sicsfingeredmong

A waste of mb's tbh. You must not have witnessed our left-sided play prior to the Show Pony's arrival ie. Glass, and of course Dalglish's occasional moonlighting on the left flank. Robert, the Show Pony you speak of = our most productive wideman since Waddle graced the turf here.

The circumstances behind him leaving in the first place were a disgrace ie. the board declining to cough up a deserved pay rise of approximately 10 thousand quid a year.

For saying it how it was, too bad the captain didnt do likewise

And so so it was Robert's fault that SBR's successor - ie. Souness - couldn't accept the fact that the player in question didn't have the Neville brothers' defensive physical presence and therefore marked him as rubbish and a player 'who had to be sold'. Dunn's exit from Blackburn followed a similar path initially when Souness used to badger on about "Dunn not doing enough defensively". It was either season 01/02 or 02/03 when Dunn sunk us with a 2nd half winner at Ewood, which complimented a MOM performance. Souness' post-match press conference mirrored his Heereenveen/Robert one ie. "he played well, but doesn't do nearly enough in other areas". They're 'back-handed slap' comments, aimed at supposedly motivating players by constantly taking pop-shots at them in the press.... especially after MOM performance. Ridding Souness of blame, and at the same time laying it on Robert's door - when talking about his SJP exit - is bollocks.

A major reason as to why he should be preferred upfront everytime, ahead of the lazy & immobile Viduka, with Owen or Martins as his strikepartner. It's been my opinion for quite some time.

Zoggy doesn't have the varied & measured passing game which most natural, & very good fullbacks have at their disposal. The likes of Cole, Miguel etc whilst being exceptional on the ball going forward - ie. dribbling - in their own right but when under the pump from a pressing attacking outfield they'll pass their way out of trouble. They know how to calculate the situation and dribble & pass as they see fit. However with Zoggy it's a totally different kettle of fish. His one and only instinct is to 'dribble and beat his man one-on-one', and this style of play deep in your own half is Russian Roulette stuff. Losing the ball inside the opposition's defending half costs you an attacking opportunity but Zoggy, with his attributes, as a winger will beat his man more often not, and therefore he can be forgiven when losing out to his opposite number on occasion but there'll be that one moment where he'll wreak havok and create a goal/golden opportunity. But his natural instincts, in relation to his ball useage & attacking tendencies when playing aty the fullback position, cost us goals & brings about added & unneeded pressure on the rearguard when it goes balls up. He has be restored to the left flank, in a 442 formation.

If Allardyce goes 442, as per Everton at home. 1-1 451/433 0-2................................. and 'The Chosen One' according to the 'poster figure/talisman worshipping' types, or that Alan bloke in my estimation, will be propelled into the hotseat before our next run of so-called 'easy games'.

Going back to a 442, would be 'getting back to the basics' as HTT says but that is the best case scenario. However for better and worse Allardyce is a big personality, he's a proud man and to revert back to the footballing basics - re: a system of play, a 442 - would represent a major backflip on his part. As it is the 433/451 attacking-defensive system is too player specific, only certain teams with outstanding talents in the pivotal positions or most of them at least - ie. a balanced 'do everything' lone forward, a side-to-sideline operating defensive midfield general with the accompanying distribution skills needed to springboard the transition game, the all-out playmaker who operates in the hole between midfield and the penalty box, and the book-end fullbacks who provide width when the team reverts to 433 when going forward - have been able to pull it off successfully. Barca and Chelsea are examples. Allardyce doesn't have the tools at his disposal to succesfully implement the system. Part of being a successful manager is to adapt, to adopt a system which best amplifies the individual strenghths/attributes of it's players while papering over it's *weaknesses. One example of our weaknesses being highlighted at the moment relates to the fullback positions. Coming from a slower continental-style league Beye doesn't have the conditioning required to deal with the attacking/defensive workload heaped on 433 orientated fullback, and N'Zogbia's positional inexperience - ie. defending too high, and this is due to his natural attacking instincts - is being amplified by the fact that the current system offers him no wide-cover from the forward wide players, especially when caught out on the break. Allardyce will need major financial backing from Mort/Ashley to make the current & chosen system work properly, a top quality sqaud - from top to bottom - is required. I have my doubts as to whether the financial backing required will be made available. In this case Allardyce has to return to the basics, 442 is the most balanced system in terms of highlighting a teams strenghths and nullifying it's weaknesses. Allardyce needs to swallow his pride & adapt, as Ferguson did last season when he realised that his 451 set-up - ie. which was designed to protect the ageing Keane - from the previous campaign was nullifying it's attacking potential. Label me a cretin HTT but if Allardyce can't do likewise by the end of the season, then he has to go at the end of the campaign. Based on his exploits of keeping his temperamental & talented types mentally focused - ie. Anelka & Diouf in particular - it could be fair to label him as being the man-management polar-opposite when compared with the recent Souness & Shearer lockerroom brainstrust, but this will count for nothing if there is no forward progression out on the pitch. Personally i think this will be a non-factor anyway because imo Shearer will be installed as manager before the January transfer window. Mort and Ashley will possibly jump early before the so-called 'The Chosen One' entertains serious thoughts of taking the England job, in what would be a 'fan-friendly' appointment on face value.

Liverpool v Everton, purely because of it's ramifications in the race for European slots - especially these days in the wake of Everton's current position of strength. It's a genuine '6-pointer', and the expectant lustre of the Arsenal/Spurs has been tarnished this season. If Ramos can turn Spurs around the North London derby will re-enter this sphere of importance.

The question with regards to Diouf, will Bolton let him go to the club whom Allardyce walked towards in accordance to his managerial 'second calling'..... for anything less than 10m? I'd expect heavy opposition from Bolton in the event of us making a move come January. Diouf's a good player, the sort of two-sided/free-roaming forward we need right now but imo we'll be priced out of the equation. And these thoughts have been solidified after reading Mort's quotes in the "Allardyce faces January block" article, especially if Allardyce doesn't rebuff his thinking in the area of his current tactical formation, and couple this with his defensive mindset or priority of stiffling the opposition outfield with this 433/4551 attacking & defensive hybrid, as opposed with the obviously suited 442 based line-up that was fielded against Everton: a line-up that was suited to the players' strengths and was functional going forward. By going public Mort's most recent quotes, re: the 'team not playing as a unit', add fuel to the fire after having already made comments along the line of 'obviously Allardyce wasn't our manager - due to the timing of their take-over'. Not being their man, or the preferred choice for the top job, meant that Allardyce had to impress from the outset. Allardyce has done himself no favours in this sense due to his over-elaborate tactics and team changes: Keegan, and this applies to SBR as well, kept it simple and applied his tactics and the team's mindset - ie. its attacking & defensive balance - in accordance to the attributes of his marquee players. As managers their philosophy was 'let the opposition worry about our threats, and make them adjust their match-ups and their accompanying defensive structure. Contrary to the above Allardyce has been no better than Souness, with the line-up & formation used against Everton being the exception to the rule. If he doesn't turn it around quickly Mort & Ashley will look towards a replacement manager next season, and if he's lucky in the event of him still being in the hotseat here there will most likely be no financial backing for a 'dead man walking' manager in January. IMO for any under fire manager remarks like "we'll stand by our man', as have been stated by Mort, amount to a death sentence.

I have major reservations with regards to Shearer stepping into any management job.

Couldn't agree more with the bold section being the main source of agreement, although there are some whose moral settings point toward the Northern most pole will dismiss your remark ie. most likely those who cried out that "Bellamy had disgraced the club & had to go" when he called a Souness a prick on national television after he was substituted for non-football reasons. As a leader who said it 'how it was" during his captainship at United he made our own so-called Captain Fantastic - ie . one who even until the very end fully endorsed a recent coaching regime which threatened to send the club to the cleaners - look like a pale shadow in this regard.

lmfao. Have you seen Duff play on the right? He was s***. I've seen him play on the right-side, when Ireland - and admittedly this goes back to the Japan WC - utilised him as a floating forward & given the freedom to drift out wide in both channels hence i've have a some sort of basis for a judgement on this one. He and Keane alternated their respective attacking roles periodiocly, down each wide attacking channel, and worried alot of defensive rearguards in the process. It'a all good and well for a manager to install a system of play which in theory should work, as per the above, but you have to the tools/fundamentals at your disposal in order to execute the scheme, and that's what Keane & Duff were able to do because of their dual-sided versatility - and it comes down to dribbling ability, the propensity to cut inside on a dime & being able to shoot with both feet. But i guess i can see a pattern in someone's play, and envision how it could be best utilised amidst a squad which isn't exactly spoiled for choice in the attacking midfield ranks, soemthing which applies in our case............. unlike yourself NM in this instance you've hit quick judgement and branded somebody in essence as 'permanently s***' and that 'will never work'. I'd be perfectly happy with a 442 system in play with Zoggy and Duff utilised on the left & right respectively, afterall i'm a 442 man. I suppose you're perfectly happy with Milner's productivity out on the right then - tbh he reminds of a right-sided version of Stephen Glass ie. all effort but doesn't have the necessary tools/ability in the locker. As a 442 set-up with Zoggy and Milner as the widemen our midfield looks too left-sided, or a lopsided left-to-right attacking threat - just like our midfield was prior to Robert's arrival, except in this case the right-side - ie. Milner - is the problem area. Or perhaps you're holding out for Ashley to fork out the big quid come January?

No question that the failure to push on after 3rd place was a turning point. We didn't invest in new players, and if you stop moving forwards, you start slipping backwards. The other factor here is Shearer. He'd started to slow down significantly, and that was the point when his successor should have been brought in. If Shearer didn't like it, he should have been shown the door. Unfortunately, because of his status, and the fact that Shepherd wanted him as Robson's successor, that was impossible. It affected the performance of the team, the team morale and the authority of the manager. When Robson left, it was also difficult to attract a top class manager who was willing to risk their reputation by taking on such a difficult situation. Couldn't agree more. Although i think it was the more to do with it being the Halls' dream ironically it was Robson - and this goes back to what you said in the 2nd paragraph - who first planted the seed in Halls' mind, or the 'Shearer Management Blueprint' as i've referred to it before, by piping on about that 'Shearer would one day become a great NUFC manager' or words to the effect of anyway in some press releases during the period mentioned above. By planting the above mentioned seed, in effect Robson sealed his own death warrant when he finally entertained the thought of building a new strikeforce, a strikeforce which didn't revolve around Shearer.

A multi-paced dribbling winger who can his man guessing when cutting-in or when beating his man on the outside, but more importantly he's two footed and has a tendancy to cut-in on a dime and shoot ie. a right-sided version of Robert, and Robert could shoot with his right as a last resort although the "The Robert is s****" pack will steadfastly disagree with this. I'll be happy if Duff walks into starting line-up, on the right side that is. He's a better option on the right than Milner.... who lacks Duff's pace off the mark, lacks Solano's guile and decision making on-the-ball, and ultimately is still hit & miss with his delivery from out wide. Duff, with his aforementioned strengths and pattern of play, will still inflict more damage on the opposition than the naturally right-sided Milner imo.

I'll go back further. This relates to a lack of long-term planning by the previous board - or more accurately, the power-players/the Halls - by not recognising that were cracks appearing in Robson's management back in 02/03, despite the 3rd place finish. Those cracks being the one-dimensional 'through-the-middle' & over the top pattern of play, and a non-existent squad rotation policy - ie. when Robson played 'favourites' on the selection table when he there were able replacements at his disposal such as Acuna - amidst a heavy match schedule. That 3rd place finish was a bloody lucky result, when looking at the football on display from the previous campaign of 01/02. Paul Hart was my 1st choice then, when he first began to look shaky at Forest - in the wake of the forced departures of his then core group of first-teamers ie. Harewood/Jenas etc, was the sort of manager we should've been looking at, as far as eventually taking over from Robson at about the same time when it suddenly dawned on the Halls that Robson was past his use-by-date. Mods: I encountered posting problems after being timed-out initially. Could you please move this post to the appropriate thread....... i can't be be bothered retyping this post.

Ashley will seriously get his wallet out - ie. a transfer window which doesn't involve a 'sell before you buy' policy as was seen last Summer - or promise a *major transfer kitty as a means of tempting Shearer into the manager's hotseat imo. Shearer has a remodelled back-4 to work with, and Allardyce has established a deeper sqaud with minimal backing from the board when compared with Souness' outlay on less than a handful of franchise players - ie. Owen - and in Luque and Buomsong's cases so-called 'franchise players. So a spine is there to be built upon. As such some of the hard yards have already been traversed, and i think the squad is in better shape as compared with the Summer of 01/02 when Robson brought in the two pivotal players - ie. Bellamy & Robert: the 2 club cancers according to a considerable section of the internet world - who propelled us into the European mix. I think Shearer is cherrypicking his timing in terms of moving into the top job. He didn't want to risk his undebatable hero status amongst his hordes of worshippers by fast-tracking his coaching courses and ultimately taking over a bare bones squad in the wake of Souness and Roeder's respective reigns, and with it adopting a higher chance of failure. Whether it be as a then means of self preservation in the first-team, or just poor judgement by unflinchingly backing his mate Souness at the time, i therefore question Shearer's credibility & ultimate potential as a sound decision maker who will put the health of the club/the team ahead of his own ego and personal motives. I'm also concerned with a bloke's thinking wavelength when they express that 'NUFC players have to of a certain character' at a time when Bellamy and Robert's imminent departures were a foregone conclusion during the Scottish b******'s regime. With that said i feel there will be no marjin for error for the volatile but talented types under Shearer, much like a Souness-led lockerroom imo. I hope i'm wrong but i think Ashley will have to dig deep and frequently too if Shearer is his top-choice, that is if he financially supports his top-choice or 'his man' which imo is a bracket which Allardyce doesn't fall into, because if he does become manager i can envision the sort of players previously mentioned falling foul if Shearer breaks his line/rule when it comes to 'character issues' and actually goes out there and recruits them. *the sort of 40-50m figure being thrown about in this thread

I wouldn't take him. As somebody previously suggested, if there's any cash available come January it should be funnelled into the signing of an attacking midifelder as we can no longer rely on Emre's body holding up over the course of any campaign.

Avram Grant is a long-time and close personal friend of Ambramovich apparently. Mates stick together and regardless of the nationality involved, or more specifically the racial demographic at play, a professional judgment - ie. Mourinho's sacking & Grant's appointment - as a footballing based decision could very well be compromised by a non-footballing based factor as mentioned above. IMO there's no room in football for sentimentality or allegience based decision making, both in the boardroom and matters relating to the playing side. Sad if true, but you could very well be correct re: any cloak & dagger dealings pertaining to Mourinho's demise.

Keane's on & off-field volatility - ie. where he did seek to end a player's career, in a premeditated act of revenge - never stopped him from being the sort of dominant captain others should aspire to be. Barton shares a few of Keane's traits. He plays with drive & purpose and leads by example, and he expects others to follow suit. He'll lay harsh criticism if they don't, and like Keane he's seen as being 'politically incorrect' or too forward/straight talking in the media. Barton is a breath of fresh air in this sense, and to compliment the attributes already mentioned he's a good player. And what's often not spoken about, and this is often forgotten about amidst his reputation for being a thug or as others have cited 'a complete ****ing mentalist', is that he's an intelligent player going forward - off the ball that is. Barton, during his career at City, put himself in too many scoring positions over the course of his journey there and as such he couldn't be labelled as a player that a hit a purple patch of form - ie. goals from midfield - ala Parker prior to moving to Chelsea. It's an indication that he reads the play well and anticipates when & where a '2nd chance opportunity' might arise in & around the box. It doesn't bother me in the slightest if he lays the occasional headbutt, or any other act of aggression in the heat of the moment. Like Keane he's a passionate individual come matchday, and of course out on the training pitch as well. As such these mind-blanks, or flashpoints of craziness, are the by-product that comes hand-in-hand with this sort volatility. When the inevitable first flashpoint does arrive i hope he doesn't get shouted out of town - by the 'do-gooder' types who first jumped on the Anti-Bellamy bandwagon when the so-called Welsh dwarf by their own estimation publically embarassed the club when he justifiably called the manager a prick when substituted, when a match was there for the taking, for reasons that were not football related.; I find your comment irrelevant when in it comes to the captain issue and this is based on Keane's aggressive/in-your-face leadership style, and i do think these type of dismissive/shallow remarks originate from a 'moral high ground' train of thought.

Not concerned with this tbh.

Taylor can bugger off if his father/representatives are pushing for a contract that will put him on par with the three centrehalves who have deservedly overtaken him in the pecking order, and the following is partly a question as well. For a 'learning role' within the current pecking order for the forseeable future, as you've implied, does Taylor's position within the squad warrant parity wage-wise, in Taylors interests that is? My answer is, especially if his father is seeking a package which superceeds those higher in the pecking ranks, is that he can sod off and we can cash-in and replace/further strenghten - or both - in January.

The bloke is 26 now, yet people still claim he still has alot to prove - it's almost as if they're speaking of the same 20-21 year old who at one stage was labelled by some as a possible successor to Shearer. However in the wake of Shearer's retirement Ameobi had his oppportunity to step out of Shearer's once considerable shadow, a shadow i would argue held back the development of the likes of Ameobi & Chopra to an extent and stunted a potentially damaging partnership in the form of Bellamy/Kluivert as the former no.9 clung on to his pursuit of Jackie's record. But Ameobi has had a couple of years now to prove himself. Lack of pace, lazy attitude which amplifies his poor technique/control on the ball & a lack of physical presence/he punches well below his listed 6ft+ listed height + Ameobi contemplating a football career outside of NUFC = Great news. His departure, as a player who never amounted to anything, which can't come quickeer imo would free up a spot on the bench for a project player ie. this kid we're looking at from Le Havre, or somebody else from the academy - most notably young Lua Lua. A player of Ameobi's questionable ability would never have been given 5 years to 'flatter to deceive', as a project player that is.

It does have a bearing *if the major shareholders are taking out bonuses and dividends which are disproportionate to the club's lack of silverware/sustained success. *an argument often used by those against the Halls in particular. BTW i'm happy the Halls have cleared the scene. As the club's major shareholder, whose financial empire lies in ruins when compared to its former glory, they became a liability. Douglas Hall, from what i've heard/read, garnered himself a reputation as being an impulsive decision maker during his chairmanship reign at C.Hall. The sacking of Robson, which barely a month into the season had Hall crying out "he would've got us relegated", was an impulsive sacking which had 'panic button' written all over it. I'm relieved the club is free of this type of 'uninformed decision making' as the big occasion should be free of. IMO D.Hall was a harbinger of this unwarranted decision making process.

Parker and Dyer in no particular order.