Its not that those people don't recognise the need for more than 14 players. Its just that Bradley was unlikely to be one of the first 2 choices for any position on the field. That we had a £6m player in that situation is actually a very positive reflection on the strength and depth of our midfield. It's just a shame that the same cannot be said of our defence. If we had spent £6m on a defender, the chances are he'd probably start every week.
A 25 man squad should include more than two players per position - you do the maths! So are you saying when injuries and suspensions kick in we shouldn't have other options available? And what about competition for places, who's to say he wouldn't be able to force his way into the side, it's not as if he's miles off the pace or miles off the first team and way out of his depth despite what some people have bizarrely been trying to say. He's versatile and can play on the left or in the middle, scores goals from midfield, has a hell of an engine on him and was the heartbeat of our success last season.. He's also a fighter so I can't believe he's given up and wanted out already after putting so much effort in to get us back in the top flight. I know I keep saying this over and over, but I really do find it incredibly naive for people to think he didn't have a big part to play just because he hadn't started the first few games and just don't understand it at all.
Sorry Swedish, but I simply don't agree with this. We currently have five central midfielders: Tettey, Howson, Dorrans, Mulumbu and O'Neil. Given that we almost always play with three central midfielders, it stands to reason that Johnson must have been at least second choice for one of those central midfield positions. Given that O'Neil was used less than Johnson last season and has been used less than Johnson this season, the implication is that Johnson is ahead of O'Neil, which makes it even more likely. The fact that Johnson was cover for left midfield also means he was a useful utility player in an emergency, also makes him more likely to be called upon than which every of those five above are the two on the bench. Also, injuries happen. Form dips. The idea that our second highest goal scorer and the highest scoring midfielder in the Championship (I think that's right) would not be playing regularly is simply ludicrous.
I think Johnson took on a kind of 'Surman', inside left position, rather than a left winger which Brady and Jarvis ostensibly are. He made that position his own last season which gives the added option of playing a narrower formation rather than orthodox wingers. Our loss is Derby City's gain - I've even dedicated my signature to him on the back of that gaffe
Tell you what, if nothing else good has come out of the deadline day at least Rob and I have found something we agree pretty much 100% about
Jarvis is a completely different player to Johnson, anyone who thinks it's like for like really doesn't know what they're taking about if you ask me. Incidentally I wonder if those people who think Johnson is out of his depth and would really struggle in the Premier League any of the same ones who think that Toffolo or the Murphy twins could do a job for us this year? The thing for me that's continues to make this all really interesting is the continued silence from the club - has anybody said anything official yet since the window closed? Not like us at all that if so, adding further fuel to the mystery.
Anyone else slightly surprised Matt Jarvis is only 29? I'd mentally got him down as 32-33, he's been round ages! That said, I hope he can rediscover some form from his younger days. No goals, no assists last season, 2 and 4 respectively in 32 appearances the season before, and 2 and 2 from 32 before that. I'm sure that makes you all feel better about him joining in place of Johnson!
I feel a bit of sympathy for poor Matt Jarvis who comes in under the weight of all this. AN has taken a risk with this for sure, but I can't help feeling that Bradley himself had a big part in the decision once the offer from Derby came in. He could have stayed and fought for his place, but he didn't and decided to move on with the incentive of a four year contract. I suspect that Jarvis wouldn't be here if he hadn't. In the end, I feel the same as I did when Holty moved on; namely that we'll all miss him terribly but the club has to continually progress according to the manager's priorities. Much will depend on the number of goals and assists Brady and Jarvis produce between them if this rift is to be mended. I personally hope that they both rise to the challenge for all of our sakes!
Holty was four years older and at the end of his top flight career when he moved on, it was absolutely the right time for him to go. Bradders is 28, coming into his prime and had the best season of his career last year. Sorry, but I don't think the two situations are particularly comparable at all. When you hear his interviews it makes it all the more confusing, when he says he "really hopes to get out of this league" I think well why did you drop down into it then?? It shows he's thinks he's good enough to play in the top flight - as do I - so I just can't accept that he chose to drop down a division, back into the one he just fought so hard to get out of, if there isn't more too it. Why would he suddenly be so desperate to jump ship after the passion and commitment he's shown to get out of the Championship? There's no way we'd have sold him to one of our rivals, as I'm certain there would have been interest from several Premier League clubs. The speed it all happened and the fact it came so out of the blue and so early into the season before AN has really had a chance to settle on his best XI just screams to me that there is more to it.
Possibly, Tony, but I am as perplexed as you are about BJ leaving. I voted for him as PotS and thought he'd be a key player for us this season, even after Brady came in. I was livid when I heard that he was moving to Derby. I still consider that it's a huge gamble given the abilities that he showed last season as he progressed hugely as a player, but at the end of the day I accept that Brady (and Jarvis) is the way AN wants to move forward. I made the comparison to Holty not because their ages are similar, but because of how important they have both been to our club. I am still not at all sure that it is for the best, but what I am sure of is that he has now moved on to Derby and that we have to move on as well, whether we want to or not.
Yes, a 25 man squad contains more than 2 per position. Many positions will have further cover but is it sensible for that further cover to be worth £6m? Of course we'll need more than two options for when injuries kick in, and we have them. Brady, Jarvis, Dorrans, Howson, Olsson are all options and there are probably others. Two injuries in that position won't be great but we have the depth to manage it. I understand that neither Jarvis, nor Brady, is the same player as Johnson but if they are more like the kind of player that AN wants in his starting 11, then that argument actually weakens the case for keeping him. Anyone saying he was out of his depth in the PL would be wrong but equally I wasnt expecting him to repeat the impact he had last year either. Last season he was, quite literally, in a different league but if someone had offered us £6m after his last PL season, there wouldn't have been this reaction. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a terrific player but I think his departure is in some ways sensible, whether planned or forced upon us.
I imagine that the likes of Swansea, Saints,etc (the clubs we aspire to emulate) are quite comfortable with their reserve players being worth £6m plus tbh
But due to our relegation, Rob we are no longer in the same position as Swansea, Saints, et al. Sadly, we have to work our way back up again.
I don't disagree with you at all, you are spot on we definitely have hard work to do and need patience, but my point was that surely we would be better served by having £6m players on the bench (and multiplying them) than cashing in?
What I think is that Alex Neil has done such an incredible job with us so far, and has built himself up a mountain of goodwill already, and because of this some folk refuse to question any decision he makes and just accept that it must be the right decision and for the right reasons - or even take him out of the equation altogether by trying to suggest this move was all Johnson's doing and that the club had little or no say in the matter apart from trousering a relatively modest fee in today's climate. Without opening an old can of worms yet again I wonder what the reaction would have been if Chris Hootun had made this call and sold our player of the season?
Especially as we know we are now debt free and it's not as if we'd spent much else this summer so we didn't need to sell at all. If it was immediate first team football he wanted why not loan him out for three months and get Derby to pay his wages? Far too many unanswered questions for me for this to be as simple to comprehend as some appear to think.
I mentioned the other day that I likened this situation to that of Ashley Ward and Jon Newsome, both of whom were ushered out of the side door with no fanfares or chance to say goodbye to the fans, etc. In those days, however, the fat controller was still at the helm and he / the club needed the money - hardly the position they find themselves in today over the Johnson transfer?
