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Post by joanna on Apr 7, 2015 11:18:13 GMT
Great stuff! That display reminds us all that class is permanent; form is temporary. Certainly Eidur and Emile look formidable when joined by either Davies or Le Fondre, depending on the opposition. Vela in midfield is the right choice. Dervite has some good, steadying qualities. And when we get Mavies, Clough, Pratley..... and (don't laugh!) Holden back, we will be spoilt for choice. Need to sign permanently the loanees that have proved themselves. Get the rest off the wage bill.
So what now? Do we want Lennon to keep largely the same system and eleven that was triumphant yesterday to keep us smiling, or tinker/experiment to make final decisions on deadwood to get rid of before next season, now that we are safe? I always want to see us winning, and I would have thought that he must have a pretty clear idea by now of who is worth retaining. Best to keep largely the same squad together now to build understanding and confidence for next term???
It does begin to look as if the ones that played yesterday plus the injured few would make a very useful outfit. Next issue is to ensure that training keeps them fit. Ask Big Sam for advice?
I read somewhere that Amos has gone back to Utd; I'm happy with that, as I have always believed that the goalkeeping position is the least of our concerns.
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Post by kazooki on Apr 7, 2015 14:22:15 GMT
I agree with what you say Joanna except perhaps the goalkeeper situation, both Bogdan and Lonergan can walk for nothing in a few weeks, I think it's time to either nail at least one of them down or get Amos to sign a pre-contract ready for the summer. If we leave it too late and both our number ones leave (which I think Bogdan will if offered similar money to what he's on as we will likely not have the funds to match his current deal and tempt him to stay) then we're gonna spend some of our perhaps limited budget and the entire summer looking for a replacement when we may have let the solution slip through our fingers.
Or maybe now that Wigan are all but down put in a cheeky offer for Al-Habsi?
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Post by andyl on Apr 7, 2015 19:43:52 GMT
Re your first paragraph, Joanna, I agree. Eidur and Emile are a class act and now two of our best moments/goals have occurred with one in turn assisting the other scoring and they were both on the field in the excellent first half at Liverpool. They have been excellent captures by Neil but cannot be be the basis of our forward planning. I do think they will be offered new contracts and Eidur will surely accept given his Icelandic ambition.
Re your second Neil has been rotating since he came and has given everyone a good chance already and to his very great credit some of the younger players. I do expect him to honour commitments to loanees and we will see most of them getting at least two of the remaining games in. But he has no need to experiment further. he will carry on as he is thinking he can get to 59 pts by the tin kering if you want to call it that, which is already part of his modus operandi. He will not change
Re your third argument , Joanna, I think it is quite clear that Neil, does not agree with you. He has been happy to prefer Amos to both our contracted goalkeepers after they were fit and also to set up Bogdan as no 1 with a promise of games. I think it's near certain that he will release Lonergan. He isn't consistent enough and has too many shortcomings. Whether he can keep Bogdan is questionable. It depends who else wants him. But I think Neil will try. If he can afford Amos he will surely try for him. There may be others. Al Habsi mentioned in jest may not be a bad shout actually?
In terms of the future I think Neil has done enough experimentation to have reached a view about whom to release. I would imagine that Lonergan, Mills, Craig Davies, Beckford, Tierney ( if not yet retired) and Andrews will be released. I suspect one or two more may be loaned out. It's just possible that of those named Craig D if he carries on as yesterday can work himself back into favour but I doubt that's true for the others. Do they already know it? If not should they be told? There may be a surprise or two. Neil is already saying that he wants durable players..and that certainly isn't Mark D, Pratley and Craig D
Anyway there will no doubt be more threads on the path forward. For now I think he should try to secure mathematical safety by playing his best possible counter attacking team v Norwich. He has seen it v Ipswich and v Cardiff. He has to counter Jerome who made a fool out of Mills there and he also has to be competitive in midfield. I hope and suspect that he will focus on those problems and he may well think hard about where to play Ream. He may also not restore Le Fondre whose ball retention has let him down badly,,but that's a tough one because other parts of his game are just what we need
Tactically Neil has lurched between extremes. We were really lucky to get back v Blackpool with four upfront and a chasm in midfield. Tactics were awry in that game and even worse at Wigan. I think with the resources at his disposal the 3-5-2 is worth trying for the remaining games but he needs to look at link up play between 3 and 5 and how they complement each other. I 'd like to see more of Moxey ahead of Ream . I hope that the 5 has two defensively minded midfielders v Norwich, Bournemouth and Brentford especially if Danns is to be one of them and two wingers may not be the model for a whole game. Whatever he does I'd like to see an approach evolving re how we might play more consistently home and away..and in the last game I hope that we get a chance to say farewell to thse who are leaving
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Post by joanna on Apr 7, 2015 21:06:47 GMT
Was going to cast doubt on who might be Lennon's choice as no.1 keeper, but this morning's BN article seems to make clearer his thinking.
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Post by andyl on Apr 8, 2015 13:17:27 GMT
Not sure BN that accurate. Bogdan will be difficult to keep and Amos to sign. I suspect though that for Lonergan the die is cast. A pity because he had some exc lent games and for a while offset his obvious shortcomings. Alas he was found out once too often and whatever happened at Forest left him little way back into the manager's confidence. I could be wrong but I doubt we'll see him again unless Bogdan reiinjures himself during these last few games
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