How big a mistake letting Bradley go ?

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

We now seem to have completely lost any drive from midfield on the evidence of the last few games .

Howson seems anonymous mostly , wes needs some muscle to protect him , yesterday he clearly didn''t get any assistance ,, was barged off the ball time and time again .

Tettey did a good job of what he does ,, but IMO we are severely missing the energy and aggression of Bradley Jonson .

If the rumours about the reason for him departing are true ,,,, it looks like the better decision would have been to let Grabban go ?

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,462]

When a team is not getting results, the value, ability and desirability of any players out of the team increases in direct proportion to the frustration.

Parma

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

Typical of your nonsense Parma.

We missed an aggressive midfielder yesterday in particular ,,, recently we have had the services of such a player , if you ever attended Carrow road , you would have witnessed this from last years POTS . Hence my question , are we missing him ?

[Crabbycanary3 994]

No, he wasn''t getting in the team, and Jarvis (and Brady) are up grades on our left hand side. BJ isn''t a Prem CM

[lake district canary 4,830]

[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]No, he wasn''t getting in the team, and Jarvis (and Brady) are up grades on our left hand side. BJ isn''t a Prem CM[/quote]This^^^

[Wiz 0]

A huge mistake imo.

[hogesar 10,763]

I miss him, but not sure he''d have made any difference yesterday

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,791]

When we signed Mulumbu - I thought it signalled us having two holding protective midfield players in front of a back four. We saw West Brom / Palace / Leicester all do this. Mulumbu and Tettey would be my favoured two.

However we still have holding player options O Neil, Dorrans (to an extent) and of course BJ used to be until AN turned him into a wider left sided player.

I don''t think it''s Bradley that we miss, because we have other players that can sit - it''s the fact that AN doesn''t like this shape (unless we are leading and he wants to hold on to lead)

BJ would have made any difference if we didn''t play him in this way.

[ec-p 117]

Wouldve been good to at least have the option of Johnson though. Was stunned when he we sold our POTS. Can see Derby getting promoted this season.

[Jim Smith 2,610]

It was a mistake, not because he would have been starting a lot this season but because we did not use the money to strengthen the team. There is no point losing s useful and influential player for £6m we didn''t really need and which we can''t spend until January.

[ricardo 8,034]

Obviously there were reasons for letting him go that were not made public but there can be little doubt that he has left a big hole and we have lost an option.Apart from Tetty the rest of the midfield look very much alike, small and tricky but very lightweight. Against a team like West Brom this was a glaring problem.

[JF 694]

Perhaps we should have tried him in the back four as I can''t believe he could be any worse! At least he could put a tackle in

[Making Plans 957]

[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]No, he wasn''t getting in the team[/quote]Well he would be now

[Crabbycanary3 994]

So MP, we have to wait 2 months (since he left) before he comes into the team? That probably shows how much he was needed. To another poster, he wasn''t influential, he was making the bench, that was all, not influencing games when he did come on. BJ was great for us last year.

Also, if the rumours are to be believed, what would posters do, if they were in charge of the team, with BJ, under those circumstances?

[AJ 1,359]

Mistake or not he wouldn''t have started yesterday''s game anyway

[Making Plans 957]

[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]So MP, we have to wait 2 months before he comes into the team? That probably shows how much he was needed[/quote]On that basis then we might as well get rid of everyone who hasn''t had a game so far because by your "logic" they''re obviously not needed here.

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

Suffice to say ,, opinion is divided . I think my thoughts are echoed by one of the most respected posters on here in Ricardo .

We were most definitely lacking the contribution that BJ used to bring to a team .

[iron_stan 0]

johnson was a hot headed aggressive wasteful lump of a footballer

and still a better option than graham dorrans

[Crabbycanary3 994]

No, that''s not what I meant, and I suspect you knew that.

No one has been clambering for BJs inclusion for weeks, and suddenly we are in a sticky situation, and he might well be the saviour? Why would someone who couldn''t get in a performing team, suddenly be the answer? Do you not think Brady and Jarvis are upgrades on BJ?

What about the 2nd part to my post? Is that not possibly relevant in this particular situation?

Although my main point is from a footballing point of view. what would BJ offer in that team right now, that others cannot? Please no one come on here and talk about passion, this is the Premier League

[iron_stan 0]

[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]Do you not think Brady and Jarvis are upgrades on BJ? [/quote]of course they are, but johnson was never a winger, hes a combative centre mid who happened to have a left foot so got stuck on the left when we had no other optionscompletely different types of players

[Crabbycanary3 994]

I will say it again then, BJ is not a Premier League CM

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

I suspect from reading your last paragraph Crabby ,, that you rarely grace CR with your presence ?

If you did , you would be aware that of all the rotation and positional changes this year ,, we are desperately missing a contribution , maybe Mulumbu or Ofoe can bring it to the game , but at this point in time , NO Jarvis and Brady do not . Very different players to BJ ,, better than him in the context we are discussing ? Definitely not .

[lake district canary 4,830]

If Johnson could have been as effective in the middle as he was out on the left, he might still have had a role here - and he would have been the type of player we need there.  But he was not good enough in the middle - not imo even at championship level - and only came into his own when on the left last season.   We now have Jarvis and Brady - two excellent upgrades on that position.  I hope Mulumbu and maybe Vadis, once he breaks into the team, will provide some of that extra drive.  There are options and they are all bound to be tried in an attempt to get the balance in the team right.   The sooner, the better.

[iron_stan 0]

[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]I will say it again then, BJ is not a Premier League CM[/quote]if howson and dorrans are, then so is hei dont think hes anything special but he would have been just as good an option as anything else we have in the middle, and sometimes you need someone not afraid to kick people to turn a match

[Clint 221]

Those of you saying BJ is not a Prem league CM, does Howson look like a Prem league CM? He seems to have turned into Mark Fotheringham this season.

At least BJ would show some passion and drive, which can be extremely influential. Howson just dawdles about like a lost crab and has been directly responsible for at least three goals against this season.

[Crabbycanary3 994]

Barclay seats, yes I do grace CR. Perhaps people can actually offer some tactical advice on what exactly they think BJ would bring to this team right now? When they do, perhaps they can then tell AN also, as he saw it fit to get rid of Johnson.

It''s so simple to say he has a left foot and would offer passion, or similar words. To use the word contribution is a tad naive I feel, as it needs to be used in a tactical context and analysis, but as of yet, no one has come up with anything.

Like I said suddenly we are struggling and BJ is the answer? How? What tactics would we use him for, to great effect?

[Crabbycanary3 994]

"As good an option as anyone else"? We need improvement, not the same

Just for clarification, I loved what BJ did for us last season, and I voted for him for PotS, but he would not be good enough to be an influence on this team, not now and not over the preceding 2 months

[iron_stan 0]

[quote user="Crabbycanary3"] What tactics would we use him for, to great effect?[/quote]closing people down forcing errors kicking opposition players and generally being a nuisance is a valuable asset when your down on your luck and need someone who can break the oppositions stridetrust me if i kick you hard enough youll think twice about coming into that space again

[Crabbycanary3 994]

iron-stan, those (kicking) tactics might have worked when I played centre half, but not anymore

[iron_stan 0]

crabby they still do, all good teams have got someone in the middle that likes to rough people uphttps://audioboom.com/boos/2913809-alex-neil-bradley-johnson-is-a-proper-manwe havnt really got that anymore, cause we sold it to derby, im not saying he would start but id rather have him as an option ahead of dorrans