JohnDenver
¡No Pasarán!
The reason we only have two points is down to several factors.
Firstly for the last two seasons we had an absolutely world class keeper. Unfortunately he was not our player. He never made any secret that he wanted to be number one at Manchester Utd. We were just a stepping stone to him achieving that. His replacement is not a bad keeper. He's just not of the same quality of Henderson.
Henderson was also lucky enough to have a settled back three infront of him. Bash,Egan and JOC were all immense for most of last season. They covered for each other when mistakes were made. Giving us a solid defence who were able to keep clean sheets. We 've lost two out of those four in Hendo and JOC . A big miss for any side.
Then there's the midfield. Last season Fleck was amazing. He was tenacious, his passing was quality and he scored goals. Where the fuck has he gone? Then there was Norwood with his ping, free kicks and mainly quality corners. Again wtf has happened to him? He might as well be sat watching with me for all the quality he has atm. Lundstum, love him or hate him he did pop up with a few goals and assists last season. Now he wants away. Our wing backs Baldock and Stevens have come in for some flack for poor performance but look at the three players I 've just mentioned. If they are not doing it you can't expect wingers to make it up for them. From what I've seen of Ampadu he is no replacement of either the Fleck or Norwood of last season.
Our forwards have never been prolific scorers. Billy needs the ball in the six yard box. We never get that far. McBurnie, another marmite player , again is not getting the service. Brewster has arrived into this maelstrom and is obviously finding it difficult to ajust. Moose and Burke have pace in abundance but that is never going to achieve much without back up from a vastly underperforming midfield. Berge is quality but he s out for three months and can't do it on his own anyway. Didsy is Didsy. Quality. Never gives anything but his best. But he s one man.
Anyone who thinks Lingard is the answer (if he comes,and I don't think he will) needs to have a serious rethink.
Basically, we are fucked.
Get used to the idea.
We are completely stuffed for this season, but the club (and fans) need to take it on the chin and not do what we did in 2007.
No doubt we'll lose some players on relegation, but the squad has some real talent in it, much of it proven at Championship level. If collective heads aren't lost by this season's pummelling, and squad planning for next season begins now, then we should end up as a very very strong Championship club. Player for player, perhaps even stronger than the set of individuals that got us promoted.
In recent times we've had a relatively under-powered engine, fine-tuned to the Nth degree. This year, it fell to bits. So next year the only question is whether it can be re-started?