I was just musing on the make up of the squad and looking at who brought these players here.

For the record looking at players with any measure of first team experience it looked like this at season end :-

Keegan 3 (Shearer, Lee, Barton)
Dalglish 6 (Solano, Glass, Speed, Given, Griffin, Dabizas) - Just parted with Hamilton, Serrant
Gullit 2 (Dyer, Marcellino) What's that phrase about the ridiculous and the sublime?
Robson 9 (Cort, Acuna, Bassedas, Gavilan, O'Brien, LuaLua, Quinn, Gallacher, Cordone)

Of the players coming through the ranks, a significant few were signed in the KK era although I don't know if KK takes any credit at all (Ameobi, Hughes, Harper). KD brought in the Caldwells and Jamie Coppinger.

It's interesting to note that we still have 6 of KD's failed team, and all of them very much first team squad. Most have performed much better since he left IMHO.

Also interesting to note that Robson has brought in NINE players and has little to show for it in the results this year. Well 2 of those were signed late in the season and the 2 most valuable were absent for long periods injured, so he can't be judged too harshly on this evidence.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2001

Answers

Brave Jonno - respect

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2001

Are we going to see a shift towards a near full Robson side this coming season. I hope so.

I'd like to see his full influence on the side before it's too late. Most of that must happen this close season. Slightly ironic if he signs Elliot, Clarky and Watson though!

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2001

An interesting posting Jonno. Did you spend lunchtime in the pub by any chance? It's unusual for you to refer to the former incumbent of our managers chair by anything other than TSM.

It seems that a fair proportion of KD's siginings were decent players; he just couldn't shape them into an effective team. I often think about whether whoever succeeded KK was destined to struggle in their first full season. KK's team was made exceptional by the forward line of Bearsdley, Shearer, Ferdinand and Asprilla. Beardsley became too old, Shearer never fully recovered from his ankle injury and Spur's six million bid for Ferdinand was deemed too good to turn down. None of these issues were of KD's making and the move to PLC status meant that the funds enjoyed by KK were not available to his successors.

Having said that it must be said that KD failed to tackle this problem at all. His big money purchases (Pistone, Speed, Hamman) were directed at defence and midfield instead of attack and those attackers he bought were completely inadequate replacements for those he had lost.

I'm getting a bit long winded here but what I'm basically trying to say is that whover replaced Keegan would have struggled in the short term but, that KD's attempts to tackle the issues was woeful.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2001

Bit pendantic, but Cordone and Gallacher have now gone from the nine you list.
...... seven green bottles, hanging on the wall. If one green bottle ................!

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2001

He did say that was the list as it stood at the end of the season. ;-)))

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2001

Probably a reasonable analysis of KD (aka TSM)'s time at SJP Jonno. A cr@p coach but a decent scout. Might have been a good guide if he hadn't failed the sex test (allegedly).

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2001

Four managers? What about Steve Clark?

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2001