The Great Wall Of Tettey

Big shout out to the defensive wall Alex tettey too... Sat in front of the defence allowed Howson/Johnson to do pretty much what they wanted

Pretty clear olsson wants out and his agent hasn''t exactly helped things with his comments. He''s made consistant mistakes this season then again but most of our defence unit has. My only concern is he''s asked to bomb up the pitch for 90 minutes it''s pretty inevitable he''s going to get caught out now and again. He was brilliant in the premier league but was very rare he got over the halfway line?

Ruddy Whittaker Martin Bassong Garrido Tettey Johnson Redmond Howson Hooper grabban

[quote user="Feedthewolf"][quote user="The Great Wall Of Tettey"]It''s pretty obvious from dropping hooper down to the bench at birmingham and then signing andreu he''s trying to accommodate his 4142/4231/433 formation....effectively is the same formation by just adjusting the advanced positions of the wingers. I think he will go with: Ruddy Whittaker martin Bassong olsson Tettey Johnson Redmond Howson/andreu bennett Jerome Id like to see turner come in alongside bassong and martin at right back but thats more personal preference. As for andreu, he will be a start for us in the near future you''d imagine, but I hope the lights of Howson don''t get left out for him, IMO our best advanced creative midfielder[/quote]Agree with all of that, both what I think he''ll go with and what I would go with.All I would question is whether Howson is actually that creative; yes, he''s attack-minded and he loves bombing forward with or without the ball, getting in the box and getting on the end of things, but in terms of creativity I don''t think he can hold a candle to Wes. All round Jonny is the better player, but Wes has that ability to tear a defence apart with a genius pass over 15-20 yards that no one else predicts.Anyone know where Andreu sits on the Howson-to-Hoolahan dichotomy? I''m guessing from the Pinkun''s rather extravagant Lampard comparison that he''s more of a Howson...[/quote] Personally I don''t think Howson has been given enough game time behind the striker, and I remember an article a year or so ago saying he wants to play in that role but is more than happy to get game time in centre midfield. My only issue with hoolahan is when we play a 4411 I find hoolahan just isolates the striker. Always such a massive gap between the forward and the rest of the midfield. He doesn''t get into the box enough and contribute with goals, he''s much more suited and had his best game behind 2 strikers, but I think the diamond is old news now with teams playing so many midfielders we would get overrun. As for andreu, he''s been playing as a second striker for the majority, or slightly behind the forward. Doesn''t spend much time on the ball, is more of a give and go type of player and then makes his way into the box

It''s pretty obvious from dropping hooper down to the bench at birmingham and then signing andreu he''s trying to accommodate his 4142/4231/433 formation....effectively is the same formation by just adjusting the advanced positions of the wingers. I think he will go with: Ruddy Whittaker martin Bassong olsson Tettey Johnson Redmond Howson/andreu bennett Jerome Id like to see turner come in alongside bassong and martin at right back but thats more personal preference. As for andreu, he will be a start for us in the near future you''d imagine, but I hope the lights of Howson don''t get left out for him, IMO our best advanced creative midfielder

For me.... Ruddy Martin Turner Bassong Olsson Tettey Johnson Redmond Howson Bennett Jerome Can understand giving the new lad a chance but johnny Howson in an advanced position is arguably our best player. straight in after suspension

Fully expect dorrans to sign when the window reopens. Also might be interesting to see the noone situation. If they do indeed want him off the wage bill it might be one to monitor. Also matt Jarvis, West Ham happy to let him leave but the deal fell through, obviously now not able to join a prem side we may be able to take advantage

Looks as though olsson wanted a relegation release type clause in the personal terms which WBA denied, scuppering our deal with dorrans. You''d hope we can now agree a loan deal with them when the window opens?

Was always going to expect the whole ''only signing him because it was at hamilton bla bla underwhelming'' but in reality we''ve signed an advanced midfielder who''s already managed 15 goals for a team that lacks a great deal of quality. Looks a busy player, direct, similar to hoolahan without the 300 spins on the ball. Optimistic

We only really have 1 first team natural wide player in redmond. Would see dorrans as a definite wide starter and in no way a replacement for a central player.

Ive seen nothing on sky sports evening mentioning us and dorrans in the same breath? Would be a decent signing but hes always going to join a Premiership club given the option isn''t he

Johnson has to stay. Don''t know what game some fans watch at times. We''ve got several problem areas in our side at the minute and Bradley Johnson starting at Central midfield certainly isn''t one of them. Been scoring freely and is a consistant performer.

Ruddy Martin Turner Bassong Olsson Howson Tettey Johnson Redmond Hooper Jerome Don''t understand why the massive need to try to include hoolahan into everyone''s side. Even suggesting dropping hooper/jerome is crazy. The work hooper does dropping deep creating chances/laying the ball off is so unnoticed and he has scored his fair share. Ive said it time and time again hoolahan doesn''t score enough goals to play in a 4411 it just puts pressure on midfielders to get into the box and it isolates the loan striker. Also forgetting defence is the real issue were leaking too many goals at the back yet everyone wants to make changes bringing more creativity, when in reality we need more stability? Midfield 3 of tettey, Howson and Johnson.

Our front line isn''t really the issue of you look at the amount of goals scored and chances created. Fitting Wes anotjer attacking player in isn''t what we need in my opinion. Leaky defence and missing tettey/Howson for midfield stability, not to mention bassong

People seem to forget hoolahan is at his best behind 2 strikers. He had his best time with holt & martin, and a more narrow choice of wingers. We played quite negative football with hoolahan in a 4411 and if anything he isolates the striker when he stops to hold the ball up. Also if he''s playing this role he simply has to contribute with more goals, You can talk about how creative he is but will never contribute 10+ a season which we need from that position,. He can do as many twists and turns as he wants and I think he''s ideal if we''re getting overrun during a game and need someone to come on and get a foot on the ball, but im of the opinion his time is passed to completely change our formation again to suit him, and hooper does a far better role with the goals and assists he''s provided from the deeper role. Jerome has scored 15 goals so why would you even consider moving our best player out of his best position to accommodate him?

Can''t believe he''s drawing all this critism when really he''s been one of our players of the season? If you watch the entire game instead of just the ball you''ll see jerome making runs after ones off the last shoulder but the defence/midfield often just run with their heads down and don''t even see it. Also there''s pressure on jerome to sprint around chasing lost causes, got to consider he''s also scored a couple from that very reason. I think his work rate is the highest out of the team and it''s easy to say he''s lazy when you see him offside but Id also say consider the ball and how late it''s been played to him.

A lot is mentioned about his attitude and his poor performances in the relegation season, but not much about him the previous season when he was our best defender by a mile. I hope he comes back with a point to prove and shows us again that he is the best defender at the club.

Could just play Bassong at centre back?! If he is to be given a chance back he''s better than all of the above suggestions. On a seperate note martin looked quality at right back against cardiff, keep him out at RB!

[quote user="Essex_Canary"]It is puzzling that some of our fans don''t actually watch games very closely...For those who seek to believe that Olsson is a quality defender, please watch the highlights back of Cardiff''s first goal and explain to me who was to blame for Revell getting on to the end of the cross?And it''s not a one off, its a regular occurance[/quote] Quite right, although have you seen the rest of the defence this season? Nobody has exactly covered themselves in glory. He had a good season last year and was stand out for me, has made the odd error as has everyone. The work he does sprinting up and down the pitch week in week out for 90 minutes is so valuable, covered an incredible amount of ground. easy to forget the small tackles/tracking back he does and then point out the occasional error. With the pass and ability he has he would be playing for a top 6 team if he didn''t make any mistakes

Keep him at all costs despite the offers. The creativity he''s providing from the wing is invaluable at the minute, every time he gets the ball it looks like we''re going to create a clear cut chance/shot at goal, and that''s the reason why he currently is statistically the highest chance per minute creater in the entire Championship! Prices are inflated in January and that works both ways, we would be left with lafferty/Murphy/e.bennett...now that is not enough cover and quality to replace him, and buying a suitable replacement is going to be millions. Getting is us promoted as we all well know is worth near hundreds of millions. Keeping him until the summer could be the different between going up and staying down. If liverpool want to offer crazy money for him in the summer then that''s the time to consider it more carefully but even then another season in the premier league he could well develop into a 20 million plus player.

Can anybody not remember garridos tackling? Slow and just dives in 2 footed. If we''re trying to keep a side with belief we will get promoted then we have to keep olsson. If we go back up we would have to spend the same amount of money trying to cover the position again with another quality LB. Toffolo looks like he''s playing quality football at Swindon and getting rave reviews, quality left foot too providing some good assists. Wether he''s the answer or not may be a risky one but I think in our current position it''s silly selling a first team regular starter at around his value. I don''t think 5 million is silly money for someone like olsson, we should be looking for well over the odds to even consider selling someone capable of representing us consistantly at premier league level

Think it''s very easy to criticise his form when he was dropped and what was apparently done/said, when in reality it''s only rumours on what exactly happened. It''s also not as if we have 2 centre backs playing brilliantly at the minute as it is. Id love to see bassong back with turner, and then martin/Whittaker left back

I rate olsson and think he''s one of our best, most consistant player and wouldn''t really want him to leave. However I imagine that Alex neil would jump at the chance to take the highly rated stephen hendrie from hamilton with him, Already been linked with palace and West Ham and doesn''t look like a Peter grant bring everyone moment!

Can''t believe the negativity towards him considering he''s hardly kicked a ball for us. Been unlucky with injury and isn''t someone who''s had an injury hit career, he Could well be a waste of money but atleast let the lad get fit and have a run in the team before making a poor judgement on him. Rumoured to be quality according to the the belgium league journo reckons he was the best player in that league and was surprised he turned down europa league to play chanpionship football. Hoping howsons red card is a blessing in disguise and the lad gets a run out.

Wouldn''t* should say