Cheick Tioté (1986-2017)

[Guest malandro]

He's not a dud, and I never said he was. He's OK. Better than the £3m we paid for him but nowhere near as good as his hype. More Winston Palacios than Claude Makélélé. More importantly he demonstrates that no matter how good GCs bargain hunting is building a team by targeting bargains is a game of chance not a coherent strategy.

 

Interesting article in today's Journal about AP telling him to curb his aggression, or in other words telling him to stop using his biggest (and possibly only) strength to avoid getting booked.

 

Targeting bargains is not a coherent strategy if what you want is to immediately have a superb team, but if you're good at it (which we seem to be), it's a great way to make sure you're upwardly mobile.

 

When we sold Carroll do you think we targeted Ba as a replacement and it was just good luck that WH got relegated making him available on a free? If WH had stayed up would we have paid top wack to get him to SJP because AP saw him as the type of player we needed to build a team that plays the type of football he wants to play? Or did the club just look at who they could get on the cheap without any thought about developing a coherent style of play?

 

[Mick]

In terms of team building its a farce. Consider Cisse, he may or may not rediscover some of last seasons from but he is a poor partner for Ba, who we signed because he was available on a free. Our resale value transfer strategy results in making it up as we go along team building, which isn't a basis for sustained progress.

 

We need a left back but won't sign one because we can't get a bargain. We need a CH but won't sign one because GC can't pull a rabbit out of the hat. We need a left sided midfielder but bought Marveux because his injury record made him cheap.

 

It's crap.

 

 

Ba and Cisse worked last season, they don't work this season because we're not playing them the same way that did work.

[Guest tollemache]

I think when we sold Carroll there's a good chance we'd already targeted Cisse, not Ba.

 

I think we signed Ba because his record suggested he'd probably score f*ckloads of goals if he was fit, and because he was free. There's no chance we'd have considered paying much of a fee for him, if any, because of his knee. I think in light of Cisse's signing it's quite likely Ba was the one glaring example of winging it but the other signings have all made some kind of sense as far as their function within the team goes.

 

Cisse they were at pains to say they'd been watching for ages (no coincidence that the fee was a bit higher). Given that Cisse came after Ba and was clearly the more considered signing, you can only conclude that either they felt he would be a good partner for Ba and were simply wrong, that he was so good he just had to be signed no matter what even though we already had Ba, that Ba remained an injury risk, or that he might leave for cheap thanks to his release clause. Maybe a bit of each. It's hard to know really... It's also hard to imagine a £9m signing like that being motivated only by resale value because unless he really took off we'd never get our money back.

 

Part of going for resale value is trying to get players for cheap, yes, but the other crucial component is that you stick to signing players you think are really really good and can become part of the team for years to come. It's not about sacrificing quality so you can save a few pennies, so I don't think Marveaux and Amalfitano were straighforward examples of plumping for a s*** player because they're cheap. I think Carr thought they had a chance of being really good.

 

I've said before that I thought missing out on Debuchy by refusing to go any higher was arguably a good sign, and that if we stuck to a sensible policy like that we'd have some dud transfer windows for sure but on the whole we'd most likely end up building something decent. It's the exact opposite of make-it-up-as-you-go-along really, in that the emphasis is on identifying good long-term bets and if you can't sign them, signing nobody and waiting til someone else comes up who fits your profile. I don't deny that there will be some rank opportunism along the way - if you see what you think is a bargain you can make a few quid on, you take it, a la Ba - but it is also about sticking to your plan. The signing of Cisse shows that if we think a player is really worth spending a bit more on, we'll do it. The fact we signed him even as Ba was banging the goals in shows that we don't necessarily care when we make the signing as long as it's a good one.

 

I think I'll be a bit concerned if there are two dud transfer windows in a row, but so far the policy we're sticking to has tended to work, bringing in Cabaye, Ba, Cisse, Ben Arfa, Tiote and Santon without making a loss. I'd be surprised if we didn't do anything in January. If we get a decent centre half for a decent price in the next window, we'll feel a lot better about not overspending on one in the last window.

 

I swear I'm not employed by the club - these are my real opinions. 

 

 

 

[JH]

How can we blame Carr?? We're going to get £60m off the Tiote sale when we sell him to Arsenal, Man U and Chelsea in January - result!

[The College Dropout]

In the midfield we have today, he's most likely going to have to try and create stuff. He'll fail at that side.

[Cajun]

In the midfield we have today, he's most likely going to have to try and create stuff. He'll fail at that side.

 

I hope Anita takings the attacking responsibility.

[Guest palnese]

What a fucking shite season he's having.

[NEEJ]

Fucking liability.

[54]

Thought he's been doing well today.

[Andymc1]

Thought he's been doing well today.

 

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[Dyeyzzon]

Tackling and Work rate -

Concentration -

[Guest palnese]

He's been poor imo.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Thought he's been doing well today.

 

Agreed, lost the ball a couple of times BUT has won a fair few tackles, needs to stop the Hollywood balls

 

[Tooj]

Fuck off shooting man.

[Guest tollemache]

It does upset me when he shoots

[durhamunigeordie]

Just needs to do what he does best and stop trying to be creative.

[Guest tollemache]

It's got to be a little bit harder when you don't have Cabaye right next to you

[Tiotes Witch Doctor]

Had a very good second half because he seemed to go back to basics, just breaking up the play and laying off a player who is more capable of getting forward, that's his role and if he sticks to it we should see an improvement. First half he inexplicably wanted to take on every City player and failed every time.

[Tooj]

It's got to be a little bit harder when you don't have Cabaye right next to you

 

Yet he played his best football with Nolan next to him. 

[Dave]

Just needs to do what he does best and stop trying to be creative.

 

Seems so obvious doesn't it. Makes me wonder what the fuck he's being coached to do.

[Optimistic Nut]

It's got to be a little bit harder when you don't have Cabaye right next to you

 

Yet he played his best football with Nolan next to him. 

 

And Perch & Anita were both absolutely fine.

[Beren]

Thought he did very well today. Doesn't usually against Yaya, but thought he was good. Tough to turn around a critical audience though. Needs to put together a few good performances back-to-back though obviously.

[Guest tollemache]

Nolan's no chump at using the ball though...

[Jordan]

The worst i've ever seen him. Nearly cost us 6 times fucking around on the ball. Was so happy when he was subbed.

[Incognito]

Love the contrasts of football opinion. For me Tiote has no idea of his limitations and believes himself better than what he is . He was ok today but has been pitiful on the whole this season.