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Rebel

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  • Birthday 28/03/1972

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  1. I think Adam Armstrong will be gone with only one year left on his contract at the end of the season whether we go up or stay in the Championship. And I think Fraser will want to stay with us on loan for the last year of his contract whichever division we are in.
  2. I found it a bit embarrassing last night - losing to what was effectively Liverpool's B team / youth team. We played well in patches at the start of the game and really should have scored 2 or 3 goals - but we didn't. But that doesn't excuse the way we basically capitulated to a bunch of teenagers at the end of the game. Mara, Edozie, Charles and Sulemana all seem to lack the edge you need to succeed in top class football - whether it was aggression on or off the ball, having pace and and knowing when to use it, or the killer instinct in front of goal. They all seemed to lack the desire needed to really win a game. Surely it was the opportunity they have all been wanting and needing to go and perform and show how good they were against a bunch of kids slightly younger than them- and really impose themselves on the game. Charles was great one minute - winning the ball or turning his man and making a great pass - but the next it didn't look like he could arsed to close down a player or he gave the ball away with a hospital pass. Hopefully he will come good. As for Sulemana - I just don't understand why we paid £25M for him - he just has no end product and it doesn't look like he ever will. But as a team we have got to stop trying to play it out from the back every time - its so predictable - and more often than not we play ourselves into trouble - or put more pressure on ourselves than we can cope with and end up collapsing just like we did last night. I am all for passing football over just hoofing it forward but we need to find a balance. We used to play out from the back under Adkins and Pochettino - but we were never as one dimensional about it as we are now. The fullbacks used to go wide, the centre backs would split and one of the CMs would drop deep to receive the ball. This gave the keeper 3 or 4 options for the pass out. The difference being the player that got the ball would aim to carry it or pass it forward - not pass it back to the keeper or across the box or into the corner - and we weren't afraid to use the full backs to get the ball down the pitch or pass it long. But we were normally stating the play 20 or 30 yards further forward - not in our own box or on top of the keeper. Mind you we had Lambert up front who was more than capable of dropping deep and wide to receive a long ball and then turning and playing it forwards or carrying it from there. It made a massive difference for us. We are desperate for a centre forward or striker to lead the line - and do the same kind of thing, as well as score goals. We really should have bought one in January.
  3. Both Edozie and Mara showed a lack of desire last night. To be honest at times they were both plain lazy. There were several times that neither could be bothered to make the run - or drop deep in to space to receive the ball. But KWP was not innocent last night - his defensive positioning was terrible - and on more than one occasion he couldn't be bothered to track back when Hull were on the counter attack.
  4. Hull certainly had the right plan and tactics to beat us last night. But Martin should have seen that coming and started with a different team and set-up. I was expecting a hard game against Hull, just like the West Brom game and was expecting the same team or at least the same set up as that game. Similarly we should have had a proper plan B in place if plan A was to play out from the back with the 'pinch pass'. Plan B seemed to be to kick it long to Mara or one of the wingers and hope for the best. But when that didn't work - and it obviously wasn't going to - we should have had a plan C. It could have been as simple as moving the full backs out wide and using them to carry the ball forward to get out from the back. Ignoring the lack of a plan B or C, it was big mistake to play two attacking full backs in KWP and Manning - neither of whom are good enough defensively - against a team as good or as attacking as Hull who had just come from a 4-0 win. This mistake was made even worse by playing Smallbone as the sole defensive midfielder which meant the defence was not getting any real protection. If we had started the game with Stephens at left back and Charles and Smallbone as a 2 in defensive midfield and Adams up front - effectively playing 3-2-4-1 we probably would have won. That's ignoring the fact the players didn't run enough or fight hard enough for the ball last night to earn the right to play pretty football.
  5. What are you going on about Lancashire for? Huddersfield is in West Yorkshire - or in old money the West Riding of Yorkshire. In the borough of Kirklees (which sounds like it should be in Scotland). Policed by West Yorkshire's finest! Its also the home of Rugby League which was founded at a meeting in the Royal Hotel next to Huddersfield train station. And the Town Hall is quite special when you get inside. Its also home of the famous Huddersfield Choral Society. Its also where Last of the Summer Wine was filmed - in the outlying village of Holmfirth and occasionally in the town itself. And Patrick Steward aka Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek hails from Huddersfield. I studied there in the 90s and although the University was good and the student scene was fun the town was a pretty grim place overall. It really was a beneficiary of Thatcher's legacy. Some of the villages in the surrounding area were very nice though. When Huddersfield Polytechnic became a new university the students union proposed they call it the First University College of Kirklees. It took a while for the 'management' to realise this was a joke! I think Huddersfield has consistently been voted one of the worst places to live in the country - which is pretty bad for a place that in the 1920's was one of the wealthiest places in England and had one of the most successful football teams of the period. But it now has a violent crime and major drug problem. This was an interesting read and watch for me - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/595fH2sGQh/How_did_my_hometown_become_a_violent_crime_hotspot - I recognised many of the places.
  6. I'd give the transfer window a B. We are still short at left back and centre back. But more than anything I'd have liked a centre forward. It looks like we are relying on Bree to provide cover for right and left back as well as centre back alongside Charles. I guess Meghoma could provide cover at left back but it still feels a little bit short to me. Keeping KWP was probably the most important thing. And adding Brooks to cover the gap at right wing was brilliant. Although I am not sure where he fits as Adarma is better when playing there. But I don't want to end up having to play Adarma at centre forward. He is so much better as a wide forward. Relying on Adams and Mara up front does worry me a bit. But hopefully now that Adams knows he is staying he will find his scoring boots a bit more often.
  7. The only problem with that is we are getting the best out of Adam Armstrong as a wide forward playing off the right - with KWP providing the width and attacking threat as a very attacking full back/wingback. I think/hope we are looking for cover at right wing because if KWP gets injured and Bree or Holgate step in a right back we lose some of that attacking momentum down the right and probably need to play a more out and out winger than Armstrong in this situations. I hope its not so that we can move Armstrong to centre forward. Personally I think we need a centre forward more than anything with Stewart out injured - and that's even if we don't sell Adams. Adams and Armstrong are both second strikers - all be it very different types. Both player better off a centre forward. Mara is probably better as a second striker/wide forward as well in this league. So I'd like to see us take a gamble on Mioviski from Aberdeen.
  8. I'd like to see us go after Josh Doig at left back as real competition for Manning - but with Manning, Larios, Meghoma and Vokins all on the roster I don't see us signing anyone there. Plus Bree and KWP can both play there. Vokins will be out of contract in the summer, and Larios won't be back for a while and Meghoma is probably too young for now so maybe we will see some movement in the summer. Unless we send Vokins out on loan for the rest of the season and bring someone in now.
  9. I'd completely forgotten about ABK - but given his temperament last season I would sell him this summer whatever league we were in.
  10. I think Brooks would be a good signing on loan for the rest of this season in the Championship. I wouldn't take the risk on a permanent transfer as he may never get back to where he was. But surely it makes sense to both clubs and the player as a 6 month loan. He will get more playing time with us - and get properly match fit - and a chance to get back to where he was. And if he does I expect Bournemouth will welcome him back in to the fold next season. And we get to fill a hole in the sqaud without having to commit to a permanent signing.
  11. on loan for another season - yes - and them maybe a free transfer after that - maybe. As a permanent transfer on a 2 or 3 year contract - no. Same with Holgate.
  12. with Ross Stewart out injured until the summer it seems (and no guarantee he will ever fully recover) don't we need another striker anyway - whether we sell Che Adams or not. Che Adams, Adam Armstrong and Seko Mara are all better as second strikers or wide forwards - what we really need is a centre forward which is what Ross Stewart was supposed to be if we have the money I'd be making a move for Bojan Mioviski from Aberdeen knowing that Adams will be off in the summer anyway leaving us with 4 strikers for next season
  13. the Caleta-Car deal was definitely that way - and reading between the lines from the media reports at the time the Perraud deal with Nice was similar. But maybe I am just imagining that. On transfermarkt it says they have an option to buy. I don't think Perraud will come back to Saints as he will only have a year left on his contract in the summer. I think he will move to another club somewhere in Europe if its not Nice. He was a committed player and good going forward with the ball he wasn't the best defensively. Chances are with Meghoma, Larios, Vokins and Manning all on the books we won't buy another left back until we shift some of these. Vokins is out of contract in the summer and its doesn't look like we see Larios on the pitch anytime soon. Bith Larios and Vokins are a bit on the small side for the defensive side of being a left back.
  14. I thought the Perraud loan deal to Nice was really a permanent deal - just a loan for now to help them out of an FFP hole - and it will be made permanent in the summer.
  15. I thought Celtic were supposed to be good at creating songs - our Victor Wanyama 'he's a mighty Kenyan' was levels above this. But saying that it would be a good fit with Charly Alacarz - although maybe something along the lines of the Artur Boruc's 'he's got his Charly, he's having a party' would work for Alcaraz: We've got our Charlie We are having a party! Alcaraz! Alcaraz! Feel free to improve on this 🙂
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