Squad quality

[Yellow Wal 314]

It is my opinion that the quality of the squad is where the problem is, not the manager. We must be patient with him as he learns his trade. Remember the comparison with that other Alex who came down from Scotland and took a long while to produce results.

We need players who are of an 8/10 rating and we have a whole squad full of 5s, 6s and 7s ....... and even a few 4s.

Occasionally they come in and give 8 or even 9 out of 10 performances but we do not have enough who regularly do this.

It is obviously shown by the value of the players that we have, where very few, if any, exceed £10M in value whereas all other clubs seems to have these players.

As a result Alex Neal has to try to adopt tactics to suit the teams we are playing against and get the best out of what he has. This is not always going to happen but at least he is trying to get the best from what he has.

I just hope that in January we try very hard to get rid of the 4s and 5s and get some 7s and 8s in.

[Salopian 1]

Apart from Brady not many members of our side would command a high transfer fee at the moment, and some seem to be underperforming.

We have strikers who can''t, - Hooper, Mbokani, L:afferty, Jerome, Grabban, but is the problem the poor service they receive, or the fact that we are now playing only one striker, at least from the start?

Is the problem the midfield, who are not good enough creatively and defensively? Or is it still the defence who need cover and need more forward players to tackle back? Or tend to lose concentration?

We have signed journeyman players because of the cost of replacing so many inadequate players is too high.

Or is the problem that we have players who are insufficiently adaptable to accommodate the manager who tries to select and combine to meet the challenge of other teams?

[grefstad 0]

Obviously a bit coloured from 6 losses in 8 games, but likely only Brady would command a starting place in any other Premier team (but Villa).

[AJ 1,218]

AN has never tried to hide the fact we failed to bring in quality in the summer. He''s tact enough to not attack the board, but in his post-match comments he clearly had some frustration at our lack of ability to bring in the players we wanted. We need to bring in a few bodies in January to help our chances of survival, I''m just not sure how much we''re going to be able to spend in doing so.

[smooth 114]

We have added in areas, we all heralded the options available in midfield. For years we had relied on hoops; Jarvis and Brady came in and Redmond added last year. Howson and bj added over 19 goals last season and VOO was seen as a catalyst.

So it is a sorry state that some of those new names mentioned have not lit it up and calls for hoops to return are being heard as our only creative edge.

You can see that AN is in that trap of having players needing to play at the higher levels they can regularly, how you do that is hard and hence why managers tenure is often short. You cannot rely on players of a certain level and career capability to keep the same dizzy heights, bj is a fine example.

We all knew that the summer was critical, players coming to NcFC to be told we don''t want them, bidding wars, unsuccessful attempts, new members of the team joining mid window and the grabban dilemma.

We do require higher levels of quality, this costs and although you can get quality like mulumbu and o''neil you can see our level.

It is a lack of funds, it is a club on a budget less than many champ clubs and put squad reflects that. We also have been a up to club with departures and flops.

January is critical we need a few genuine starters to lift the group and this is a tough job with the position and capabilities of this club. The model was bring in the better lower division players and make them better, you better and sell on for a profit.

These players are still expensive and we do not have time for that we need someone who can offer professionalism and ability so we can build a squad with better level than we have and to lift those few around them.

A big task, and with only January to do it, it is a tough task.

[Rustyboy 2]

I think this is the strongest squad we have had for years. Our problem seems to be consistency. For an example Ryan Bennett was brilliant against Arsenal yet average against Watford.

Was it in the player’s minds it was only Watford we were playing and not a bigger club? To get 3 points from these teams is harder. The MOTD analyst was good showing how the Watford forwards put the effort in where as I didn’t see this from our lone ranger.

I do not think we are going to be consistent enough to keep in the Premier League and question the team selection at times. Only my opinion.

[ron obvious 1,499]

Yes, the difference in sheer energy between us & Watford was astonishing. I thought both teams looked technically inept - the wind probably didn''t help - but they were always first to the ball & stronger on it. They wanted it more.

It is the lack of creativity that is the biggest concern. We desperately need at least one back-up/replacement Wes. Our midfield has plenty of strength (well, usually), but nobody to stitch midfield & attack together. Brady is probably our only other creative force, &, like everyone else, he was off form on Saturday.

[Yellow Wal 314]

There lies the problem.

If you have 6 rated players they can, when they have good games, play up to 7, 8 or even 9 but a bad game they become very obviously not good enough with either a 5, 4 or even a 3 rated performance.

What we are desperate for are some 7 or 8 rated players so that even when they have poor games they are still better than many on the pitch and when they have good games .................

[chicken 0]

I do think that the manager has to shoulder some of the blame for a lack in results - in any situation.

However, I think people are getting a bit carried away with this loss.

We''ve collected 4 points in the last 5 games. On paper just like that it looks pretty poor. So lets add some depth:

Man City (away) loss.

Swansea (Home) win.

Chelsea (away) loss.

Arsenal (home) draw.

Watford (away) loss.

So, the question I have is this. Would people have been as upset if we had lost 2-0 at home to Arsenal but drawn away to Watford? I say that because to me, despite Chelsea''s position in the table, any of the bottom 6-10 sides will be pleased to pick up a point off a top 4-6 side.

As we have just been promoted, when-ever we have one of the top sides visit, I hope we are able to give them a good game, in fact our very best game. The issue with this is that usually this will still not be enough.

I wouldn''t argue that perhaps another draw would have been good. But I do think people are being unrealistic when looking at those games.

Add to that the fact that Neil is still learning and adapting. I think the issue at hand is that he was forced to make changes due to injuries and then seems to have made more changes, a bit of tinkering, and it didn''t work out Vs Watford.

I hope he has the strength to realise that perhaps the week before we had a more balanced look and feel and what to bring back into the side to get us back on track.

[djc 0]

Quality. We havent strengthened the defence from our last season in the premier league. The squad wasnt good enough defensively then, and they have sadly shown again in games this season that they aint any better. Leading up to the penalty as the first goal against Watford was criminal, for a midfielder in space to be put under pressure and simply gift the opposition the ball is woeful sunday league stuff....