The Murphys were over 20 when AN gave them a chance. Lewis was 19 and Aarons only 18 when he got his chance. I take many of Rob's points about AN, but the irony is that he might have saved his job had he given Maddison a chance. There is less risk playing the Murphys on the wings than playing Lewis, Aarons and Godfrey as 3 of the 4 defenders through most of the season. With Cantwell now a starter, Idah will make it 5 young players when he gets a chance. I can't see AN ever doing that.
Playing devil's advocate for AN, one might see DF's "bravery" in giving first Lewis, and then Aarons, their chance as actually forced on him by the failure to provide him with any alternative. Lewis's chance came courtesy of the failings of Husband, the intended first choice LB, the backup for whom that season appeared to be Pinto. Having concluded that neither Husband nor Pinto were capable of the LB role in his system, when Lewis got injured, DF shoehorned Stiepermann in. Same in Aaron's case, with this time, the failure of Marshall, and slowness of backup loanee Passlack to adapt being the catalyst for Aarons's selection. I have my doubts whether DF was brimming with confidence when he selected the two youngsters. More likely he was assailed by doubts akin to those he is on record as having when he selected Todd Cantwell over more experienced alternatives. That all three youngsters made such a great fist of their opportunity is a credit to them rather than the manager who spent sleepless nights worrying about his selection decisions! (Steel helmet on, ducking down into the bunker )
Certainly opens up a debate robbie and I can definitely see that DF was 'between a rock and a hard place' as regards Lewis and Aarons. There's definitely a possibility that part of their meteoric rise was down to the players themselves, but I also feel that DF's coaching had been a major influence. As for TC and Godfrey, I think they were given their chance and took it with both hands. The difference in TC this season is ASTOUNDING!
My guess is that they will be, although not top four. Whether that will be sufficient is open to question. I certainly think that Abramovic will be expecting more.
"Pukki is as polite a footballer as you will meet. Softly spoken yet self-assured. No sense of arrogance but a distinct confidence in his ability and a belief that he can beat our man's (Chris Sutton) tally from 25 years ago. Some bookmakers agree. They have slashed his Golden Boot odds from 100-1 to 10-1." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...-Sutton-scoring-Premier-League-hat-trick.html
I read somewhere this week that 53% of all Golden Boot bets placed since Newcastle were on Teemu. Next was Sterling with 12%!
No helmet needed Robbie. I can remember how surprised we were when Lewis became prominent in the pre-season before his injury. I'm not sure Husband was seen as first choice LB in the summer as he certainly was not a natural fit, even into Farkeball Mach 1. Pinto was our first choice RB that season as well as Captain. I agree that Stiepermann was then shoehorned into LB and naturally struggled, mainly because of the failure of Franke at CB. I believe DF would have played Lewis from the start had he been fit. Last year, Pinto was again first choice RB until Aarons got his chance in the cup game and excelled. He then became the starting LB for the rest of the season when DF could have stayed with Pinto. For years we've been told that young players have to be handled carefully and not put under pressure too quickly. DF and SW clearly do not subscribe to that belief as Ben and Todd have now broken through as well, and deservedly so. That could also be because they're getting the first team coaching which has accelerated their development. Is it coincidental that those four are the only English players in the line-up now that Husband, Marshall and Raggett have left or gone on loan? McLean and Hanley are British, but neither is entirely comfortable in Farkeball, whereas all four young players are.
Good to see Sutton back on board after his early doubts about Pukki. It is early days but hopefully we can build on the Newcastle game and push on. With Klose on the bench now, Zimbo perhaps next week, Amadou and Roberts yet to add to the mix, things are looking exciting already but it'll take 10 games at least to have a good idea about our chances. Bring it on!
Going back to the Webber interview, he answered well, especially about the statistics used in finding players, but why do we never emphasize how much those 5 players are 'worth'. They may have cost £750k in fees (plus€4m in loan fees), but their total market worth is getting up towards £40m. That's what makes SW a genius.
Just out of interest, from the three fixtures played, would anyone on here have expected more than three points? Personally I would have accepted 1, 2 or 3. On the subject of Frankie I think he was quite complimentary about us, as indeed have the media in general been. I think it's a sign that we have performed better than expected.
Absolutely Farke19 and 3 points from our first 3 games was always all we could realistically expect. The most pleasing thing for me has been the way we've played and the fact that we've scored some excellent team goals in each game. The fact that we've conceded 8 goals whilst scoring 6 is a concern, but I'm pretty sure our GD was even worse at the same point last season and DF used the International Break to eradicate a lot of the defensive errors.
Nobody reads this stuff but us. The start of the season is often harder for defensive players (especially in the PL) and with Klose and Zimbo back now (and Amadou yet to feature), things should improve. I was more worried about our ability to score goals and we've excelled my expectations there. After Citeh, we have a reasonable run of games.
It's starting to look like no whipping boys (i.e. Huddersfield) this season. I think the old total of 40 points needed may be back this year despite the fact that almost everyone will lose to Man City and Liverpool.
