Good one, he will definitely do a job in the Championship. On a sensible deal, 1 year + 1 year option it's a thumbs up from me
It may be a wise move to instigate 'THE GEORGE COSTANZA THEORY' with all Mark Hughes releases and purchases. If every purchase will be a dud ............. maybe we should snap up the release players!
He played 18 games on loan for Brighton between February and the end of the season. I would say that is pretty decent and goes some way to prove his fitness.
I rate Upson but his 34, I'd rather someone younger, who will stay with the club for few year. Don't want to see use having to rebuild at the end of every season. Having said that if Samba is off and he's bringing in younger blood as well and just looking for some experience to bring them through Upson would be a good choice but doesn't Hill fill that position.
Agree with you on this Flyer. Same as Park, Parker, BZ, AJ, Crouch, Dunne. May have been good players once, but past their best now, injury prone and unlikely to get their fitness levels back to the required level needed particlarly when, with the exception of Crouch, they never had skills at the very highest levels. With the large numbers of these kind of players we already have, no way we should even think about getting in more.
Id take Crouch in isolation but not when we have an injury prone Zamora and AJ plus Remy who will either be banged up or sold. Dunne would be an abysmal signing. Hes not even any good and is the OG leader in the PL. We already have players who have the right attitude who arent very good in Hill and Derry. 50% of our team are 30 or over, we should not be signing anyone that age.
Just remember Nelsen and the impact he had for us. Upson as a player is a step above. You need a blend. Onouha and Hill and Onouha and Upson would be a good blend of youth and experience. Hill can't play anywhere near 46 games. We need experience at CB. Youth and pace are fine at FB but not always at CB.
So if Hill cant play 46 games so the thing to do is bring in another guy who is even less likely to be able to do it? What happens when one of them gets injured and then the other cant play week in week out? You dont have to be 34 to be experienced, you can be 26-27 and still have 7 years of 1st team football. Lets go through our old players. Hill - Not very good, cant play a full season, admits his legs have gone Derry - Not very good, usually ends up chasing shadows, has one good game in 4 Barton - **** SWP - **** Zamora - injured until his contract is over. AJ - injury prone, snapped his knee ligaments running in a straight line, scores 2 goals a season. Green - worst goalie since Tony Roberts Park - Legs have gone Bosingwa - total **** Jenas - decent player. There is only 1 good player out of 10. not exactly proof we should be signing yet more old players. Oh and Redknapp has already stated he will resign if we dont go up so he doesnt care about our long term future as he wont be here, we could end up with 75% of the squad being like the above.
I think it's nonsense to say Hill is no good. He was the season before's best player and last season he did quite well in an utterly **** team. Admittedly Nelson was the best of the two but I would get rid of Hill in a hurry, especially since we have an NPC season ahead of us. If we retained EPL status and things were looking stable, I'd maybe be able to say goodbye to him but would still be ok with keeping him. His influence there is obviously good and he can still shut out defenders very well if he has someone quick with him. How many forward players did he beat to the air ball last season? Many.
How many quick players turned him inside out? I watched him lose his man time and time again. His performance has dropped off a hell of a lot. Nelson was good but was finished physically, thats more reason not to sign old players. it doesnt matter if they are the second coming of Bobby Moore if they cant play the games. We should be signing players who will be able to stay with us should be go up, like Simpson.
So pay 3 players full money for 1 job? One of them will get injured and the other wont be able to cover all the games meaning a 3rd will have to cover. Id rather just pay for one young guy. Having Zamora and Johnson "jobshare" really worked out well for us last season didnt it?
But that was my whole point. If we had two or three quick players in the back four, including one quick CB, I'd be more than happy to have a slower player in a CB position like Hill who can win almost every air ball. Furthermore, know-how, experience and positioning can make up for lack of pace. I think he was vital, along with a small handful of others, in keeping us from relegation the season before.
I dont think he has that, just look at the Arsenal goal where he rushed past Walcott to try and block a shot that someone else was blocking too, Walcott is totally unmarked for an easy goal. His positioning was suspect time and time again last season, something I cannot say for Nelsen. Poor positioning plus zero place to make up for it is a recipe for disaster. Hes ok for Hulse or Holt type players but would get killed by Hooper or DJ type players.
We should have bought Carvalho if we wanted someone with no pace but ability to read the game. Agree with awjm that pace in a CB is not critical if he has some around him and the positioning sixth sense. Hill, sadly, has neither pace nor the sixth sense, but does have a huge heart. He would be my reserve CB next season, along with Ferdinand if we can't get rid, with a new (not sure re Upson, but experience ok in this position) one next to Ned, Simpson/Harriman RB and lets try the Korean at LB, Traore gets on my tits.
