Rumour Mill

  • Please bear with us on the new site integration and fixing any known bugs over the coming days. If you can not log in please try resetting your password and check your spam box. If you have tried these steps and are still struggling email [email protected] with your username/registered email address
  • Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!
The Meredith rumour seems to be hanging on with the Daily Star claiming we've made a 350k bid:

It'd seem a reasonable move, especially if it's likely that Brady is going to move on as well, given that he can play LB, CB or DM

Would it though? I agree we badly need some left-sided manpower but if Brady goes for say £12m, add on the approx £4m for Olsson - and we're prepared to lay out 350k on a supposed replacement?
Smacks of the Chase / Sutton / Ruel Fox era to me! <grr>
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cornish Canary
But that was then and this is now! And anyway, we had
Mr set-up-not-to-lose Hughton at the helm then, whereas now we have
Mr I'm-sorry-I-haven't-a-clue-how-to-set-up (unless it's a f(rigid) 4-2-3-1 in 'charge' <grr>

We should give him a chance, if AN has done one thing right it was signing Pinto, maybe he knows his fullbacks?

Bah!
 
True. I think you'll find last night was kind of enforced by injury and disciplinary tightropes, whereas Brentford was more a deliberate ploy to thwart them <ok>
But, that aside, you know where I'm coming from <ok>

IMO, the intention was to 'thwart' in both cases and it worked both times. I don't have a problem with the 4-2-3-1, which this season has produced a lot of movement up front, which is why it's so popular currently. Wolves will be using it under Lambert this Saturday. The 4-4-2 is far more 'rigid' IMO.
 
I don't have a problem with the 4-2-3-1, which this season has produced a lot of movement up front,
Nor do I, but you need a quick-thinking, creative, mobile midfield to get up and support the striker - and I'm afraid Tettey passing sideways or backwards negates all the running Howson, Dorrans etc would normally do.
Either you or 1950 suggested a new holding-type DM was a priority, and I agree fully - preferably one who can work out which goal we're attacking and point his passes that way :grin:
 
Tettey can be frustrating that way, but the DM's job is to break up attacks, then gain and maintain possession, which is why he plays alongside a CM like Howson or Dorrans whose job it is to distribute the ball forward. Mulumbu, Thompson and even Godfrey are better suited to the attacking distribution than Tettey, but the first is in Africa and the second is still coming back from injury.

What Neil has done well, IMO, is to bring on young players like the Murphys, Maddison, Thompson, Godfrey and Grant. Ramsey and Middleton were also on the bench last night. That's what keeps me on the fence about AN, whereas a new manager might not be that way inclined.
 
Tettey can be frustrating that way, but the DM's job is to break up attacks, then gain and maintain possession, which is why he plays alongside a CM like Howson or Dorrans whose job it is to distribute the ball forward. Mulumbu, Thompson and even Godfrey are better suited to the attacking distribution than Tettey, but the first is in Africa and the second is still coming back from injury.

What Neil has done well, IMO, is to bring on young players like the Murphys, Maddison, Thompson, Godfrey and Grant. Ramsey and Middleton were also on the bench last night. That's what keeps me on the fence about AN, whereas a new manager might not be that way inclined.

I think you may well divide everyone with that statement. I am of the belief he could have done a lot more. Jacob has come on leaps and bounds, but after a fairly successful season with MKdons Josh seems to have regressed, with any other youngsters only getting looked at in extreme injury circumstances and then being generally dumped from the team for the next match. In terms of recruitment, he/we have done well to have a number of prospects and a good u23 team, but can any of them play and play well under Neil in the starting XI?

Bah!
 
I think you may well divide everyone with that statement. I am of the belief he could have done a lot more.
Indeed so.
Dele Alli (though an exception to the rule) is a permanent fixture in the Spurs first team - born April '96.
James Maddison, a city player, but banished for half the season, maybe all(?) to Scotland-born Nov '96!