Simon Dawkins, another player who Sherwood thought was cack and yet now likes to take the credit for "rediscovering" him.
"Simon Dawkins, another player who Sherwood thought was cack and yet now likes to take the credit for "rediscovering" him." The 'must be nice to Sherwood' NY resolution is already creaking at the seams.
OS, has he really been 'rediscovered' anyway? Has he being playing well this season? He looked pretty average to me at Villa last year - not really sure what he is still doing at the club, at 26, and on loan in the championship.
which is fairly desperate seeing the results he's already achieved, both in terms of points and playing style. only spurs fans
He's good on the right, from what I've seen. Surely if we sell him, the previously indestructible Walker will go down.
inevitable ! I don't know why people are talking about buying and selling full backs at all tbh. we have rose, fryers and possibly vertonghen on the left, and walker and naughton on the right. that's fine. assuming kaboul's crocked, it's a centre back we need.
I doubt it. Berbatov was (is) world class on his day but we need to focus on getting the best out of our current squad and our summer signings. We had the chance to sign Berba when he left Utd but Levy pulled the plug on that deal so I don't see why he would be happy to now sign him.
In the gossip column today it's being reported the goons are closing in on signing Berbatov from Fulham.and Remy from Newcastle and they are preparing a bid for Henandez from United
Man Utd won't sell Hernandez to Arsenal and Remy's on a season-long loan at Newcastle from QPR, so that's bollocks. We seem to be getting repeated links to Shane Long, for some reason. Decent player with an immense workrate, but I can only see it because he's on the cheap.
I knew you wouldn't be able to resist starting the thread Roo! (sorry I'm a bit late in posting though lol). Don't think much needs to be done in Jan. Our squad is great and hopefully we'll be having a few injured players return, perhaps bring in an experienced LB on a short deal or recall Benny if possible. Maybe tie up a deal for a new keeper to provide competition for Hugo next season. IF the rumours of Defoe going to Toronto are true then I reckon Tim may want a fresh face unless he has confidence in Kane - which I'd be happy with as I like Harry - at least until the end of the season. The main conundrum is what to do with Lamela. I've gotta be honest and say I've been disappointed with him now, I gave him the benefit of the doubt for the first few months and even said we probably won't see the best of him until next season but with one Europa game aside, he's looked a very average footballer overall and I've yet to see any signs of improvement. I thought the Soton game a couple weeks back was a perfect match for him, up against their 2nd choice LB who'd been out for 6 weeks but still, Lamela done jack apart from give away passes and fails. As of right now, Lennon is back and in form and won't be dropped (rightly so) while Eriksen seems to be occupying the LM spot and has been "triffic" too. Lamela needs game time but I don't want to loan him out, yet I can't see a spot in the first XI for him... Really is a tough one.
I waited as long as I could! In terms of strikers, the way I see it is that our goal difference is awful compared to teams around us. Soldado isn't scoring, Ade is injured, Defoe is on his bike and we've switched primarily to a 442. with top 4 aspirations, we can't rely on Harry Kane. There's no harm in him featuring over the next 6 months and getting more game time, but it's just too much of a risk not signing another experienced striker IMO. If we go down this route, come march/april time, I guarantee people will be saying "we should have got another striker in January", because we'll end up in a position where something has gone wrong in "same old Tottenham" fashion. But if we help ourselves now, we might prevent it. I kind of agree with what Robspur has said about another CB. Whilst I'm not going to say no to another LB, it all depends on what sherwoods plans are for europe. If he's going to bin it off and focus on the league, we won't need another LB as Rose and Fryers should be enough and obviously Verts can cover there if needs be. However, with Kaboul constantly injured and not being able to getaway with it like King did (as he's just not as good), it's time we looked at another CB. I've not been massively impressed with Dawson either this season and I don't think another face will be a bad thing. Like you say, Lamela needs games. A few weeks ago there were many fans saying that they havent been impressed with Eriksen, but since his injury and getting a regular run of games he's been excellent. 2 goals and an assist in 3 games is much more like it. IMO, Lamela just needs the same. I think someone else has already said it, but playing him behind soldado might be a good idea IF we're without Ade. We've already got what... 9 injured players or something ridiculous? Lamela's time as got to come soon. Also, now AVB's rigid tactics are no longer in full flow, it might be an idea to let Eriksen play in his number 10 role with Lamela going out on the left? With the freedom Sherwood is letting the team have, we might see something "click".
Whats funny is both Lamela and Jovetic , the two leading young stars in Italy last year and then move to England, both can't settle and both are hardly featuring. These are two players widely regarded as bring future stars and also with great ability now. With the lack of money in Italian football if we decided to cut our losses we won't be getting anywhere near the fee we paid but I'm still backing Lamela to shine at some stage.
So true! I think we just need to remind ourselves that players are humans. Lamela in particular is only a youngster who has switched countries, was without his family for some time and can't speak english! Not going to be nice for anyone, is it?
Even though the strikers are struggling (well Ade looks like he's ok so far), we've actually managed to score quite frequently with Liverpool aside. I think Kane, if given the chance can prove really useful in a back up role. Yeah agree with the CB situation, Dawson, as much as I love the guy is just underperforming massively now (with ironically Utd aside where I thought he was good). His pace, even in a non-high line system is still being exploited and I think it's causing Hugo to be/ look more calamitous with his constant rushing out. Kaboul is our best CB when fit but that's the problem, it really does look as though he's Ledley Part 2. He's played what, 4-5 league games since the first game of last season. Such a shame. Do we go for a Gallas-esque signing? Or a young up and comer? Or someone who'll challenge straight away? Potential options could be: Gallas-esque - Rio Ferdinand. Up and comer - Doria. Competitive - Hector Moreno. I'd like to see Eriksen in the number 10 role down the line as that's definitely his best position but right now, I think the 4-4-2 with him playing a playmaker role from the left is working just fine. Lennon's doing great on the right and then the choice of the 4 main CM's to pick from when all are fit. Old cliché but I don't want to try and fix what isn't broken at the moment, since Tim's taken over and the boring style of AVB has gone, the team look much better and I wouldn't really want to move people about unless we really need too. I'd give Lamela a go against Arsenal on Saturday, it's throwing him into the deep end a bit but with the form of others around him, he'll need to perform sooner rather than later as otherwise his playing time could become very limited if others stay fit and maintain form.
I appreciate what you're saying mate, with others scoring, but the shocking goal difference is staring us in the face! I think the CB would have to be Gallas-esque to be honest. Just someone steady who can do a job. Nelsen? I agree, I'm not suggesting changing something that's working for the sake of it, but 1 or two alterations might have to be made as we're short of players at the moment and need to keep everyone we have fit! The two options I mentioned re Lamela and Eriksen, are ones that I think could be useful under our current style of play. wouldn't it be lovely to throw Lamela in at the deep end on saturday and see him put in an excellent performance? might shut the critics up who need to just get off of the kid's back. I wonder what sigurdsson must be thinking right now? failed to establish himself in the No10, moved out of position onto the left and goes missing. And now, Eriksen is out there performing well. Even Chadli is getting some gametime. I can't see Sig wanting to stick around much longer. His spell with us has probably not been what he expected.
Oh yeah goals have been a problem don't get me wrong but I think with Sherwood's tactics, the goals may start to come a bit more freely now with or without a new body up top. Soldado just needs that one more from open play and I think he'll go on a run. He's getting into the right positions and is far more involved in the play under Sherwood than he ever was under AVB. Haha good ol' Nelsen. Amazed no Prem side picked up Richard Dunne in the summer, I know he had a long injury but he's been one of the leagues' most consistent CB's over the years, QPR picked up a top freebie there. Heitinga looks like he's on his way out of Everton, not sure he'd want another back up role but could be worth a punt? I'd be happy to see Eriksen shifting CM for Capoue with Lamela playing left for one or two games and see how that went. It'd be brilliant if he had a belter at Arsenal. Would be a major confidence booster too if he could pick up a MOTM award or have some sort of valuable input against them. The most annoying thing with Lamela is it's all plain to see for everyone that the kid has magical talent yet seems to be on a self made leash! Yeah it's been tough on Gylfi, he's a great player in my opinion but he's just below the quality of others, top player to have in the squad though. One thing I will say is what a great pro he is, I've never heard a peep out of him when he's been out the team.
