henderson) Then again on paper Thorne and Louis-Jean seemed decent buys so our on paper good buys of Brellier, Ostembor, Cureton, Big Dave could end up being wastes of space. I''m still confident though.

[quote user="Old Boy"] The only effective treatment for them is to ignore them, but that never happens. [/quote]Agreed, if more people just paid no attention and carried on regardless the forum would be a happier place when they eventually got bored. Havig said that, I''ve just posted about it and not ignrored so ironically doing what I said we shouldn''t... ah well. To the original post, well done mate. I agree with you entirely and wish the imps the best of luck.

            Tracey Sutch, McGovern, Walsh, Derveld Stuart, Robinson, Carey, Llewelyn          Thorne, Daglish   I reckon that team would get relegated from the football league let alone Championship.

All of the above would be good buys but to be honest I feel we''ve got the central midfield covered fairly well, although that is assuming that Fozzy will be more effective than he was last season which is not guarenteed. Danns would be an excellent choice though (similar type of player to Russel I think) Sodje and/or Darren Moore would do me for central defensive cover. I''d like to add left back cover, the scottish lad Dixon would be a decent shout, not that I know anything about him really other than he''s young, cheap and our management seem to rate him (despite not adding a 100k or so to their original offer) I know we''ve got a lot of bodies for the strikers role but and I think they''ll all come good but none of them are especially proven (Cureton I rate and think will do well but one season as top goal scorer doesn''t make you proven. It proves you have talent but it doesn''t prove you can consistantly deliver that talent until you do a similar thing multiple seasons in a row) so Riordan would be nice. I don''t really expect these and could get away without all apart from probably two more signings, a centre back and a leftback who can cover centre back to would make me more than happy.

I''m in the minority too - the second picture may look clearer but the first one has character which to me makes it look better - probably because it reminds me of the football stickers I used to collect (I once nearly completed the premiership book in 92/93 season, was only missing about four stickers!)

[quote user="BlyBlyBabes"] In any event, would we really want ''Rio''s equally dim brother"? OTBC   [/quote]Yes.

[quote user="Cobain18"]Happyhammer i think safri would fit in really well at west ham and yes he is a good player, he would be a good acquisition for you![/quote]He would be a good buy if they wanted to improve their reserve team, no way would he be a first choice for them - I wouldn''t even pick him as first choice for us...

[quote user="Budger"]There''s been rumours strong rumours that we''re going to sign a Centre back on loan from the Premiership. Anton Ferdinand fits that category. The way he praised Grant when he wasn''t even playing in tonights friendly, and how he didn''t play in tonights friendly could mean that he''s coming, or that he''s injured, I have no idea - I don''t research these things. And finally sometimes the WHU fans got on his back last season so I doubt he''s a key figure in their defense, again I may be wrong. A little farfetched but makes sense to me, but what do I know?[/quote]I mean this in the nicest possible way but don''t be stupid!

[quote user="ob1"]TROLL![/quote]I like it, it''s short, accurate, to the point and doesn''t try to engage in pointless reasoning with him. Good work.