A good battler for sure but we need someone who can pass the ball to one of our players instead of theirs. I like O Neill but he does lack a bit of precision.
If Brady does leave I'd be inclined to put Toffolo in at LB and push Olsson more forward - thoughts anyone ?
What would be the point of buying a ball playing midfield when we don't have a decent striker to receive the ball and score and anyway AN would only use him in a defensive role to cover for our inadequate defence. What we need is 2 quality CB's at the moment we've only got one, Klose. Unless we sort out a decent our CB pairing and a decent striker we are always going to struggle irrespective of whether we're in the premiership or the championship. If we sort out the CB pairing & a striker it's a toss up between getting rid of half our players or AN.
I did say "first and foremost"! It doesn't matter who we have up front if we can't get the ball to them then no one will score!
I don't know Defoe seemed to do okay yesterday with not much support. Mbokani seem to get the ball enough yesterday and did nothing with it. Depending on you're view he was either too busy falling 0ver or getting fouled, but either way he had plenty of the ball.
I'm just too depressed to even think about who should leave and who should go. Lightening doesn't strike twice remember, I doubt very much that we would bounce straight back next time. The whole thing is a complete shambles, from the very top to the very bottom, it appears that the board have learnt nothing from our last relegation. It was so important to retain our PL status this term and we've blown it, basically blown a £100M windfall. I know we haven't officially been relegated yet but anyone who thinks we'll still stay up after the poor performance and decision making yesterday should be taken away by the men in white coats..... Gutted, absolutely gutted
As I said earlier on another thread, there have been 5 or 6 'displays' this season where Colchester United would have beaten us - yesterday included. That is unacceptable if anyone has ideas (or delusions in our case!) about surviving in this incredibly tough league. One or two "bad days at the office" is unfortunate and inevitable bearing in mind we are one of the small fish in the Premier pond. But to squander points regularly throughout an already difficult season is just bloody pathetic! At least we created a few chances and forced good saves yesterday, but it was Sunderland, FFS so we'd be expected to. Remember the spineless capitulations at Southampton, Watford, Bournemouth and even freakin' Aston Relegated Villa. That's why we're here, not just yesterday. And it was all self-inflicted and totally in our own hands, too - it's not as if an unexpected result elsewhere has dumped us neck deep in the brown stuff!
Yes he did, because they played to his strengths, hit the ball to him early, which is my point, look up see the opportunity strike! We've been hit by that all season, its how Leicester are playing it, and Man City to some degree, it gets results! I just can't see what the plan was yesterday, Mbokani did nothing with his possession, Naismith might as well have been at home watching it on the telly. We don't have anyone who can produce that killer pass, we have to play around with it in midfield, slow the game right down and lose possession. Sorry not trying to pick a fight, but I'm pretty depressed!
Interesting conundrum:- Jonathan Parramint @j_parramint @RobinNCST @cromercanary@dan_brigham @melissajrudd@mattjohnson333 where does this relegation leave McNally? Not the genius we all thought.
Often see him on match day clearing up rubbish outside the club shop! Maybe he should be clearing up the mess of a manager!
We will be in the CCC so I would keep Ruddy Rudd Bennett Klose Ollson Tofflo Brady Murphy x2 Redmond Tettey Howson O'Neil Vaddis Hoolahan Brady Jerome Assume Klose and Brady will go but as at Xmas maybe nobody really interested in our squad so maybe not The rest can do one but no doubt they will hang around on their contracts Bring back Bradders!
We can still field the vast majority of the side that got us promoted, I think it's only Johnson and Grabban missing? I also think the biggest threats in the championship this season should have been promoted, and can't see Villa or Newcastle being in a position to mount a good challenge. Other than ourselves, the biggest spenders in the championship the last couple of seasons have been Boro, Watford, Bournemouth and Derby - three of those will most likely not be in the championship next season. If the squad mentality is right then I think we can challenge strongly. I guess it'll be nice to be a big fish again when it comes to transfers too. If we can keep Klose, I'd move Heaven and Earth to do so. But otherwise I'd use the sales of him, Brady and Redmond to fund moves for two centre backs, a central midfielder and a striker. I wouldn't be surprised/bothered if Naismith, Mbokani, Vadis, Wisdom, Mulumbu, Dorrans and Andreu all find new clubs. Maddison, the Murphy's and Toffolo should come into the first team squad, basically replacing Redmond and Brady at least for no cost.
I can't believe with four games still to play we've already accepted our fate. So unnecessary, so unnecessary, the board have learned nothing. Shame on them, shame on them !
There was an assumption that we'd lose our best players (like Redmond) last time we dropped but most stuck to it. There was Fer of course but otherwise I think it was a fairly smooth transition. Perhaps Brady might stay (fingers x'd) but fair to expect there will be some interest in Klose. If the worst happens I'm looking forward to. Seeing what the Murphys, Toffolo can do
I think we will likely only lose a couple and most of the rest we will be stuck with/happy to retain. Klose, Brady and Redmond will be our most in demand players maybe Howson too, we won't need to sell, but equally I'd be surprised if any of them except maybe Howson played for us in the championship if we're down there next season. All our other players though are actually pretty top end Championship players, they got us up last time, so the need for widespread culling in my book is not there. It's further time for continued evolution. AN will hopefully continue buying players that he believes will be improvements and also better able to play the way he wants us to. That said, I am more worried about this building now, is AN the man to do the building? His transfer record is a little chequered. On the plus side you have; Brady, Klose On the minus (By minus I mean have not improved the starting XI yet); Pinto, Mbokani, Naismith, Jarvis, Wisdom, Mulumbu, Dorrans, Bamford All of that said, if we start a championship campaign with; Ruddy Martin/Pinto Bennett Bassong Olsson/Toffolo Tettey/O'neil Murphy Howson Jarvis Naismith/Hoolihan Jerome Bench: Rudd, Martin/Pinto, Olsson/Toffolo, Tettey/O'neil, Naismith/Hoolihan, Other Murphy, Maddison I think we will be strong enough to challenge. What's more if we add to that and/or retain the services of NR, TK and RB then we'll be well positioned to do so. I'd like to see Mulumbu, Dorrans, Whittaker, Lafferty, Andreu moved on, though at championship level all of them are capable of doing a job. Who ever stays or goes, top priority must be to get another CB and striker. An upgrade at RB and any other upgrades welcome but maybe a waste unless good enough to hopefully make the jump to the PL as well as contribute to a championship promotion campaign. Easier said than done, look at Bamford - Excellent in the Champioship for Middlesborough but can't get a kick at two low end PL sides. I might be tempted to try and buy him from Chelsea though as with youth on his side he would be good for us in the champ and maybe could cut it in the Prem some season soon. Bah!
I think much the same as last time, most of our "best" players have failed to really perform. Redmond started the season on fire but faded quickly for example. I think the difference with him is that his relationship with the club doesn't seem as strong as before, and I can see him forcing a move to avoid another season in the championship. With Brady, I'm not sure how much influence he had in his move last summer. It was very obvious that Hull needed to balance the books (which shouldn't be as hard for us), but equally after the season he's had I think he can rightly say his place is the Premier League.
