Wullie Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I remember a thead almost exactly like this last year. I love the comparisons to last year, made in a "don't panic" kind of way. The only reason we're in this position is because of the enormous fuck ups we made last year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythelads Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 if we go down it'll be the biggest **** up our club has seen since we appointed souness. i think we'll stay up but we're in for another season of mediocrity. shame really because if we added three or four quality players in the right areas i think we'd be challenging for top 4 again. i think our midfield is good enough to compete with the best and we've got good understudies challenging for a starting lineup. add two new strikers and two new defenders and our outlook for the season will change. the problem is that fat fred has left it too late again. it was so predictable that we would end up waiting until the last week of the transfer window. who does everyone reckon we'll be panic buying this time? First bit in bold is one of the most hilarious things I've read in ages. Wouldn't mind you telling me how you know the lack of signings is down to 'Fat' Fred? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jangles Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Last season shearer was getting a lot of critisism as he wasnt having much of an effect in the majority of games he played in, 4 of his 10 goals were penalties. Owen missed most of the season Shola came on leaps and bounds under Roeder, I think his record is something like 18 in 29 recently. Zoggy will hopefully continue to improve. Emre and Luque will hopefully contribute more as theyve a years premiership experience Milner and Duff will offer more attacking options I think we've got enough goals in the team to be comfortable midtable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smoggeordie Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 The only thing saving us is the fact there are so many duckegg teams this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythelads Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Last season shearer was getting a lot of critisism as he wasnt having much of an effect in the majority of games he played in, 4 of his 10 goals were penalties. Owen missed most of the season Shola came on leaps and bounds under Roeder, I think his record is something like 18 in 29 recently. Zoggy will hopefully continue to improve. Emre and Luque will hopefully contribute more as theyve a years premiership experience Milner and Duff will offer more attacking options I think we've got enough goals in the team to be comfortable midtable. Luque does NOT have a year's premiership experience, not sure why you're counting him, tbh. He can't be relied upon at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbeth Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 but yes it is worrying, we all know we need at least 1 20 goal striker when did we last have one of them ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottledDog Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Even with the current squad relegation in a non issue. Get a grip lads, there will be new faces in (I trust Roeder on that), and even if we are ravaged with injury we still have the winter transfer window to bring in bodies. Roeder is rightly looking to match last season or better it if he gets in who he is looking at now, and yet you talk of relegation? Jaysus. :roll: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crumpy Gunt Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Emre and Parker are good for 3 goals between them at least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Goashem Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Looking at last season stats makes very scary reading Goals Scored 1 Chelsea 38 72 2 Man Utd 38 72 3 Arsenal 38 68 4 Liverpool 38 57 5 Tottenham 38 53 6 West Ham 38 52 7 Blackburn 38 51 8 Bolton 38 49 9 Fulham 38 48 10 Middlesbrough 38 48 11 Newcastle 38 47 12 Wigan Athletic 38 45 13 Man City 38 43 14 Aston Villa 38 42 15 Charlton 38 41 16 Portsmouth 38 37 17 Everton 38 34 18 West Brom 38 31 19 Birmingham 38 28 20 Sunderland 38 26 Taking into account we have lost Shearer (10 goals) and Owen (7goals), we will be lucky to score more than 35 goals with the present squad, which puts an awful lot of pressure on our defence (which by the way had the 7th best defensive record in the league last year and does not deserve most of the unfounded critisicism it receives) I know there is another 2 weeks until the close of the transfer window, but **** that - the season starts tomorrow and Im starting to shit myself is it our defence though? or is it given? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Smirky Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Looking at last season stats makes very scary reading Goals Scored 1 Chelsea 38 72 2 Man Utd 38 72 3 Arsenal 38 68 4 Liverpool 38 57 5 Tottenham 38 53 6 West Ham 38 52 7 Blackburn 38 51 8 Bolton 38 49 9 Fulham 38 48 10 Middlesbrough 38 48 11 Newcastle 38 47 12 Wigan Athletic 38 45 13 Man City 38 43 14 Aston Villa 38 42 15 Charlton 38 41 16 Portsmouth 38 37 17 Everton 38 34 18 West Brom 38 31 19 Birmingham 38 28 20 Sunderland 38 26 Taking into account we have lost Shearer (10 goals) and Owen (7goals), we will be lucky to score more than 35 goals with the present squad, which puts an awful lot of pressure on our defence (which by the way had the 7th best defensive record in the league last year and does not deserve most of the unfounded critisicism it receives) I know there is another 2 weeks until the close of the transfer window, but **** that - the season starts tomorrow and Im starting to shit myself is it our defence though? or is it given? Yes Given plays a big part in that - but if your not scoring goals then the defence will always be under more pressure Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teepee Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 this may sound strange - but in a sense this is the most postive thread we've seen i a while Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythelads Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Emre and Parker are good for 3 goals between them at least. All candidates for goal of the season anarl. You don't see many from the halfway line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dan Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 if we go down it'll be the biggest **** up our club has seen since we appointed souness. i think we'll stay up but we're in for another season of mediocrity. shame really because if we added three or four quality players in the right areas i think we'd be challenging for top 4 again. i think our midfield is good enough to compete with the best and we've got good understudies challenging for a starting lineup. add two new strikers and two new defenders and our outlook for the season will change. the problem is that fat fred has left it too late again. it was so predictable that we would end up waiting until the last week of the transfer window. who does everyone reckon we'll be panic buying this time? First bit in bold is one of the most hilarious things I've read in ages. Wouldn't mind you telling me how you know the lack of signings is down to 'Fat' Fred? really? i don't see many clubs outside the top four that can boast the strength in depth we have in midfield. duff, parker, emre, butt, n'zogbia, solano, dyer and milner is not a bad group to cover four positions (not to mention the youngsters like o'brien and pattison knocking on the door. so i think it's fair to say that we're fairly well covered when it comes to midfield. on your second point....because he's the chairman and he sanctions them. the manager identifies the players he wants. it's up to the chairman to get the deals done before the last week of the transfer window. it would be nice to be approaching a new season for once with our summer signings signed and bedded in with a few weeks of pre-season training behind them. but shepherd doesn't appear to learn from his mistakes. we continue to wait until the last possible minute to complete our deals which inevitably means we're slow out of the blocks in august and september. who else do you blame for our lack of strategy when it comes to the transfer window but the chairman? is there someone else running the club that i don't know about? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythelads Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 if we go down it'll be the biggest **** up our club has seen since we appointed souness. i think we'll stay up but we're in for another season of mediocrity. shame really because if we added three or four quality players in the right areas i think we'd be challenging for top 4 again. i think our midfield is good enough to compete with the best and we've got good understudies challenging for a starting lineup. add two new strikers and two new defenders and our outlook for the season will change. the problem is that fat fred has left it too late again. it was so predictable that we would end up waiting until the last week of the transfer window. who does everyone reckon we'll be panic buying this time? First bit in bold is one of the most hilarious things I've read in ages. Wouldn't mind you telling me how you know the lack of signings is down to 'Fat' Fred? really? i don't see many clubs outside the top four that can boast the strength in depth we have in midfield. duff, parker, emre, butt, n'zogbia, solano, dyer and milner is not a bad group to cover four positions (not to mention the youngsters like o'brien and pattison knocking on the door. so i think it's fair to say that we're fairly well covered when it comes to midfield. on your second point....because he's the chairman and he sanctions them. the manager identifies the players he wants. it's up to the chairman to get the deals done before the last week of the transfer window. it would be nice to be approaching a new season for once with our summer signings signed and bedded in with a few weeks of pre-season training behind them. but shepherd doesn't appear to learn from his mistakes. we continue to wait until the last possible minute to complete our deals which inevitably means we're slow out of the blocks in august and september. who else do you blame for our lack of strategy when it comes to the transfer window but the chairman? is there someone else running the club that i don't know about? There can be any number of reasons why a signing isn't made that is nothing to do with the Chairman. On your first point, you're over-rating our players individually and more importantly, collectively. By the way, you're babbling on about a lack of strategy having just described a strategy. The problem for you is that you don't agree with that strategy. If you are correct it is a stategy nevertheless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitman Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I don't think we'll be at risk of relegation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Fox Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I would agree our players are over rated by some. We need more than one stiker, we have lost 3 (Shearer, Owen, Chopra) The Chairman and Manager are responsible for transfer activity or lack of it so far, so apportion blame between them, although I suspect Freddie is trying to keep his powder dry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dan Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 if we go down it'll be the biggest **** up our club has seen since we appointed souness. i think we'll stay up but we're in for another season of mediocrity. shame really because if we added three or four quality players in the right areas i think we'd be challenging for top 4 again. i think our midfield is good enough to compete with the best and we've got good understudies challenging for a starting lineup. add two new strikers and two new defenders and our outlook for the season will change. the problem is that fat fred has left it too late again. it was so predictable that we would end up waiting until the last week of the transfer window. who does everyone reckon we'll be panic buying this time? First bit in bold is one of the most hilarious things I've read in ages. Wouldn't mind you telling me how you know the lack of signings is down to 'Fat' Fred? really? i don't see many clubs outside the top four that can boast the strength in depth we have in midfield. duff, parker, emre, butt, n'zogbia, solano, dyer and milner is not a bad group to cover four positions (not to mention the youngsters like o'brien and pattison knocking on the door. so i think it's fair to say that we're fairly well covered when it comes to midfield. on your second point....because he's the chairman and he sanctions them. the manager identifies the players he wants. it's up to the chairman to get the deals done before the last week of the transfer window. it would be nice to be approaching a new season for once with our summer signings signed and bedded in with a few weeks of pre-season training behind them. but shepherd doesn't appear to learn from his mistakes. we continue to wait until the last possible minute to complete our deals which inevitably means we're slow out of the blocks in august and september. who else do you blame for our lack of strategy when it comes to the transfer window but the chairman? is there someone else running the club that i don't know about? There can be any number of reasons why a signing isn't made that is nothing to do with the Chairman. On your first point, you're over-rating our players individually and more importantly, collectively. not really. i just don't see any clubs outside the top 4 or 5 with a better collection of midfielders in their squad. if you do maybe you could name them and list the players so we can compare. we have the strength in depth in midfield to compete with the best clubs in the league. it's obvious that defence and attack are the areas that we're weak in. bring in two class defenders and two quality strikers and we don't look a bad side all of a sudden. but even if we weren't to sign anyone else before the window closes (won't happen - i can see us bringing in at least a couple of overpriced panic buys next week), we still have enough quality to avoid relegation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythelads Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 if we go down it'll be the biggest **** up our club has seen since we appointed souness. i think we'll stay up but we're in for another season of mediocrity. shame really because if we added three or four quality players in the right areas i think we'd be challenging for top 4 again. i think our midfield is good enough to compete with the best and we've got good understudies challenging for a starting lineup. add two new strikers and two new defenders and our outlook for the season will change. the problem is that fat fred has left it too late again. it was so predictable that we would end up waiting until the last week of the transfer window. who does everyone reckon we'll be panic buying this time? First bit in bold is one of the most hilarious things I've read in ages. Wouldn't mind you telling me how you know the lack of signings is down to 'Fat' Fred? really? i don't see many clubs outside the top four that can boast the strength in depth we have in midfield. duff, parker, emre, butt, n'zogbia, solano, dyer and milner is not a bad group to cover four positions (not to mention the youngsters like o'brien and pattison knocking on the door. so i think it's fair to say that we're fairly well covered when it comes to midfield. on your second point....because he's the chairman and he sanctions them. the manager identifies the players he wants. it's up to the chairman to get the deals done before the last week of the transfer window. it would be nice to be approaching a new season for once with our summer signings signed and bedded in with a few weeks of pre-season training behind them. but shepherd doesn't appear to learn from his mistakes. we continue to wait until the last possible minute to complete our deals which inevitably means we're slow out of the blocks in august and september. who else do you blame for our lack of strategy when it comes to the transfer window but the chairman? is there someone else running the club that i don't know about? There can be any number of reasons why a signing isn't made that is nothing to do with the Chairman. On your first point, you're over-rating our players individually and more importantly, collectively. not really. i just don't see any clubs outside the top 4 or 5 with a better collection of midfielders in their squad. if you do maybe you could name them and list the players so we can compare. we have the strength in depth in midfield to compete with the best clubs in the league. it's obvious that defence and attack are the areas that we're weak in. bring in two class defenders and two quality strikers and we don't look a bad side all of a sudden. but even if we weren't to sign anyone else before the window closes (won't happen - i can see us bringing in at least a couple of overpriced panic buys next week), we still have enough quality to avoid relegation. It's not about individuals, it's about having the proper blend of players to make a good unit and team. I don't think you've ever understood that, Dan. Our midfield for most of last season was pretty poor, there's not a great reason to suppose it'll be much better this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dan Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 if we go down it'll be the biggest **** up our club has seen since we appointed souness. i think we'll stay up but we're in for another season of mediocrity. shame really because if we added three or four quality players in the right areas i think we'd be challenging for top 4 again. i think our midfield is good enough to compete with the best and we've got good understudies challenging for a starting lineup. add two new strikers and two new defenders and our outlook for the season will change. the problem is that fat fred has left it too late again. it was so predictable that we would end up waiting until the last week of the transfer window. who does everyone reckon we'll be panic buying this time? First bit in bold is one of the most hilarious things I've read in ages. Wouldn't mind you telling me how you know the lack of signings is down to 'Fat' Fred? really? i don't see many clubs outside the top four that can boast the strength in depth we have in midfield. duff, parker, emre, butt, n'zogbia, solano, dyer and milner is not a bad group to cover four positions (not to mention the youngsters like o'brien and pattison knocking on the door. so i think it's fair to say that we're fairly well covered when it comes to midfield. on your second point....because he's the chairman and he sanctions them. the manager identifies the players he wants. it's up to the chairman to get the deals done before the last week of the transfer window. it would be nice to be approaching a new season for once with our summer signings signed and bedded in with a few weeks of pre-season training behind them. but shepherd doesn't appear to learn from his mistakes. we continue to wait until the last possible minute to complete our deals which inevitably means we're slow out of the blocks in august and september. who else do you blame for our lack of strategy when it comes to the transfer window but the chairman? is there someone else running the club that i don't know about? There can be any number of reasons why a signing isn't made that is nothing to do with the Chairman. On your first point, you're over-rating our players individually and more importantly, collectively. not really. i just don't see any clubs outside the top 4 or 5 with a better collection of midfielders in their squad. if you do maybe you could name them and list the players so we can compare. we have the strength in depth in midfield to compete with the best clubs in the league. it's obvious that defence and attack are the areas that we're weak in. bring in two class defenders and two quality strikers and we don't look a bad side all of a sudden. but even if we weren't to sign anyone else before the window closes (won't happen - i can see us bringing in at least a couple of overpriced panic buys next week), we still have enough quality to avoid relegation. It's not about individuals, it's about having the proper blend of players to make a good unit and team. I don't think you've ever understood that, Dan. Our midfield for most of last season was pretty poor, there's not a great reason to suppose it'll be much better this season. good point. but adding new strikers with better movement and pace for ball players like emre to pass to would help, as would signing a couple of defenders who play the ball through midfield rather than hoofing it 40 yards forward. we should be able to find a cohesive unit from the 8 senior midfielders mentioned above. there's a lot of talent there that i believe we would see more of with better forwards and defenders. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythelads Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 if we go down it'll be the biggest **** up our club has seen since we appointed souness. i think we'll stay up but we're in for another season of mediocrity. shame really because if we added three or four quality players in the right areas i think we'd be challenging for top 4 again. i think our midfield is good enough to compete with the best and we've got good understudies challenging for a starting lineup. add two new strikers and two new defenders and our outlook for the season will change. the problem is that fat fred has left it too late again. it was so predictable that we would end up waiting until the last week of the transfer window. who does everyone reckon we'll be panic buying this time? First bit in bold is one of the most hilarious things I've read in ages. Wouldn't mind you telling me how you know the lack of signings is down to 'Fat' Fred? really? i don't see many clubs outside the top four that can boast the strength in depth we have in midfield. duff, parker, emre, butt, n'zogbia, solano, dyer and milner is not a bad group to cover four positions (not to mention the youngsters like o'brien and pattison knocking on the door. so i think it's fair to say that we're fairly well covered when it comes to midfield. on your second point....because he's the chairman and he sanctions them. the manager identifies the players he wants. it's up to the chairman to get the deals done before the last week of the transfer window. it would be nice to be approaching a new season for once with our summer signings signed and bedded in with a few weeks of pre-season training behind them. but shepherd doesn't appear to learn from his mistakes. we continue to wait until the last possible minute to complete our deals which inevitably means we're slow out of the blocks in august and september. who else do you blame for our lack of strategy when it comes to the transfer window but the chairman? is there someone else running the club that i don't know about? There can be any number of reasons why a signing isn't made that is nothing to do with the Chairman. On your first point, you're over-rating our players individually and more importantly, collectively. not really. i just don't see any clubs outside the top 4 or 5 with a better collection of midfielders in their squad. if you do maybe you could name them and list the players so we can compare. we have the strength in depth in midfield to compete with the best clubs in the league. it's obvious that defence and attack are the areas that we're weak in. bring in two class defenders and two quality strikers and we don't look a bad side all of a sudden. but even if we weren't to sign anyone else before the window closes (won't happen - i can see us bringing in at least a couple of overpriced panic buys next week), we still have enough quality to avoid relegation. It's not about individuals, it's about having the proper blend of players to make a good unit and team. I don't think you've ever understood that, Dan. Our midfield for most of last season was pretty poor, there's not a great reason to suppose it'll be much better this season. good point. but adding new strikers with better movement and pace for ball players like emre to pass to would help, as would signing a couple of strikers who play the ball through midfield rather than hoofing it 40 yards forward. we should be able to find a cohesive unit from the 8 senior midfielders mentioned above. there's a lot of talent there that i believe we would see more of with better forwards and defenders. But we don't have those strikers. I'm looking at the current options and it's not good. The problem is Parker and Emre, I've thought so for ages. I think we probably could find a proper blend from the players currently on the books, but I'm concerned whether Roeder has the balls to drop either Parker or Emre. Especially since he made the error of making Parker captain. Whilie we don't have strikers he'll probably get away with it by using one up front and 5 across the middle. But once we have 2 strikers and he wants to go 4-4-2 it will be interesting to see who he puts in the centre of midfield. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_NUFC Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I don't think we're going to get relegated. I think it's more a question of Top 6 or Mid Table. If we bring in a decent deadline then I think we've a good shout of the former. A couple of days ago, I'd have seriously said we'd finish about 6th, but now that Kuyt has gone to Liverpool and the Martins interest has cooled, I'm not so sure. I still think we'll bring a half decent striker in before the window closes. If not, we're relying on Shola and Luque. Not ideal, but it could be worse. Mid table if that's the case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbeth Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 it's obvious that defence and attack are the areas that we're weak in. bring in two class defenders and two quality strikers and we don't look a bad side all of a sudden. pretty sure that if you said of any side in the PL that they were about to bring in 4 class/quality players they would say they'd not have a bad side. In the 102 days of searching between 8th of May and 18th August one new player has joined. In a position you view as already being a strong area. I hope that in the remaining 13 days you get your four others Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Fox Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 I'm concerned about the injury doubts surrounding a lot of our players. I expect the following to potentially have problem this season: Duff, Emre, Carr, Bramble,Ameobi, Dyer (surely not), Babayaro, Luque Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 less than 1% chance of the drop according to the Times statistical analysis Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phil K Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 Just remember the similarities with the makems - the makems finished 7th I believe, like us - and Peter Reid, like Roeder - waited and waited for bargains, didnt sign, and ended up panicking when it went pear shaped and they were at the bottom, and paid three times what the players he bought were worth. And they were wastes of money, and just drained what cash was there, through unearned high wages. And of course, they went down. I believe we are better than they were, but we'll still not do as well as some believe without strengthening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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