"Pretty sure Bony doesn't play for West Brom?" **** knows? Cannot remember West Brom. I have a pass and have been to games this season.
We were discussing the West Brom game and you mentioned him playing well on Bony in his debut. The Swansea game was after his debut.
Ah Roo, you love the old striker debate. I'd love you to have a chat with Emily Heskey, a striker with a less than average goalscoring record but a self proclaimed assist machine. I still can't believe people think Huddlestone has been a **** signing. He's a victim of his own ability, he hasn't hit the heights of last season but he has been far from a crap signing. For him to have been crap he'd have had to have been bad since he started. Which isn't true. We at HCAFC seem to be very harsh critics of players, a dip in form and they're out of here. Yet we stand by players like Meyler and Bruce who aren't Pl quality and call them 'battlers', as if that makes them good enough to play week in week out.
Aye. He managed to stay on the pitch last night whilst all around him were getting sent off. Not sure his spell at soon-to-be-relegated Wigan will have done him much good.
He is on loan at Wigan and despite their poor season, he's done pretty well there. If we go down Id expect to see him in our first team. If we don't then I'm not sure he'll get in ahead of Chester and Dawson.
Sell Davies and have a starting CB trio of Maguire, Chester and Dawson, with McShane and Bruce depth for Dawson and Chester's inevitable injuries.
I know it won't happen, but I really don't think we need Bruce or McShane as defenders if we stay up. If we let them leave, that frees up wages for an actual PL quality defender. If we keep hanging on to the Championship lads, that's the only level we're going to play at. We'e been rocked with an injury crisis this season and have therefore had to call on our back up, but our back up players, the likes of Meyler, Bruce and Quinn, simply aren't good enough to play in the Premier League week in, week out. It's not that they're bad players at all, but if we keep clinging to the sentimentality of getting us promoted and getting us to a cup final we aren't going to get anywhere. I'm a little bit worried that if we go down, we'll never be shot of them and I don't think it'll cost that much to get genuinely good replacements for them. We must have the crappiest bench in the league at the moment, there isn't a single player bar Robertson on that bench who we can bring on to change a game.
But if we got rid of both, the wages freed up would be quite small, and would perhaps be able to bring in one new CB. That wouldn't be enough depth, and Bruce and McShane have both shown they can be quite capable depth. Burnley surely has the worst bench by the way.
Well I can imagine they're both on at least £15,000 a week plus bonuses, for £30,000 a week we could get a reliable centre half. That'd give us Chester, Dawson, Maguire and Davies, plus whoever else we would sign. At the moment we have six centre halves and I don't think Brucey will favour the 3-5-2 for much longer, we've been figured out. It's alright having the numbers but depth should be about quality over quantity.
They repaid £16M of the debt to themselves in the 11 months ending June 2014, and as you say recorded a small profit as a result. The following month (to complete a year) when the transfer window opened again we went out and spent about £20M on players, plus whatever the wage bill was for the month. All at a time when income was the lowest it ever is for a football club*, so basically you don't even need to see the accounts to know we really lost money and our debt increased again last season. Who the £20M is owed to is debatable though, either the Allams loaned it in to fund transfers, or more likely we owe it to the clubs concerned and are paying it in installments. The latter is the more likely as the probability is the Allams have pretty much loaned in every bit of cash they can, everything else will be tied up in assets now. *Season ticket sales don't affect profit and loss in July. They create an asset (cash or money owed to the clubs by credit card companies) and a liability (match tickets due to fans) of the same size. It only ticks into the profit/loss as the games are played.
From what I am led to understand Jelly has been nursing injuries for the best part of the season so HAD to be subbed many times. Again "striker after striker" - WHAT strikers? I shoveled asphalt for the best part of 23 years so whatever gives you the idea that I think I am smarter than anybody let alone Steve Bruce?
Yes, Emile was a recognized 'assist' man same as Niall Quinn was at Sunderland. I know what an 'assist' is. Why don't you have a talk to Aluko and explain to him the advantage of passing to a team-mate now and then instead of his 'bound for glory' attitude when fellow front men (in a goalscoring position) are screaming for the ball. I do agree with you on Huddlestone who's defence splitting passes seem to have dried up but forwards are not anticipating his passes nor are they creating space for themselves to receive them. I don't agree with your assessment on Alex Bruce who, to me, always puts in a shift (like McShane) and he does give some depth to defence (imo).
You think you are. I think you're as dumb as dog ****. Strikers after strikers - Aluko, Hernandez, Sagbo, etc.
I have 'liked' a number of your posts because I agree with much of your stance on strikers and how Bruce struggles with them. But I believe you are wrong when you say that Sagbo is not a striker and, also when you say, that folk were wrong to say he should be given a chance. As a professional footballer Sagbo in undoubtedly a player who falls within the description of 'striker' - his playing career endorses that view. When he moved to this club I would think the vast majority of us didn't know of him from Adam. Bruce had followed his progress, but only had an instinct, a hunch, just how he would perform in the PL. I was one of those you talk of, one who said he needed to be given an opportunity. He had flattered to deceive and the tactics, of Bruce, were nothing less than dreadful (not really improved, have they?), so rapid arbitrary judgment was less than justifiable. You made a call and got it right, but it was a hunch, it was an educated guess, it was neither fair or justified at that time. You have turned out right, well done , but your recollections and judgment calls on others need more reality.
