2007/08

[Steve Mortlock 0]

    I would be the first to admit that the past two seasons have been complete drivel in terms of the players we have been signing and the performances on the pitch etc, but I must say I am quite optimistic about the coming season.  Looking at the players we signed under worhington and you will see has beens and journeymen who could not get a game at prem or championship level.  With this what I saw from these players was a total lack of application and effort (a la Etuhu) complete lack of any footballing brain (Docherty) and players who knew this club would be a stepping stone for Premiership and their heart was not particularly in it (Earnshaw, Ashton).  Quite a disjointed team with no real unity.  The opinion I am taking is that we now have players here who have unfinished business and with alot to prove (ie Russell, Cureton) and players who might actually give a stuff about wearing the yellow and green.  Not only that but we have an exciting new Shrihtavka, last seasons top scorer in Czech and compared to Jurgen Kohler.  We now have what I consider an immense midfield talent/hardnut Julien Brellier (check out his vid on youtube, he gets a glasgow kiss and gets straight back up) and permanent goalkeeper in Marshall.  I personally will be fully behind grant this season, as he has made some good signings and is at last trying to shake of the nice little norwich tag.  We just need someone in at number 5 to stir up competition in the defensive ranks and we can look for top eight next season.  Grant obviously had to work with the S**t , Worthless has assembled, but this is the team that Granty built and I am in full support of it.  

[Road to Nowhere 0]

Great post.

In our championship winning year we had players who all played for each other, cared about the team and bonded together as a unit. I wouldn''t say we were exactly head and shoulders above other teams in the division that year in terms of ability  but it was our team spirit that pulled us through and ultimately secured the title. I am not saying this is the same scenario but I am feeling a lot more positive about things wtih players coming in that are seemingly hungry (Marshall/Strhavika) , have a point to prove (Cureton/Russell) or are at least decent professionals (Smith/Brellier).

Can''t wait for the new season to start.

[london Canary 0]

i more or less said this in another thread, i really like the way Grant is taking the club forward. And as you say with a quality defender in i trully believe we can achieve something next season. It will take a while for the new players to gel together but when they do, who knows?!

An intersesting point made here, possibly a defender signing tomorrow! Could be rubbish but the guy seems genuine.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A25312871

[Budger 0]

Amazing what you can do with hindsight isn''t it. The new signings could easily flop and everyone will turn on them like Doherty and Hughes.

[chicken 0]

[quote user="Road to Nowhere"]

Great post.

In our championship winning year we had players who all played for each other, cared about the team and bonded together as a unit. I wouldn''t say we were exactly head and shoulders above other teams in the division that year in terms of ability  but it was our team spirit that pulled us through and ultimately secured the title. I am not saying this is the same scenario but I am feeling a lot more positive about things wtih players coming in that are seemingly hungry (Marshall/Strhavika) , have a point to prove (Cureton/Russell) or are at least decent professionals (Smith/Brellier).

Can''t wait for the new season to start.

[/quote]

The best success story of this type is Reading. They didn''t get promoted with anyone in the team that you could have called a household name then. And because the core of the team was reletively young they managed to keep the "togetherness" of the unit together only adding a couple of players to complement.

If you look at the City side that went up quite a few just were not up to the pace. That includes your Malky''s, Edworthy''s and Holt''s. We had to much to do and on top of that Helveg was not the signing we needed really.

Its getting that mixture right, one or two older heads and experienced hands to get us up there and a core of youngsters or younger players that can consolidate the position and provide the foundations for more quality.