Danny Guthrie and Leon Best

I have been thinking this for a while and I'm convinced letting them go was a mistake.

They played a big role when needed last season.


I'd far rather we had Leon over Shola any day.


That is all

 

I'd have kept Bestie but he wanted to go to play first team football. He was always injured aswell. Guthrie is neither nowt nor something for me. Struggling to get in the Reading side and I suspect we'd have struggled to have much use for him. Anita is an improvement even if we have to wait till next year to see it.

 

Agree with the above.

 

Didn't Leon get injured within seconds of the transfer?

And Guthrie... Really? REALLY?!

 

Guthrie's a good player. Certainly better back-up than Gosling, but as we couldn't offer him regular first team football it took the decision out of our hands.

 

Being better than Gosling does make you a good player in my book. Just better than woeful! He is decent but not good enough to command a regular role in the PL, even with lower league sides like Reading. Flatters to deceive and surrenders possession on countless occasions. Natural progression dictated we needed better, as it will with Gosling (and I suspect Obertan)

 

I don't agree with this horseshit idea that just because Guthrie is struggling to get into Reading's side, he'd struggle to get into ours. Some players can't play in certain set ups. Guthrie was great for us, and did a good job. Reading is obviously not right for him, like Cisse wouldn't be right for Stoke City.

I also don't agree with the idiots saying that just because Guthrie, supposedly, had a fierce disagreement with the Reading boss and was banned from training, that we got rid "just in the nick of time". We don't know the full story.

I wouldn't take him back, but I would have kept him for the right wages. We have no creative center mid after Cabaye. In fact, do we have any creative mids other than Cabaye? Ben Arfa is more of an attacker/right forward. Anita and Bigi are both good passers, but I wouldn't go as far as to say they were particularly creative, at least no where near the same level as Cabaye.

Leon Best was better than Shola for a target man. His heading on goal was poor, but he scored goals when he was relied upon, his chest control was great, and he can challenge CB's in the air far better than any of our current strikers can. Unfortunately he just wasn't happy in his role, so I'm glad he left for his sake. He deserves better than to be a bench warmer.

 

Now come on, great and Guthrie just can't be used together. Both Bigi and Anita are far better in possession than Guthrie although Anita is doing a good impression of him since arriving. I never understood this fascination with him as a good passer of the ball. He was worse than Tiote is this season for surrendering possession and that takes some doing. He also had the horrible habit of giving away petty free kicks in poor positions at crucial times. He doesn't score enough goals either to overlook the surrendering of possession. The PL is a brutal place and exposes weaknesses.

I would say though Guthrie improved a little last season when he finally lost some weight and actually got fit. But he was still just good back up. He was very good (still not great) in the fizzy pop though (his level). He just doesn't have the tools to be a regular PL footballer. This is clear because at 25 he has failed to hold a regular place down wherever he has been.

Falling out with his manager is not necessarily a reason to pillar him though. Aside from not knowing the details, this can happen with the very best. I seem to remember Paul Scholes falling out with SAF.

An on form Cisse would be good for any club by the way. And as a guy who has made his name as a deep lying playmaker we better hope Anita is creative! The pace is just killing him at present. It always does with creative players as we found with Nobby. I agree though Cabaye is the only one who can fill the advanced creator role

 

I like leon, seemed a good character! But Guthrire on the other hand seemed to think he was better then he actually was, complained about not starting ahead of cabaye n tiote and im sure he was going on about how he should be in the england set up aswell (i know thats nothing special these days but still!!)

 

Can understand why we got rid of both players. Think Anita is improving by the game and will end up being a very good signing but I don't understand why we didn't sign a replacement for losing Best and Lovenkrands.

 

I assume Campbell and waiting for Carroll would be Pardew's answer. I'd accept it but there has been times already where Campbells pace and guile would have been useful.

 

Don't want Carroll back, it's a big risk to rely on someone's Campbell's age. Yes I know there are players like Rooney and Sterling.

 

It is but he looks a good player. Certainly now we've signed no one, he is an option we could have used from the bench as an impact player. I couldn't honestly say if he is ready because I've seen so little but I'm all for the young players getting a chance.

Carroll is a divider of opinion but he is a fantastic talent for me and extremely useful. He was excellent for us. The time away certainly has seen him keep his nose clean and grow up too.

I do think Pardew is wasting his breath though, they won't sell to us. And Carroll would be walking back into a different situation in terms of guaranteed starting places so he may not be as interested as everyone thinks. In view of that I'd have liked another option unless he knows something we don't about a possible Carroll deal.

 

I'm a big fan of Guthrie, when Cabaye was out last season Guthrie was our best player over a 6 week period, as soon as Cabaye was back he got dropped (wrongly) and that ultimately led to him wanting to leave. He knew no matter how well he performed he'd never be given a fair chance by the management.

 

When did I compare Guthrie's ability in possession with Anita and Bigi? I was talking about creative abilities, and Guthrie was a good playermaker and an all round good center mid. We have no real cover for Cabaye, as he's our only real playermaker in center mid. After him we only have defensive/holding midfielders with decent creative quality at best.

I wasn't saying Guthrie was amazing, but it would have been good to have a back up central midfielder similar to Cabaye.

 

I think we can, have and will continue to do better than Guthrie. He had a short spell last season where he did ok but then he went back to the same old issues for me which saw him dropped and in the huff. Pardew was proved correct and rewarded with Cabaye picking up his form and the team going on their best run. Passing ability and creativity go hand in hand for me and I struggle to remember many assists in his time here anyway. Each to their own as always Tash, it was just the word "great" that amused me. I wouldn't have been against him staying but we lost little with his departure for me. You say good, I'd say decent as a PL footballer for the reasons I outlined. I think we just moved past a level where Guthrie was a good squad member. Maybe he'll prove me wrong in the future but I doubt it. I'd rather have got rid of Gosling though!

I liked Bestie though, just a shame we couldn't give him the games (we could now funnily enough), and he was extremely fragile. Him and Ba linked well early on and we could do with that additional option now if Campbell is not going to be given a chance.

 

I agree with most of the sentiments here. I liked Best but he does seem to be injury prone, often when Drake has a tour going on. I'd like Campbell to get a go, maybe in the Europa if we qualify with a game in hand, I think I read he had a thigh strain though. Guthrie's move to me made sense. Whilst I feel he was a good backup he was never going to challenge Cabaye or Tiote. Anita and Bigi should be able to do that.

 

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Leon Best was a decent player to have in the squad and I think he works harder than Shola... trouble was his injuries.

Guthrie? Good riddance!