Cheese on Toast Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 I hadn't really thought about GKs until now, but you might be on to something there. I certainly have my concerns about the defence though. I think four quality CBs should be the minimum, and at the moment we have Jos, Fonte - and I'll leave it up to the rest of you to deicde what sort of 'quality' they are - and a new Olympic international. At best, we're left with three players there and one injury leaves us already very bare. Whilst Clyne looks quality at RB, the LB situation is a joke. Without knowing the Buttner situation, I can't help thinking we should have pushed harder on that deal if we had the power to do so. Yoshida?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raging Bull Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 totally agree...I expected it really....end of november will be a good test to see if we have picked up....which should be around 10 games.. Again I agree, I think we'll have a very good run at some point, probably around the middle of the season when the new players have settled and they all get the new formations etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legod Third Coming Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 Question remains: would you rather have one blue-chip investment like Ramirez or two or three solid £4m+ players that would give us strength in depth? The former. Strength in depth at £4m is a fallacy, surely? There aren't quality players around at that level who could make a difference to a team like ours (in my view). Put it this way, what would we sell Fox for? I reckon around £4m... My view has always been that you need to buy something better than you have. Otherwise you are never moving forward. Was it any coincidence that our best years as a club in Division One followed the signing of Kevin Keegan? Not straight away but in the following 3/4 years? Did he raise expectations? Set standards for other players? Bring a new higher quality approach to training and playing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 Sorry chaps. Looks like we need to perform in this league now. With that kind of expenditure we cannot portray ourselves as plucky, fresh faced underdogs. We have blown most other teams out of the water this window. So we have to expect the manager and team to deliver, not just scrape safety. Can't really argue with that. I cannot see NC has gone through all the work of securing Ramirez to watch us struggle away in 17th all season. Even though we'd survive we'd lose most weeks, and I don't believe Adkins would survive that at all. I want him to succeed massively at this level, I really like him - I just hope he's given a realistic amount of time to make this work and that the finger isn't already on the trigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 The former. Strength in depth at £4m is a fallacy, surely? There aren't quality players around at that level who could make a difference to a team like ours (in my view). Put it this way, what would we sell Fox for? I reckon around £4m... My view has always been that you need to buy something better than you have. Otherwise you are never moving forward. Was it any coincidence that our best years as a club in Division One followed the signing of Kevin Keegan? Not straight away but in the following 3/4 years? Did he raise expectations? Set standards for other players? Bring a new higher quality approach to training and playing? Nice to hear you mention the signing of Kevin Keegan again. I'd nearly forgotten it had ever happened..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonjoe Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 Yoshida?! " ... and a new Olympic international." ... but yeh, I forgot to name him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bensfcno1 Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 Question remains: would you rather have one blue-chip investment like Ramirez or two or three solid £4m+ players that would give us strength in depth? Erm......Both, which is what we have done. £12-15 million on Ramirez then 15+ on the other 4/5 player! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legod Third Coming Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 Nice to hear you mention the signing of Kevin Keegan again. I'd nearly forgotten it had ever happened..... I see that Derby smog is still preventing you from escaping a haze of cyncism... I agree with your post above CB, we must be in the top 3/4 spenders (net) in the league? Assuming our views about fees expressed on here are accurate. At that level, the Chairman has made his intent clear - he's expecting us to challenge and be very competitive in this division. My only concern is whether Adkins is the man to deliver that ambition. I really hope he is but I have this horrible nagging doubt that simply won't go away. Give me a few wins before the end of September and it might! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 I see that Derby smog is still preventing you from escaping a haze of cyncism... ....... My only concern is whether Adkins is the man to deliver that ambition. I really hope he is but I have this horrible nagging doubt that simply won't go away. Give me a few wins before the end of September and it might! I share your fear from up here in the mystic East (Midlands). The nagging doubt is how much time Cortese will give our Nige before he decides he is nothing more than a managerial Billy Sharp. Good at a certain level. The question is has Cortese given Nige his full backing....or just enough rope. What is without doubt is Cortese has taken all excuses away. September, post internationals, is massive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legod Third Coming Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 I share your fear from up here in the mystic East (Midlands). The nagging doubt is how much time Cortese will give our Nige before he decides he is nothing more than a managerial Billy Sharp. Good at a certain level. The question is has Cortese given Nige his full backing....or just enough rope. What is without doubt is Cortese has taken all excuses away. September, post internationals, is massive. On this, I think we agree 100%. I'm resigned to being five games in, bottom of the league with 0 points. At best I expected 3. At worst 1. But looking at the fixtures, it seemed pretty likely we would be near the bottom. Whether the Chairman envisages and accepted this... It would be a shame to lose Adkins because I like him, am grateful to him and think he has done a great job given the correct backing from his boss (harder given the pressure he is under) - but I could easily see him gone by the end of Octover if the results do not match the Chairman's wallet! And I don't think you could really blame him. £30m is a huge gamble because we know the pay-off is the massive Sky money next season, not this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Dig Posted 1 September, 2012 Share Posted 1 September, 2012 " ... and a new Olympic international." ... but yeh, I forgot to name him! He's not just an Olympic International, he has 17 full caps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now