That word - "Quality"

[a1canary 0]

I feel slightly hypocritical starting this because i''ve just told people to brighten up in another post...!

But...

I''ve just played five-a-side. The teams were a bit lop sided. It was game battlers versus gifted technicians (by sunday league standards!) and it brought something home to me. I was in the game battlers side and we were right up with them, level scores with 10 to go, and then it just fell apart and we got proper battered. The scoreline, which i lost count of, was not a true depiction blah blah...

And i thought my god, this must be what it''s like for the promoted sides in the prem, a microcosm of the season or even some of the games. The sides give their all, compete well to begin with, get some goals, but in the end it''s the quality shines through above all else. And hell is it demoralising!

And I mean premiership quality. It''s an annoying word that i hear too much of but it''s because it''s the difference between sides that stay mid table or better and those that fight it out at the bottom. It''s Angel at Villa, Defoe at Spurs, Okocha at Bolton, Forssell at Birmingham. And i''m afraid, we just don''t have that level of quality. Huckerby is borderline, Johnson maybe in time, Helveg supposedly, Bentley a rough diamond and that''s about it. Some may emerge in the way that say Stead has at Blackburn or Cahill at Everton - i hope Francis or Safri of Leon could do this for us but they need to get emerging pretty sharpish or it''s going to be too late.

I''m not about to start the finger pointing here - the sort of quality we''re talking about requires 5 or 6 million for just one player so it''s just not an option for us even if the board/delia did release every penny they could.

So right now i''m feeling a little down about everything. The only chink of light to me at the moment is to hope that there are enough teams around us also lacking that touch of premiership quality. Southampton, esp if Beattie goes, are looking vulnerable, Palace have the same problem, Fulham are looking a bit light now, as are Charlton even if they are well placed in the table at the mo. Otherwise, maybe Kanu will be enough for West Brom (not sure there) Portsmouth have Berger and Yakubu and well, it''s all looking a bit ominous!

Lets pray for a saviour in January because be sure of it, we''ll need one or it''s goodnight Vienna!

[Gentleman Jim 0]

Taking your analogy a1 you can say that if you were level with the best at the three quarter mark,assuming you played 60mins, it would be a happy City to be level with the best in February.

But I know what you mean (who says that ?)

But if you consider that more than half the current Premier teams were promoted into this league in the last ten seasons and have survived, that they didn''t come up laden with Premier Class players. They came in just like we have, apprentices if you like, clung on by the skin of their teeth and with regular mega bucks payments from the league have reached the situation you describe.

So this is what we must do too. Now consider that the playoff winners mostly go back down the same year, (yeh Birmingham didn''t but they are the exceptions), so Palace are down.

Fulham are doomed because the''ve played the easy matches so far and are little better off than we are and have an horrendous run up to Xmas with all the TOP 7 teams to play plus several red cards to serve.

So all we have to do is keep one step in front of any one of .... Portsmouth, Soton, Everton, Blackburn or WBA who we can start on this week.

Finally it''s about seven years since the first division champs have been relegated the same season,

 (whoops don''t knock over that half full glass of Premier drink please.)

 

 

[Canary Jim 0]

a1, good point! I agree with the majority of what you say, however I think that we do have the quality, just in limited amounts. Out of the players we have currently in the ''quality'' stakes only Hux+Bentley (and Green) are up to Prem standard, with others showing potential to play at the highest level especially Francis.

However, whatever we lack in quality we clearly make up for in industry, with players like Drury and Edworthy consistantly putting in good performances without gaining an inch of media coverage. I reckon that it will be the Edworthys'' of the team that keep us in the highest division though hard graft alone.

We have the determination, and in a limited sense, quality, all we need now is for a couple of results to go our way and we''ll be off.

Forget Goodnight Vienna, I say Goodnight West Brom, Palace and Birmingham!

OTBC!

[Dr. Jonathan Zizmor 0]

yeah but:Leeds had plenty of quality last season but look what happened to them.Forssell looks to have played his last game for Brum.Palace are worse than us.So are West Brom.If West Brom can beat Bolton then so can we.Worthy''s better than Steve Wigley.And Kevin Keegan.etc...

[sheded 0]

[quote]I feel slightly hypocritical starting this because i''ve just told people to brighten up in another post...! But... I''ve just played five-a-side. The teams were a bit lop sided. It was game battlers ...[/quote]

Hucks is " borderline " !!   on what basis ??    I would just love to hear your reasons for this  statement ! ...........  all the " prem quality " players  you mention have one thing in common ..they all DEPEND on  the guys around them to  make them look good ! .......   stick them  in a  3rd div team  and they would vanish !

[bananaman 0]

I hate to tell you this Sheded, but Hucks is borderline.

That''s why he plays for us. But we hope (and believe) that he can maintain his form "above" the borderline and keep us up.

[ZLF 335]

Hux is probably borderline compared to Okocha, Defoe and the other names mentioned in the earlier post.

However that is not a true comparison as we are not looking at premier quality - we are looking at international quality. Premier quality starts with the likes of Euell at Charlton. Far too good for Div 1 level but comfortable without excelling in the prem - Hux fits that definition of prem quality, as does Greeno who has the potential to go that step further into the Okocha class of player, the only current city player who could do.

What most teams have is several of the Euell class prem players plus, usually, 1 international class player that sits up and makes you think. Our current squad we have maybe 3 prem class players of the Euell level (incl S Charlton), 4-5 who apsire to that level but the rest are simply good Div 1 players. It is that lower level of ''quality'' that is our biggest danger. Yes the perseverance of Eddie may be enough to save us; but on the balance of probability it will not.

The question is, as other have said, is how does our squad compare to the competition? With WBA, Soton, Fulham, Palace & Portsmouth I think we are not better but not significantly worse either. It will be tight and our chances of survival will improve significantly IF Nige can use the money in Jan wisely to inject that touch of class - firstly actually attracting someone of that level to the club. A good run over the next two months would make that task easier for him.

OTBC

[NavMan 0]

I think our chances of survival will depend how quickly we get this first win.  The confidence of the players will just go sky high and I believe once we get that we will be on a roll but it is just getting the bloody thing in the first place. 

[Robbo007 0]

Worthy does go on about "quality" a hell of a lot. He enjoys "work ethic" as well, if he wants more quality (ie, mulryne), he may have to lose some work ethic (ie, Holt)

[sheded 0]

[quote]I hate to tell you this Sheded, but Hucks is borderline. That''s why he plays for us. But we hope (and believe) that he can maintain his form "above" the borderline and keep us up.[/quote]

Its these definitions Bananaman ......  they bother me !   ..           " Prem quality " ..." Borderline "   ......   I know they`re handy expressions   if you want to  define your opinion of various players .........  the fact is though .....  its too simplistic !! ......... 

I think ALL factors have to be taken into consideration  before an accurate assessment can be made ..............  in Hucks case you made the point  that he is  " borderline "  because we have him ! ......  in actuality   its the " borderline "  management of Keegan  that enabled us to obtain Hucks !  ........... consider this .....  Mancity  were  fast sinking into the relegation zone ,  Keegans " prem " quality  players  were in disarray ..... his fav " striker "  Fowler  blanked  match after match ...  did  Keegan  swallow his pride  and admit  he dropped a b****ck   and give Hucks a run ? ..... NO ! .....  he now HAD to  sell Hucks  !! ....... can you explain that sort of logic ?

[bananaman 0]

Fair play Sheded, you may have a point. Perhaps he is a forgotten man, I guess this season will tell us all.

[sheded 0]

[quote]Fair play Sheded, you may have a point. Perhaps he is a forgotten man, I guess this season will tell us all.[/quote]

Too true Bananaman !.....  and you can be sure Hucks is  up for this as well !.......  he will be the goal getter and provider  this season, providing  he isn`t  left on his tod up front  most of the time  , as he mainly is at the mo