When I first read that I thought it said "bring back David Frost"! Desperate or what? There's no 'huddle' anymore before kickoff. Which makes me think we have a fractured squad!
y I see your ´Dear oh dear´ and raise you a . Has it suddenly become not permissible to criticise each others´ views on here, or at least only be permissible for a select group. I´ve had far worse things said about my views, and in more offensive terms than that. I happen to think you´re totally wrong to disregard the players´ ineptitude out on the pitch, and continue to lay the blame solely at Alex Neil´s door, or do you think he´s been deliberately telling them for weeks now, to go out and play without any passion or spirit. Because that´s what they´ve been doing. What about players like Stringer, Forbes and more recently Grant Holt. Do you think they needed to be reminded to go out and play with passion, for fear of them not doing so otherwise - no, of course not! - they were true warriors, they´d shed every drop of blood they had, every week. The sort of players we haven´t got any of anymore, and yes, I know! before you tell me - That´s Alex Neil´s fault too. Only it isn´t , is it? We all know for a fact that neither this CEO or our previous one managed to get in all of Alex Neil´s targets, not by any means, so they´re partly to blame too. And the list goes on of those, who in a major or minor way, have contributed to our current predicament. So I´d give Neil at least until the end of the season, to see what sort of a fist he makes of it, and if there´s still no change, then maybe it would be time to look elsewhere. It would also give us time to identify, hopefully, the right individual, so that we don´t again appoint someone as talentless as a Gunn or an Adams, just because the fans are clamouring for change.
No, they turned a blind eye to our dearth of strikers and decent defenders and chose instead to gorge themselves silly on attacking midfielders! Three, to complement one perfectly functional one we already had!!
What about Afobe and McCormack ( I´m not a fan, but nevertheless) and a couple of I think Italian defenders, whose names I forget, all, I believe, on Neil´s wanted list.
I think Jerome is a bit like that type of player, unfortunately he seems to do it for himself rather than bring the team with him, perhaps if the midfield got a bit nearer him occasionally, rather than spend their time trying to help out our generally incompetent defense, then he might be able to influence them a bit more.
They withdrew from both deals (I'm not particularly devastated, either, esp. Ross Mac.) And ironically, Afobe went to Bournemouth for exactly what we'd offered Wolves late in the previous window. Dwight Gayle is the painful one for me. Eleven goals (11) so far for Newcastle. They're just not persistent enough. Or consistent, for that matter - why do we bust a gut to sign Afobe one month, and suddenly go aloof over any potential deal the next? Time we started shopping in Morrisons (Waitrose I admit, is beyond us, but I've never advocated throwing top dollar at players - we're NCFC, after all) and upgraded from bloody Iceland
BRILLIANT RBF - I've been saying for some time that we need a change in tactics, so that we get more players in the box and certainly the majority of the fans around me are of the same opinion.
Actually at times yes even these player smight need a nudge in the right direction. Holt was a journeman and Forest fans who saw him canot truly understand where our goal machine came from. Why this was the case is the cusp of this argument for me. In the right team, with the right manager a player may excel. In the wrong team, frustration can build, your effectiveness drops, your head can go and your chances of looking and playing like you're busting through walls is limited. Alex Neil is not playing the right team or tactics, they are not gelling and so the majority of the players are playing like disenfranchised strangers. A manager needs buy in for any system. If the players feel it works and gives them a platform to play their best they will likely play their best and give their all. Hughton managed to strangle the life out of Holt and many of our players and right now it feels like Neil is doing likewise. Bah!
Great post, general Polar opposite to Lambert's squad, who also took largely 'journeymen' from lower leagues, Tierney, Fox, Crofts, Pilkingtin, E Bennett, etc, yet managed to get them playing at a level they probably didn't realise they were capable of. Shame we couldn't bottle some of that and leave it as a legacy for subsequent managers to utilise AN's bottle clearly fell on the floor and smashed as soon as that dreaded MOTM came his way
JM - You´re confusing me with someone else I´m afraid, not that I disagree with his sentiments though
