danswan

Newsflash: It'll not be Mourinho. We are not a big club. We do not have a chance of winning Silverware in the near future. We are 11th. We'll be lucky to qualify for Europe. We're seen as fickle by the media, other fans and probably other managers.

 

THERE IS NO F****** CHANCE!

 

The timing is just bad, there is no world class name lined up. If there is, i'll show my arse in Fenwicks Christmas window.

 

I've often wondered when people say stuff like this, what would happen if you walked into Fenwicks and said 'excuse me, would you mind awfully opening your window display as I need to go in there and display my arse'

Not sure it would go down too well.

I remember someone mentioning an idea about us appointing a manager, letting them enjoy the honeymoon period then sacking them when it's over and employing a new one then do the same for a whole season

Lol good plan.

Could get a bit expensive unless they are prepared to sign a 3 month contract though.

All the betting is on Redknapp - according to *cough* Talksport *cough*

I'm still thinking we're going to succumb to the 4-5-1/4-3-3 eventually, so in this fantasy team of sorts, I'd have Brown and Taylor in defence, Faye in the holding role, and Diarra playing the more roving/withdrawn of the remaining two central positions. Probably alongside Barton.

 

Sounds pretty defensive to me, that. But i don't know masses about Diarra.

 

His signing would signal a 4-3-3, though. Him at the back of it, a la Makelele, the role he was meant to move into at Chelsea.

 

Can you see us playing anything else? If anything, I'd expect to see us play a team that is a poor man's Liverpool or Chelsea as opposed to Man Utd or Arsenal.

 

Sissoko/Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard is hardly gung-ho, neither is Makelele, Essien, Lampard, which was Chelsea's most successful midfield trio.

Who will be our Lampard/Gerrard though? Had high hopes for Barton but that's not happening.

Cool, normally I stumble upon these threads after the libellous shit has been deleted and have to try and work it out

That Allardyce photoshop thread was funny.

Yep, exactly O.Nut - the defensive personnel is absolutely fine. I'd actually be quite disappointed if we brought in someone like Brown because it's not needed, and would disrupt any continuity that we seldom already have. And again like you say, he needs to stick with defenders now. It's a bastard that Faye and Beye are out.

I would go as far as to say that that defence is potentially as good as any I have seen here. Hopefully we will start to see them have a positive effect on results.

I would like to have seen that defence married with Keegan's front 6

On the basis of Sunday v Stoke Allardyce was right in his interview with the Mag when he said Enrique isn't ready yet. He wasn't helped early on by not having a very mobile strike force to aim for, and his confidence on the ball dwindled as the match went on. Certainly a prospect for the future though. Beye and Faye are absolutely top notch and hopefully Taylor can start to realise his potential in a more experienced and settled unit. I'm happy with Cacapa and Roz as central cover this season - it might be that Roz is better next year when he's got used to the style of football, but I never want to see him at full back again.

I still reckon Nicky Butt can do an excellent job for us protecting the back 4, as long as we can get someone next to him who's gooing to drive us forward when we win the ball and let Butt concentrate on the more defensive job he does best.

Enrique is ready for me, just needs the games. He is quick and strong enough, his distribution would be helped if he had any options.

I'm impressed with what I've seen of him.

Arshavin doesn't play that deep, though. He's more of a Beardsley type player than anything.

Well I don't think anyone could argue that we could do with a Beardsley-type player. Doesn't seem to be any speculation regarding him doing the rounds at the moment though...

 

Not sure about him either... would love someone like Xavi Alonso (I know that's not going to happen).

 

If the other midfielder was a 'string puller' in the mould of Alonso or even Carrick it would put serious responsibilty onto the wide men to provide attacking threat. We would need a more threatening right midfielder.

Arshavin?

Seems to have gone quiet on that front

We need a more mobile midfield breaker and someone to partner him who can actually make passes and keep us ticking over.  Thus taking pressure off the back four.

 

Thats it

 

If we pull off the Diarra move he will be it, but the other one of the pair is harder to think of. Maybe Sam has Nolan in mind for the other MF spot.

I remember thinking Nolan looked OK a few seasons back, hasn't done much since.

Not the answer for me.

We need a more mobile midfield breaker and someone to partner him who can actually make passes and keep us ticking over.  Thus taking pressure off the back four.

Do you reckon the back 4 has actually improved Gimpy?

The back 4 that started against Watford last May:

Nobby             Ramage               Taylor                 Carr

Utter shite, I'm sure you will agree. 2 of them completely crap, 3 out of position.

The back for v Stoke on Sunday:

Rozenhal        Faye                Tayor                Enriqué

For Rozie read Beye, for me that has the makings of a top 6 defence. 3 of the 4 are Allardyce buys. There's also Caçapa and Rozie waiting in the wings, giving us some semblance of cover in the centre for the first time in a long time. There were signs against Stoke that they we beginning to gel and that they could form a strong unit which could be hard to breach, given a decent amount of protection. I know it was only Stoke....

That protection has got to start coming from a midfield which can keep the ball, and currently we don't have one. Sam's buys in this area aren't so good, no doubt. If he is building from the back then he has definitely improved us on paper. I just hope he gets a chance to really improve the midfield this window - Diarra certainly seems like a good start, but he needs to be paired with a creative partner and a proper right sided player.

The question is, does Sam know this, and if he does, will the players and/or the funds be available to get the right people in? If he doesn't, I don't think he will see another season.

All will become clear in the next 3 weeks or so.

He's s*** upfront as well, in fairness, HTL.

 

He hasn't had a decent run upfront yet, NM.

 

he's looked as dangerous as bath water up front

 

Well you never know. Slip over, fall asleep and drown, get pushed in; bath water can be quite dangerous at times.

Toaster in the bath is a killer.

Robert gone to Derby.

Class. We have already played them twice

So what happens in the future when all the fans in the ground are too young to remember the bad old days?

 

Face facts, fans can only refer to what they've seen with their own eyes. I'm sure we're having it much better than certain points in our history, but it doesn't excuse mistakes, and it doesn't excuse critisism.

 

OK granted you can't refer to that which you did not experience.

 

Put another way, think about the eighty odd football league teams (and their fans) who would love to have what NUFC has.

Or even another way,  think about our closest rivals in the "city" ten miles down the road.

Do we still have a lot to complain and moan about ?

 

There is no doubt that they would all love to be where we are right now. But that suggests we should rest on our laurels, happy to simply be in the top division every year. Happy to be above loads of other teams.

 

Where I personally (and I'm sure many others) get so disillusioned is when I think about where we could be, with this stadium, these facilities, this ridiculously loyal fanbase etc etc. And before anyone points it out, I know the previous board helped us to get to that status.

 

It's a terrible cliché, but we're the classic example of a sleeping giant. A 'could do better'. I don't see the issue with wanting the best. Of course there are loads of knee-jerking mongs (on the forums and at SJP), but who takes notice of them? I certainly don't.

 

On a side-note, that's what wor lass calls me chopper.

Why would she call your bike a sleeping giant Keefaz?

Aye, it's not that bad like. At the end of the day though, people are motivated to post on message boards a lot more when they have something to get off their chests than when all is good.

It was more the sheep on here who followed Pied Piper style despite knowing very little about the bloke that got me. You know who you are Peasepud made the most of it like.

 

Looking back it is canny funny like.

Haha! My mate changed his name on the poker to Ottmar

And another season draws to a close....

If we sell Butt and Barton,how mush cash in??????

 

50p and a scone.

Cheese or Fruit?

wouldnt mind one after xmas, but not during

January would be an even shitter month with no footy.

i went to a talk in with beardsley once.

 

slated owen as being technically shit when kk had him with england, his left foot came in for particular criticism.

 

claimed that in training if they were doing an exercise that was difficulat technically owen would be at the back of the queue trying to dodge it.

 

 

basically said he was all pace and nowt else.

So now without the pace......

He can still finish like.

How does eating a baby prove you are rock?

Yes.

"Miss Freddie Shepherd" just reads all wrong tbh

It's the capital 'M'.

ffs