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Jacko

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Posts posted by Jacko

  2. Posted

    It''s a totally unanswerable question.

    Depends entirely on the circumstances, the nature of the performances, our relative position in the table and who is available/willing to do the job at that given time. That will determine the mood around the place etc.

    I honestly can''t see us losing 10 games in a row under Alex Neil in any event, so it''s all totally redundant anyway.

  3. Posted

    I don''t understand why people love a conspiracy theory so much. My reading of the situation is :

    - Brady is a far superior player to Johnson on that left wing. Johnson had effectively been reduced to a squad player at best. If Norwich City get offered £6 million for a squad player then we''d be mad to turn it down. Johnson will never command anywhere near that transfer again in his career. His performances at Derby already proving this to be the case.

    - Lafferty isn''t playing because he isn''t particularly good. I predicate that opinion on the lack of Championship clubs queuing at the door to buy him (I doubt we''d have priced him out of a permanent move). He was loaned out to Turkey last season for similar reasons last season - i.e. he wasn''t deemed to be as good as Hooper, Grabban or Jerome.

    - Ruddy was dropped because he wasn''t playing well and his performance against Arsenal rendered him virtually unselectable - he was a nervous wreck by the end. He was dropped long BEFORE the incident in Tombland which happened in the aftermath of the Everton game (the one where Rudd played and got man of the match).

    - Grabban was actually well liked by Alex Neil and started every game at the beginning of his tenure as manager. The only reason he fell out of favour was because we couldn''t physically select him because he got himself suspended at Rotherham for starting a boxing match.

    Despite that, Neil selected him ahead of Jerome on the opening day again Palace but Grabban contrived to miss from about 12 inches. Chuck in his antics at Rotherham (what is about him and Rotherham?) into the melting pot and Neil is within his rights not to select a profligate striker who has let him down massively on 2 separate occasions (even then he played him against Arsenal and Watford).

    Are we then honestly meant to turn down one of the biggest transfer fees received in the club''s history for a player with all that baggage and 18 months left on his contract?

    All of the above situations haven''t got anything to with strictness or Neil being a raving disciplinary. They''re just examples of sound logical management based on common sense.

  4. Posted

    Whilst I am still pessimistic about our chances of survival this season, it is remarkable to think we have conceded 14 goals in 4 league matches, lost all 4 of them and yet, somehow, somehow, we''re still not in the bottom 3 and actually have a cushion of 2 points over Newcastle.

    I feel that we''re now entering a very critical period of the season and that we have to make the games against Villa, Swansea and West Ham (difficult but we''re at home) count if we''re realistic about surviving.

  5. Posted

    I think sometimes in modern football as we''re seeing with John Stones, we''re guilty of putting the cart before the horse - i.e. we get really excited about whether a centre back is a ball player and we forget about their primary function, which is to defend and snuff out danger.

    We''ve conceded a scary amount of goals in 2016. That isn''t just the centre backs fault admittedly, there are other factors at play (such as lack of cover from midfield) but we need to get back to basics in the centre half area.

    I think out of the 3, Bennett is the best pure defender. He is flawed, particularly against strikers with quick movement and speed of thought but he''d be my pick and the added attraction is that Klose is then free to play on his more favoured left side.

    The slight unknown and issue we have is how Bassong would take being dropped. I think it''s no secret he''s a quite volatile character and you just worry it could be Adams mk II in terms of a dressing room battle, if he gets benched.

  7. Posted

    Words I never thought I''d say. I completely agree with LDC!

    I don''t see how any of the current issues are directly attributable to Rudd and the issues are further up the pitch. For the first two goals, he''s made two good saves (which he''s never going to be able to hold) and you''re entitled to expect your defenders to give you a hand in those circumstances.

    Ruddy is definitely susceptible to low efforts and it''s debatable whether he would have actually saved either. His performance in the cup tie against Man City also didn''t give me any cause to think he should be coming back into the side any time soon.

  9. Posted

    Some excellent observations there Bethnal as always and, I agree entirely with you about the defence and your stated line up.

    It''s important that we get a settled back 4 in place now, with actual specialists (not Brady) playing in those positions. Bassong and Olsson are perfectly adequate for the time being in those positions and I too would be uneasy about wholesale changes to an already very unstable and shaky defence.

    In the short term, I think what would be more helpful at this stage is to ensure that the defence is adequately protected to ensure that a situation like Saturday does not occur again.

    Yes, the centre backs were absolutely woeful that day but they were afforded no cover by either Dorrans or Howson. Time and time again our defence pierced by a midfielder running from deep untracked (Henderson notably for the second goal).

    With Mulumbu clearly not up to speed, if we could get someone like Jedinak in to provide that midfield knowhow it would be most timely.

    My only disagreement would be regarding the impact Dwight Gayle would have? He''s scored once all season (a penalty), and he also appears totally unsuited to a system of 1 up front which AN prefers.

    Whilst admittedly Bamford hasn''t scored (he hasn''t actually played full stop) this season, I think he''s much better suited to our style of play and we know from his time at Middlesbrough he can play up top on his own.

    People will point to playoff final but he clearly wasn''t fit that day and shouldn''t have even been in consideration - that was more a reflection on how little Karanka rated Kike than anything else.

  13. Posted

    One of the major positives that comes out of the darkness of yesterday was the performance of this man and what he may also bring to the table in terms of leadership. He''s a class act and the board have done brilliantly to get him here.

    The fact we''ve effectively almost traded him (in financial terms) for Grabban (a player who had ostensibly become worthless to us) is absolutely sensational. If we do somehow survive this year then I feel Naismith will have played a massive hand in keeping us up. There''s still hope yet!

  14. Posted

    He''s got a right to be angry in all honesty.

    For all this team''s flaws this season, the one we do very well is close out a game when we do actually get in front. I think West Ham is the only game I can recall before yesterday where we''ve chucked away a lead once being ahead.

    There was just a general lack of common sense and leadership to our play after going 3-1 up. The term game management is often over used but it was relevant here. We needed to really slow the game down after that 3rd goal and prevent Liverpool from getting a foothold in the game.

    Instead we played in the same manner with the full backs high and a lot of space in between the lines of the midfield and centre of the defence. The worrying thing is how we have appeared to have regressed in this department after it looked like we had eradicated these issues around Christmas.

  15. Posted

    Whilst Dorrans is a very accurate and effective distributor of the ball, I think we all know he lacks the requisite mobility and defensive awareness to play as a genuine holding midfielder. The second goal where he allowed Henderson to run totally unchecked into the area being evidence of this.

    I think in an ideal world Alex Neil would have liked to have played Mulumbu today in Tettey''s absence but unfortunately Mulumbu has been in such poor form of late (just look at the Man City game) that you just can''t select him. Gary O''Neil was also sorely missed in this game due to his moment of madness against Stoke. Neither of those factors which led to Dorrans starting are AN''s fault in my opinion.

    The debate will rage on about whether Martin, Bassong or Bennett should be the starting centre back/backs but to be honest it''s akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic. None of them are actually good enough to play at this level. We just have to hope to God that Klose is and he can coax some half decent performances out of one of the other 3.

  16. Posted

    There is a reason Rhodes has been passed over by Premier League in recent years and that isn''t just because of the fee Blackburn are demanding.

    There are serious questions about whether he has the physicality, the mobility and the all round game to play as a lone striker. There were often occasions last season in away games when Rhodes was left on the bench and Gestede (not exactly the most mobile himself) was favoured by Blackburn as the lone striker.

    Does that remind you on any strikers we have on the books at the moment by any chance?

  18. Posted

    I''m not convinced Redmond has the skill set to play in that position and he was quite poor against Chelsea when played centrally. I agree that the amount of excellent games Hoolahan has are diminishing and this is why we''re desperately trying to sign Naismith. Neil isn''t a fool.

  21. Posted

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ma7h6_gary-o-neil-red-card-for-appaling-tackle-vs-stoke-city_sport

    The challenge ticks all of the boxes for a red card - It''s out of control, it''s ugly and there is a definite scissors motion as he makes the tackle. He also goes right through the man for good measure.

  22. Posted

    It was dreadful challenge. He goes right through the man and effectively scissor tackles him. Unless you are wearing the most yellow and green tinted glasses imaginable there''s no way you can say that isn''t a red card offence.

    Its a silly decision by O''Neil. The ball is already out of play and is in the most neutral and harmless place imaginable on the pitch. It''s cost us very dearly as we were well in the game at that stage.

    It''s disappointing because he''s one of the last players I would have expected that from. Given the form of Mulumbu and Dorrans I would now like to see Howson given a chance to play in his best position and see how he gets on.

  25. Posted

    In response to the OP, I would say that if Naismith comes I doubt he would actually fulfil the role of a primary striker. He''s played for Everton either in the number 10 position or on the flank. I''d expect him play those two roles for Norwich if he arrives. Naismith therefore wouldn''t be a direct replacement for either Grabban or Lafferty - in my eyes anyway.
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