That will teach me to post a speedy comment. What I meant was that he is a prat as the comments seem to suggest that the competition is not as stiff as we think if a team can keep pace by only drawing. These sorts of comments could bite him in the arse if he does not succeed. If he does not meet the expectations of the board, then he looks silly. I can understand if something was lost in translation, but if not then he is, imo, very wrong. The fact that the teams who were relegated last season are struggling and teams like us and Milwall are up there shows that this is anything but average. More proof is that any team can beat any other, Posh beat Cardiff for Christ sake.
I'm not sure many would equate name-calling with speculation. He's not a 'plonker' simply because you think he is.
I'm broadly in agreement with you Lenny. Probably the use of average does not really express his intent and I think Lenny's dissection is more precise. Yes, this league is competitive but is there true quality or 1 or 2 teams that stand out? Great debate
A silly thing for Gus Poyet to say as I am sure all the footballers who see, read or are told about this will try harder against Brighton.
.... all in all we as a team do have a great opportunity this season. Our strong squad should put is in a good position as the season moves on... and yes we could beat anybody and vice versa...
Which may, in a sense, prove his point. Surely footballers at all levels should be trying their hardest in every game?
I think your points suggest the opposite to me Dan. The relegated teams were not very good and have not improved the division. Millwall and Crystal Palace look totally average sides to me. Cardiff do not seem stronger than in the last few seasons where they were "nearly men" ... and the fact that a very poor side like Peterborough can beat a side with 10 straight wins at home does not suggest quality at the top to me - if Peterborough are relegated I would be more likely to bet they will be relegated again than promoted. We are only a side in the making and are 7th. Who will take up my challenge to indicate the quality in this division that I am failing to see? Come on - a case for Hull perhaps?
Maybe we could look at it the other way Leo? If as several on here are stating the league is so close because all of the teams have stepped up their game (whether it be from better funding, better/new management, several years of team development starting to bear fruits, luck, etc), who is letting the side down so to speak? Looking at the league table the bottom three stand out a mile as performing badly, but after that it gets a bit harder. I think that Poyet's comments are badly timed considering that we are not even half way through the season. Yes in years gone by there have been teams that have exceeded expectations and have blitz the rest of the division. But this year a good number of teams have been playing well. I think at this stage of the season it is difficult to try and compare any of the teams in the Championship with EPL teams. How many times have we seen Man Utd having a poor start to the season and then BANG Christmas comes around and they fly up the table? We still have another transfer window to get through where teams will be strengthened with EPL rejects/journey men. At this point I think it will be better to compare the Championship to the EPL. One last point, in most cases when teams get promoted, they then bring in existing EPL players to strengthen their squads for the new season. So there is not really a good time to directly compare between Championship and EPL teams.
Good points Sandy - you could well be right - and as I have not attended a match this season I cannot judge except on the basis of the little Championship matches shown on telly which do not show enough to judge. That is why I was trying to tease out an answer from those who go all the time - we all agree this season is close and therefore competitive - but do they feel it is as high a quality of division as in other years?
I was going to suggest Hull in my post last night Lenny as a team that has probably shown the best quality at The Vic this season - but their quality was based on being very well organised and also pressing us hard to stop our game plan. They were good accurate passers and created space well - but for me all footballers should be able to do that and it is not a measure of real quality. To add some grist to your mill I would suggest Huddersfield as another case in point - they started off the season flying and stayed in the top 6 for a while, but when I saw them there was little quality and they are now falling down the league.
I would suggest that there are a lot of very average players and teams in most English football. If you take the Championship as a feeder for the EPL there are too many players who look good in the lower division, but very average in the higher one. Marriapa and Graham were certainly two of our better players who have not exactly shone after their moves. I would even suggest that Ashley Young looks reasonable with Man U because of the players around him, but certainly not good enough at European or International level. Too many foreign players has been levelled at the EPL for the international scene, yet some of these imports manage to adapt the basic skills they learnt to the faster more robust game that the English fan likes to see. Over the last couple of matches Watford's passing game has broken down to a large extent when teams have not been prepared to sit back and watch our imports show what they can do. It remains to be seen I think, will our better players be able to adapt and make us an above average side. Certainly there will be a few managers telling their strapping central defenders to go in hard and stop them playing. It will be interesting to watch, but I don't think that Brighton have a great range of talent for their manager to work with.
GG - I don't buy the "not his first language" argument. After all, he has been playing and coaching in England since the mid 90s.
Fair enough- I only suggested it as something to ponder. I know he has been here a long time and is fluent and articulate. One more point- he may have been here along time, but largely, I would suspect, in the company of football people. They're not always the sharpest knives in the linguistic box. To be fair.
