That's football manager bollocks. Bruce and McShane might not have 18 in tackling but they've hardly let us down this season. We've got a supposedly more talented defender who can't get a game now because they're playing so well. What makes them only Championship players? Doesn't the fact they're performing at this level mean they're PL players? What if they were called Bruzio and McShandez would that make them PL players? The players that have let us down this season have not been any of the defenders. The midfield have been poor at times, the attack bar Jelavic and N'Doye has been ****e throughout and the keeper has made mistakes. The defence have been pretty good all season though.
I worked a short time for the old Albion Reed who changed their name to Boral. A new Company started up by the Standard Roads Group called "Astec" which is where I spent 23 years. After I retired they were taken over by a huge New Zealand Company called Fulton-Hogan and they have become the major power here in Oz. Some of my colleagues were 'necking bottles of beer' at 5.30am and continued to replenish during the day. We would then spend an hour in the nearest Pub Car Park before clocking off at whatever time and then spending the rest of the day in our local pub until stumps. Happy days which have sensibly disappeared now (instant dismissal for drinking on the job) and no shorts and 'singie' - full length trousers and long sleeve shirts plus a hat.
Who between them managed 7 goals from 91 appearances. You might think that that is good enough. Sorry, I don't!
Burton Albion are top of their league and their top goalscorer has 6. Imagine how good they might be if they had a "striker".
You conveniently forget to mention Alex McDonald who scored 7 from 21 appearances for Burton this season before transferring to Oxford. Four other players have scored 4 or more I believe.
It's got nothing to do with Computer games, I'm basing my opinion on watching his playing style And ability. He's had a decent season, but he can't pass a ball and his positioning at this level is pretty suspect. I'm not knocking the lads effort, but he really isn't Premier League quality. If we released him now, would there be top flight clubs waiting to snap him up? I doubt it. Your ability shows your level and i just don't think he has enough of it, esespecially compared to Dawson and Chester. If we keep players who are punching above their weight, it's going to end in tears. The defence hasn't been pretty good, none of the squad have been at their best, it's why we're 17th. McShane I was probably a bit harsh on, I'd keep him as cover.
I believe that both McShane and Bruce can 'step into the breach' when needed to do so. Should our current first choice players be available then they would obviously spend a lot of time on the bench but this has given us good depth imo. I doubt we would secure the services of players of their quality to sit on the bench but don't forget we have Maguire standing in the wings to take his chance if it becomes available.
They're both playing well. We aren't conceding loads are we? Davies was dropped because he wasn't playing well and hasn't got back in. I agree that Bruce can't pass, but there's a big difference between being able to pass well and not giving it away. Until recently he was always giving it away, but he's quite obviously come on a long way in that respect this season and just plays it simple now. As a defender that's fine. We shouldn't get rid of anyone based on what they used to do. This season they've both been good and hardly ever let us down between them. The same can't be said of Aluko or Hernandez but presumably you want them to stay?
Not really, no. At a push I'd keep Hernandez but I wouldn't be gutted if he left. Our defence, while it looks solid during games, is still leaking goals. Our last clean sheet came against Leicester, but since then we've conceded 8 goals in 3 games. Our pretence seems to be, "it's fine to lose because nobody is hammering us", which is bollocks. Clean sheets win points and we haven't kept enough this season, simple as that. McGregor can take as much blame as he likes but at the end of the day goals being conceded is usually down to the defence. Granted, injury has meant that we haven't seen much of Chester and Dawson together but hopefully with them fit we'll see them in a genuine back 4. Burns and Swan noted in the Southampton game that we have a massive tendancy to pass it back to the keeper. Bruce is the biggest culprit of that. A passback to the keeper nearly always results in the ball being punted down the other end of the field for a 50/50 challenge, so why doesn't AB simply pass it to somebody else or, if he has to get rid, punt it down field himself? He must pass it back more than any other centre half and there's no need to do it every time as it puts pressure on our goalkeeper. It's a nasty habit we've picked up, there's no need for the goalkeeper to take so many touches and that pass by Livermore early on agaisnt Southampton was a sad indictment of the way our players think tactically. I just don't see the benefit of keeping players that are below average in this league, when we could replace them pretty cheaply with better players. Progression walks hand in hand with improvement and we need to be saying goodbye to sentiment and memory and hello to quality.
I didn't say he was Madge but he can play up front and is classed as a Winger/Forward. He has scored twice from 8 for Oxford but is a very small player at 5'7" and is playing at a lower level. I can see what ImperialTiger is saying and he has a moot point. With a decent 'striker' up front I would guess that Burton would have got more goals but they appear to have utilized what they have by incorporating a 'combined team effort' style and it has paid off for them.
I'd just replace the players who aren't performing rather than ones who are playing well but have lower league sounding names.
I don't understand what their names have to do with it? John Terry is a lower league sounding name but he's been one of the best defenders in the country for years. There's a young Spanish lad playing at Barnet called Luisma, does his name suggest he should be playing higher? How does that work?! There's a huge difference between playing well and being good enough. Bradford City got to the league cup final and had an incredible cup run this season. Does that make them PL quality, because they beat the likes of Chelsea, or was it that they just played well on the day? I wouldn't drop AB at the moment, but I certainly wouldn't keep him as a long term option, otherwise we're never going to get any better.
If they're repeatedly playing well you need to reassess your opinion of them rather than assuming it's temporary just because they used to be average. By the logic you're employing, Tottenham need to get rid of Harry Kane this summer..
Well Bruce dropped a massive bollock in the Southapton game, it was a daft tackle that gave away a penalty, should he not be dropped?
Who the **** said that was good enough? I called them strikers because that's the position they play on the pitch, that's all. FFS.
Roo doesn't seem to be able to differentiate between a goalscorer and a forward player. Apparently if you're a forward and you don't score goals then you're a defender or a tea lady or some attempt at humour.
The whole purpose of the game, Sterling, as you seem to be living half-way between 'never-never land' and 'cloud cuckoo land', is to score more goals than the opposition and we have only managed to do that a mere 6 times this season. You are trying to tell me, along with Sydney Tiger, through your warped sense of logic, that this is OK because some of our so-called 'strikers' are 'contributing to the game in other ways'! That is the biggest heap of cl@p tr@p that I have ever heard. Those so-called 'strikers' you keep lauding up each week are about as useless as tits on a bull.
