wrong match for brown?

[lucky green trainers 0]

was the soton no.3 their new signing - he was built like an out house - for me he outmuscled brown today and for most of the match it looked like man against boy.  therefore, he couldn''t hold-up or create anything for cureton and looked ineffective - unlike jones for soton who had the measure of doc and shacks.  surely, grant will need to pick and choose the matches that brown starts on this evidence - possibly playing dion up front where the opposition have big centre halfs - or even dave striker??? brown showed pre-season he was coming on and developing, but maybe needs another season yet to bulk up. any views?

[Ivana_rubyatitz 6]

I think you are right - Brown does need to develop more, but I think your take on him yesterday is a trifle harsh (a view shared by others if you take a look at the player ratings thread).  Let''s not forget the guy is playing with a seriously painful nose at the moment.  Some people have had a downer on the guy since he arrived (don''t think your post indicates you are one of them by the way). 

I dont think he is ever going to be a 20 goal a season striker, but I do feel he has the ability to offer us a useful option at this level - and he has time on his side.  In time Dave Striker may indeed be the more effective option but for now I am OK with Brown as he has shown signs both in pre-season and last year before he got injured of looking decent and for now I think he is the best option to have alongside Cureton.

Thinking back over 25 years of watching City I can remember one or two other striking partnerships where we had a goalscorer alongside a less technically gifted individual and we didnt do so bad when they were together.  I am thinking of the likes of Deehan alongside Keith Bertschin, Fleck beside Robert Rosario, or Drinkell and Wayne Biggins.

I would also be wary of squad rotation - for me its one of the main reasons Liverpool struggle in the Premiership because the manager chops and changes too much.  At Champioship level there are few teams with sufficient quality to make such an approach necessary.  Grant should know his best 11 and stick with that as much as injuries permit which was an approach that served us well when we went up.  Besides I dont think we have sufficient strength in depth to pull it off ourselves at the moment although hopefully we will address that before the end of the month.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Thoughtful post as usual LGT but I thought Brown showed immense courage yesterday and is certainly old enough. For me it is all about getting on the score sheet and boosting his confidence.

[Buncey 1]

Brown may have been out muscled in the air often. But he did show trickery and skill on the floor and his distrobution was very good yesterday, which is what all target men need and so i was impressed. He will play against worse defences in this league and I feel he can be up to the task, doesn''t mean I wouldn''t prefer Martin up front though.