The Flip Side Of The Coin

[Indy_Bones 442]

Wow,What a day yesterday was for the club. We''ve sold our main financial asset for the same as we paid for him, and brought in a 31 year old former player, and you know what, I couldn''t be happier about it!Now before this starts an incredulous backlash, please allow me to explain my viewpoint on this.Let''s start with Earnie, a great goalscorer without a doubt, but what can''t be avoided when discussing him is the fact that his style of play has dictated the way the whole team has needed to play. We''ve had to utilise tactics that accomodate his nature, and on a number of occasions this has cost us dearly. If we''re being frank about it, there''s no point having a player in your team who will normally guarantee you 20 goals a season if it costs you the overall team dynamic which leads to losing games. If earnie scored a goal in every single game he played for us, but we lost every game 2-1, what possible benefit have those goals made to the team overall???His link-up play at times was very poor, his lack of height made crossing virtually worthless, and because the team was so focused around him, some teams could find it quite straightforward to neutralise our overall attacking threat as it was so predictable.As for the furore regarding the release clause, the main arguing point doesn''t seem to be the fact that he had one, but more the value that was placed on it. The facts of the clause were that if we failed to get promotion in the first 18 months of his contract, Earnie could speak to any premiership club who offered £3.5 million. So, the basic viewpoint of Earnie is clearly "I feel I am a premiership quality player, however, I will come to the Championship and attempt to help you get back to the premier but only on the grounds that if it''s not happening, I get the option to offer my ability to a team in that league if they are interested, and there''s no point putting a stupid price in there as this could majorly limit my options, should the situation come to arise".So there was the choice, sign a proven goalscorer to try to give us that push towards the top flight knowing that he could leave for the same price we paid, or tell him to stick it and either rely on what we had, or look for a quick replacement of similar quality to Earnie (hardly massively in abundance at the time). I guess it''s purely down to personal opinion as to whether or not you think we made the right choice.The other question however that does need to be asked is why if Earnie is such a top class guaranteed goalscorer has no truly big Premiership club made a move for him? Almost all of them could easily have afforded the 3.5 million we paid for him, so where was the huge clamour from potential suitors for his signature? It''s the same position now, a load of top clubs are looking for new strikers, so why is it only Derby that have come in for him?When Earnie did get injured, the front pairing of Huckerby and Martin

looked like one of the best we''ve seen at the club in ages. They linked

together superbly, Lappin and Drury were swinging crosses in with

confidence, and at times the opposition defence really didn''t know what

to do to stop them. If we also compare the period without Earnie to the

period with him, from a pure goalscoring perspective, there''s hardly

anything in it.Moving on, and in relation to my last point, where has the belief and hope regarding Chris Martin suddenly vanished to? He went from zero to hero for us with some excellent displays which prompted interest from the likes of Man Utd, and the message boards to be full of posters demanding that we get ''The new Chris Sutton'' on a full time contract immediately. This was duly done by the board, and yet now he seems to be a bit of a forgotten man again. He is potentially a superb strike partner for pretty much any player in the league, and he''s only going to be better in the company of players like Dublin and now Cureton.Speaking of Cureton, I think this is a great move by the club and will clearly bring in someone who desperately wants to play for us again, and in a small way, prove that the ability he showed for us all those years ago is not only still there, but has matured with him. Do I see him as a suitable replacement for Earnshaw - very possibly, if you compare their goalscoring for the last 18 months, there''s not a massive gap with them, and although Earnie''s record is superior.Being totally honest, I wouldn''t have any issue at all if we don''t sign another striker. We''ve got Cureton, Martin, Brown, Jarvis, Dublin, Renton and Hucks who can all play upfront, Chadwick can even play there as well. How is that not enough options? Two target men in the form of Dublin and Brown, Natural goalscorers in Martin and Cureton, all round play in Jarvis and Chadwick, Hucks with blistering pace and skill and Renton as a developing youth player. Everything is there to form succesful strike partnerships, and what''s better is that it''s a true mix of younger developing players combined with experienced professionals, we gain both ways.But hang on a minute, have I just said I don''t really think we need another striker? YES! and there''s a damn good reason for this.Looking at the team overall, it was the failures defensively (combined with their frequent lack of support from midfield) that cost us the games, not a lack of goals. We were only 6 goals scored behind Derby, but the difference there was that they didn''t concede 71 goals!Why are we looking to spend £2-3 million plus on a new striker, when we are clearly crying out for a solid central defender to partner Shackell, and we really need a creative midfielder to replace Safri. If we are going to spend £2 million on a striker and also further similar amounts on a centre half and midfielder - fair enough, but if not, then we have to concentrate on the key weaknesses.Grant has already brought in Gilks and Otsemobor to freshen up the back five, giving us a highly rated keeper who has attracted premiership interest, and a former England U21 defender with bags of pace and strength who is likely to be the ideal attacking full back that Grant was looking for.What''s more, the transfer window is nowhere near closed, and knee-jerk reactions at this stage will serve absolutely no useful purpose. Arsenal have sold Henry, do you think that their fans are in uproar that the best player to grace the premiership ever was not only allowed to leave for less than Spurs have paid for Darren Bent, but that Wenger hasn''t already signed his replacement?  Of course not. They''re waiting to see who Wenger will bring in as a replacement. They have the envious position of already having a top class side so they can purely concentrate on replacing - player for player. We however don''t have this luxury, due to the weaknesses across the side.In my mind, yesterdays actions could represent some of the most invigorating this club has had in ages. It really does feel like Grant is forming his own side as against doing the best he could with the squad he inherited. We''ve now got far more options in the attacking third due to the fact that we''re not being forced to cater to Earnshaw''s style of play. The likes of Lappin, Croft and Chadwick can start swinging crosses in happily knowing that we have a good chance of winning the ball as we''re not aiming for the short guy in the middle.All I want to see now is the arrival of Marshall along with a good strong centre half and a creative, energetic midfielder. We get them in and as far as I''m concerned any squad additions after this are just the icing on the cake. If as the board are suggesting that Grant has around £5 million to spend, this is easily enough to get those three players with spare change left over to look at bosmans/free transfers etc.And now I''m going to pull out my riot shield and wait for the backlash...

[Tim Dawson 0]

GREAT POST INDY, a refreshing non smudger like post ! bravo

[gazzathegreat 0]

Top post Indy, well thought out points and well argued.  Agreed, we need a strong centre half with leadership and someone dynamic and ruthless in midfield.  Maybe Dickson is going to continue his improvement?

[Dowp End 0]

Good stuff Indy--You make some very valid points---I would like to have seen Earnshaw stay but only as a committed player to the club---All is not lost---I am still very much looking forward to next seasons campaign--- with what we have we can still compete well ---Sounds like the end of the world on some of the other posts, but then again if the match pies went up a penny with inflation a sack the board cry would eminate from the usual directions as an excuse to stand on a soap box and cry ''look at me''Well said--------

[Dicky 0]

Very well thought out post Indy.  OTBC.

[Creative Midfielder 2,004]

Best post on here for months.

The sooner everyone stops blathering on about buying strikers (and goalkeepers) and starts thinking about a central midfielder and a defender the better as far as I''m concerned.

[Mr_Chimp 0]

Superb Indy.  I make no apologies for the cock-ups the Club has made, but I really feel Grant is the man to reinvigorate the team and deserves a shot.  Knee-jerking is easy; insults are easy - actually providing a workable solution isn''t.Hence why you''ll get a few ''zzzzz'' and ''drivel'' replies.

[KCASN 0]

Awsome, wot a post, one of the pot posts on here for months. Totally agree we need marshall, a good defender, and a strong, attacking midfilder!

 

OTBC!

[ca 1]

Awesome post, well written and thought out.

Keep them coming!

[BBFF 0]

Very good post Indy, but......there is always a but somewhere......but you have to score goals to win games and we have to win a lots more games next season if we want promotion. Every team needs a target man and apart from Dublin who cant play every week for 90 mins up front we have no one to fill that roll. Martin/Cureton with younger Dublin yes that would be great. Fingers crossed the board really gives Grant the money for quality and not cheap fill ins.

 

FOOTBALL MUST COME FIRST

[E I E I E I O 0]

Great post Indy, I totally agree on the fact the midfield and Defence desperately need strengthening!I totally disagree on the line that states that Drury was swinging in crosses with confidence, Drury is one of the worst crossers of the ball I have ever seen! The only one worse is Croft! I would like to see a right and centre midfield purchased and a centre back and left back. If we could get anywhere near a million for Croft I would snatch the clubs hand off. He is great at running and dribbling but his end product is awful. I like chadwick but have a bad feeling that he is going to be one of these unlucky players that is always injured. Drury definayely requires some competition for his place. I thought that Andy Hughes did a good job at Left back when he covered there and I would rather see him and Ostembor line up than Drury. Maybe grant will play Lappin there and go for 3 up front?

[Indy_Bones 442]

I have to disagree about Dion being our only target man, as Chris Brown is very much this style of player.In fact, this was the exact reason that Grant purchased him in the first place, to play as a target man to provide the knock downs and link-up play with Earnie etc.There''s also the strong rumour that Strihavka is on his way, who is also a target man. Renton also has the height to play the role if maybe not the physical stature as yet.So in theory, we could shortly have 4 strikers who can be target men, although until Strihavka signs and Renton builds some muscle, we''ve got a confirmed two - Dublin and Brown.

[Indy_Bones 442]

We''ve also now got Brellier in and it appears that more signings may also be on the horizon.So much for comments such as "We''ll sign no-one this transfer window/summer - wait and see"...Things getting better almost daily!

[First Wizard 0]

Yeah, top post Indy, I''ll give you that.

[August 64 0]

Excellent well-balanced post.  Thank you Mr Bones.

Grant is building his own team.  If the team fails then he fails.  I have a feeling he will succeed.