" glass half full (my half way point review) "
Tue Dec 27, 2011 4:25 pm
for what its worth....
the season is half way through, and I, like many others, am feeling that the glass is most certainly half full, and not half empty.
last May after our almost predictable end of season capitulation my heart had sunk and there was a bitter taste in my mouth...the chance for automatic promotion was there but there were too many negative rumours (i do not want to discuss whether they were true or to what extent) surrounding the club and the last couple of performances. Either was i think we all well and truly knew we had fucked it all up! Luckily when the football season is over, the cricket season is in full swing so it allows me to move to the back of my mind, the club that I so blindly follow. Dave Jones has been sacked by the board, the headlines read, and rightly so in my opinion. Not because I was a DJ hater, in fact I believe he did a good job, he sold a lot of players at good profits and built and built the club up. However it had become all to clear as to where his managerial faults were (i do not want to touch on any so called personal faults having never met the man) and how he seemed to get it wrong at the most crucial times. There is a saying that even a broken watch tells the correct time twice a day, I don't believe DJ was broken, more so that his batteries were beginning to falter. We needed a fresh face, and he probably needed a fresh challenge, and on that basis good luck to him.
Many a name was banded about the media and the messageboards (O'Neill, Shearer et al) and then came the appointment of Malky Mackay. Now I have to say I knew who he was, and I remember his Watford team playing quite good football, but just looking somewhat short of the finished article in terms of the squad depth and lacking that star man. However what I felt was a breath of fresh air was the fact he was young, and that to me usually means new ideas, new tactics and an ability to give something different a go, and if it doesnt work out, not to blame someone else but to learn from it and use it to their advantage. That to me is the new style of young manager, fresh from playing and full of ambition.
Half of the team moved on as well as our manager, some we were sad to see go, others I would have paid for their taxi myself. However purely the fact that the rebuilding was so obviously a large task, led myself to remain pessimistic for the season ahead, in comparison to the last couple of years at least. That mid table foundation with possibly a nice cup run and the odd scalp in the league, before pushing onwards for 2012/13. To be honest I could have been content with that.
Over the summer Mackay slowly but surely, and shrewdly it has to be said, added players to his roster. Big names were only so far as Earnshaw and Miller, having looked at Millers' fantastic goalscoring record for Scotland in internationals (I will discount any goalscoring records in scottish league football) I have to say I was impressed with him signing for us, although at £750k I won't say he was a bargain by any stretch of the imagination. The other players brought in, I can't lie I hadn't heard of them...and I'm sure many others were also asking 'who?'
But I am most certainly not a football manager, I probably haven't kicked a football in a good 5 years and sure as hell couldn't kick one straight! So what do I know...let those paid to do it, do it, and I will just turn up to watch, with some vain hope.
Now we fast forward 6 months, and we have had an 11 game unbeaten run (the longest I can remember off hand), we have beaten West Ham and Southampton, and we have had a Premiership scalp on our way to the Carling Cup semis' with a fantastic opportunity over 2 legs against a team placed below us in the league who I felt we comfortably beat a month or 2 back.
The football hasn't always been free flowing and exciting, but this is the Championship not La Liga so what do we expect really.
In terms of those players that have come in I will look at them individually -
Miller - cracking winner in that first game and an asset to the team, has to be one of the first names on the team sheet. Experienced, classy, strong at holding the ball up and clever. He also has that canny knack of scoring big goals. Quality signing
Earnshaw - what can I say about our Earnie, since missing that open goal for Wales v England he looks a man shot of confidence, and has had little chance to build it back up. Not even on the bench these days, its a shame to see where he is now compared to 10 years ago. If he stays he could grab the odd important goal or two, but clearly not what we were hoping for.
Kiss - young and unheard of, to me he can blow hot and cold, but is strong in midfield and is an effective squad player, rather than a guaranteed starting place for me, but alongside gunnar and mcphail is a worthy addition. Needs more consistency IMO
Gunnarsson - well poached from Coventry by Malkay, another international who adds an extra attacking dimension with his throws, also has scored goals so provides much needed attacking impotence from midfield, given Witnum has started playing deeper. He runs his heart out and looks fully committed to the cause, but also plays clever football and takes up good positions.
Mason - still clearly one for the future, but could blossom into a real star. Has scored a few goals and will only come on given the right exposure. Has pace and skill, but Im not sure he is an out and out striker.
Gestede - here is one I am not convinced with. Brought from obscurity in the French lower leagues, given their premier league is not as strong as the championship was an instant cause for concern. Raw and young were the plaudits arguments, but he is not that young, and what does raw even mean? Looks like he can cause a nuisance for himself, but so can Jon Parkin! Has scored 2 goals I believe and an assist or two, but I am not convinced 6 months on, he may give his all but I just don't think he is that good!
Taylor - Malkays' attempt to patch up the weak left back position that was so clearly exposed last year was to sign Taylor, and use him ahead of his almost name sake Naylor. Again some promising performances but inconsistency could well be his middle name, good going forward but seems out of sorts with his positional play in defence, allowing a number of crosses to be made down his flank. Given how well Naylor has played when he has come in, I am not a believer that Taylor is the answer to our LB woes, but again a good squad player to have.
Turner - Malkay again looking to fix some of our defensive leaks from last season. The CB position was filled by way too many players under DJ last year, giving to no 2 players getting to settle together. Turner is big and strong, and his distribution is one of the best from our defenders, not that this says too much mind! Stick with him and Hudson where possible and I feel a good partnership can become a great one, pace as we all know is not his asset!
Ralls - very young and inexperienced, polar opposite to DJs youth approach Ralls has been thrown in at the deep end a few times, and I think the only way to describe his performances is treading water, rather than sinking or swimming. He has clearly got some talent, but I think needs to be nurtured a bit slower than has been so far. Another one for the future
As to the players we managed to hold on to Whittingham again has been our main man, and when he doesnt tick, the team don't. This is always worrying given suspensions and injury are inevitable in today's game. Has played a deeper role and shown a more mature side to his game, tackling back etc
Another player who has deployed a different style to his game is McNaughton. Now I know he is a fans' fave but my personal opinion is he is not comfortable going forward and is being asked to play a role he does not thrive in. Far too often i have seen him in the opponents penalty area with them on the break down our right hand side. His final ball is poor (or he'd be a prem player no doubt) and he couldnt hit a barn door let alone the goal. Let him stick to defending which we know he is good at.
We have seen some great perfomances, some boring perfomances, some ground out wins and some good away points. Are we the finished article, no, but at least we're an article of sorts, and not just making up the numbers. Look at the teams down the bottom, big team, Forest Coventry Bristol City etc all struggling. I honestly think we will get to the carling cup final, and will most likely get well beaten by one of the prems big boys, and that we will reach the playoffs, especially if a number of players are brought in. If we do get to the playoffs rest assured we wont throw in the white towel like last time round
2012 is the year the bluebird may finally fly.
the season is half way through, and I, like many others, am feeling that the glass is most certainly half full, and not half empty.
last May after our almost predictable end of season capitulation my heart had sunk and there was a bitter taste in my mouth...the chance for automatic promotion was there but there were too many negative rumours (i do not want to discuss whether they were true or to what extent) surrounding the club and the last couple of performances. Either was i think we all well and truly knew we had fucked it all up! Luckily when the football season is over, the cricket season is in full swing so it allows me to move to the back of my mind, the club that I so blindly follow. Dave Jones has been sacked by the board, the headlines read, and rightly so in my opinion. Not because I was a DJ hater, in fact I believe he did a good job, he sold a lot of players at good profits and built and built the club up. However it had become all to clear as to where his managerial faults were (i do not want to touch on any so called personal faults having never met the man) and how he seemed to get it wrong at the most crucial times. There is a saying that even a broken watch tells the correct time twice a day, I don't believe DJ was broken, more so that his batteries were beginning to falter. We needed a fresh face, and he probably needed a fresh challenge, and on that basis good luck to him.
Many a name was banded about the media and the messageboards (O'Neill, Shearer et al) and then came the appointment of Malky Mackay. Now I have to say I knew who he was, and I remember his Watford team playing quite good football, but just looking somewhat short of the finished article in terms of the squad depth and lacking that star man. However what I felt was a breath of fresh air was the fact he was young, and that to me usually means new ideas, new tactics and an ability to give something different a go, and if it doesnt work out, not to blame someone else but to learn from it and use it to their advantage. That to me is the new style of young manager, fresh from playing and full of ambition.
Half of the team moved on as well as our manager, some we were sad to see go, others I would have paid for their taxi myself. However purely the fact that the rebuilding was so obviously a large task, led myself to remain pessimistic for the season ahead, in comparison to the last couple of years at least. That mid table foundation with possibly a nice cup run and the odd scalp in the league, before pushing onwards for 2012/13. To be honest I could have been content with that.
Over the summer Mackay slowly but surely, and shrewdly it has to be said, added players to his roster. Big names were only so far as Earnshaw and Miller, having looked at Millers' fantastic goalscoring record for Scotland in internationals (I will discount any goalscoring records in scottish league football) I have to say I was impressed with him signing for us, although at £750k I won't say he was a bargain by any stretch of the imagination. The other players brought in, I can't lie I hadn't heard of them...and I'm sure many others were also asking 'who?'
But I am most certainly not a football manager, I probably haven't kicked a football in a good 5 years and sure as hell couldn't kick one straight! So what do I know...let those paid to do it, do it, and I will just turn up to watch, with some vain hope.
Now we fast forward 6 months, and we have had an 11 game unbeaten run (the longest I can remember off hand), we have beaten West Ham and Southampton, and we have had a Premiership scalp on our way to the Carling Cup semis' with a fantastic opportunity over 2 legs against a team placed below us in the league who I felt we comfortably beat a month or 2 back.
The football hasn't always been free flowing and exciting, but this is the Championship not La Liga so what do we expect really.
In terms of those players that have come in I will look at them individually -
Miller - cracking winner in that first game and an asset to the team, has to be one of the first names on the team sheet. Experienced, classy, strong at holding the ball up and clever. He also has that canny knack of scoring big goals. Quality signing
Earnshaw - what can I say about our Earnie, since missing that open goal for Wales v England he looks a man shot of confidence, and has had little chance to build it back up. Not even on the bench these days, its a shame to see where he is now compared to 10 years ago. If he stays he could grab the odd important goal or two, but clearly not what we were hoping for.
Kiss - young and unheard of, to me he can blow hot and cold, but is strong in midfield and is an effective squad player, rather than a guaranteed starting place for me, but alongside gunnar and mcphail is a worthy addition. Needs more consistency IMO
Gunnarsson - well poached from Coventry by Malkay, another international who adds an extra attacking dimension with his throws, also has scored goals so provides much needed attacking impotence from midfield, given Witnum has started playing deeper. He runs his heart out and looks fully committed to the cause, but also plays clever football and takes up good positions.
Mason - still clearly one for the future, but could blossom into a real star. Has scored a few goals and will only come on given the right exposure. Has pace and skill, but Im not sure he is an out and out striker.
Gestede - here is one I am not convinced with. Brought from obscurity in the French lower leagues, given their premier league is not as strong as the championship was an instant cause for concern. Raw and young were the plaudits arguments, but he is not that young, and what does raw even mean? Looks like he can cause a nuisance for himself, but so can Jon Parkin! Has scored 2 goals I believe and an assist or two, but I am not convinced 6 months on, he may give his all but I just don't think he is that good!
Taylor - Malkays' attempt to patch up the weak left back position that was so clearly exposed last year was to sign Taylor, and use him ahead of his almost name sake Naylor. Again some promising performances but inconsistency could well be his middle name, good going forward but seems out of sorts with his positional play in defence, allowing a number of crosses to be made down his flank. Given how well Naylor has played when he has come in, I am not a believer that Taylor is the answer to our LB woes, but again a good squad player to have.
Turner - Malkay again looking to fix some of our defensive leaks from last season. The CB position was filled by way too many players under DJ last year, giving to no 2 players getting to settle together. Turner is big and strong, and his distribution is one of the best from our defenders, not that this says too much mind! Stick with him and Hudson where possible and I feel a good partnership can become a great one, pace as we all know is not his asset!
Ralls - very young and inexperienced, polar opposite to DJs youth approach Ralls has been thrown in at the deep end a few times, and I think the only way to describe his performances is treading water, rather than sinking or swimming. He has clearly got some talent, but I think needs to be nurtured a bit slower than has been so far. Another one for the future
As to the players we managed to hold on to Whittingham again has been our main man, and when he doesnt tick, the team don't. This is always worrying given suspensions and injury are inevitable in today's game. Has played a deeper role and shown a more mature side to his game, tackling back etc
Another player who has deployed a different style to his game is McNaughton. Now I know he is a fans' fave but my personal opinion is he is not comfortable going forward and is being asked to play a role he does not thrive in. Far too often i have seen him in the opponents penalty area with them on the break down our right hand side. His final ball is poor (or he'd be a prem player no doubt) and he couldnt hit a barn door let alone the goal. Let him stick to defending which we know he is good at.
We have seen some great perfomances, some boring perfomances, some ground out wins and some good away points. Are we the finished article, no, but at least we're an article of sorts, and not just making up the numbers. Look at the teams down the bottom, big team, Forest Coventry Bristol City etc all struggling. I honestly think we will get to the carling cup final, and will most likely get well beaten by one of the prems big boys, and that we will reach the playoffs, especially if a number of players are brought in. If we do get to the playoffs rest assured we wont throw in the white towel like last time round
2012 is the year the bluebird may finally fly.
Re: " glass half full (my half way point review) "
Tue Dec 27, 2011 6:23 pm
good read thanks
Re: " glass half full (my half way point review) "
Tue Jan 24, 2012 10:29 am
troobloo3339 wrote:good read thanks
listen what you want to say.. 