Spot on from dot com

[Dave]

For the second successive transfer window, recruitment is obviously a problem, with an apparent policy difference between board and manager.

 

The former apparently favour stop-gap type old-stagers who just happen to be on the books of certain agents; the latter is attempting to stick to his footballing principles of bringing in emerging talent - even if only for a few months.

 

The result? stalemate.

The compromise? it has to be borrowing, not buying said "experienced campaigners".  unsatisfactory though it may be, bringing nobody in is not an option.

The outcome? disillusionment from the manager and supporters and those players who see their fledgling first team careers put on hold after an outbreak of common sense.

 

The problem with having a "go with what you know" policy in our eyes is that it pre -supposes that the so-called first choice players are any bloody good in the first place. If only we had our first -choice players out on the field......we'd still not be awfully happy with our lot, most notably in the back four.

 

So the strategy seems to limp through with players who have let us down previously - certainly in the case of Babayaro, news of his alleged return to fitness does little to cheer us up and we're already counting the days until he rules himself out again.

 

The injury problems really started to bite for us in December, when Huntington, Edgar, Pattison and O'Brien had to be drafted in and Carroll, Troisi and LuaLua seconded for bench duty.

 

So that's less than a month to see and endure the gaping holes in the squad before being in a position to plug the gaps that currently make our defence one of the most porous in the country.

 

When that window shuts Roeder has three and half months to effectively populate a team. Given the outrageous misfortune we perpetually endure, to believe that our injury woes are now at an end is naivety verging on recklessness.

 

And that's all without the ongoing need for a striker of some sort to play with Martins - which seems to have been conveniently ignored in all the defensive furore with Butt and Nobby being drafted in. An injury to Martins just doesn't bear thinking about, while we are putting an enormous amount of faith in Kieron Dyer given the time that he took to return from his gashed leg before Xmas.

 

As we stand today, we lack even a Rossi replacement and are numerically inferior to our position a month ago when Sibierski was still "answering his critics" and scoring.

 

It's now 11 games since the Frenchman netted and today he was absent from the 16 after another buffeting in midweek. There's no question that he's not fully committed, but also beyond argument that he isn't a goalscorer. There again, neither is Duff.

 

Let's just be grateful that a combination of Milner, Dyer and assorted defenders has weighed in with goals to keep our head above water, especially given that fact we have conceded more in the Premiership than even basement club Watford.

 

[Cronky]

I think the problem is we've got no money, but Shepherd isn't being any more honest with Roeder than he is with the fans. Despite the waffle, all we can hope for is some Sibierski-type stop gap signings.

 

The lack of honest communication between Shepherd and Roeder means that the manager is constantly making a fool of himself by raising expectations.

[Ally]

Agree completely.

 

We're an absolute shambles.

[Guest Gemmill]

The lack of honest communication between Shepherd and Roeder means that the manager is constantly making a fool of himself by raising expectations.

 

Nobody is forcing Roeder to do the "within 48 hours", "pole position" speeches.  I'd be happier hearing nothing from him if the alternative is desperate half-truths designed to appease.

[O Neill]

Let's just be grateful that a combination of Milner, Dyer and assorted defenders has weighed in with goals to keep our head above water, especially given that fact we have conceded more in the Premiership than even basement club Watford.

 

A good attempt at passing over a shocking statistic by only making a comparison to the bottom club.

 

Newcastle have conceeded 32, as have Reading, Tottenham and now Watford who have played a game less. On top of that Charlton, West Ham, Wigan, Sheffield United and Blackburn have all conceeded more goals than we have.

 

But I don't disagree with the statement about the defending, just feel the need to justify we aren't the worst.

[The Bonk]

The lack of honest communication between Shepherd and Roeder means that the manager is constantly making a fool of himself by raising expectations.

 

Nobody is forcing Roeder to do the "within 48 hours", "pole position" speeches.  I'd be happier hearing nothing from him if the alternative is desperate half-truths designed to appease.

 

What would you do if a microphone and camera were shoved in your face, mate? 

[BottledDog]

The lack of honest communication between Shepherd and Roeder means that the manager is constantly making a fool of himself by raising expectations.

 

Nobody is forcing Roeder to do the "within 48 hours", "pole position" speeches.  I'd be happier hearing nothing from him if the alternative is desperate half-truths designed to appease.

 

What would you do if a microphone and camera were shoved in your face, mate? 

 

I'd tell them to fuck off.

 

For Roeder, a simple no comment or 'we are doing our best and you will be the first to hear if we make any progress' might suffice.

 

Maybe even, a repeat of the 'I hate it when people talk about other managers players' speech. *cough* ;-)

[ChezGiven]

The lack of honest communication between Shepherd and Roeder means that the manager is constantly making a fool of himself by raising expectations.

 

Nobody is forcing Roeder to do the "within 48 hours", "pole position" speeches.  I'd be happier hearing nothing from him if the alternative is desperate half-truths designed to appease.

 

What would you do if a microphone and camera were shoved in your face, mate? 

 

I'd tell them to fuck off. For Roeder, a simple no comment or 'we are doing our best and you will be the first to hear if we make any progress'  might suffice.

 

Doesnt say enough/says too much if you ask me. I prefer to hear nothing/want to know what the fuck is going on.

 

Tbh.

[The Bonk]

The lack of honest communication between Shepherd and Roeder means that the manager is constantly making a fool of himself by raising expectations.

 

Nobody is forcing Roeder to do the "within 48 hours", "pole position" speeches.  I'd be happier hearing nothing from him if the alternative is desperate half-truths designed to appease.

 

What would you do if a microphone and camera were shoved in your face, mate? 

 

I'd tell them to fuck off. For Roeder, a simple no comment or 'we are doing our best and you will be the first to hear if we make any progress'  might suffice.

 

That's just as bad!  The point is, there is no right answer until a transfer is complete.  I don't see the reason to get all bent out of shape over some comments made to give Anal something to write about. 

[BottledDog]

All I care for is the end product (and I think we may yet get it). But all this jabbering just leads to expectations and frustration.

 

It would be better off phoning Clubcall if you want to find out the inner workings of our transfer dealings. The man is a pure cock tease.

 

 

[sempuki]

Excellent article - once again this transfer window has been a massive disappointment.

[LateRegistration]

Why is this article no longer on dot.com?

[Dave]

Why is this article no longer on dot.com?

 

It's within the match report: http://www.nufc.com/2006-07html/2007-01-20westham-h.html

[Cronky]

The lack of honest communication between Shepherd and Roeder means that the manager is constantly making a fool of himself by raising expectations.

 

Nobody is forcing Roeder to do the "within 48 hours", "pole position" speeches.  I'd be happier hearing nothing from him if the alternative is desperate half-truths designed to appease.

 

What would you do if a microphone and camera were shoved in your face, mate? 

 

I'd tell them to fuck off. For Roeder, a simple no comment or 'we are doing our best and you will be the first to hear if we make any progress'  might suffice.

 

That's just as bad!  The point is, there is no right answer until a transfer is complete.  I don't see the reason to get all bent out of shape over some comments made to give Anal something to write about. 

 

I think Roeder ought to have learned his lesson by now and button it a bit. But the main point is that it's Shepherd, not Roeder, who is responsible for transfers and he's not working well with his manager. The same problem arose with Robson and Souness. So many posts seem to blame Roeder and I can't believe that after all that's happened over the last few seasons, people aren't a bit more savvy about this.

[LateRegistration]

Why is this article no longer on dot.com?

 

It's within the match report: http://www.nufc.com/2006-07html/2007-01-20westham-h.html

 

So it is.

 

Noticed dot.com has started to get on Parker's back recently, this is their assessment of him in recent games: -

 

 

"Marco's match prediction was for Scott Parker

to find the net - perhaps finding a colleague

with a pass may have been more realistic..."

 

"especially with the variable contribution of Parker alongside him - who can only partly be excused for his disappointing display by returning from injury.

 

In this current time we're looking for big players to lead by example and try to exert a calming influence - sad to say there was precious little of that from the captain - and numerous examples of abdicating responsibility and playing less experienced non-international players into trouble."

 

"Despite the former Chelsea man's international stock rising, he still doesn't set our paces racing when on the field and seems to exhibit little of what could be called captain-like behaviour.

 

Were we to be using a similar lead by example rationale to that which gave Shearer the armband, Butt would currently be the natural choice - proof of the complete turnaround in his career since July. "

 

 

[Mick]

 

 

I think Roeder ought to have learned his lesson by now and button it a bit. But the main point is that it's Shepherd, not Roeder, who is responsible for transfers and he's not working well with his manager. The same problem arose with Robson and Souness. So many posts seem to blame Roeder and I can't believe that after all that's happened over the last few seasons, people aren't a bit more savvy about this.

 

If it's down to Shepherd then Roeder should grow some balls and do something about it, at least Souness had the courage to turn the screw on Shepherd, the result was something like £30 million spent.

[The Bonk]

 

 

I think Roeder ought to have learned his lesson by now and button it a bit. But the main point is that it's Shepherd, not Roeder, who is responsible for transfers and he's not working well with his manager. The same problem arose with Robson and Souness. So many posts seem to blame Roeder and I can't believe that after all that's happened over the last few seasons, people aren't a bit more savvy about this.

 

If it's down to Shepherd then Roeder should grow some balls and do something about it, at least Souness had the courage to turn the screw on Shepherd, the result was something like £30 million misspent.

[Baggio]

So it is.

 

Noticed dot.com has started to get on Parker's back recently, this is their assessment of him in recent games: -

 

 

"Marco's match prediction was for Scott Parker

to find the net - perhaps finding a colleague

with a pass may have been more realistic..."

 

"especially with the variable contribution of Parker alongside him - who can only partly be excused for his disappointing display by returning from injury.

 

In this current time we're looking for big players to lead by example and try to exert a calming influence - sad to say there was precious little of that from the captain - and numerous examples of abdicating responsibility and playing less experienced non-international players into trouble."

 

"Despite the former Chelsea man's international stock rising, he still doesn't set our paces racing when on the field and seems to exhibit little of what could be called captain-like behaviour.

 

Were we to be using a similar lead by example rationale to that which gave Shearer the armband, Butt would currently be the natural choice - proof of the complete turnaround in his career since July. "

 

 

 

Spot on with both articles.

[Syrette]

Agree completely.

 

We're an absolute shambles.

 

To put it politely. We're useless.