Defense is the Key

[Macca 0]

Look at the partnerships, at teams we realistically can budget for 3 points next year.

Tottenham: King & Gardener
Southampton: Lundekvam & Svenson
Portsmouth: De Zeuw & Stefanovic
WBA: Albrectson & Purse
Everton: Yobo & Stubbs

I think its crucial that you have a complimentary pairing at the back, Fleming & Mackay cannot compete week in week out against the likes of Owen, Van Nistlerooy, Henry, Defoe, Keane, Bellamy, Yakubu, Forssell. Good it scares me to continue. A pacy experienced centre half is required yes fleming has read division one football well over the years but the ask Worthy is making is too far. Mackay has no quality, Im sure there are fans of him out there, but in my opinion he is gonna come unstuck, & limit our true class defender (Drury''s) attacking influence. If you look at the list of defenders above at least one of them is an established international it cannot be overlooked that our international is a backup scottish international further down a pecking order that includes Daily & Mckenna (Who I hear you call......exactly). They have no experience of this level of football to call upon.

I hate to say it but the division one defensive partnership of 2003 will be obliterated in a haze of speedy strikers. It must change it has to you cant tell me worthy sees them as premiership grade.

[westoncanary. 0]

A bit harsh to say Malky has NO quality. Great in the air, strong in the tackle and in my mind a born leader. True, he isn''t blessed with pace but we do play deep so maybe that won''t be such of an issue. It can''t hurt his game to be called into the Scotland squad so give him and Flem a chance. A lot is going to depend on midfield battles next season, I''M more worried about Holt getting an injury to be honest.
Regardless of all this, roll on 14th August!!!

[silver fox 0]

Yes I agree that defence is the key and that is why I am hoping that Shackell makes an early appearance in the first team. He is a natural centre half who is good in the air, fast, and plays the ball out of defence. He did have a dodgy game at left back last season, but so did a certain Darren Kenton before him. Put Shackell in at centre half and I think he will surprise a few premiership forwards. I see we have just signed Simon Charlton from Bolton for £250,000 and he is 32 yrs old, although he is still very fit according to reports. We still have a bid in for Primus, who again is over 30, but considered to be one of the fittest defenders in the premiership. I believe Malky''s days are numbered but Fleming should still be in with a shout. Now all we need is that elusive replacement for Iwan and we should be ready to do battle next season.

[0Amarillo<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>ddMMyyyy0Falseen-US<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>True 0]

Surely they were the best defensive pairing in the 1st division last season. Its a step up, but we won''t really know until we try them. And its all very well talking about van N and Henry, as everyone does, but who exactly can reliably keep them under wraps? And how much would that kind of defender cost.

I wouldn''t underestimate the team thing. People seem obsessed with how the team looks on paper compared to others and what transfer fees we pay, as if its just one big game of CM. I hardly ever read about the team thing, getting the right mix etc. Last year plenty of players beat our defenders for pace. What I saw though was that we were so well organised that there was invariably another player covering, just in case. Either it was a full back, or a midfielder - remember how many times Holt chased attacking players to the byline and stopped them putting crosses in?

So its not all about Malky''s pace. Its a combination of players and their strengths. A lot of fast defenders who don''t have the instinct to get back and cover when we lose posession are going to be pretty stretched. A team that works hard for each other and covers each others backs might stand more of a chance, surely?

[Ayrton Twigge 0]

Difficult to call because there are plus''s ands minus''s with Malky - and indeed the whole defence. We''ve all witnessed games where Malky was crucial to the outcome, and that includes popping up at the scoring end, and games where he''s been run ragged. But Malky/Craig give up - never.

It seems to me that by having further options available within the squad, particularly speed - and therefore on the bench - we''ll be able to play to our strengths when we need to, and mix it round as the situation demands.
Lets value Malky as a squad player rather than as the sole defence solution.

[Temp the Revelator 0]

Ama, a very well put point, and one which I subscribe to wholeheartedly. I sometimes think I am the only one on here who thinks the signings we have made so far (and those which Worhty has confirmed he is chasing) are EXACTLY the signings we should be making. I am very happy with the work done this summer - in an ideal world, I would like a couple more players in, but all the signings made so far will add to the team spirit. They have, importantly for me, all WANTED to come here - read Simon Charlton''s comments about how important the ''family club'' aspect was to him.

Ayrton makes a good point too - we will need our squad this season as it is highly unlikely that we can go the whole season with as few injuries/suspensions as we managed last season!

[0Amarillo<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>ddMMyyyy0Falseen-US<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>True 0]

Ayrton - I agree with your points. And if we get, say, Primus in then you''d expect that Malky will have to work very hard for his place. But he was a key member of the team that got us promoted so I think it''s only fair to give him a go and see what happens - say in the first 10 games. If we clearly have better options then take them, but we don''t honestly know how well or otherwise many of the team will performm, that''s part of the excitement of going up. We may be pleasantly surprised!

Ama

[Ayrton Twigge 0]

Personally, I see Malky mainly warming the bench, assuming we do get reinforcements, but useful to have in that role - and useful to wheel out against the less mobile centre forwards such as big Duncan, Heskey and the like.
Having him as part of the squad is essential - even if he doesn''t always play. His charisma, committment and leadership qualities are worth a few points by themselves.

[shortfatb 0]

I believe that Malky will start the season with Fleming and changes will only be made if things go horribly wrong. We had a great back five last year and for me Malky wasn''t ever the weakest link of the 5 when, on the rare occasions, we played poorly. It''s a team game in any league, we have a great ''team'' and they deserve their chance.

[silver fox 0]

Look at Wolves last season when it all went horribly wrong at the beginning of the season, they never recovered and were relegated. We must put out our strongest defence for the early games and in my opinion that will not include Malky. Have to disagree with you on the weakest link because I thought he was the one player at the back who looked decidedly dodgy in most games. Don''t get me wrong Malky has been a great servant to the club but it is no use letting your heart rule your head.

[ZLF 271]

I have to agree with silverfox on this one - we have to start with our best defensive team and that means Charlton ahead of Malky & Flem.

The very best strikers in div 1 arent a patch on an average prem striker (not Henry & co but Stead, Phillips etc) yet the likes of Fuller and a few others caused Malkay all sorts of problems as they had the ability to turn him then leave him for pace. Flem wasnt as exposed so I see him being Charltons partner.

Malky had a far greater season than I could have hoped for last year, and improved all year despite a very shaky first half dozen games, however he does remain the weakest link. Combine this with the poor distribution (retaining as much possession as possible is essential to avoiding relegation) Malky continues to have and I cant see how he can realistically start the season ahead of Shackell or Charlton.

OTBC

[shortfatb 0]

I''m surprised that you feel like that, it will be interesting to see who NW buys at the back and then what back four he decides to put out. Will it be loyalty or cold blooded best team on paper?

[Macca 0]

I see mixed opinions on Malky, he cannot make the step up at this stage of his career, I''m not just talking about his age he has no big game experience to call upon, De Zeuw at pompy (36) & Keown (37) have played at the highest level for the majority of their careers so theres no suprises they know where to be when against the best the world has to offer. Malky was a squad player in a rubbish scottish league & has played in Division 1 all his career, the difference is huge, he just wont cope.

Also on the ''team'' aspect, surely thats a cop out for a team that cannot afford quality, all football teams have team spirit, but if you come up against a team that beats you for quality all over the park you are gonna struggle no matter how ''together'' you are. I love Gary Holt, its a footballing term over used but he plays with his heart on his sleeve, but you look at every premiership clubs central midfielder & he''s outclassed technically & physically in a lot of cases. Everton struggled all last year & have an integral Danish midfielder (Graveson) at their disposal.
Francis is huge for us this season a lot depends on him he can...on his day go toe to toe with the best i think, but quality is whats required as running around all game is not enough. Which is why Mulryne should play a more promient role this year.
It seems a lot of hope is pilled on to Huckerby for the goals but he''ll face a learning curve as he''s spent so long out of the premiership. A ''big man'' is crucial if hes to profit in this league, dion used to provide it for him but sven is out of his league here. One 3 million quid striker is paramount in order to raise expectations in the squad, if i was in the squad I wouldn''t be convinced by the signings & if I hear the phrase ''Prudence with Ambition'' one more time I''ll shoot myself. Get the cheque book out sign some quality ppppllllleeeeeaaaaseeee

[bananaman 0]

Macca - PRUDENCE WITH AMBITION.

There. If you haven''t shot yourself, then I''ll come do it for you.

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

I dont undertand this assumption that Charlton is a replacement for Malky\Flem. I agree Malky was dodgy in the first few games of the season and his distribution is a problem (so is everyone else''s at the back unfortunately) but judged over the season he did very well, and appears to me to be still improving.

I dont want to have a pop at any of them because they all did well and form an effective unit, and playing as a unit is very, very important. But our least effective defender last year was clearly Drury, and before you all reach for your shotguns think about Player of the Season. Drury, quite rightly, walked it the year before last but didnt even get a mention this time round whereas Malky, Flem and Eddie all featured as some peoples'' choice. Drury was the one who often looked uncomfortable last season. Hopefully he will make the step up, he''s relatively young after all, but I think he will find the Prem pretty tough. He will certainly have to tackle more decisively than he did last season and also learn how to head the ball if he''s going to cut it.

Anyway what I meant to say at the start is that as I understand Charlton is a left back who can play central defence and I think NW made the point in the interview when he signed him that left back is his preferred position. Maybe he was just trying to give Drury a gentle prod but I wouldnt write Malky off just yet.

[ZLF 271]

You are right that Charlton has mainly played at left back during his career but my fiends who follow the trotters tell me that he spent most of last year in the middle and had one of his best ever seasons (8th place in the league means he must have done something right!).

Given that we have Juke Box and Dot Brennan in his main slot I do feel Worthy has signed as central cover with the added bonus that he can play left back if required. Where plays at the weekend may give us a clue...

If he is not to be a centre half then that must remain our top priority.

OTBC