Tetteys Jig 830 Posted May 12, 2014 If you look at Arsenals second goal, they both didn''t cover themselves in much glory with their poor attempts to win the ball. Could it be perhaps that they just aren''t good enough for that league? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gingerpele 0 Posted May 12, 2014 Oh my God two players failed to win the ball against the fourth best side in the league! Shock horror! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tetteys Jig 830 Posted May 12, 2014 I have just seen it quite often this season to be honest. Our midfield without Fer or Tettey just looks so brittle and breaks down. It doesn''t help that we don''t usually have much prescence up front, but we just aren''t strong enough in the middle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Molly Windley 76 Posted May 12, 2014 Has anyone in the side "covered themselves in glory" this season?Pointless looking for scapegoats, collectively as a team they have not been good enough.The management know it, the players know it, we know it.Lets hope that whoever comes in knows what the solution is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Holtcantshoot 0 Posted May 12, 2014 I don''t think they are good enough for this league as Johnson can''t pass that well and Howson can''t/won''t tackle. But as we''re being relegated to the Championship and no Premiership clubs are likely to want them anyway it''s mildly irrelevant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joanna Grey 0 Posted May 12, 2014 The problem is in that none of our players are the complete package - we have four central midfielders which, put into a blender, would just about come close to one Steven Gerrard. This is the same all over the pitch I''m afraid - Snodgrass is too slow, Redmond has no end product, RvW is too lightweight, etc., etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aggy 755 Posted May 12, 2014 True Joanna. But at Championship level I don''t think that will matter. You can afford to have two or three players in the middle who all bring something different at that level. It''s just that at prem level, you need to be able to do a little bit of everything. Tettey is probably the best we''ve got at that - can tackle and keep the ball/pass reasonably well. The others are all a bit too one dimensional. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tetteys Jig 830 Posted May 12, 2014 The misconception people get is us ''ropping down a whole level''..We are now looking for a top two finish in the championship as opposed to a top 17 finish in the premiership. Whilst certain players will need to be more used to being on the front foot (could bode well for Hooper) there isn''t really that much of a drop in level we can cope with if we''re to bounce straight back.If a player is too weak for a side to finish in the top 17 premiership sides, he''ll arguably be too weak for a top 2 championship side. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the bristol nest 0 Posted May 12, 2014 Good point Jimmy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GJP 79 Posted May 12, 2014 Howson was clearly our best player until he got injured. And that followed on from him being our best player in the last few months of last season.But Johnson just isn''t a good enough footballer to be playing every game in the Prem. I''ve said before it''ll catch up with us if he keeps playing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Holtcantshoot 0 Posted May 12, 2014 [quote user="Jimmy Smith"]The misconception people get is us ''ropping down a whole level''..We are now looking for a top two finish in the championship as opposed to a top 17 finish in the premiership. Whilst certain players will need to be more used to being on the front foot (could bode well for Hooper) there isn''t really that much of a drop in level we can cope with if we''re to bounce straight back.If a player is too weak for a side to finish in the top 17 premiership sides, he''ll arguably be too weak for a top 2 championship side.[/quote]I don''t see it as a misconception that we''re dropping down a whole level more that the people thinking we''ll be challenging for a top two finish are probably the same group who were telling everyone we''d be a top half of the table team this year. Personally I think unless we luckily unearth another Lambert we''ll be slipping into midtable mediocrity next season as we did the previous two times we got relegated from the Premier League. The current squad is just too average to achieve much else, especially with Ruddy, Snodgrass, Fer, RVW, Bassong and Tettey all likely to be gone by the start of next season.The current board have had a much higher miss than hit ratio with managers over the years so one would guess that we''re more likely to hire a dud than not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phillip J Fry 0 Posted May 12, 2014 Howson is more than good enough to start in the premier league. Johnson is an adequate back-up, but I would never want to rely on him for a long time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aggy 755 Posted May 12, 2014 Not sure I agree entirely with that Jonny. Yes, there might not be much difference between the bottom 8 prem sides and the top 8 in the championship, but it''s the other sides that make the difference.Howson and Johnson look ok-to-good against Fulham and Sunderland, but outclassed against Chelsea and Man Utd. In the championship they might still only look ok-to-good against the top 7 or 8, but will look quality against the other 15 or so sides. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aggy 755 Posted May 12, 2014 Above post aimed at Jimmy, not Jonny! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cornish sam 953 Posted May 12, 2014 Holtcantshoot said:"The current board have had a much higher miss than hit ratio with managers over the years "Is this actually true? A few people keep spouting this of late and whilst it may be true that the current owners don''t have a very good track record of managerial appointments surely the current board have a 50:50 strike rate (Adams is a caretaker really so not counted in this) which is probably one of the best success rates of any board in the football league... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Holtcantshoot 0 Posted May 12, 2014 Yeah that''s not too bad. I''m more thinking of Delia and Wynn-Jones''s reign as a whole going back to Gunn, Roeder, Grant, Hamilton etc. There were a lot of very average choices.In terms of McNally''s time at the club it''s so far been relatively good selections in Lambert and Hughton.I would however count the board''s decision to not have a contingency plan for a new manager and make a panic appointment of a man with no management experience when there was a place in the Premier League at stake though. It was there selection at the end of the day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tetteys Jig 830 Posted May 12, 2014 [quote user="Aggy"]Not sure I agree entirely with that Jonny. Yes, there might not be much difference between the bottom 8 prem sides and the top 8 in the championship, but it''s the other sides that make the difference.Howson and Johnson look ok-to-good against Fulham and Sunderland, but outclassed against Chelsea and Man Utd. In the championship they might still only look ok-to-good against the top 7 or 8, but will look quality against the other 15 or so sides.[/quote]But to come 17th, it''s okay to usually look rubbish against Chelsea and co, in the championship, we need them standing out above the rest. We''re targeting 2 points a game instead of 1 point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites