Points pondering

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A few questions have popped up in my never ending search for the pursuit of toon glory....

1) Are all the rumours of us chasing strikers (Phillips and now Hassleblank) based on our lack of scoring punch recently or more to the fact that Bobby is not confident up front.

2) With the average age of the side decreasing rapidly, how soon before we see the last of Shearer and Speed?

3) Will Shola ever be a 30 goal scorer?

4) What do we do with so much apparent depth at midfield?

5) Is Aaron the long term answer at right back? Would you prefer to see him linked with O'brien in the middle?

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2002

Answers

Another Possible pressure cooker....

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2002

1. Top quality sides need at least 3 or 4 top strikers. Bellamy is arguably getting there, Shearer still is ( ;-) ) - jury out on Cort (no pun intended) while he recovers fitness, and Shola has yet to stake a firm claim to any position except the bench. Chopra and Offiong has potential and time to develop. Sewpa would've been a good signing, I think and Hasslebank oozes quality. Cost of either is prohibitive.

2. Shearer has another 2 seasons tops, I think. Speed about the same.

3. no, but I hope I'm wrong

4. Laugh heartily :-)

5. He's great at right back...ok at centre half. Nice to have the option of moving him inside in case of serious injury problems.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2002


1) The replacement/relief for Shearer is my second priority after a real left back

2) They both need to hand around as squad players and usefully pass on their knowledge. Neither should be first choice players by this time next year.

3) No. With 10 games to go only Ruud VN has more than 20 goals this season, so aiming for 30 is a pretty high aim. Shola will be a 10-15 goal per season man at his best but will cause all sorts of problems for oppositions cos he can actually beat a man.

4) Rotate it, and not in the way that Lee rotated, if we have 38 league, 4 doemstic cup, 6 CL games next year we're talking 96 central midfield slots to cover the central midfield area, tell them they'll all get 25 and you can keep 4 of them happy, maybe

5) Best right back since Nattrass, keep him there, Distin to partner O'Brien, with new left back in place

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2002


1. We need to supplement Shearer but we need to keep an open mind on what sort of player we are after. If we just look for a Shearer replacement, we'll a) fail and b) end up like the Makems permanently seeking a Quinn replacement.

2. We need to use Shearer and Speed more sparingly but can't do away with them as they have great experience and, used sparingly, can make a great contribution.

3. Doubt it. By and large, through rotation etc, the day of the 30 goal forward seems to be pretty much over anyway, but even used match in, match out, I think Shola's main attribute will be troubling and tiring defences.

4. Breathe a sigh of relief that we have so much cover and hope that it'll be better quality cover next season.

5. Appears to be. Has had his work cut out in the past couple of games but I think we all expected that.

6. We need a new central defender and a left back.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2002


the Makems permanently seeking a Quinn replacement.

I wonder if they've considered Mick? He would serve the dual purpose of injecting some mobility into their front line AND the fans could keep the same songs.



-- Anonymous, March 12, 2002


1) Are all the rumours of us chasing strikers (Phillips and now Hassleblank) based on our lack of scoring punch recently or more to the fact that Bobby is not confident up front.

Not so much strikers, more quality players. In the past we were linked with every position of player but not as good quality. This is still the same, but with a good chance of CL football the better players are interested now.

2) With the average age of the side decreasing rapidly, how soon before we see the last of Shearer and Speed?

Shearer I expect to be at the club for some years perhaps not all as a player though. Don't really know about Speed. He hasn't been match fit for months IMHO.

3) Will Shola ever be a 30 goal scorer?

Hard to say. At the start of the season his general movement and play looked much better than last season, but he hasn't had a run in the team to see if this would benefit us. The odd 5 minute sub appearance and a couple of cup games aren't exactly great to judge a player on.

4) What do we do with so much apparent depth at midfield?

We play the best midfielders we have and have the rest as squad players / back up.

5) Is Aaron the long term answer at right back? Would you prefer to see him linked with O'brien in the middle?

Aaron could be the long term answer at right back. If he continues to progress at the current rate he'll be world class by next year. I don't think he is strong enough to play in the middle, but there is always that option if someone gets injured.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2002


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