Its why I said much less overall talent. Those 4 yes, but as a squad, Slade has far more. Also, don't think all 4 of those were together at the same time though might be wrong. Can't remember who was around with Bellamy's first stint, but Burke had gone by the second. DJ would have bitten your hand off for the depth of resources Slade has. There were times DJ didn't have enough players to fill the bench.
If we are being nostalgic, got me thinking of prolific City attacking partnerships in my time of watching the City. Toshack & Clark Alston & Evans Hemmerman & Hatton (albeit briefly) Gilligan & Bartlett Stant & Blake Earnshaw & Thorne Bothroyd & McCormack Bothroyd & Chopra Perhaps we will be talking of Jones & Watt in years to come Any others I have missed..............Campbell & Odemwinghie
I would agree on player numbers Remote (hence the bench problems) but I have to question the supposed quality in the current squad. We are where we are for a number of reasons, some due to management style (or lack of it) and some down to a number of players not being as good as they or others think they are. With the exception of Marshall we don't have any especially talented players who can set this division (or Cardiff City Stadium for that matter) on fire. Contrast that with the players I mentioned - and I even forgot McCormack who was as deadly as any of them at his best.
Noone's shadow of what he used to be, however our best performances have been with him & Pilks playing wide. Its' taken Slade half a season to realise this & I think we'd be foolish to offload him now unless we can get a similar better player.
Without a doubt plus he had Ramsey and Joe Ledley. He also had a front 3 option of McCormack , Chopra and Bothroyd. He just had no idea how to play them together. Leaving McCormack on the bench and bringing on Etuhu showed just how limited Jones was. But Jones squad was far more talented
What is this love-in for Noone on here? Apart from the bonus of his chirpy character in the dressing room he's done very little if nothing on the pitch for practically the past 18 months. His brief Prem league season form has deserted him and we should have taken that £2M that Norwich offered last January. I can't understand why anyone should say we couldn't get anyone better for that sort of money (if Tan would sanction the spend) - that's what Dalman/Choo/Slade are paid for. Living on past form and glory has been levelled at Whitts in the recent past, but his problem has been in the main the system played by Slade. Noone has had every opportunity when on the pitch to turn it on out wide and be a dangerous asset. In fact, instead of going off with a bang he's turning out to be a damp squib this season and a change might benefit both him and the club. Pilkington currently is twice the player that Noone is and should operate on either side with a 5th man in midfield to provide the service that Watt will need. Abandon 4-4-2 now and start controlling midfield where Championship games are usually won.
The crowd will never get on his back as they have done with certain players. if he plays tomorrow I look forward to the continuance of this debate on Monday! OS, abandon 4-4-2!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Slade is more likely to grow an than do that
Wasn't Pilks a bit disappointing for a couple of games before his recent absence - hauled off early at least once. He did well last week so I'm not overly critical of him and, on form, he provides a very good balance with good defensive work too. For Noonie I feel he just needs one or two bits of luck to go his way and his confidence and "old self" will return. I also think the slow movement of the ball through the middle of the park is bad when a quick winger needs the ball early to get one on one with his full back. This has improved in the last 2 games with Ralls in the middle and, for me anyway, I have seen signs of Noone improving. In terms of signing someone else, didn't we try to get Russell from Derby but failed. If signed he would have replaced Noone.
Bluey - everyone has a poor game in them and Pilks is no exception, but it's a job to find a good game in Noone. He's had a far poorer season overall and got away with it. Johnny Russell would have been an excellent addition. The word was Derby didn't want to let him go whereas it's more likely we wouldn't stump up the price.
Whitts form has been in and out (mostly out) since DJ left, people have been asking for him to be dropped over the last 5 seasons.
Nothing wrong with dropping a player Dai - I've agreed plenty of times in the past that Whitts should be benched. The point is that judgements have to be made about how to get the best out of individuals and the squad in general. Clearly Whitts cannot operate in a 4 man midfield - he's far too slow and needs someone else to take the flak and allow him to do what we know he can. Slade is sticking to his 4-4-2 mantra (lop sided or otherwise) and ignoring our lack of pace and drive through the middle. Ralls has partially solved that but we need someone like Gunnar or Dikgacoi as well to add some physicality. Whitts in there instead of Noone would be my way.
