Watching Norwich and watford

[Champagneblade]

You can't help but think

Norwich were pretty poor in the prem
Finished bottom by some margin and suffered many a haevy defeat

But are running away with the championship title this season

Pukki is finding scoring easy again after drying up last season

Watford have also look like claiming automatic

So once we get all our injuries sorted
And O Connell Egan Basham Berge are back as a unit perhaps we can refind our mojo in the same way

They've looked miles ahead and to be fair were not convincing in the prem Last season

Slight problem with that is our Pukki of the promotion season, Billy, will be 36 by the time we are near the end of the next Championship season. Pukki is 31.

Also Norwich lost a fullback and a defender. They didn't lose any of those players who helped them remain a high scoring Championship side. And defenders are cheaper to buy.

We could lose one if not two or three of those defensive players you mentioned. We'll no doubt have to replace for far cheaper to make any point in selling them but we will still retain the best part of our attack that can't even manage 1 goal per game and the two main protagonists up front with both be almost pensionable.

I just hope Didzy and Billy have 12 more months of top end Championship performances left in them. We'll be left needing a brand new attack the season after next so I hope Brewster can emerge.

 

[Niceguyeddie]

So 'on this site'. This, in a world of football where the team around him and the players he is 'out in front of' have contrived to lose a heck of a lot of games and commit us to a humiliating relegation. And he's been out of the team for a very long time too. One goal, 14 appearances (out of 30 PL games).

Yet - 'player of the season' and he will keep his value and I'm the one talking in ludicrous terms

How much do you reckon we'll get for Mousset, huh?

This should be good.

pommpey

I don't know I'm not in the habit of making arbitrary valuations on players I'll leave that to people who know what they are talking about and I'd suggest you do the same

 

[Champagneblade]

No.

Tell me what real effect Berge has had on any game we have played.

He struggles to fit into any 'system' Wilder used to play and come 70 minutes starts to tire quickly. Compare with other midfielders in his category in the Premier League who are still box-to-boxing on 85 minutes and driving the game up the pitch.

All he has shown is vague elements of deftness, even then fleeting and not exactly game changing. Then he's pulled a hamstring, and out for five months.

Not exactly a stellar return for his price.

pommpey

Exhibit A - he played well against Fulham for half a game where we missed all the chances he created.

Exhibit B - I'm still searching...

 

[Houston_Blade]

?

This season, they had a shocker of a start having signed around 15 new players. They were in the automatic spots before last weekend.

 

[Champagneblade]

So 'on this site'. This, in a world of football where the team around him and the players he is 'out in front of' have contrived to lose a heck of a lot of games and commit us to a humiliating relegation. And he's been out of the team for a very long time too. One goal, 14 appearances (out of 30 PL games).

Yet - 'player of the season' and he will keep his value and I'm the one talking in ludicrous terms

How much do you reckon we'll get for Mousset, huh?

This should be good.

pommpey

My Mousset trajectory has him in and out, never fit until Christmas. On loan in January to a French club, someone like Troyes, with the club somehow lauding saving his wages as some sort of triumph, even though we're still secretly paying a percentage of them. When the 2021/22 retained list is published there will be a small footnote saying Lys Mousset has also left Bramall Lane.

How did I do?

 

[HibbyBlade]

10 extra goals we could have done with

I can't disagree with that, but I still find the idea of getting excited about these kind of players a bit uninspiring. They don't even guarantee survival.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

If we do, it will have to be with a far better equipped midfield.

It needs to be 3-4-1-2 for it to be effective, We need two playmakers/enforcers as the central two in that '4' who have the ability to deny the opposition and pass effectively (Fleck/Lundstram at the moment?) and a return to the 'Duffy' role with an attacking midfielder who has the ability to link with the two in front and even bag goals himself. Does Norwood fit that description? Nope. Never in a million years.

Unless that midfield can win the game, the wingbacks can't get forward.

We also need a fallback plan in case Wilderball isn't working, which in my view it won't.

pommpey

Said it before and I'll say it again, there was a game recently (I've genuinely forgotten - they all blend into one morass of turgid shite) where we finished with McGoldrick behind Brewster and Burke and looked more dynamic and threatening than at any point in the last 6 months!!

Next game back to 2 up top and looking as threatening as a Girl Guide Under 11's side. That's when I realised Tufty's goose was cooked.

As you say 3-4-1-2 is what got us out of league one and the championship and needs to be our blueprint.

 

[Carlton Blade]

This season, they had a shocker of a start having signed around 15 new players. They were in the automatic spots before last weekend.

Sorry, I'm being thick

 

[HeySethUTB]

JOC will undoubtedly have interest, however, clubs will have to be confident to sign a player circa £15 million (just a guess) that hasn’t kick a ball much in nine months and has one good premier league season under his belt. Berge is a different kettle of fish, despite his “return” and injury, loads more hype surrounding him, price maybe an issue for some clubs, makes me think David Brooks situation in that the majority of fans know he’s a level above the championship but his injury and price was off putting. Egan, Baldock, Bogle, Fleck will also have some suitors.

I do think that sometimes that we need to be mindful we don’t have a “United bias” when discussing player transfers because in our eyes some of these lads are amazing (rightly so last year) while in others are average. Just look at some of the players Norwich kept hold of.

 

[BobblesBlade]

I think if get a foreign manager in we will see more of a call for technical and flair players.
Berge will fit into that.

 

[blade too long]

Yeah but they more or less kept their Premier squad together. As well as keeping their manager. Most of our pitiful squad will never play Premier league football again and we haven’t got a manager...So

So your advocating Norwich kept together the squad that got relegated as bottom club and a manager who failed

That was my fucking point

They weren't good enough for the prem but have pissed all over the championship.

Yet somehow we are just shit despite proving ourselves as good enough before all the injuries when they got relegated

 

[bakeblade]

It doesn't matter what's in his contract if no one offers that much.

That's the point, if no one offers the contract asking price or more we don't have to sell. So surely we then keep him.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

So your advocating Norwich kept together the squad that got relegated as bottom club and a manager who failed

That was my fucking point

They weren't good enough for the prem but have pissed all over the championship.

Yet somehow we are just shit despite proving ourselves as good enough before all the injuries when they got relegated

My “fucking point” was... All the similarities we may have had with the Norwich model, are now gone. They have took relegation on the chin, kept their manager and most of their players. We will have a new manager and the inevitable turnover of players that a new manager brings.

 

[Houston_Blade]

That's the point, if no one offers the contract asking price or more we don't have to sell. So surely we then keep him.

Financially we probably have to sell him though, hence why we’ll probably accept £4.50 and a pre-season friendly plus ‘The Next Rhian Brewster’ on loan for the season with us covering his full wages and having to buy him for £23m next summer.

 

[FriethBlade]

So your advocating Norwich kept together the squad that got relegated as bottom club and a manager who failed

That was my fucking point

They weren't good enough for the prem but have pissed all over the championship.

Yet somehow we are just shit despite proving ourselves as good enough before all the injuries when they got relegated

Theres a big difference mate...they are called Cantwell and Beundia....two quality midfield players who are comfortable on the ball, create chances and can score goals.

Our midfield is genuinely shite with the exception of a Fleck on a good day and Berge if he stays.

Norwich went down because they had a porous defence but they always looked dangerous going forward. Our attack is absolutely useless and as the corny saying goes...the goals are no bigger in the championship.

As it stands we are much more Huddersfield and Stoke than Norwich and Watford.

 

[blade too long]

Theres a big difference mate...they are called Cantwell and Beundia....two quality midfield players who are comfortable on the ball, create chances and can score goals.

Our midfield is genuinely shite with the exception of a Fleck on a good day and Berge if he stays.

Norwich went down because they had a porous defence but they always looked dangerous going forward. Our attack is absolutely useless and as the corny saying goes...the goals are no bigger in the championship.

As it stands we are much more Huddersfield and Stoke than Norwich and Watford.

Still doesn't change the fact Norwich were just as shit as we have been this season with those players


21 points they got we can still beat that or be very near to it with the games left

They look like world beaters in the championship ...
As will some of our players
They looked every bit as poor as we have and they did not have the injuries weve suffered

 

[Houston_Blade]

Still doesn't change the fact Norwich were just as shit as we have been this season with those players
View attachment 110069

21 points they got we can still beat that or be very near to it with the games left

They look like world beaters in the championship ...
As will some of our players
They looked every bit as poor as we have and they did not have the injuries weve suffered

They were shit, but not record breakingly shit like us.

 

[pommpey]

I don't know I'm not in the habit of making arbitrary valuations on players I'll leave that to people who know what they are talking about and I'd suggest you do the same

So, according to you (the board police) none of us can make any speculative comments about anything. Ever.

You still haven't shown me what Berge's all up footballing worth is beyond what other people reckon on S24SU alongside a pretty abject team having played just 14 out of 30.

I assume their opinions are similarly worthy of your critique too?

pommpey

 

[pommpey]

Still doesn't change the fact Norwich were just as shit as we have been this season with those players
View attachment 110069

21 points they got we can still beat that or be very near to it with the games left

They look like world beaters in the championship ...
As will some of our players
They looked every bit as poor as we have and they did not have the injuries weve suffered

The fuck?

They were nowhere near as shit as we have been this season.

And your 'we can still beat their total' sounds familiarily like the 'we can still escape relegation' you were chanting somewhere before the Southampton match at the lane.

pommpey

 

[Carlton Blade]

Norwich last season were one of the worst teams in top division, post-war history (I'm not guessing, it's based on a full comparison based on points/goals per game etc). But they completely capitulated in the unprecedented post-lockdown circumstances. It's not an excuse but it's understandable.

United knew what was coming this season and have produced a similar season. Add in a club in turmoil without a manager and potential financial worries and I think it's fair to say this United season is worse.

 

[Niceguyeddie]

So, according to you (the board police) none of us can make any speculative comments about anything. Ever.

You still haven't shown me what Berge's all up footballing worth is beyond what other people reckon on S24SU alongside a pretty abject team having played just 14 out of 30.

I assume their opinions are similarly worthy of your critique too?

pommpey

I havent seen.any opinion as ludicrous as yours so I've only commented on yours

 

[blade too long]

Norwich last season in my opinion gave a much better account of themselves than we have so far, that's not just points on the board, it's performances and intent. They weren't good by any means but we have been dire. They kept hold of Pukki for goals and Buendia/Cantwell for creativity.

They were every bit as shite
They got 21 points
All 3 you mention did nothing in the prem
Had the odd good game like some of ours have

Logic is not a blades fans strong point
When our players haven't done it in the prem this season it is absolutely no different to what a shocking Norwich did

But their players look like gods playing at championship level

But will they far any better again in the prem ......doubt it.
The are trashing our players due to 20 one defeats
We showed first season when fit we are decent.
We could not afford the Loss of main stay personnel we've lost to injury
We fell back to Norwich levels of squad

 

[pommpey]

I havent seen.any opinion as ludicrous as yours so I've only commented on yours

Yet you are criticising my assessment as worthless yet citing the subjective opinions of others in the marks out of ten as a lasting marker of Berge's input this season. Oh. And one goal in 14 appearances.

Ludicrous? Moi?

pommpey

 

[Cheesebored]

Norwich’s starting line-up last night included Buendia, Cantwell and Dowell. They won 7-0. We don’t have a single player with that sort of attacking style or prowess.

For balance they were up against a Keogh and Stearman central defensive partnership.

 

[Greystones Blade]

What are the rumours on JOC?

Not recovering properly?

Rumour thread has it that JOC is out for 2 years.

 

[Bennyand the Blades]

After last season I don't believe anyone on here would have predicted this one,
and
after this one, there's no way on gods green earth do I believe anyone is going to predict next.

That's the great thing about this game, no matter what team you support , owt can happen.

And usually does.....

 

[Niceguyeddie]

Yet you are criticising my assessment as worthless yet citing the subjective opinions of others in the marks out of ten as a lasting marker of Berge's input this season. Oh. And one goal in 14 appearances.

Ludicrous? Moi?

pommpey

Only because your opinion was ludicrous and everyone else's wasnt ,good or bad .they didn't feel the need to make a show of themselves

 

[pommpey]

Only because your opinion was ludicrous and everyone else's wasnt ,good or bad .they didn't feel the need to make a show of themselves

One goal, fourteen appearances. Injured since before Christmas (and we were on one solitary point then)

And you still reckon he'll be worth twenty odd million on that basis?

pommpey

 

[Houston_Blade]

They were every bit as shite
They got 21 points
All 3 you mention did nothing in the prem
Had the odd good game like some of ours have

Logic is not a blades fans strong point
When our players haven't done it in the prem this season it is absolutely no different to what a shocking Norwich did

But their players look like gods playing at championship level

But will they far any better again in the prem ......doubt it.
The are trashing our players due to 20 one defeats
We showed first season when fit we are decent.
We could not afford the Loss of main stay personnel we've lost to injury
We fell back to Norwich levels of squad

A lecture about logic from the bloke who has perfected ‘schoolyard logic’ in his old age, just what I needed.

 

[Niceguyeddie]

One goal, fourteen appearances. Injured since before Christmas (and we were on one solitary point then)

And you still reckon he'll be worth twenty odd million on that basis?

pommpey

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating but one thing I do know he won't go for ten million like your fucking ludicrous claim