Was just about to post this, Dummy has been a very quiet cog in the turn around. Hopefully if we can keep players fit heading into the run in we should be ok. Him Lacselles, Dubravka, Lejuene were all fantastic yesterday and Yedlin wasn't bad either. Keep that back 5 together and we will score more than we concede.
The reason we are where we are in the table is not down to defense but the lack of quality in our strikers, the missed penalty and other opportunities are indicative of this and it's been the case for far too long thanks in most to Ashley's cheap assed model for running the club, you don't have to change the whole team but blending in 2 or 3 additional better quality players in key positions would have made a massive difference, you only have to look at the table to see how small the margins are this season with anyone of ten teams in the frame for relegation.
This. With better options at the attacking end, I think NUFC would be comfortable in mid-table. Slimani will hopefully improve things, but we need more presence up front. West Brom look gone and Sturridge's decision to go to them is looking more laughable by the minute.
I can sort that out, all I've gotta do is stick a bet on WBA winning. That will be enough to guarantee the Chelsea win . 9/1 is the best odds I can find, worth a cheeky tenner I reckon.
Team game. He is a great team man and understands his limitations. With Kenedy in front of him too, it means he doesn't have to do as much going forward for the left side to be effective. He is a good defender. His distribution is not great obviously. I have no doubt we'd be higher up the table if we had a regular goalscorer. Why Rafa didn't think about this before he spunked all of our money in the championship, kept Mitrovic on the books eating up valuable spending power or prioritise it in the summer I don't know. However it will be hard to argue with his approach if we stay up.
I think it actually occurred to Rafa last summer that a striker would be useful but somehow once didn't arrive
Are you saying that Rafa made the wrong decision buying Gayle. The Gayle who finished Joint 2nd highest goal scorer with comfortably the hghest goals/game ratioand the lowest minutes per goal. In fact he should have gone instead for a striker who would suit us the following year IF we got promoted. Or maybe you are saying he should have not spent the money he did in Summer 2016, holding some back because he could be certain that Ashley the man who only speaks the truth would make it available the following Summer. If I was in Rafa’s position I would have done what he did and spend every penny available to try and make sure he fulfilled his remit of getting us back up. Then hope that Ashley would see the merit of fronting up some of the PL money to stay in the League
And who says Ashley provided all the money the Club made? There was talk of breaking our transfer record this last window but we didn't. Why? I don't believe Freddy believes what he types and is just wumming or attempting to wum everyone with his various pro-Ashley proclamations. But on a serious note is there any "proof" Ashley has actually provided all the funds that are available? I don't think there will be and when and if the Company Accounts eventually come out Ashley is hoping to be well gone.
I would do it differently. I would accept Ashley at his word with the knowledge of what's gone before and develop a plan. I would have kept the money back and spent 70m trying to stay in the PL, confident I could spend 40m and get out of the Championship. You lack trust in Ashley allowing him to use the cash, which is understandable. However you can't spend all the money and then say "well he might not have...". You have to work in reality. All we have to assess is what actually did happen, not what any of us think might have.That is that Ashley has given him 90-100m to spend in the time period. I can't say Rafa got it wrong either. If he achieves his goal of getting promoted and remaining in the PL, then I think you'd have to say, whether you disagree with the process or not, its worked. As for Gayle, again it is difficult to argue. Currently we have been promoted and are staying in the PL. I think there was better value which still would have got us up but Rafa chose what he did. Glenn Murray for instance. Tammy Abraham less so because you'd have to know enough about as Lee Johnson clearly did. Perhaps Rafa didn't have the same knowledge or maybe thought he was young and risky. Now people say "ah but that is hindsight. In Murrays case I'd say not as he had a better goal record than Gayle throughout his career. Anyway every judgement of how someone has performed is in hindsight so I'm not really sure why some people always say this. I won't dwell on this though as this thread is about appreciating what Dummett brings to the team.
People seem to not give any credit to the reality of what Rafa had to deal with in terms of how unattractive the club was to players he was after. On two levels, really. Firstly, we had been relegated and many players we wanted just wouldn't even consider us, thinking we were sinking like the Titanic, and then, at the start of this season, preferring to joining 'established' clubs such as any club that had been in the Premier League for one season. It has been a 'difficult market'! Secondly, and transfer fees aside which is a third point to be fair, as a club we will not pay the going rate in terms of wages for talented players. So all the names at the top of the manager's list get crossed off, then those players sign for our rivals, and the manager ends up having to build a cohesive team with limited players. I suppose another point that hasn't been made is we as Newcastle get quoted higher prices than other clubs at times - in the Championship in particular.
Which pretty much sums up our fanbase. He spends 90m-100m in two seasons. Our fans assume if we'd spent 40m the first season, we'd still have spent 30m odd the second season. They might be right, they might be wrong. What we do know however is that he did indeed allow 90-100m to be spent. The reality does not tie in with what our fans assume. Ashley's fault of course for creating that disconnective relationship with the fans. As I've said many times its irreparable.
Dummett has always had talent as a defender. I think he's improved on that capability, for which he deserves credit. But the most credit I'd throw his way is his forward play in that he links up with the winger much better now and is capable of putting in really good crosses. I mean, he's no Leighton Baines on the overlap, but he does contribute these days. The weakest part of his game is his longer balls out of a deeper defensive position of which many go astray. A couple of games ago I noticed him barking orders at CBs to push up and midfielders to take up better positions, which suggests leadership qualities and intelligence. All round though: solid, dependable, hard working and willing and capable of improving. I've always been on his side though.
