He is still a great player for us CC. what a servant he's been. He might be a bit slow and he's made a couple of errors this term but he can still sit in that pocket of space and pick a pass out. Quality player for me.
Agreed, Craving, but he can't go on forever. And he doesn't seem to have the same ability to play to that standard for a full 90 minutes. To squeeze the best out of him, we need an alternative so he can be rested from time to time, that's the point. I'd start waving a cheque book (or an AJ) at West Ham to try to lure Mark Noble back to the Premier League. I'm not sure that he'd come, mind. He seems to be pretty loyal to his local club and could reasonably expect to be back in the Prem with them come August.
My point was that their careers nose-dived when they joined Spurs, and would've been better off staying where they were.
Think Jol has exactly the same concerns Captain. I see his role replaced with a combination of Duff, Dembele and Ruiz. But I agree we need to think how to make the most of him for another year while grooming a replacement.
The answer to a Danny replacement comes from right under our noses. Ronnie Minkwitz is a very useful player. Real engine. Highly rated by our coaches as well.
If he's ready - there's no point in throwing a youngster into the firsts before they are ready, it's counterproductive to their development. We've got some great prospects, but only the youth coaches - and one or two on this board - have actually seen enough of them to form an opinion. Remember, in the first half of last season there were calls for Trotta to come into the firsts. It turned out that he really wasn't ready, so the coaches call to not promote him was probably right. Most of us just aren't in a position to comment on the youngsters. Everything I've heard about Minkwitz (and Donnegan for that matter) is promising, but I have no idea whether they are ready, near to ready, or still several years away from breaking into the firsts. We have to trust the coaches. That said, Trotta for the first team squad now? Hmmmm, it's tempting...
I would send Trotta on loan to a Championship club, as there are plenty bound to be interested and see how he does, if he tears it up like he did League One then yes get him back here for next season when we can reap the rewards.
I mostly agree, Bandy. My one proviso to that is that if nothing is arranged by tomorrow, stick him on the bench and (depending on the state of the match) put him on with 15 or 20 minutes to go. At worst, it confirms that he's not ready yet; At best, with his confidence nice and high after all those goals for Wycombe it might be the start of something special for him (and us). Clearly, it's easier to take a chance on a youngster if we're a couple of goals up (or even a couple of goals down, if it came to that) than in the middle of a tense deadlocked game, but it's certainly worth sticking him on the bench. It's not as if anyone has huge amounts of confidence in either AJ or Sa as goalscorers.
Captain I have more confidence in Sa scoring than AJ, but I agree with the idea of throwing him into the deep and see his swimming skills!! As long as Jol and management team manages the expectations of the fans, even in here, about the choice. Some fans are early to jump and criticise.
Cottagecravens ... I'd be looking for a replacement for Murphy, too. Sidwell is not Murphy's replacement. Sidwell is Sidwell, and we need him right where he is. We need a top-quality young understudy to learn and take Danny's place. There's a very highly regarded player at Bolton, Stuart Holden, who will need a new home when Bolton are relegated. He's perhaps 23 and runs forever. He's had poor luck this year with injuries, and Bolton has struggled without him.
That's a good shout, DR. I'd also be interested in David Vaughn of Sunderland - he would have been a good target last summer when he left Blackpool on a free. He wasn't featuring a lot under Bruce, but seems to be back in favour now with O'Neill, so we would probably struggle to get him. Although we might manage a sneaky part-exchange if O'Neill is dead set on signing Bobby. Not that I'm saying we ought to be selling Bobby, you understand, but if we had a replacement and also managed to get Murphy's replacement as part of the deal, it wouldn't be all bad. Vaughn is 28, so would see us through until Minkwitz and Donnegan were of an age to fight for the first team playmaker spot. As discussed elsewhere, I like the idea of Mark Noble from West Ham too, but doubt we'll prise him away from his beloved Hammers unless their promotion run goes horribly horribly wrong in the next few months.
Holden would go to a bigger team than us, but maybe Dempsey can swing it in our favour as he is American isn't he?
I first enthused about Trotta`s potentiazl a season or so ago,and with the confidence he undoubtly obtained wilst at Wycombe,i think he is well worth a subs run out. But please let it be more than Jols 5 minutes
I'm all for Trotta getting a place on the bench and now that Sa is out of the game he could well get it. But like previous poster mentioned, it won't be for more than 5-10 minutes.
