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sgncfc

In all honesty - are we Premier League?

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I posted on this theme a day or two ago, asking which players could survive a relegation and a return after a year or two, and I came to a similar conclusion to yours. After a year or out of the Premiership probably only Ruddy, Bassong and Turner could be up to it.

 

The frightening truth is that we have a squad of players who in many cases have to play out of their skins to reach Premiership competence, lacking pace and technical skills. We have no match winners in our side. Too many were recruited to get out of Division 1 or the Championship, and often recruited very cheaply. Even Hughton''s signings were largely "bargain buys".

 

We are struggling in part from two consecutive promotions without time to consolidate and build up a squad. We need another two or three years in the Premiership to sign more Premiership quality players, because of their cost.

 

We blame the strikers, and in all truth between them they have converted a small proportion of goal chances, but the problem also is down to a less than creative midfield.

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Are we Premier League?A tough question to be honest, and I''m sure theres many different views on it. I''m my opinion we are on that very last rung of the PL survival ladder (17th).I think most of our players are good enough for the PL, they shew it last season and we aren''t relegated yet this year (despite some pretty abject displays thoughout).However as a team maybe we aren''t quite there. While our players are pretty good, hard working and functional, we lack maybe two higher quality "standout" players who can make things happen going forward, these could be a central playmaker, winger, or a forward.If we were more dangerous going forward it would take soooo much pressure off our better defence, and we would see a huge difference in results.I think thats the upsetting thing this year for me, do we have a better team than last year? I think so! are we a more organised and professional outfit? Again I think so. Have we progressed as much as other teams from last year? No. It''s not our fault, we had debts to clear and that has made life hard for us and left us in danger (though I''m open to arguements over the Winter transfer window usage).Would anyone swap our team completely for Astons Villas? I wouldn''t,

maybe it''s a hint of bias but i think on adverage we are a better team in

many positions. However Villa have players like Benteke, Weiman, maybe

Gab Ab (the b*****d), who when the team maybe aren''t playing well, will

just pop up and score or create something. We just never look like

doing that. We''re good, but lack star quality to unlock Premier League level defences without leaving ourselves horribly exposed at the back. Our star man is Ruddy who has been injured and is a GK so doesn''t really count!I really feel that next season would have been Hughtons time to shine. This year was the monumental struggle for PL status, and next season with a few quality CH additions in key positions due to being debt free, we would be there. We would be more securely "Premier League". I think he could still do it for us if we get relegated, but CH seems to have lost alot the crowd, and despite my views, his position seems to be getting close to untenable for next season if we survive or not.So to be more concise (haha), I think the answer is yes, but it is a very close run thing. As other others have said if we go down we deserve to, if we stay up we deserve it. The answer will be more clear after West Brom and how we perform. It would be nice for Wigan and Newcastle to lose all their matches until the end of the season, but really it is up to us to show the world that we belong here. Never mind the danger!

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The difference between us and established Premier League sides is they have pace in their sides, and we don''t.

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yes, we are premier league.

This is a squad that finished 12th last year and has better players in depth than last season.

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and martin oneil was a great manager, but hes a bit past it, need

someone up and coming, young and hungry who a great motivator, and likes

his teams to score goals

billy davies, ian holloway, malky, zola, solskjaer, di matteo (lol), gary neville

Do you want to add Kenny Jackett and Dean Saunders to that ''illustrious'' list......they are both now available.As has been said before many times - be careful what you wish for.

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This is why it is crucial we stay up. In my opinion, we have the worst squad of players in the premier league quality wise. The thing that made us click last season was PL''s ability to motivate a group of players and make them feel like they were good enough to compete at this level. CH obviously does not do that, and is also not as tactically minded as Lambert. Sure, we have good enough players in our squad but there aren''t enough. Snodgrass, Bassong, Ruddy and Turner can all cut it. If we stay up, I believe we will see Hughton''s real quality. In my opinion given the resources, Hughton will be able to build a squad capable of a decent premier league place. He hasn''t really had the chance to do this yet due to our restricted resources, but if we stay up, it will be the first time the club has really had any big money to spend on players. RVW looks like a great little buy and CH has shown with signings such as Turner and Bassong that he has an eye for a good signing (lets forget Kane, Becchio etc who seemed to be all panic buys). If, and that is a very big IF we stay up, we could surprise a few next season. Onwards and upwards.

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I agree with many things you say, Flying High. But must disagree on several points.

I agree we have one of the weaker squads in the league. But, we do not have the weakest and we definitely don''t have the worst ''first team''.

You''re right that Lambert and Hughton are very different kinds of manager, but I don''t think you should give Lambert such praise, nor Hughton such censure.

Lambert had the advantages of an awful lot of good feeling pulsating through the club. This was generated from the momentum of 2 successive promotions (and we thank him for it). It was the crowd at Carrow Road that spurred on the team, rather than just Lambert. It is something that Hughton has fundamentally lacked since taking over - there has been a large proportion of fans who want him to fail (for whatever reason) - so the FCR faithful have been a lot less giving this season and that has effected player motivation on the pitch.

Second, Lambert is not tactically more astute that Hughton. What Lambert did was make big, drastic changes. It was not subtle and they were usually changes that your average football fan could see and understand easily. And because they were such drastic changes, they had a way of catching certain teams unawares. However, during the early part of the season at Villa, he did this kind of thing and was found out. In fairness to Lambert, he has actually been setting up his team with fewer changes (like Hughton and the overwhelming majority of Prem managers) and his team are beginning to look decent (if lucky).

Hughton is an entirely more subtle manager tactically. The thing is, it is entirely possible to completely change the set up of a team both between and during games (via subs for instance), without changing the formation etc. Hughton is this kind of tactician.

Anyway, sorry for going on.

As you say, onwards and upwards.

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