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chicago_shearer

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Posts posted by chicago_shearer

  1.  

    Butt

     

    Is 34 this campaign and well past his best.  He wouldn't get a game at Man City, Villa, Pompey or Spurs.  We need a defensive midfielder AND an attacking midfielder IMO.

     

    His last 10 games or so of last season in Keegan system would disagree with that.

     

    I thought Nicky Butt was arguably our best and most improved player in those matches with Keegan's system, his performance at White Hart Lane in particular I thought was one of the best of any in the season in my opinion.

     

    But he doesn't do it for a full season does he?  It's all well and good pointing out the handful of times Butt has played really well (or Milner for that matter) but they have both contributed to a team that has achieved absolutely nothing for the last several seasons.  Getting a 34 year old to pretend he's 27 and an average winger to pretend he's a Premiership standard central midfielder are another two miracles Keegan will have to perform without new signings.  It's a ridiculous situation.  Give the man some quality FFS.  I'm tired of these wasters.

  2. Whoever we put in midfield, someone's going to have to do some tackling. Our priority is to get in a DM who can pass the ball. That'd make a big difference. Until then, it feels like we're tinkering around the edges of the problem.

     

     

     

    :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

     

    Butt

     

    Is 34 this campaign and well past his best.  He wouldn't get a game at Man City, Villa, Pompey or Spurs.  We need a defensive midfielder AND an attacking midfielder IMO.

  3. I can't help but feel that this idea is the sort of optimistic fantasy that sounds good in the summer but turns out to be a flop when we suddenly remember in mid August that Milner is pretty poor whereas most of the players playing central midfield in other Premiership sides are real quality.

     

    The answer isn't to shuffle around average talent and hope they suddenly click.  It isn't happening.  This problem is only getting fixed in the transfer market.

  4. Zogs/Duff  Guthrie  Milner  Jonas

     

     

    Is this going to be our midfield at the start of the season???

     

    Personally I'd be terrified if that was our first choice midfield next season.  Every club aiming for the top 6 or 7 in the league can piss all over that in terms of both depth and quality.

  5. Definitely take him provided the money is reasonable.  Class player, improvement on what we have (Keegan's own criteria) and the perfect player for our new young players to learn from. 

  6. How about the club continue to put up the money for the transfer fee/wages and the fans pay for some independent professionals to deal with the agents and contract negotiations?  Given our record so far this summer that would seem like a better way to spend the fans money.

    you talking about a hitman.... :hunter:

     

    Hmm not a bad idea.   

  7. We have a good manager, we have a handful of good players, and I don't believe any of this nonsense in the papers.  But I'm still concerned, and I will be until we have a squad that is capable of being competitive at the level I expect (which is, for me, a 10-12 point improvement on last season).  That isn't blaming the board or being negative....it is a legitimate, realistic assessment of our chances with the players we have.  There are two issues:

     

    1) We have 13 first team players at the moment.  Putting aside for a moment the question of how much quality those 13 players possess, if we experience anything like the injury crises we've endured in recent seasons, we'll be in big, big trouble.  This is not a squad you take into a Premiership season. 

     

    2) I haven't forgotten or forgiven how poor some of our squad were last season.  That applies not just to the obviously terrible (Alan Smith, Damien Duff) but also to the regular underperformers (N'Zogbia, Viduka, Milner, Taylor, Butt, Geremi) who are going to form the basis of the team next season.  There is room for improvement from many of those listed, but it is completely unfair to expect Keegan to reach the top 7 or 8 with a core of players that have made a habit of disappointing.  His own performance will be judged on the performances of these players, and they have done nothing but let us down recently.  I love Keegan, I want him to succeed again, and I'm afraid that some of the people on here that are the most optimistic today will be the first to place the blame at the manager's doorstep if the players I have just listed let us down again. 

     

    I'm not losing sleep at nights just yet, but we aren't where we need with 6 weeks until we go to Old Trafford and that should be a real concern. 

     

     

     

    Excellent post, I agree with most of that but it's actually only 4 weeks to Old Trafford.

     

     

    13..I have just counted more first teamers than that..or would that be 13 you think are worthy of a first team spot?

     

    Maybe 15 or 16 in total if everyone was fit/not in prison (not counting Edgar, Lua Lua, Tozer etc).  Of which you'd only really be comfortable with 13 or so.  Given that you need 18 just to fill the bench this season, I think my point still stands.

  8. A bit concerned tbh, concerned that we will be exactly the same as last season and have s*** clubs like Portsmouth Man City Villa Blackburn ahead of us again.

     

    Guthrie

    Guti

     

    will make no difference to our current side

     

    I'm reasonably optimistic about both signings tbh.  Both could be a big success.  My concern is that those two are nowhere near enough to get us on the level of Pompey & City (I don't think Villa and Blackburn are that far ahead of us at the moment, but time will tell).   

     

    KK is capable of great things, but you have to give him a chance.  He has a better chance of turning water into wine than he does of plonking Butt & Geremi in midfield, Duff on the wing, Smith up front and then expecting top 7 results.  Give the man a chance.

  9. We have a good manager, we have a handful of good players, and I don't believe any of this nonsense in the papers.  But I'm still concerned, and I will be until we have a squad that is capable of being competitive at the level I expect (which is, for me, a 10-12 point improvement on last season).  That isn't blaming the board or being negative....it is a legitimate, realistic assessment of our chances with the players we have.  There are two issues:

     

    1) We have 13 first team players at the moment.  Putting aside for a moment the question of how much quality those 13 players possess, if we experience anything like the injury crises we've endured in recent seasons, we'll be in big, big trouble.  This is not a squad you take into a Premiership season. 

     

    2) I haven't forgotten or forgiven how poor some of our squad were last season.  That applies not just to the obviously terrible (Alan Smith, Damien Duff) but also to the regular underperformers (N'Zogbia, Viduka, Milner, Taylor, Butt, Geremi) who are going to form the basis of the team next season.  There is room for improvement from many of those listed, but it is completely unfair to expect Keegan to reach the top 7 or 8 with a core of players that have made a habit of disappointing.  His own performance will be judged on the performances of these players, and they have done nothing but let us down recently.  I love Keegan, I want him to succeed again, and I'm afraid that some of the people on here that are the most optimistic today will be the first to place the blame at the manager's doorstep if the players I have just listed let us down again. 

     

    I'm not losing sleep at nights just yet, but we aren't where we need with 6 weeks until we go to Old Trafford and that should be a real concern. 

     

     

  10. Everton haven't brought in anyone yet, and the player they are closest to signing is a 2nd choice keeper.

     

    thats my point, the media should be writing about them. instead they turn to us. fantastic :frantic:

     

    Everton have a good team in the first place.

  11. How about the club continue to put up the money for the transfer fee/wages and the fans pay for some independent professionals to deal with the agents and contract negotiations?  Given our record so far this summer that would seem like a better way to spend the fans money.

  12. Football journalism in the UK makes me laugh, I really don't know why you all put up with it.  This bloke gets it wrong and embarasses himself, and the next day he's back on claiming that two "mystery" midfielders are signing for Blackburn.  And these morons on the Blackburn thread count down until all is revealed at 11.  WTF?   :lol:

     

    :lol: You're in Chicago, so you may understand this, but it's a hell of a thing that an odious c*** like Jay Mariotti would be the king of sports journalism over there.

     

    True, but nobody in Chi town reads the Sun Times do they?  Besides, the worse Mariotti can do is call people names and mouth off on ESPN.  If he spun half the shite that gets in the UK papers then he'd be sued.

  13. Football journalism in the UK makes me laugh, I really don't know why you all put up with it.  This bloke gets it wrong and embarasses himself, and the next day he's back on claiming that two "mystery" midfielders are signing for Blackburn.  And these morons on the Blackburn thread count down until all is revealed at 11.  WTF?  :lol:

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