I still think it's pretty irresponsible and naive to expect him, in his current seemingly petulant, greedy state, to get us the goals over the next 17 games. If he or Srbeny, if he turns out useful, which I'm happy to assume he will, get crocked or suspended, we'll be left ostensibly with Watkins as a front man. And then where the hell would we be
Yes, now he's got competition for the striker role, it could just be the turning point of his season. Edit - he had a reasonable game at Griffin Park.
To get him back on form would almost be like having a new striker anyway !! Come on Basil - show us what you can do !!!
Right, back to football matches at CR. Next up Middlesbrough, but can we win at home when it’s been a struggle in recent months? Expect to see Basil start once again, but he may be replaced early by the new German striker if he looks like he is never going to score. An evolving squad needs to show that it can evolve fairly rapidly if we are going to get away from mid-table obscurity.
I don't have a crystal ball but I'm pretty certain Nelson won't play every game he will get suspended or injured at some stage. It would be nice to see Sir Benny and Abrahams on the bench to send out a message that his starting place is not guaranteed .
Actually, Ayala is a bigger threat - 3 goals to Howson's 2 so far. Assombalonga only has 12. This will be a real test of our ambitions for the rest of the season to be sure. I agree with JMF that Oliveira played well at Brentford, and I'd add the previous two matches as well. Strikers are judged by their goals, however, and that's what we need right now.
Edwards is class and is probably put in by Spurs as a double agent to turn Madders head . I would rather sell Maddisson to Man City with a Gunn trade . Chuck Angus in as a bargaining chip the boy won't be picking up any a premier league medals this year & his father signed Grant Holt.
From the presser right now: DF: "It was a busy window. There were many decisions to make and it was a big change for our club." #ncfc DF: "I have big compliments for Stuart Webber as I think he did an outstanding job, taking difficult decisions." #ncfc DF: "Last season we had the oldest squad in the league. Now, we have a young squad full of talent." #ncfc DF: "As a coach you're never totally happy but I'm content. We had to find creative solutions and I feel we've found some good ones." #ncfc DF: "Ivo Pinto is much-improved but isn't available. It's a bit of a risk as he still feels pain in his movement." #ncfc DF: "Timm Klose has blisters on his heel. We think he's available but we will see." #ncfc edit - DF: "All the guys are in my thoughts. We've had a good week on the training pitch. Marcus Edwards has shown his potential." #ncfc DF: "Matt Jarvis has improved a lot but you have to be careful after a long-term injury. He will perhaps return to team training next week." #ncfc
Right, Pritchard back to Championship, Jerome to Prem., Bennett and Ruddy to Prem., there might be other examples
Pritchard isn't young enough to burden himself with the hopes and dreams of a County . He was first ignored them introduced after the party had ended , an unfortunate injury against Cambridge forced him out of the first half of the season and as a consequence he lost his place to JM23 and we never looked back. We made a 50% profit on a luxury player and brought in some Germans. The Dortmund guy Leitner has Champions league pedigree and brings something else to the table. Cliché alert
Oliveira was our second highest player on WhoScored yesterday with 7.6 behind Trybull's 8.4 (and that on top of his new contract!). I was only listening, but Nelson was constantly praised for his contributions on and off the ball and Darren Eadie's judgement on players is one I respect. I really do think it's time we stop labelling Oliveira as lazy or not caring etc.
He does seem to have got his 'mojo' back (I know canario won't agree ) and certainly forced the Boro keeper to make some good saves and had at least one shot blocked.
His attitude looked improved yesterday and he really looked like he wanted to be involved. He deserved a goal for all his hard work and movement. A goal will surely come soon and that will restore his confidence. Well played Basil.
The goals will come, but it must be very frustrating for him until they do. I thought he was also excellent at Chelsea and Brentford, but he must have been exhausted against ShefUtd.
Interesting isn't it Jerome works tirelessly for the team both on and off the ball and all people go on about is his lack of goals and that he's past his sell by date. Jump forwarded a few months and Oliveira starts contributing to the team effort, but can't score. Could it be the way we use our striker that explains the lack of goals ? After all Jerome has only been at Derby a couple of weeks and scores. Has Oliveira got his mojo back / improved his attitude because he realises if he wants to go elsewhere he has to start performing. It's not as though our fax machine was overheating with offers coming in for him in January.
It's not a case of attacking a player, it's a case of being honest about players performances and not letting sentiment get in the way. It's no coincidence that since Martin was jettisoned out of the first team our defence improved and has continued to improved. Replacing Martin with Hanley is probably one of the key decisions taken this season and money well spent. Anyway there's still Hoolahan to go
