Shak

I strongly remember getting in a lenghty debate with someone when we signed Duff, saying his signing was incredibly short-sighted and something we'd regret in a couple of years. Zoggy and Taylor were our two best young players, capable of holding their own in the first team already and, with experience, capable of more than holding their own in the future. With several galring weaknesses in the team, buying Duff was quite obviously a dreadful decision. My only hope is that Duff has been so bad thus far that N'Zogbia will have to be given his place back very soon. Damage may well already be done though. We've basically slapped Zoggy in the face with Duff's signing, he may well ahve already decided he wants out.

Never wanted us to sign Duff at all. N'Zogbia has all the tools to be a far better player than Duff ever was, and is easily already a better player than Duff is now in my opinion. It's one decision by Roeder I really hate, because it basically says to N'Zogbia 'Good season last year buddy, you were our most productive player. But fuck ya, we're signing this guy to play in your position instead.' It can't make him feel wanted and I suspect he'll end up being a star for someone else a few years down the line, while we'll be stuck with an ageing Duff, running frantically with his head down into blind alleys, giving no end product whatsoever.

Any "entertainment" at football is to be frowned at as far as I'm concerned. Get to your seat 5 minutes before kick off, watch the first half, go and watch the goals on the screen at half time, watch the second half, f*** off. That's my routine at SJP and that's pretty much how it should be. I don't want cheerleaders or fireworks or Janet Jackson getting her tit out. The entertainment comes from what you go and pay to watch, not some school kids pretending they can dance in the centre circle to 'Is This The Way To Amarillo'. Impassioned as ever. I must admit I'm a big fan of The NFL but I'd agree that there's no need for any of the pageantry. In it's own right, American Football is a great sport and they have a great setup that works for them but I'd hate to see football do the same thing over here.

Not the type of striker we should be after imo, I'd be looking to add a bit of variation to our attacking options. Going into next season it looks like we should have Owen Martins Ameobi As 3 of our strikers. From those three, you'd obviously have Owen and Martins as our first choice pair. I'd like to add someone a bit bigger to the mix, give us something different than two pacy little fuckers up front. Then we could pick two from those three depending on our opposition. Ameobi as 4th choice will do me. I'd have liked Crouch, but anything more than 7-8m would be too much. End of the day I don't think John would be a worthwhile addition.

When teams sit back and we have to try and break them down Solano is valuable to us as he's extremely clever. Duff is a headless chicken at times and Zoggy and Milner both have a couple of years before I reckon they'll be able to really pick a killer pass. At the moment I'd have Solano start every home game and be on the bench away from home, where a more direct style will likely be more effective.

So money is no object? Unless it's really LOADS!! ?

That was quality. You know if he wanted to, Sheringham could break the little fucker in two. He was just laughing at him. Reminded me of the time Juninho started on Albert.

Roeder could be gone by the time Duff gets back, if the takeover gets pushed through. Anyway, Duff has been poor this year and wingers is the one thing we have plenty of so he's not as big a loss as some players would be. Really hope N'Zogbia steps up and starts playing like we know he can, so when Duff gets back he can't be dropped.

NE5's analysis of our midfield is about right to be fair. No pairing from Parker, Butt and Emre looks to have a good balance for anything other than away games where we're likely to be defending for long periods. For me we'll never go anywhere with Emre in the team. Emre, while technically very good, neither gets forward enough nor tracks back enough to be of any use to us in a 4-4-2 system. For a supposed attacking midfielder he rarely gets the ball in a threatening position and as a result we usually pass the ball around fruitlessly before ultimately sending a hopeful long ball forward. Emre would be useful in a 3 man center midfield, where he has one man behind him to do the defensive work and another who is willing to burst forward and get beyond the opposition's midfield to support our strikers, leaving Emre to be our playmaker as such. When we played Arsenal at the start of last season we had a 3 man CM of Parker, Emre and Jenas and I thought we looked very good until Jenas got sent off. However, to play a 3 man CM you generally need to play with just one striker, a target man if you will. With both Michael Owen and Martins on our books that's not the direction we're heading in, so Emre has to go. I'd take what we can get for him and be rid tbh. Dyer, should he stay fit, must end up playing in CM in my opinion. Roeder's talk about Parker being an attacking midfielder is guff to be fair. He doesn't have the poise on the ball to be our creative force from the middle. He generally panics on the ball far too much. Let him compete with Butt for the DM spot (maybe have Butt teach him a thing or two about the tactical side of the position) and use Dyer as our AM. Of course, given his injury record, we can't rely on Dyer just yet so I'd look to get in another player willing to get up to support the strikers to challenge him. Sidwell would be a good option... we should have kept Bowyer tbh. :winking: When we finished 3rd a few years back it was Dyer & Speed in CM, and we played some very impressive football. I'd give him a run there again, our football would benefit massively from it.

Hmmm............... I sense that you're not over impressed! :lol: And why would he be? A complete waste of 5m was Duff, regardless of whether it's a bargain or not. We had Solano for the right, N'Zogbia for the left and Milner capable of deputising on both sides. Duff's purchase is likely to force out both N'Zogbia and Milner from the club in the long term, and all we'll be left with is Duff, running down blind alleys and generally offering less than either of them. Meanwhile Bramble and Carr continue to get games at the back.

Dig at Souness buying Luque.

Good post.

Why would we want to play him on the left? Because that N'Zogbia fella is shite. :winking:

Is that true? I thought it was more to do with Butt not wanting to join a relegated team on a permanent basis. Of course its true. Why do you think Birmingham got relegated? Because they didn't want Nicky Butt. Simple! Anyway, if the deal is that we take him on loan this season and have to buy him for £10m next summer then I'd take it personally. We'll have a year to raise the money with a sale or two, and the long-term prospect of Zoggy and the SWP we saw at Man City down our flanks for the next few years is mouthwatering. As NE5 said, SWP can play up front as well, just off the main striker, and his pace would worry teams. Could leave us free to go out and get Darren Bent if he is our main target, without having to fret about getting in another striker. Bent Shola SWP Luque Dyer (once in a while) As our attacking options going into next season wouldn't be too bad, and by the time Owen comes back (start of next season most likely) Nobby will be a year older and easier to drop in favour of SWP, who'd revert to the right wing.

Just saw this thread, PM'd you.

That'd be awesome. Or "You're the Best Around" from The Karate Kid would be great as well. Do it Jonny... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/dumshiet2/homer_fist.gif DO IT!! Freaky as **** i've just had that song on So you'll make the video then? Pwease... If you don't want to do it for Shola you could use Shearer instead. I just desperately want to see a music video to that song. bluecry.gif

I don't mind people thinking he's useless, they're entitled to their own opinion. But calling him a wanker is just not on. Seems a really decent fella and conducts himself well, grow up FFS.

hey i make videos. 2nd place in N-O Videomaker of the year 2005 So make the video then. blueupset.gif

Well since he's the one who makes videos I would have thought so yes. :winking:

That'd be awesome. Or "You're the Best Around" from The Karate Kid would be great as well. Do it Jonny... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/dumshiet2/homer_fist.gif DO IT!!

good song that I respectfully disagree. tongue.gif

I'll bet he releases a cover of Five For Fighting - 'Superman' within the next week.

Draw no good for either team really, could go either way.

You're wrong. By giving it to Faye first we give our lads time to anticipate the change of possesion and position themselves accordingly. Basic tactics really.

Not as negative about this as some, in fact I think he'll do a decent job and we'll challenge for Top 4 next year under him, though I doubt we'll actually make the CL spots. His time at West Ham is massively overcriticised. He lost his two key players for extended periods and basically had no strikers for most of the season. Seems a very clever guy and has been very impressive in almost everything he's done since taking over. Does he have what it takes to turn us into a club challenging at the very top of the Premiership? Maybe not, but he has earned his chance to some extent, and I feel 100% more positive about his appointment than I did about Souness. Dis appointed in Freddy Shepherd, as he claims he was going to find us a proven world class manager, but has appointed a relatively unknown quantity. Luckily for him, I believe Roeder's up to the job.