as per offish. shame as hes done well but this is one of the reasons why I didnt want to sign him. Hes done his ACL. Also weve got some new Korean sponsors as well.
That's a massive shame. I thought he was excellent on Saturday. Fortunately we've got quite good cover there but I thought he linked the midfield and the attack really well.
Weve got no cover, our only forwards are Zamora and Cisse so now we wont have a forward on the bench. On the plus side, I suppose it means we will see more of Taarabt and Hoilett.
Oh dear, bad news and a big shame. He looked really decent, good with and without the ball and totally up for it. ACL rupture I assume? Never good, but certainly not when in your 30's.
It's a big shame for AJ, and for us. I don't agree we have good cover there. It leaves us with only 2 out and out strikers Zamora and Cisse, and Mackie who most people on here seem to see as a wide midfield man. An injury or suspension to BZ and Cisse now, and MH will be really scratching his head. He made a mistake not bringing in an extra CB and striker, especially when he sold HH, and has left others out of the squad.
Not sure, the site is broken (surprise surprise) so it takes you back to the news section when you click the headline so the headline is the only thing to go on for now but I would think it would have to be torn and possibly done for the season.
Mackie reckons forward in the middle is his best position, though I didn't see anything startling on Saturday when he played there. Expect some new blood up front in January, unless a couple of our lads go on a goal scoring streak....shame for AJ, you know what you get with him, an ongoing irritant to defenders. The offish is now a hideous dysfunctional mess, hate going on it.
Leaving out DJ and even Hulse is a terrible move, especially when you consider he did it to include Ephraim who is nowhere near even making the bench.
Cisse, Zamora and Mackie can all play as the main striker. Hoilett, Taarabt and Mackie can play as the one off the main striker, and that's assuming we play with that sort of player anyway. If we are going to get an injury anywhere, we're better equipped than in most other areas. I'd expect it to be be one of Zamora and Cisse with one of Mackie, Hoilett or Taarabt rather than Zamora and Cisse together.
I cam imagine we'll be looking for an emergency loan pretty soon. What are the rules regarding loans and emergency loans this early in the season? But I'd expect us to be getting the cheque book out for a couple of strikers in January. But it does mean mackie will probably be on the bench each week now and give Hoilett/adel more chances.
That's a great shame, he looked good in the few games he has played in. Mackie can also be used as a forward. This also brings me onto another point. Seeing that Hughes was a fantastic striker, you'd think he would be somewhat more au fait in regards to this position. That he would be able to pass on this expertise to our forwards and make them more prolific. You have also thought that he would have realised that we had a shortage in this dept. and would have acquired another quality player to remedy this ( as often alluded to by Judo and a few others in pre-season.) We should of really pushed the boat out and tried to get another striker in. Defoe or Berbatov was not such a bad shout after all.
We cant do any outfield loans at all and can only loan a goalie if all 3 get injured. This certainly means we will get at least 1 forward, hopefully 2 or bring in one of those left out of the squad.
Gutted about this! Do you think this might change Hughes stance on DJ Campbell? He's still with us but not sure if we can add him into the 25 now? I dont think we can. Plus side is we still have Hoilett, Tarrabt and Mackie who can all play upfron along with Cisse and Zamora.
Weve got the numbers in midfield to 'do a Spain' and not bother with recognized strikers. The other team to try this 4-6-0 formation is of course Scotland. Now is the time for Adel to chip in with 19 goals.
