Shearer's true test.

[BlufPurdi]

[mrmojorisin75]

shearer failed his true test the moment he entertained playing shola ameobi

[WhatTheFunk]

shearer failed his true test the moment he entertained playing shola ameobi

 

Howay man. I don't think he had a choice in this department. Shola scored a couple of important goals this season, and had partnered AS previously and trained with him for years. He probably felt he could give him a chance to pull about their defenders with his awkwardness and create some space for Owen. I'm with you and everyone else that Shola should have been shipped out of the club eons ago. But for yesterday's game, we know if Martins was fit, he would have played.

 

Either way, Shola signed his own exit from the first team, and showed exactly why he shouldn't be played.

 

IMO Shearer's true test will be with Owen. If he continues to be ineffective, will he drop him? will he at least sub him off after 60 mins?

[Cronky]

People will disagree, but Butt although worst player in the team hes vital for this team, and why? Well cause no other midfielder can defend, Guthrie cant play the holding position, Nolan aint a footballer and Barton isnt fit. So he will start week in week out for the remainder of the season except if Shearer tries to play Colo and midfield during training and it suceeds.

 

Butt is awful man. There's no point in having a DM if they're just going to give the ball away. It defeats the purpose.

 

Sad thing is we all know that, but we've no one better......

 

It really is that desperate. Im wondering whether we should give cacapa another go at DM, atleast he cant cock it up in defence then

 

I can't stand watching Butt either. I get a bit hesitant because the game's professionals do seem to put more store on a defensive midfielder than us fans do. Perhaps putting in someone who can pass the ball would expose the defence a bit more.

 

What tips the scales for me against Butt is his lack of leadership. You just get the feeling that he doesn't like taking responsibility and doesn't provide any drive or inspiration. You really need your experienced players to energise the rest, but half the time he's playing them into trouble.

 

[madras]

butt was our best midfielder yesterday by quite a long way. on form butt should be in the team ahead of nolan.

[Tooj]

People will disagree, but Butt although worst player in the team hes vital for this team, and why? Well cause no other midfielder can defend, Guthrie cant play the holding position, Nolan aint a footballer and Barton isnt fit. So he will start week in week out for the remainder of the season except if Shearer tries to play Colo and midfield during training and it suceeds.

 

Butt is awful man. There's no point in having a DM if they're just going to give the ball away. It defeats the purpose.

 

Sad thing is we all know that, but we've no one better......

 

It really is that desperate. Im wondering whether we should give cacapa another go at DM, atleast he cant cock it up in defence then

 

I can't stand watching Butt either. I get a bit hesitant because the game's professionals do seem to put more store on a defensive midfielder than us fans do. Perhaps putting in someone who can pass the ball would expose the defence a bit more.

 

What tips the scales for me against Butt is his lack of leadership. You just get the feeling that he doesn't like taking responsibility and doesn't provide any drive or inspiration. You really need your experienced players to energise the rest, but half the time he's playing them into trouble.

 

 

Butt is one of the few who I would say tries to take responsibility.

[mrmojorisin75]

shearer failed his true test the moment he entertained playing shola ameobi

 

Howay man. I don't think he had a choice in this department. Shola scored a couple of important goals this season, and had partnered AS previously and trained with him for years. He probably felt he could give him a chance to pull about their defenders with his awkwardness and create some space for Owen. I'm with you and everyone else that Shola should have been shipped out of the club eons ago. But for yesterday's game, we know if Martins was fit, he would have played.

 

Either way, Shola signed his own exit from the first team, and showed exactly why he shouldn't be played.

 

IMO Shearer's true test will be with Owen. If he continues to be ineffective, will he drop him? will he at least sub him off after 60 mins?

 

nonsense

[WhatTheFunk]

shearer failed his true test the moment he entertained playing shola ameobi

 

Howay man. I don't think he had a choice in this department. Shola scored a couple of important goals this season, and had partnered AS previously and trained with him for years. He probably felt he could give him a chance to pull about their defenders with his awkwardness and create some space for Owen. I'm with you and everyone else that Shola should have been shipped out of the club eons ago. But for yesterday's game, we know if Martins was fit, he would have played.

 

Either way, Shola signed his own exit from the first team, and showed exactly why he shouldn't be played.

 

IMO Shearer's true test will be with Owen. If he continues to be ineffective, will he drop him? will he at least sub him off after 60 mins?

 

nonsense

 

in what way dude? care to expand? I'm sorry like, but I won't call AS's decision to play Shola Ameobi against Stoke a failure of a true test! Yes I would start Carroll ahead of him every single time. But it isn't the biggest issue surely!

 

Come to think of it, the bad decision was starting Owen against that mob!! You just KNEW he wasn't going to get any change out of them.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Butt is an atrocious footballer in and amongst other atrocious footballers. With Butt though he works extremely hard, takes responsibility and cares, and I thought he played well yesterday. Its not rocket science to see why Shearer picks him. I mean it isn't as if we have Kaka waiting in the wings. As for true tests... Shearer's will come in May.

[mofo]

as a few have said, I thought butt did ok yesterday.

[Cronky]

People will disagree, but Butt although worst player in the team hes vital for this team, and why? Well cause no other midfielder can defend, Guthrie cant play the holding position, Nolan aint a footballer and Barton isnt fit. So he will start week in week out for the remainder of the season except if Shearer tries to play Colo and midfield during training and it suceeds.

 

Butt is awful man. There's no point in having a DM if they're just going to give the ball away. It defeats the purpose.

 

Sad thing is we all know that, but we've no one better......

 

It really is that desperate. Im wondering whether we should give cacapa another go at DM, atleast he cant cock it up in defence then

 

I can't stand watching Butt either. I get a bit hesitant because the game's professionals do seem to put more store on a defensive midfielder than us fans do. Perhaps putting in someone who can pass the ball would expose the defence a bit more.

 

What tips the scales for me against Butt is his lack of leadership. You just get the feeling that he doesn't like taking responsibility and doesn't provide any drive or inspiration. You really need your experienced players to energise the rest, but half the time he's playing them into trouble.

 

 

Butt is one of the few who I would say tries to take responsibility.

 

Butt certainly sees a lot of the ball and makes a lot of passes, but that’s normal for someone in that anchor position.  It’s his decision-making on the ball which I find very frustrating. It’s like he has a limited range of passing that he’s confident about, and he sticks to that regardless of the situation around him. In that way, he often misses opportunities to play a more positive ball. He has particular specialisms –

 

First is the ball across the pitch which he plays slightly behind his team-mate, because he doesn’t have confidence in his ability to weight a ball for his man to run on to. This then forces the player to check or reverse his run and invites pressure from the opposition. The whole team ends up being forced backwards and we end up with a defender hoofing it long. He often plays this ball when he’s in trouble himself, and his team-mate ends up in worse trouble.

 

Second is the lofted ball across the pitch to the opposite wing. Spectacular when it comes off, but it’s telegraphed,  it’s not usually accurate enough, and tends to turn our possession into a 50-50 battle at best.

 

Third is the ball down the channel,  often played with the head down, the body language signalling loud and clear exactly what’s going to happen, and again turning possession into a 50-50 ball.

 

I don’t want to be too hard because he’s making the best of limited ability, but he’s in an important position in the side and it always looks to me like he’s more afraid of making a mistake than doing something positive. That’s what I mean by not taking responsibility, and I think it affects the whole side. Apart from anything else, I reckon players are hesitant about making forward runs because they’ve no faith in his ability to find them with a pass.

 

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Good analysis there Bob. With Butt he clearly tries to get the team going, but lacks the skills and technique to be any good at it. I'd use Guthrie as the anchorman personally as he has the skills and technique on the ball in terms of passing and he's more mobile.

[johnnypd]

People will disagree, but Butt although worst player in the team hes vital for this team, and why? Well cause no other midfielder can defend, Guthrie cant play the holding position, Nolan aint a footballer and Barton isnt fit. So he will start week in week out for the remainder of the season except if Shearer tries to play Colo and midfield during training and it suceeds.

 

Butt is awful man. There's no point in having a DM if they're just going to give the ball away. It defeats the purpose.

 

Sad thing is we all know that, but we've no one better......

 

It really is that desperate. Im wondering whether we should give cacapa another go at DM, atleast he cant cock it up in defence then

 

I can't stand watching Butt either. I get a bit hesitant because the game's professionals do seem to put more store on a defensive midfielder than us fans do. Perhaps putting in someone who can pass the ball would expose the defence a bit more.

 

What tips the scales for me against Butt is his lack of leadership. You just get the feeling that he doesn't like taking responsibility and doesn't provide any drive or inspiration. You really need your experienced players to energise the rest, but half the time he's playing them into trouble.

 

 

Butt is one of the few who I would say tries to take responsibility.

 

Butt certainly sees a lot of the ball and makes a lot of passes, but that’s normal for someone in that anchor position.  It’s his decision-making on the ball which I find very frustrating. It’s like he has a limited range of passing that he’s confident about, and he sticks to that regardless of the situation around him. In that way, he often misses opportunities to play a more positive ball. He has particular specialisms –

 

First is the ball across the pitch which he plays slightly behind his team-mate, because he doesn’t have confidence in his ability to weight a ball for his man to run on to. This then forces the player to check or reverse his run and invites pressure from the opposition. The whole team ends up being forced backwards and we end up with a defender hoofing it long. He often plays this ball when he’s in trouble himself, and his team-mate ends up in worse trouble.

 

Second is the lofted ball across the pitch to the opposite wing. Spectacular when it comes off, but it’s telegraphed,  it’s not usually accurate enough, and tends to turn our possession into a 50-50 battle at best.

 

Third is the ball down the channel,  often played with the head down, the body language signalling loud and clear exactly what’s going to happen, and again turning possession into a 50-50 ball.

 

I don’t want to be too hard because he’s making the best of limited ability, but he’s in an important position in the side and it always looks to me like he’s more afraid of making a mistake than doing something positive. That’s what I mean by not taking responsibility, and I think it affects the whole side. Apart from anything else, I reckon players are hesitant about making forward runs because they’ve no faith in his ability to find them with a pass.

 

 

You forgot the blind pass backward which invariably gets intercepted by the opposition or puts the last defender under immense pressure. must be a clause in his contract ensuring he plays at least one of these passes per game.

[mrmojorisin75]

shearer failed his true test the moment he entertained playing shola ameobi

 

Howay man. I don't think he had a choice in this department. Shola scored a couple of important goals this season, and had partnered AS previously and trained with him for years. He probably felt he could give him a chance to pull about their defenders with his awkwardness and create some space for Owen. I'm with you and everyone else that Shola should have been shipped out of the club eons ago. But for yesterday's game, we know if Martins was fit, he would have played.

 

Either way, Shola signed his own exit from the first team, and showed exactly why he shouldn't be played.

 

IMO Shearer's true test will be with Owen. If he continues to be ineffective, will he drop him? will he at least sub him off after 60 mins?

 

nonsense

 

in what way dude? care to expand? I'm sorry like, but I won't call AS's decision to play Shola Ameobi against Stoke a failure of a true test! Yes I would start Carroll ahead of him every single time. But it isn't the biggest issue surely!

 

Come to think of it, the bad decision was starting Owen against that mob!! You just KNEW he wasn't going to get any change out of them.

 

hells teeth i was pissed yesterday (in the office when i wrote this and all!) 

[Guest The Libertine]

system failure.

[Guest LucaAltieri]

Shambollic performance from Butt... but no worse than we've come to expect.

 

Shearer's tactics were bang on today.

 

4-4-2 doesn't work for us.

 

3-4-1-2 is the way to go.

 

I know it looks like we're always under pressure when we play this formation but that's just the nature of playing without full-backs. You let the opposition get into wide positions but then you:

 

1) Flood the penalty area with your 3 centre backs and the 2 defensive midfielders, clearing out anything they put into the box.

2) Have your wing-backs and DMs close them down when they cut inside.

 

The reason the system isn't working for us today is quite simple. Our central midfield pairing of Butt and Nolan is complete garbage. Rather than giving up territory on the flanks to form a solid core in the middle, we gave up the flanks and STILL let Spurs stroll through the centre of the pitch.

 

Shearer was right to try these tactics, limiting the roles of Butt and Nolan, as they aren't box-to-box midfielders and asking them to perform that role was costing us.

 

Sadly, even in the limited role with Jonas taking up attacking duties in the centre, they were still fucking hopeless.

 

Shearer must drop Butt. There's nothing else he can do.

[Guest Phil K]

Butt is one of the few who I would say tries to take responsibility.

Agreed.

Butt would be better if he had people with actual football ability around him.

Sadly, he hasn't

[colinmk]

Shambollic performance from Butt... but no worse than we've come to expect.

 

Shearer's tactics were bang on today.

 

4-4-2 doesn't work for us.

 

3-4-1-2 is the way to go.

 

I know it looks like we're always under pressure when we play this formation but that's just the nature of playing without full-backs. You let the opposition get into wide positions but then you:

 

1) Flood the penalty area with your 3 centre backs and the 2 defensive midfielders, clearing out anything they put into the box.

2) Have your wing-backs and DMs close them down when they cut inside.

 

The reason the system isn't working for us today is quite simple. Our central midfield pairing of Butt and Nolan is complete garbage. Rather than giving up territory on the flanks to form a solid core in the middle, we gave up the flanks and STILL let Spurs stroll through the centre of the pitch.

 

Shearer was right to try these tactics, limiting the roles of Butt and Nolan, as they aren't box-to-box midfielders and asking them to perform that role was costing us.

 

Sadly, even in the limited role with Jonas taking up attacking duties in the centre, they were still fucking hopeless.

 

Shearer must drop Butt. There's nothing else he can do.

 

I agree he was right to try it but 4-3-3 has to be the way to go with our squad. Guthrie should be given Butt's role. If we are going attacking at home his passing ability will be essential.

 

 

 

                          Guthrie

 

              Barton                Jonas

 

                            Owen

 

              Viduka          Martins

 

assuming Barton is fit that's what I would like to see, Guthrie or Barton swapping with wherever they are most comfortable.

[Guest Alan Shearer 9]

Shearer has failed his true test

[Robster]

Shearer has failed his true test

So does he give up now of ever being a manager ?

[Guest Alan Shearer 9]

Shearer has failed his true test

So does he give up now of ever being a manager ?

 

The couch is still warm, Lawrenson has been rubbing himself all over it.