Trying to forget him....his partnership with Diall'O' (for oh good he is ****) still gives me nightmares.
Magilton on the LW?? Has pace to burn Looking back at that squad in 04/05 it really was fairly poor with the odd talented player plus players with alot of character, we certainly played to their strengths. I wouldn't say you're too far off their though JWM. I'd go for: Davis Wilnis, Chambers, Berra, Mings Bishop, Hyam, Magilton, Currie Bent, Murphy Difficult to omit players like Miller, Kuqi and De Vos but I think this team has a bit more balance to it. Kuqi and Bent was a very effective partnership but perhaps a little unconventional. I've put Murphy in there because I think he'd be a good foil to Bent but I still think the likes of McGoldrick and Counago (who I love) are more talented than Murphy.
Kuqi the least talented player to wear a town shirt but one of the most effective. I loved Currie, if only he had pace he'd have to beat a man 3 times because he'd get caught everytime. Can't think of a better crosser of the ball in my time watching town though
It's like comparing chalk and cheese. Bent is the kind of striker every team wants, that player who guarantees goals, not the best finisher but has the knack of being in the right place at the right time and also something worth gold as a striker he doesn't let his head drop when he misses chances he just knows he'll score. Kuqi was pure brawn, pace and power. Both ran defences ragged togethera very mobile pair which gave the team options, also i'd say were both better in the air than McG or Murphy (although he's improved recently). McG technically the best technically out of the lot but sometimes think he lacks the instincts of a traditional striker and Murphy is an average player who's having a great season and has seemingly finally learned how to use his body, getting far more street wise and better at attacking the ball in the box but this pairing a far less mobile which sometimes means we don't have too many outballs or options on the ball as Kuqi or Bent.
I think Sam Parkin was very unlucky. There was a decent player in there, we just had a very poor team and weren't set up to his strengths
I think that is a bit harsh.......but not far from the truth.... I didn't say I didn't like Kuqi but he was not that talented although that season he did earn himself some luck with his work rate.
" Looking back at that squad in 04/05 it really was fairly poor with the odd talented player " Seriously, are you kidding? Bent + Kuqi were one of the best two partnerships in the division. De Vos was a rock. Davis was superb. Magilton / Miller were two of the best midfielders in the division, Miller hit 15 that year! We had a rather talented side back then capable of outfootballing 90% of the teams in the division, passing teams into submission and playing fantastic flowing footy! The defending on the other hand left plenty to the imagination........... !!!!!
Am I the only person who didn't rate Currie? Yes, his set pieces / crossing were very good (can't think of anyone we've had since who's better) but his work rate was shocking & he provided no cover to the left back. We had Alan Mahon on loan that season (I think it was that season) & he was quality at LM. I also thought Horlock was very under rated. He didn't do anything spectacular but was very good at breaking up the opposition's play & then giving the ball to the more skillful players. I do remember the home game with Wigan when Bent lobbed the winner in the last minute after 1 of the best if not the best goal I've seen at PR - Baines smashed the ball in to the top corner from about 35 yards but when we won it at the end, I thought it might be our season
We had some good players no doubt and perhaps more so some great characters and leadership but it certainly wasn't a great squad, it was very much a patched up squad with alot of journeymen, it was very makeshift but we played to our strengths which was the pace and power up front and some experience throughout the side. We weren't the best footballing team either in terms of pure football, we were very direct under Royle pumped it up to the strikers then played the football off the second ball, it was very entertaining no doubt.
You can't have Murphy on the bench, he's the top goalscorer in the Championship! I was interested to note that yesterday was the first time we had over 20,000 home fans at Portman Road. Rewind a few years and the attendances were in the high 20,000s. I genuinely believe that the fans in attendance now are the 'real fans' who've stuck with Town despite the repeated seasons of mediocrity, as opposed to those who expected a swift return to the Premiership 10 years ago. I'd rather we were promoted with attendances of 16,000 than have a packed ground and carry on missing out. Can Town do it this season? Of course they can! Will they? I'll refer you to Super Mick on that one.
