Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
KiwiScot

Same Squad Under Alex Neil

Recommended Posts

How do you think we''d be doing with the current players if say Alex Neil was in charge of them. Are some players upfront not performing due to our playing style? Vrancic, Hoolahan, Wildschut, Jerome, Watkins. Could we be getting more out of Maddison?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Difficult to argue that AN didn''t have a much better squad of players at his disposal than DF, worth many more millions, paid higher wages and with far more experience at playing at a higher level.

Considering AN managed to miss the play-offs with that better squad I hate to think what he would do with the resources we currently have available.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Bring back Worthy, he''d sort it☺

Why do folk think this squad is worse than last years? Is it really? Are the players who have come in worse than the players who went out? Nobody had a good word to say about them last season...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Considering how many millions AN spent on signing No 10''s it''s a bit harsh to moan about the quality of players costing a fraction of that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Yes I think the squad is weaker.

I''d take Dijks or Olsson over Husband and Steipperman, Howson and Dorrans over Vrancic and Reed, Jacob over Watkins etc etc. However this was always likely with the budget we have.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Left back is weaker. Centre mid weaker (But will improve with Tettey fit). Wide areas are weaker.

As for AN... should have got rid in the Prem and certainly after relegation.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Dijks wasn''t our player. Olsson and Jacob are streets better than their replacements. But many didn''t rate Jacob when we had him. As I remember it many wanted him rested to get Canos in the team. Even now some people seem to think we kept the better twin.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="nutty nigel"]Bring back Worthy, he''d sort it☺

Why do folk think this squad is worse than last years? Is it really? Are the players who have come in worse than the players who went out? Nobody had a good word to say about them last season...[/quote]

Yes it is, Howson or Vrancic? Dorrans or Stiepermann? Dijks or Husband? Bennett or Franke? I know who I would rather see!

Do you think it’s better than last years NN?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Dijks wasn’t out player? Funny that he played for us then isn’t it?

If that’s the case then our goalkeeping Department is awful as Gunn isn’t our player is he NN?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The squad is clearly weaker. Ridiculous to suggest there hasn''t been a marked decline in quality.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
AN arguably had a stronger squad, he actually did OK last season but he lost the crowd and then potentially the dressing room with that run of poor results.

Bear in mind we''re currently on track to finish on 62 points I believe, last season we finished with 70 which was 10 adrift of the last play-off place.

All the signings were sidesteps or not the same calibre, financially it makes entire sense but on the pitch it shows. We''ve also been unlucky to lose a few players to injury in Klose/Pritchard/Nelson etc.

Back to your original question, regardless of the style of football I think we''re where we are because of the quality of the squad. The table doesn''t lie, we are bang on average at the moment.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="Baldyboy"]Dijks wasn’t out player? Funny that he played for us then isn’t it?

If that’s the case then our goalkeeping Department is awful as Gunn isn’t our player is he NN?[/quote]
That is true Baldy. But I don''t think we saw enough of Dijks to make such a judgement call. Gunn has already played as much and probably made a bigger impression. IMO the legend of Dijks is greater than the reality.
But it''s amazing how players stock increases when they are injured, out of form, or moved on somewhere else.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If anybody thinks that our current squad is on a par with last season really needs to take their yellow and green tinted glasses off.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Dijks wasn''t amazing but I don''t think anyone is picking Jimmy Husband over him.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
AJ has it. We''ve replaced players like Howson, Olsson, Dorrans with cheaper, less able replacements.

I''d slightly disagree in that Neil lost the dressing room before losing the fans. With the players he had in experienced players like Ruddy, Bassong, Mulumbu, Klose, Naismith, Dorrans (all internationals), it goes to show what a lost opportunity it was last season.

I don''t disagree that we needed to trim the squad to help with cutting the costs, but had these players performed to their capability (under a manager who inspired them to achieve), we could and possibly should have been playing in the Premiership this season.

Sadly now, their replacements are struggling, but I''m equally disappointed when I see teams like Barnsley come to Norwich and outplay us for 80 minutes. I certainly wouldn''t say their squad was better than our current one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Baldyboy wrote the following post at 2017-11-20 4:19 PM:

Neil would never have signed some of the dross Farke has!

But would he have signed some of the dross that Webber has?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
"Neil would never have signed some of the dross Farke has!"

He would probably have just spent the entire budget on more number 10s and then never used them properly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
But isnt about what the manager of the time can get out of the players at his disposal?

Surely it’s the togetherness, passion and desire built by the manager, along with good tactics, that maketh a team!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 weeks ago Trybull was on the verge of getting into the German squad and Howson couldn''t even get in Boro''s team. Now Howson is the better player again? I''m confused!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
"Trybull was on the verge of getting into the German squad"

He was?

Also I don''t think Trybull/Howson is the right comparison as they are different types of players- Howson/Vrancic seems fairer to me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Clint sees it like me. If last season''s team was so good why did everyone continually moan about them. I think their stock has risen since they left. Trybul is a good example. If he''s not Howson''s replacement then is he Mulumbus? No one would doubt Olsson is better. Some of us think Jacob is better. The other players seem to rise and fall by results.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
@Nutty

Because last seasons team underachieved. I believe that squad, with better management and some smarter investment could have challenged for a top 2 spot.

This season, I look at the talent we have and I see us as more of a mid-table outfit. For the squad we had last season, finishing 8th was an underachievement. For this squad, 8th would be a pretty decent result.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Spot on NN.

I agree the squad overall is worse but I don''t really think the first 11 is. Our problem is that we''ve never had the option of playing anywhere near our first choice 11 at any point this season, which then calls upon the squad players probably far more regularly than what we would like. Zimmerman and Maddison being prime examples. Although they''ve both done well, no one expected them to have as much game time as they have.

The only position I think that has been downgraded realistically is LB and I''m still hoping Husband improves as he''s actually had some decent games, amongst some really bad ones.

Personally, I think Gunn and Hanley are significant upgrades on last years options and that Josh has the ability to be better than Jacob. The back end of last season went some way to proving this.

With everyone fit, most of the rest of the first 11 would be the same.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="Baldyboy"]Dijks wasn’t out player? Funny that he played for us then isn’t it?

If that’s the case then our goalkeeping Department is awful as Gunn isn’t our player is he NN?[/quote]
That is true Baldy. But I don''t think we saw enough of Dijks to make such a judgement call. Gunn has already played as much and probably made a bigger impression. IMO the legend of Dijks is greater than the reality.
But it''s amazing how players stock increases when they are injured, out of form, or moved on somewhere else.
[/quote]

It’s immaterial how many games isn’t it? You stated Dijks wasn’t our player as he was on loan so irrespective of games played the same has to apply to Gunn surely? And Dijks played only 3 games less than Gunn has, so on only 3 games more you make a judgement call as you say?

I disagree about players stock rising when they leave, it’s about how they played here and how the replacements that have come in perform!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="City 2nd"]Baldyboy wrote the following post at 2017-11-20 4:19 PM:

Neil would never have signed some of the dross Farke has!

But would he have signed some of the dross that Webber has?[/quote]

Do you think ALL our signings this season have been found by Webber? You think he found Franke, Zimmermann, Stiepermann, Vrancic and Trybull without them being recommended by Farke?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just my opinion but Neil would get more out of this squad imo, maybe not the Germans but most of the others, provided he had a sporting director to temper his absolutely mental transfer urges.

Farke gets more out of last years team though, we were lacking determination and team spirit under AN, we''re lacking technical quality under Farke. Switch them round and both squads do better imo

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...