Championship Quality Signings??

[rocky marshall 0]

Ok, so suppose all goes swimmingly for the rest of the season and we get promoted.... and the players signed contribute positively to that;

Are any of the players signed CHAMPIONSHIP quality?

Martin released by P''Boro

Whitbread is League 1 for last few years

McNamee released by Watford

Johnson coming up from lower leagues

All quite young and MAY have potential but will they be the mainstay of things to come next season against good championship players???

[morty 0]

Its all about the team.A well coached team is greater than any individual and I think Lambo is assembling a team that works for each other.Look at our Championship team, it was mostly staffed with hard working, effective footballers who played for each other.

[TheGoogler 614]

Doncaster, Plymouth, Sheffield Wed, Barnsley, Forest (prior to massive cash injections) - all teams that don''t have a substantial amount of "championship" talent.

[JF 694]

[quote user="morty"]Its all about the team.

A well coached team is greater than any individual and I think Lambo is assembling a team that works for each other.

Look at our Championship team, it was mostly staffed with hard working, effective footballers who played for each other.
[/quote] Exactly. Look at what Forest done to WBA tonight! Won 3-0 away for those who don''t know.

[NCFC_Edward 0]

err... it was 3-1 :)  and forest have more than enough championship talent. Agree with the whole ''its not the players'' arguement tho!

[I am a Banana 0]

a team will work together and create championship quality even if individuals have less quality

loans will just be playing for exp and have no quality as they are too young often or lack match practise [;)]

[I am a Banana 0]

a team will work together and create championship quality even if individuals have less quality

loans will just be playing for exp and have no quality as they are too young often or lack match practise [;)]

[Stevie Wonder 0]

An interesting point though. How many of the current squad are of Championship quality?

Based on past experience you would probably say only Drury & maybe Wes!!! Askou & Smith look more than capable of playing at a higher level. I agree that the collective team counts for a lot as does a very good manager and we clearly score highly on those stakes! If we go up, I still feel we would need to add 5 or 6 players to be sure of competing at that level.

[Robsta 0]

So what would the score be then if the team of today played the team of 12 months ago? A point noted by Neil Adams on cabbage call a couple of weeks ago!

[John 0]

[quote user="rocky marshall"]Ok, so suppose all goes swimmingly for the rest of the season and we get promoted.... and the players signed contribute positively to that;

Are any of the players signed CHAMPIONSHIP quality?

Martin released by P''Boro

Whitbread is League 1 for last few years

McNamee released by Watford

Johnson coming up from lower leagues

All quite young and MAY have potential but will they be the mainstay of things to come next season against good championship players???[/quote][url=http://www.mysmiley.net/free-confused-smileys.php][img]http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/mad/mad0006.gif[/img][/url]My lord, your expecting us to compete for Championship players in our current financial and positional state??? When was the last time a League One club went up into the Championship on the basis of only focusing their transfer dealings on Championship players?.... I''m sorry, but this kind of talk just verifies any concerns i hold over our fans being utterly delusional when it comes to the transfer market.[url=http://www.mysmiley.net/free-unhappy-smileys.php][img]http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/mad/mad0066.gif[/img][/url]

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

An interesting point though. How many of the current squad are of Championship quality?

Based on past experience you would probably say only Drury & maybe Wes!!!

[/quote]

You''d definitely say Gary Doherty and Darel Russell. They''ve done well at that level before and now they''re playing in a good team for a good manager, which hasn''t always been the case.

Grant Holt will be fine at that level as well.

[Suffolk exile 0]

We have more ''championship'' players than any other sides in league one already (IMO Drury, Russel, Wes, C Martin). We are not there yet, but these signings will help us to get out of league one. As mentioned before, should we get promoted, the team ethos and tactic can get you top half at least in the Champ. But don''t count your chickens. We need to really get behind the side for the rest of the season, promotion is far from gauranteed yet.

[Clever Farke 75]

[quote user="rocky marshall"]Ok, so suppose all goes swimmingly for the rest of the season and we get promoted.... and the players signed contribute positively to that; Are any of the players signed CHAMPIONSHIP quality? Martin released by P''Boro Whitbread is League 1 for last few years McNamee released by Watford Johnson coming up from lower leagues All quite young and MAY have potential but will they be the mainstay of things to come next season against good championship players???[/quote]

Well we can''t really afford proven Championship quality just now can we? You have to trust Lambert and Culverhouse''s judgement that they can make something of these signings. With a bit of luck these players these players will increase in value to, so good from a financial viewpoint. Personally, I love the fact that we are signing these hungry players. So far removed from all the lazy overpaid journeymen we had to put up with in the Championship.

 

[Stevie Wonder 0]

[quote user="GJP"][quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

An interesting point though. How many of the current squad are of Championship quality?

Based on past experience you would probably say only Drury & maybe Wes!!!

[/quote]

You''d definitely say Gary Doherty and Darel Russell. They''ve done well at that level before and now they''re playing in a good team for a good manager, which hasn''t always been the case.

Grant Holt will be fine at that level as well.

[/quote]

I don''t feel Rusty has ever lived up to his potential at Champs level though. I think he did better for Stoke than he did for us though.

Holt will do OK but better defenders at Champs level will be able to take advantage of his occasional heavy touch and lack of refinement - I don''t think he is as good as Iwan or Matty Svenson. He will do a job but I don''t think he is a first choice player for say a Top 6 Champs side. Don''t get me wrong, I love the bloke as Lambert has said, he is a proper footballer.

[First Jedi 0]

If this team gets us promoted - they''ll be championship quality players.

[Tetteys Jig 853]

[quote user="rocky marshall"]Ok, so suppose all goes swimmingly for the rest of the season and we get promoted.... and the players signed contribute positively to that;

Are any of the players signed CHAMPIONSHIP quality?

Martin released by P''Boro

Whitbread is League 1 for last few years

McNamee released by Watford

Johnson coming up from lower leagues

All quite young and MAY have potential but will they be the mainstay of things to come next season against good championship players???[/quote]Martin - We bought him from them, but he wasn''t released, he chose uss as a step up. He took them up as captain ffs!Whitbread - One of the best defenders in league 1 for the last few years. I firmly believe that the best teams in this league would finish midtable in the champ, so in that respect, whitbread would be a championship standard player. Tell me a club in the championship that wouldn''t take Beckford, yet he hasn''t played there before.McNamee - Could go either way, either the Whaley way, or show that him being one of the top championship players 3 years ago wasn''t fluke.Johnson - got right with him, is an unknown quantity, i think he will need luck to go his way if he is to succeed, another from the pacy-striker-who-might-not-score-many category. Might be an excellent find though.

[Tetteys Jig 853]

Championship quality or higher?Forster - yesRudd - should becomeSteer - too young to think aboutSemmi - noSpillane - should becomeR Martin - Jurys out, he''ll do for nowDrury - yes, but the wrong side of 30Wiggins - dunnoDoc - kind of, but too dodgy at timesAskou - should beWhitbread - should beNelson - probably notWhaley - not anymoreHoolahan - easilyMcnamee - has been, might become againLappin - probably not, i''d be happy with him in the squad there thoughHughes - yesSmith - yesRussell - yesGill - no, 1 step at a time, give him a break though.OTJ - maybe if he stayed fit enoughAdeyemi - will probably becomeHolt - yesMartin - yes, has improved and matured, not the finished article yet thoughMcDonald - still a raw talentJohnson - still a raw talentCureton - past itDaley - unlikely to make that level

[sgncfc 1,345]

[quote user="morty"]Its all about the team.

A well coached team is greater than any individual and I think Lambo is assembling a team that works for each other.

Look at our Championship team, it was mostly staffed with hard working, effective footballers who played for each other.
[/quote]

Absolutely correct. We supposedly had Championship quality players last season and look where that got us. Marshall, Croft, Clingan, Doc, Shackell, Russell, Bell, Lita, Hoolahan, Drury etc etc. Its the team that succeeds or fails. We wouldn''t have gone down with a decent manager - all of those players were good enough. When I look at those names it brings home just how inept our management was.

[John 0]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"][quote user="GJP"][quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

An interesting point though. How many of the current squad are of Championship quality?

Based on past experience you would probably say only Drury & maybe Wes!!!

[/quote]

You''d definitely say Gary Doherty and Darel Russell. They''ve done well at that level before and now they''re playing in a good team for a good manager, which hasn''t always been the case.

Grant Holt will be fine at that level as well.

[/quote]

I don''t feel Rusty has ever lived up to his potential at Champs level though. I think he did better for Stoke than he did for us though.

Holt will do OK but better defenders at Champs level will be able to take advantage of his occasional heavy touch and lack of refinement - I don''t think he is as good as Iwan or Matty Svenson. He will do a job but I don''t think he is a first choice player for say a Top 6 Champs side. Don''t get me wrong, I love the bloke as Lambert has said, he is a proper footballer.

[/quote]To be fair, you would of probably of said the same thing about Jason Scotland, Chris Iwelumo, or to a lesser extent, Freddy Eastwood.Not one of them gave any assured reason to indicate they''d do well in the Championship (least of all in their club history and records). Yet, with them playing in a strong and organised side, with the momentum of a promotion push carrying them on, they each showed themselves able to (at the very least) replicate the best of the form they had previously seen in a lower league.And for reasons, such as that, i don''t think we can possibly (as of yet) reasonably deny Holt the potential to become a very decent Championship player, worthy to have his name placed alongside the likes of Svensson, Iwan (or at that, dare i say, even surpass them....).

[John 0]

[quote user="sgncfc"]

[quote user="morty"]Its all about the team.A well coached team is greater than any individual and I think Lambo is assembling a team that works for each other.Look at our Championship team, it was mostly staffed with hard working, effective footballers who played for each other.[/quote]

Absolutely correct. We supposedly had Championship quality players last season and look where that got us. Marshall, Croft, Clingan, Doc, Shackell, Russell, Bell, Lita, Hoolahan, Drury etc etc. Its the team that succeeds or fails. We wouldn''t have gone down with a decent manager - all of those players were good enough. When I look at those names it brings home just how inept our management was.

[/quote]Nicely put mate. [Y]That comment pretty much settles this issue as far as i''m concerned.

[Tetteys Jig 853]

Hoolahan was disrupted by injury, Lita was played up top on his own, when he was crying out for a Big man up top with him, i blame Roeders toothless tactics that set us on our way for our underperforming . Clingan was top class, and should have been played with Russell behind him. Bell was nothing more than alright and didn''t wanna be there. Croft was class, but again fell victim to Roeders toothless tactics. If Dion had been around to feed off Croft, Hoolahan, Clingan and Russell with Lita poaching, we''d have been fine. Shacks and Doc were alright, but incompatible, especially with Semmi next to them unsettling them.Who thinks that if we had used the following team consistently, we''d have gone down:MarshallA steady right back (even R Martin or Spillane)DohertyShackellDrury/BertrandCroftClinganRussellHoolahanDion/Holt (a reliable big man up top, first rule of being a successful championship team ffs!)Lita