If we look at the players that shipped out after our capitulation in the playoffs last season and compare and contrast against the players Malky has brought in.. how are we looking on the whole? Jason Brown, Stephen Bywater, Jason Koumas, Jay Bothroyd, Michael Chopra, Chris Burke, Gavin Rae, Seyi Olofinjana, Craig Bellamy, J'Lloyd Samuel, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Martin John, Well there was no need to bring in any GK as both Marshall and Heaton are back fit and both good enough at this level walking into most championship sides.. So let's take out the need to have any more 'keepers.. and that's 2 unnessecary wages covered right there. Chris Burke whilst a livewire on the ball he's been very well replaced by another classic Scottish winger in Craig Conway.. albeit on the opposite flank. Conway so far is hard-working, maybe not as quick as Burke but posseses a lot more strength meaning he won't end up in row z whilst being tackled on the fly like Burke used to. The other skill conway posseses is a very good cross, which Burkey was sadly always lacking despite being able to hit the byline on a regular basis. Personally I think this is a great replacement and potential to get better. Gavin Rae replaced by Filip Kiss, no brainer.. Kiss wins this one hands down. Rae offered nothing, harsh perhaps but completely true.. Whilst Kiss is Slovakian u21 skipper and has earned rave reviews thus far in pre-season.. Jury's out and we'll see how he does in due course. Olofinjana replaced by Aron Gunnarsson - jury is still out on the Gunn-show, but I recall him the past few seasons always being the best player for Cov when we played them imo and he was also linked with Premier clubs last couple years. He's big, strong and loves a tackle.. Oli was great in fits and starts for us, he was such a physical on the presence but never used that frame well enough for me and would constantly give the ball away needlessly! If you think it like this too.. he's probably on far less money than Oli was too.. I genuinely believe he'll be great for us.. Tayls for JLS - Again no contest, Tayls' crosses alone are causing havoc before we even start on the work-rate. Taylor links up so well with Conway on the left flank and they have built a great understanding. Tayls is so much better, you could probably conbine Naylor and JLS into 1 and he'd still be better, but then you could combine Naylor with Roberto Carlos and Naylor's handicap would bring Carlos down to League 2 level.. Tayls is looking a great signing by Malky. Cowie for Koumas.. Unlike Koumas (of last season) Cowie will cover EVERY blade of glass and there is no doubt he is the absolute heartbeat for us at the present moment. He links up defence to midfield so well, and when he pulls the play back inside it allows Superkev to overlap. Very good player and unfortunately Koumas was not the mercurial genius he was in his first spell. Mason for JET. Mason has time on his side but has already won the hearts of some Bluebirds and unlike JET works bloody hard. We've all been impressed with Joey Mason and I think he's going to be a very good player for years to come for City. JET undoubtedly has the potential to be great but he's the most lethargic git i've ever seen including Koumas and Bothroyd.. Gestede for Bothroyd.. Ok Rudy is nowhere near the talent of Bothroyd is, we know this.. But Rudy is seriously impressing me, he wins the majority of his air balls, great feet and he stays on his bloody feet as well as getting stuck in! Once he gets that confidence from his first goal he'll be cooking, again though nowhere near the talent of Bothroyd, who in my opinion despite his laziness is probably the best complete forward we've had in my generation. Earnie for Chops.. tough one for me this one.. but being as objective as possible Earnie just shades it on game to goal ratio.. Chopra is one of my all-time favourites at the club mainly from his first stint at the club and his performance in the PO final against Blackpool, sadly his enthusiasm for the game waned last season and he was the shadow of himself. Great goalscorer on a par with Earnie at times. But Earnie's strikerate for us is bloody impressive and whilst I was not Earnie's biggest fan first time round (too selfish) he has grown into a more rounded player in the past few years.. if only he could stop infuratingly flicking every ball that comes to him though ! Miller for Bellers.. No contest.. Bellers. Miller will score goals I'm convinced by that, but it was Bellers' work rate, drive, enthusiasm and his pace which is just irreplaceable in the Premier League let alone the Championship! Miller will be a good signing for us though. But clearly not in the same league as Bellers. Turner for John - John was a panic signing to get a LB in for the Burton game if I remember correctly and he was pants! i've yet to see a bad review of Turner from any Coventry fan and they are gutted he's gone. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing him play alongside either Hudson or Gerrard. The beauty of this team Malky has assmbled is just that.. it's a team.. now despite my glowing comparisons of our newbies I for some reason think something is still lacking.. maybe it's that expectation we had last season. Which personally I think is better anyway, the expectation was choking the club, players and the fans last season and it's much better so far this season. I think this team is well equipped to reach playoffs but it needs cover in certain areas and playoffs I think is the absolute best we can hope for.. Sorry for the long post guys, when i get going it's tough to stop. Somebody wake Sparkey up.. he's fallen asleep during one of my posts again..
Good post Benni and a good way to make comparisons with what we've lost to what we've gained. I think the front line is the only place we've suffered any set backs. Miller is getting better but as you say, is nowhere near the quality of Bellamy. Earnie is very similar to Chops, hopefully the 2 year age difference won't show up much. Gestede is like a more powerful and more enthusiastic Bothroyd but has far less skill. Thing is, Gestede has time to learn and mature so fingers crossed will get there... I'm pretty happy overall and with a good tail wind, the good ship CCFC should be sailing into calmer waters with a bright horizon ahead!!
Whoa there boys - I see Brizzle's joined in on your thread Benni - all we need is that twat Ladyboi to turn up and I'll join the AA board.......
Oi! What's that meant to mean??? If you're saying I drive you to drink then pour me one while you're at it
Agreed on the quality of the post. It is a *little* worrying what we may have lost in terms of quality up front though, hopefully it will all click soon but I don't feel that we are "likely" to score in any given match in the way that I did (albeit sometimes wrongly) last year.
The complete picture will emerge when we get loan signings, we have the basic squad to do well but at least we can`t fault the effort which was infuriating last season.
Harsh but it made me laugh. We've lost the x factor that Bellers and Jay both had. I'm not sure who will produce that moment of magic for us this year. We do have goals, work rate, and a much more solid looking defence. If one of our strikers can hit 25 plus (Like Holt last year) it won't be a big problem. But just think of how many times did Taraabt and Sinclar come to the rescue for their sides last season. Thats what we're missing IMO.
Great post Benni, wanted to ask what was people's thought for our two CB's? with Gerrard back, Keinan I thought linked well with Hudson and we've now brought in Turner who is highly rated at championship level, tough call for MM? 4 good Cb's which is what we lacked last season.
Fair points all round but while I like Conway's effort, strength and balance he doesn't give us what Burkie had - the ability to tear a full back a new ar$ehole. When Burkie got the ball wide right, especially in front of the Ninian Stand, crowd expectation and noise levels immediately went up and most left backs wished they had donned a set of pampers before the game had begun. Okay I agree the final product quite often didn't match the expectation but he at least gave us that thrill of knowing we were about to see a full back well and truly tormented. Why DJ didn't set him lose on Beaker at our place last season until close to the end was one of DJ's greatest tactical failures? Both Conway and Burke have the ability to cut inside and provide another of life's great joys - big centre backs crapping themsleves at the thought of a quick, mobile winger bearing down on them. This is where Conway is probably stronger in getting his shot away, a lot closer to the target than Burkie who frequently sent ball boys running for cover. Maybe Conway will win me over as the season progresses, the team get to know each other better and grow in confidence but, for me, Burkie still edges it simply on the excitement factor.
Good point Maesteg. It will be interesting to see who Malky puts out v. Donnie. A lot may depend on the right/left balance. I guess Turner at 6 ft 4 ins will be the dominant cb, so the second one needs to be more mobile and a good distributor. Hudson has been okay so far (the CMS penalty accepted) whereas Gezza has given the ball away too much and several goals have come around his channel. While Keinan was not good v. Huddersfield he spent most of the game trying to tidy up behind Gyepes. If Turner prefers the right side then we could well see Keinan coming back into the frame. Mustn't forget Darcy either. A good problem for Malky to resolve, the downside being someone is going to be upset. By the way, can't see Gyepes going on loan to Devon as suggested - Plymouth players not paid in August and threats of strike action. Surely someone else will want him - and Naylor as a bogof.
Burkie may have been more exciting to watch running at players but his final ball and shooting are poor. I'd be interested to see an OPTA comparison of the 2 as on what I've seen so far Conway will turn out to be much more productive. It doesn't get much more exciting than the ball in the back of the net and I believe Conway will help us do that more than Burkie did.
I'm expecting to see Turner and Hudson if Turner is fit but it will be interesting to see which way MM goes.
Cheers boys! Sparkey.. It's almost like old times eh? Thankfully the little prick hasn't signed up for this one so we can all keep a little sanity.. Still actively stalking me on walesonline and twitter (had to block him on that tho :-/).. And as usual i take the bait everytime.. Maes, I do believe when Malky finds the right "fit" with the defence it will be a lot meaner.. I was extremely hopeful on Gerrard coming back from hull, but i've been angered by his dillydallying on the ball at times..on the highball though he and Hudson are superb together, whether Turner can add that pace to compliment the defence we shall see.. He'll need time to bed in.. But well impressed with Taylor so far! And Superkev is Superkev.. Steve, agree to an extent about the likes of Taarabt being relied on for goals by QPR but when Gunn-show/Kiss get up to full speed it should allow Whitts to be released further upfield and I think we're going to see the best of Whitts under Malky.. He looks like he's really enjoying his footy and is revelling in his advanced role when given his opportunity.. Think we may see a few magical moments again much like his goal against Barnsley last season. I might gave done a little sexwee when that went in..
BfB I think I remember reading somewhere that Turner is predominantly left footed also in the highlight of his goal on SSN the day he signed he toepoked the ball in on his left.. That's the sign of a left-footer alright! Interestingly in TonyAdams autobiography or (good read to be fair) or maybe it was an interview with him he stated that most centre-halves he knew including hinself would always play on the opposite side of what their predominant foot was, as they felt more comfortable like that.. Never saw the logic in that to be fair though..
Also BfB I agree about Conway's ability to skin the man, he's got that really annoying habit of cutting back inside and floating the ball in on his opposite foot.. It's usually quite easy to read from the opposition.. However I'm not knocking that, it got us 2 very good headed goals against Huddersfield.. His crosses along with Taylor are wreaking havoc at the mo! Which is why it's vital Miller and Earnie start taking advantage of them or we need that somebody in there throwing their bonce at them..
Look guys,you sooooo obviously have too many defenders and at least one spare CM so can't we come to an arangement of some sort? It would stand us in better stead for this season thus bringing the (ever-growing!) gulf between us back together a bit to make for a more interesting season across Severnside! You know it makes sense! On a side note,just had a chat with a Bluebird work mate and he has a bet with me that none other than Dave Jones will be our next manager!! Sorry to hijack the thread guys........
