MM could sign a one legged blind man and Warky would cream his pants, talking of pants, Frank Nouble, really!!!!!!! Poor signing in my opinion.
VERY VERY talented but a nightmare off the pitch- can we tame him ? Gamble to say the least - worth a punt ? in my mind, yes.
Good to hear from you Spanish (never thought I'd say that) Westlake haven't heard that he's a nightmare off the pitch, what have you heard?? I have to say I think McCarthys transfer dealings so far have been pretty average, for all what PJ did wrong at this club when he actually made a signing I always thought they had a bit of quality to them (they usually had something else to them aswell like personal problems or being old). But like I said it doesn't worry me quite so much because I think Mick can get very average players playing above their station!!! I think it is very frustrating because all his career he has managed to get average players playing above their station but IMO if he was to change his transfer policy and go for more players with a bit of footballing ability I really think he could/could've acheived alot more in his career. Not doubting in my mind he's a very good manager and a very safe pair of hands but he's also limited!!
" I have to say I think McCarthys transfer dealings so far have been pretty average " You must be kidding me, who on earth did you expect us to sign ? We're 19th in the Championship for goodness sake, it's going to be very hard to attract the top players. So far, he's snapped us up a very tidy right back in a problem area. Also, signed a bang in form striker in McGoldrick who is more than capable. Mclean may not score many, but he's a good player and is hard to play against. He'll do alright! Gambled on a very talented striker who needs to sort himself out. Also got a very good CB in Kisnorbo! I'm absolutely delighted with Mick's dealings so far. Time will tell how they do. We definitely need to offload Ellington, Scotland, and ( sadly ) Murray, who I thought may have amounted to more - not that he's had the chance......! Next step a creative central mid and another winger.......... get them 2 right, dare I say we will have quite a tidy side!
You didn't answer my question, what have you heard about Noble's off field problems, I've not heard anyone else mention them? Like I said I'm not overly worried about who we recruit as Mick can get us competing in this league really IMO no matter who he signs. But yes his signings are hardly inspiring have to say although I think Mick will do alot better than PJ (it's not difficult) PJ's signings were of higher quality and potential even the oldies last season had a bit of quality. We've brought in McGoldrick who has been highly rated but has never really been proven at this level he's scored a total of 20 goals in over 120 appearences at this level and he's the most prolific out of the 3. I think Murphy, Chopra and Scotland all have better records than that even in the past few seasons!! I do think he's worth a gamble though. McLean has scored 9 goals at this level in 70 plus appearences and he's rarely played this season. Nouble has a career total of 8 goals and numerous appearances at this level. None of these 3 were getting a look in in their respective championship teams. Kisnorbo played very well against Villa but he hasn't been getting in a fairly average Leeds team and has had a string of injuries, back in the day he was a good defender but the jury is out now!! Orr when ever I've seen him before he came to ITFC looked pretty awful but I thought he must be a decent defender with what I've heard, he hasn't been too bad had a couple of awful games been fairly solid but is hard "Orr" inspiring (excuse the punn)!! The only player I thought could be good for us although he didn't overly impress in his time here was Barnett but he'd basically been transfer listed by his previous club for breaching club rules!! Then the LB Youga, who people said would be coming in replacing Creswell, who's now left the club!! If Jewell had signed these players (no doubt he couldn't get as much out of them as Mick can) people would be absolutely ripping it into him!! It is refreshing though that these deals are getting done soo quickly and relatively quietly. Also there's no doubt he's sorted positions out quickly he saw we needed a RB got one in he saw we needed competition at LB got one in, saw we needed a target man upfront got one in. After Higginbotham left he got CB very quickly and has been quick to get strikers in after DJ has left!! Like I said it is slightly frustrating Micks done it all his career getting the best out of limited players, I could really see him achieving something if he perhaps aimed his bar a little higher in type of player he recruits, I'm not talking about big name players just players with a bit of quality and flair on the ball!!
ptc Absolutely spot on, i applaud your comments!! As you say, had Jewell signed these players then most on here would be ripping **** out of him. The three strikers we have signed are average at best!
I do agree with these sentiments, if we signed these a couple of months ago it would the actions of "a desperate man" but I think it's fair to say that some players need a clean start and maybe if we can offer them game time and get them playing more regularly they may go on to become very successful players.. I have faith in Mick to get the most out of them anyway
I know a West Ham and Chelsea fan who have both said the same about the lad - issues off the pitch such as drinking, late for training and a very poor work ethic are ruining his talent. We'll see. Youga was to put a bit of pressure on Cresswell if nothing else, which I feel has worked well! I don't see how you lot feel Mcgoldrick is " average ? " He's been BANG in form in a terrible Coventry side, I'm delighted to welcome him aboard. Low outlay too. Both Jewell and Keane would have not signed anyone yet and moaned about everything! You're right in saying McCarthy is rapid in getting deals done, which certainly helps us. However, whatever strikers we have at the minute could struggle - what service are they getting!? That needs addressing.
I do think McGoldrick is worth a punt but he's been a bit of an enigma, he's never really been prolific. Like I say he's scored 20 goals at this level over 120 appearences, it's not as if he's untried at this level but has never really proven himself. Yes he was in the form of his life at Coventry but that's at a lower level and the first time in his career he's hit that sort of form!! It's also surprising that Forest didn't want to keep him considering he was in that form. There's no doubt he has talent but he's been a failure at this level!! McLean to me sounds like a Kuqi type character, you know what your going to get from him not quality but power and workrate. But again he's got a very poor record at this level and hasn't been in the Hull team this year. Then Nouble to me seems like a very raw talent, he could pull it off but he's been at loads of clubs is only 21 and hasn't been a hit at any of them. I geuss decent business but pretty average!! In terms of getting the deal done without a fuss, credit to Mick for this but on the flip side you could say this is because players in the previous 2 regimes were more sought after than these ones and also it appears the club have suddenly decided to change their stance of being overly prudent hence letting Jewell suddenly sign all those loans and now letting McCarthy have 10 strikers on our books!! We seem to lurch from one tactic to the polar opposite when that one fails!!! Oh and Clegg Out!!!
Before we all have a go at MM (all except JWM off course) then we still need to know what finances are available. A bit like the Jewell moan, we all knew the quality dropped but then it was always likeley to when your told to work with a budget that is one third of the budget we previously worked with! None of these signings really excite me, with the possible exception of McGoldrick, but our contracted squad is shocking so we need players for nearly every area of the pitch. we are not going to be able to get 'great' signings for every position in this window! Two things do worry me. 1) the majority of these are still loans. Come the summer we may be down to only a handful of contracted players! 2) none of these signings seem to have the same cleverness or ability to put the ball into the net that DJ did. Im not convinced we can score the goals we need.
PTC - Just answer me this! If Jewell signed so much quality why is that we struggled in the 2 seasons he was here and conceded more goals than at practically any other time in our history? If Jewell only signed quality players why is it that we had to let them all go for nothing or had to pay them to leave? If Jewell signed such quality why is that we found ourselves rock bottom in October and had to sack him before we improved? If Jewell only signed quality why is it that after he signed Loach to be no1 keeper he went straight into the loan market to replace him after only a few games?
I'm not pretending that these signings are all top quality but when you are a struggling side in the Championship that is fighting to stay in this league you are hardly going to attract top quality players! I just don't know who you expect us to sign!
On Jewells signing (rather than loan) qaulity - you could argue Cresswell and Hewitt are highly rated. Ingi had qaulity although too old to perform, JET has qaulity just never shows it, Bullard had a lot of quality but.... but none really had the the package required to hit the ground running and steady us, with the exclusion of Cresswell. You could counter that with the argument I think you yourself (JWM) used the other day on 'what quality players would join a team with our problems, which was used when defending MM's signings. Dont forget we were in a bad position when Jewell came in, although not as bad as at the time of MM's arrival
I will answer your questions JWM (I'm not like you) There was a whole host of reasons why Jewell failed but spotting quality and talent was not one of them. He certainly brought in some players with a bit of quality and all could play football but this doesn't mean you're going to get results on the pitch!! McCarthy has managed to get completely different results with the set of players Jewell brought in, so are they bad players or good players, it's not as simple as that is it?? Why he failed, were he failed to prioritise transfers, he failed to build a balanced squad, he failed to buy players that fitted into the way he wanted to play, some players had personal problems off the pitch, too many old players in one team, a failure to make teams resilient, a failure to get the best out of his players, trying to run before he could walk, failure to get the basics right!! Like I say there are many reasons why Jewell failed but most of his signings I feel did have a certain quality to them but McCarthy has been working with limited players all his career and getting them to perform over and above their station!! I didn't say he "only" bought players with quality, there are a few in there who didn't have alot!! I said when we signed Loach I wasn't convinced and if I remember correctly was shot down by yourself saying he was quality and was an Ipswich fan, at last we had a no1 GK!!! Now will you answer my questions?? Would you have been happy with these signings had Jewell signed them?? What makes you think all these players will buck the trend of their previous clubs and do well for us?? Just for the record I'm not saying these are bad signings, to me they just seem pretty average but I'm sure Mick can get the best out of them!!
Fair points TB. The other catastrophic thing that Jewell did was to use 4 different GK's in one season and then wondered why we conceded so many! Once MM has rebuilt this team in the summer we will enjoy watching a settled side with no round pegs in square holes.
Well for example the last few signings Jewell made all had quality to them despite us being struggling in the lower region of the league!! DJ Campbell, NRC and Wellens even Mohsni all had quality to them. I mean comparing DJ, NRC, Wellens and Nouble, McGoldrick, McLean which set of players would you say had more quality or sounds more impressive?? and this was when we looked to be in a less promising position than we are now!!
ptc given the position we find ourselves in at the moment all these signings are good solid picks and will add a great deal to what we already have. Kisnorbo is a solid defender with lots of experience, McClean has pace, power and will be a good foil for McGoldrick who is the leading goal scorer in League 1 so is in cracking form. The youngester Nouble is one for the future and is the kind of player we should be bringing into the club for the talent that he has. If PJ had of signed these players it would on balance have been a pleasant surprise as all of these players are under 30 for a start and not on already huge wages. All these players have a point to prove as well so they will have the desire to do well. Could you honestly say that Bowyer, Bullard and Inggi all had the same desire?
you let yourself down on that PTC by including NRC, although I see what you are trying to say. To be fair before he came here I wasnt excited by DJ - he proved me wrong, Wellens was a player I really liked but Leicester said once youve made him fit we want him back so was a stupid decision by us. On MM's arrivals, Nouble sounds interesting but not convinced hes going to help our current predicament and cant see where we are going to use him, McLean really doesnt inspire me at all and McGoldrick I think is decent enough but not convinced he has the ability to replicated what DJ done for us so its a pretty even match between them for me. Kisnorbo has the chance to be either brilliant or another Sonko. He has hardly played for the last year or more so again its getting another teams player fit which does annoy me.
Yeah an unfit Wellens who was only here to get game time, an unfit Reo-Coker who has turned out to be very mediocre and Moshni who ended up not playing. DJ was the trump card and I applaud him for getting him in!
