has he been granted a work visa yet? not seen anything posted on any site i visit to say he has joined up with us, so do not know the position atm.
McNally tweeted yesterday (in reply to a question) that he should be arriving this week and available for selection for Saturday.
If Pilks is now going to be out for any period of time (anyone heard an update on this?) then his signing could be perfect timing - unless of course Hughton continues his obsession with playing onverted wingers on the opposite side to their favoured foot, which I imagine he probably will.
If he can operate and score from right wing it's an extra dimension. Looks strong and fast. Can't wait to see him really.
He is a regular on Twitter and was tweeting from Manhattan yesterday about the Superbowl, so presumably has stopped over there en route . I read somewhere that he is arriving in England tomorrow.
I think he could be like a Pacheco/HUckerby signing, when we signed them on loan. Just has a great impact and buys completely into the spirit of the team. Quite excited to see him play, physically I think he'll fit in the Premier League like a glove. Technically it's hard to judge until he is wearing the City shirt.
In Kamara's YouTube compilation he is shown playing on either wing as well as up the middle. Be great if he is a genuinely two-footed player with that pace!
Tony, what you call Hughton's obsession is one he apparently shares with a lot of other managers. Where does Adam Johnson play? From where did Gareth Bale score his goal against us, and his winner against the Albion? On the right, cutting in and striking with his best (i.e. left) foot. How many goals did Thierry Henry score with his right foot cutting in from the left? CH is not forcing Snodgrass to play wide right against his will; Snodgrass prefers that, and Leeds fans always told us he is less of a player if played wide left. Truth is, a right footed player cutting in from the left, and a left footed player cutting in from the right, are potent weapons in the modern game. If you want orthodox crossing from the "wing", it's the modern full back who is more likely to provide it (e.g. Baines, Cole etc.)
That's all very well, but when our fullbacks hardly leave our half in open play then that's not likely to happen all that often is it? I agree that it can be a potent weapon and I'm not saying we should always be looking to have wingers bombing down the wing and crossing from the byeline, however I would like to see us mixing it up at least a bit. To me it is incredulous that we never switch our wingers during games, even for 15 minutes or so to try something different. For me we are becoming a bit too obvious and predictable, something I'm sure will have been noted by other managers in the division. Bale actually ran straight through the middle of the pitch last week, though his goal against us at home last year which was almost identical came from him bombing down the left, which is what he usually does. And if we're listing wingers and their successes, how many times did you ever see Ryan Giggs crossing from the right? Does Aaron Lennon ever operate down the left flank? And is it a coincidence that Adam Johnson has been largely **** and inneffective at Sunderland since being played on the right? I'd personally say for his ability and potential his career has stalled somewhat in the past couple of seasons, again is this a coincidence?
Robbie, just for the record I think you might have me marked down as a negative poster, moaning and whinging when to you everything is all rosey in the garden. If you've read my posts over the years then you'd know that I'm not like this at all and am generally very positive about all things NCFC. My gripe about the koo pee arr game was based on what I considered a bloody awful performance from an offensive perspective, and this one about wingers is just some observations I have made. I have always been, and remain firmly behind Crissy Hootun so you have no fears there, however I have been around long enough to be able to look at things objectively from all angles on a game-by-game basis, and this forum is excatly the place to share these observations and, dare I say it, slight concerns. So I will
Re. our full backs, I think you are being unfair to Russ M and Whittaker when he's played; over the 25 games they have got forward quite a lot. I think wide left, Garrido gets forward less because Pilkington, unlike Snodgrass, tends to stay wide himself and doesn't create the space for Garrido to run into. The recent improvement from Pilks (which has earned him his international call up) has been prompted by CH encouraging him to move inside more. In general, both Snodgrass and Pilks should do a bit of both, varying their tactics, sometimes going outside, sometimes cutting in. The fact that Pilkington tends naturally to stay wide left has a lot to do with the predictability. I agree about the predictability, but if we play well in the predictable way, we can still get results. Re. Giggs and Lennon, I wasn't saying that there are no orthodox wide men playing in the PL (you could also point to Valencia at Man Utd). I was just pointing out that it is wrong to see CH as having a unique obsession with playing so-called "wrong-footed" players on the "wrong" wing. Re. Adam Johnson, Mancini played him all the time on the right. If that was a mistake, you might think Martin O'Neill would "correct" it and play him on the left. But in fact, as you point out, he is using Johnson pretty much in exactly the same way as Mancini! Are both Mancini and O'Neill dopes? Mancini's criticism of Johnson was his lack of consistency (you hear similar grumbles about Downing who plays a more orthodox left wing role by preference).
I don't think that of you at all Tony (and nor do I think everything in the garden is rosy; there are a lot of shades between black and white). I do though think it is a mistake to attach too much importance to, and invest too much emotionally in, the short term as many fans tend to do.
When did I ever say anything about Hootun having a "unique obsession"?? Stop putting words into my fingers, that's never a way to have a debate
"Obsession" was your word. I added "unique" because it seemed to me that you were puzzled by the practice of playing a left-footed player (Snodgrass) on the right. Since it is quite common nowadays, I was trying to explain your apparent puzzlement to myself. I obviously got it wrong, so I apologise. Re. debate, as far as I am concerned debate is always about what is written or said, not about the writer or the speaker. Since I know none of you at a personal level, I don't form any opinion about any of you as people. I regard all my opinions as provisional and, since no one person has a monopoly on truth, value our discussions as a means to better my appreciation of both club and game.
Firstly, excellent post And secondly, my use of the word "obsession" was because that's all be ever does, he never mixes it up either before or during games, regardless of how poorly we are playing, that's all really
BREAKING - CITY are pleased to confirm forward Kei Kamara has been granted a visa to join us on loan from Sporting Kansas City.
