Players don't have 6-12 months to work it out anymore, the increase in money and from this the increased level of competitiveness of the mid level teams that we are now seeing has changed the nature of the league, when a club buys a striker now he has to be able to do the job not take months to get near it, as for our recent signings now that we are over halfway through this season they can only be viewed as duds as their recruitment was only based upon the policy of buy cheap young foreign players, hope for them to have an impact and then sell on for a profit, the motivation to improve the team quality and ability to compete in the PL is not part of the objective that NUFC are working to.
To be honest I'm not entirely sure this notion that players are not given time is fair. Most are. Yes the treatment of Thauvin was a little unfair. He shouldn't be throwing himself round like a fairy but the fans were a bit harsh on him. Generally though the fans give players time. The problem is the fans are frustrated. The lack of connection with the team and all these foreign players is patently evident. One by product of that is limited patience with players and managers. This may be slightly misguided at times, but its not really all that surprising. A lot of the fans can see the problems, can see the flawed transfer policy, and lose patience when the club continually make the same mistake (mainly buying third rate french lads - then wondering why it takes ages to settle or they just don't suit the league). Thauvin is an excellent example of transfer stupidity. His record was dodgy before he arrived having made worst players in France team, we were desperate for players to hit the ground running, had just sold a similar level of player having gave him a year to settle - none of it made any sense from messrs Charnley, Carr and McClaren. It was just stupid. He has then predictably struggled and the fans are getting restless thinking "there is a quarter of our summer budget blown on this lad". He is young, he needs time but he was the sort of young maverick you buy when you have a settled team performing. Where you have maybe an older player in his role who you are looking to replace. We bought him to sell in a couple of years.
This I agree with. It's not the fans haven't given him time to settle as TBH we've barely seen him but 6 months down the line he is still rolling around on the floor after a little love bump is not on! Especially when you are 1-0 in a knock out competition with 5 mins to go. Agree with most of the rest though and if we were not it the **** right now, no one would have batted an eye lid. I hope the fans sing Thauvin a song tonight t show him we will back him but he needs to man up and take the hits and maybe give some out himself.
So explain the criticsm of Alnwick? Mitrovic? Gini (to a certain extent)? Thauvin (again to a certain extent)? Enrique and Colo when they both first signed? etc etc etc
Alnwick - I'm not sure on, I didn't really see anything majorly negative towards him just that he was a young and inexperienced keeper who made a few mistakes which people probably commented on. He only played about 8 games at such a young age so how anyone could judge him as a footballer is ridiculous!!! Mitrovic - Again not seen much in that way. I think most accept he is a young striker, yes there are some on here calling him fat and **** but they are the same ones who say we're selling all our players and getting relegated constantly so I take it with a pinch of salt and ignore them Gini - Who said what? I'll give them a smack up inside their head to get rid of the cobwebs! Enrique and Colo - They did get some stick but we were getting relegated at the time, they came into a squad of underachievers and got some abuse as did the majority of that team. Once Enrique found his feet in the championship he was a bit of a fan fav while he was here. Colo keeps changing my mind some days he's good and looks solid others he looks like he's already back in Argentina and is still not "loved" by the fans - being captain puts him under the microscope/spotlight, something i feel he doesn't handle very well. Like I say I don't think the abuse for Thauvin wasn't meant as harshly as it sounded and was taken by the player but just a reaction to the squads current form, his individual performance after coming on in a losing knockout game (missed a glorious opportunity from what i saw on the highlights and misplaced a few easy passes) and him being a bit of a pansy (which he is - no debating that), I don't think anyone likes to see these super stars with their multi million pound contracts rolling around after a touch. If it had been a serious injury (which it was obviously not) or even a crunching tackle he wouldn't have been subject to the abuse and would have probably been clapped off had he been taken off on a stretcher. Again I'd say a lot of the comments flying around currently are nothing more than a reaction to the plight of the team currently.
I think the Alnwick situation was exasperated by the fact the club found themselves in the position where they had to play him. The fans were frustrated with the general lack of goalkeeping quality, and at the time it was costing us a lot of points. Jak included. However it wasn't really his fault, he was very young and perhaps just not good enough at the level he was being asked to perform at. He was badly handled by the club, the lack of a loan to get some experience away from the spotlight down the leagues is a tried and tested method for keepers (indeed most players). He never got one and instead got thrust into the PL. They then gave him his loan afterwards. Loans are more important to keepers because their mistakes inevitably lead to goals and therefore get blown up. Again the fault lay with the club rather than Jak or the fans. I can't remember but it may have actually coincided with the January window and the club thought they'd just wait it out rather buy someone. More frustration. It also included I think the exit from both cups. More frustration. I think we conceded 19 goals while he was in nets for those 7 or 8 games. The club was largely to blame. On a Saturday I don't recall him getting much stick. He did on forums but come on that is the nature of forums.
Alnwick isn't good enough, same for Mitrovic. They've both been found out at this level. 2 leagues down they might both prosper, but the game is beyond their abilities when they have to play against top level athletes. It's like saying a coach is wrong for letting go of a 14 year old. Sometimes you might have played the kid in goal when he was a striker so you don't see the talent, and Southampton do and he becomes world class. Most of the time, they were never going to make it at that level. The more appropriate comparison would be with someone who was abysmal in their first season without showing any hints of ability, and then class. If Mitrovic comes good, my arse, fenwicks window, you know the rest.
A striker and a defender and, holy cow, the club mean business. I think the 3-5-2 is on the agenda. I often agree, but I think Mitrovic needs more time. For years he's been touted as having something about him, many of us were guilty of thinking he was the next Shearer when he arrived and whilst he'll never get to that level I think he's got a lot to offer. He needs to learn, though, and needs the goalscoring burden shared around. If we can pick up a few wins and the players can enjoy themselves more, I think you'll see something different. For lost causes, my personal opinion is Thauvin fits that bill superbly. But most of us knew that well before he signed.
You know what they say about first impressions? My first one was formed when I saw him miss genuine, incredible sitters in pre-season. You know the classic line "my Grandma could have scored that one"? That has never rung truer. Now, people are all of a sudden claiming time is needed on this lad, but it's not like he hasn't had time. He has played enough games now for an evaluation, and the evaluation is that he is missing the quickness of thought to be a Premier League striker. He is still missing sitters. Honestly, if you made a video of all his missed chances, this glorious notion he was Shearer re-incarnate would soon evaporate from existence. His ability in the air is poor. Jumping, probably fine, presence ok(ish), but finishing? If your life depended on someone scoring a header, you would call everyone in the world, twice, before asking him. I'm pretty sure he closes his eyes when he heads it like a five-year-old. Worse than that, his general finishing is ****ing pathetic. Honestly, I feel you might as well drag someone from the street who is the right build, and train them, they would stand as much chance of making a decent striker. This is echoed by the fact he is obviously thick as two short planks. Not only is he a push away from a meltdown on the pitch, he is a candidate for the worst target man I have ever seen. His touch is poor, he cannot communicate with team-mates or read their runs. You know why Mitrovic and Perez are said to work well together? Because Perez is intelligent and lively enough to make the most of the clumsy oaf. I say this in all seriousness, I'd rather be looking at a line-up with Shola in it.
At this level you can't be hanging around waiting a season for a striker to find his feet and be consistent in front of goal, the reason why we are in the mess is because we can't score, hoping that Mitrovic will come good is just not on, we don't have time, he came here as a striker and can't do that job so waste of space.
I seem to remember Elliott getting dogs abuse on forums not so long ago. Given a reasonable chance in the team I would say he has proved himself to be an excellent no 2 keeper playing probably better than our no 1
Apparently, Shearer has confirmed that we approached Austin in the summer but he turned us down because he wanted to move to a 'bigger' club. Also, the lad that Leicester have just signed from Birmingham, Demarai Gray, was recommended to us by Lee Clarke. Graham Carr took one look and said that he wasn't good enough. Demarai Gray being the kid who is highly rated by everyone else.
Mitrovic was one of the best players on the park last night. He needs someone to play alongside him though.
Got an assist and a goal... What some of the people on here don't seem to understand is he is 21 YEARS OLD! He isn't going to be GREAT, hes a young adult (admittedly looks like he has the mental age of a 12 year old) and you can see where he needs working on. I thought aerially last night he was good - battled well. What he does need to work on is his hold up play and releasing the ball - gives it away with to many flicks etc. This all goes back to what DDP was saying you can't expect everyone to hit the ground running and be perfect every game - "we demand a team that tries" - Mitro put his heart and soul in last night and to try and dismiss his performance by saying "he wasn't great" is laughable.
