[Albion] Anyone still in denial?

[chaileyjem]

Connolly LOOKS like Rooney and he's young. But otherwise a totally different player. Rooney could take a set piece and was good enough technically to drop into midfield later in his career (and now coach). Connolly will be screwed when his pace goes.

The rest of that is sensible though. We have very similar players as "attacking options". Lots of quicker, smaller strikers, lots of "creative number 10s" who can find space centrally. But this is why I continually say we have no Plan B. Stop that and you stop Brighton (plus, currently, fail to stop us and we'll just hit the woodwork or stick in in Row Z anyway).

True - Tau, Trossard, Maupay and Connolly are similar in height but Welbeck and Zeqiri are 6ft 1 and different types of striker. Potter has been alternating Welbeck with Maupay and Connolly in the last few games and earlier on this season. Is that not a Plan B (it might not be a good one but its a different one). ?

 

[Justice]

connolly has at least 7 or 8 yrs to develop , he's a whopper at the moment but look at vardy ....!! fleetwood one minute premiership winner 2 years later , i actually think connolly will develop into a decent player. and you swerved the van nistelrooy bit as well , who is connolly learning off currently ..? muzz would have been worth keeping , wellbeck is a flop in my opinion. waste of money.

rooney like geriatrics too ....

In all seriousness Connolly is very one dimensional, is there anything else there apart from a cut inside and take a shot?

 

[Frankworthington]

you'll laugh at me but i think Connolly has a lot of potential , he reminds me of a young rooney but without the van nistelrooy to school him , maybe the management thought wellbeck was it ....he ain't , we need a target man ( been saying it for 5 yrs) i whopper of a drogba clone for all our small men to play off , we offer no ariel threat at all , thus the short corners when all our big men have trotted up to the opposition box only to see the ball be cycled back to ryan/sanchez.......****ing tiresome , get it in the box and see what happens ffs.

I honestly hope your right,I would love to be proved wrong.

I agree we need a big man up-front.Maybe Zeqiri?

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

True - Tau, Trossard, Maupay and Connolly are similar in height but Welbeck and Zeqiri are 6ft 1 and different types of striker. Potter has been alternating Welbeck with Maupay and Connolly in the last few games and earlier on this season. Is that not a Plan B (it might not be a good one but its a different one). ?

I’m not sure a slight tweak in personnel equates to a Plan B, especially when everyone else is seemingly carrying out the same duties as every other game, but in reality we aren’t privy to the finer details that Potter is asking the players to perform.

 

[Kosh]

Hmmmm.....I never think either of your two possibilities. Perhaps 'we' are being invited to take sides by some of the toxic posters on NSC. A bit like the Boris/Starmer 'debates' - "which one is the new Jesus, and which is The Devil? Come on! Answer! Your (sic) deluded!".

Look, this is just another Junior wind-up thread. Who starts a thread then just sits back and watches people react (apart from [MENTION=3385]crodonilson[/MENTION], but he's clever and funny)? A WUM. There is no point discussing the finer points of The Albion in a Junior thread. It would be like talking to the cat.

Good post, avatar change noted.

I’d have preferred Ritchie Blackmore tbh.

 

[Kosh]

Communism was just a red herring.

The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

 

[Seagull58]

I honestly hope your right,I would love to be proved wrong.

I agree we need a big man up-front.Maybe Zeqiri?

You've won a mug for your post.

 

[DH12]

All good points. One consideration is, that if we do go down, Potter may be offered a job at another PL team with better finances (on the spending front) than us. So we may not keep him, even if we want to.

Yes, I am braced for the incoming laughter, incredulity and abuse for holding this opinion from some of the more vehement Potter haters

Agreed. I wonder if it has occurred to any of those that think Potter is a poor manager that in actual fact, those that recruit managers probably have a better idea of what is required for that individual to succeed. He's got us playing the best football I've ever seen us play-if we could finish our dinner, he's be lauded on this forum. Ho-hum. Hope they enjoy Bilic or Howe next season if Potter does leave for pastures greener.

 

[Kosh]

So are you suggesting, that Potter isn't either a useless chancer or he isn't the greatest managerial genius of all time? Are you suggesting the truth maybe somewhere in the middle somewhere?

You do realise this is Northstandchat? I think you'll find the correct procedure is to pick a viewpoint early, the grimly stick to it using ever more inflammatory language, irrespective of whether the facts bear out the conclusion you originally came to.

Exactly - this forum has ever been a very drawn out version of the classic Monty Python argument/contradiction sketch.

 

[giveusfalmerplease]

Whatever division we are in next season we MUST somehow get that elusive striker. Go back 20 years when we were in complete free fall yet a certain Mr Zamora changed our fortunes. 2 seasons two promotions.. trouble is we won't have 60m to spend and would a 60m player join a championship club if that's where we are?

 

[Recidivist]

Sorry i just do not see it and would love to be proved wrong.

Neither will ever be premier league standard

Think you’re being too negative.

Despite the stick he gets on here, I think Maupay is already premier league standard. He got 10 goals last season and will probably equal that this season.

Apart from the top, top strikers like Kane, Salah and Vardy almost no one gets more than that in this league consistently.

Think Connolly might get there but certainly isn’t up to it yet.

As an aside, I think it’s a pity we didn’t bring in Lingard if he was on offer? Certainly no more of a gamble than Welbeck and not injury prone.

Thought he was pretty good in his previous stint with us and would certainly put in a shift. Look what he’s doing at West Ham......!

 

[drew]

Why would Potter telling the press something along those lines such a dumb thing to do. If thats what he thinks.

Firstly, if he told the press his squad was too weak he's being openly critical of his boss's recruitment and, ergo, lack of investment!

Secondly, managers talk to the press because they have contractual obligations. They'll say as little as they think they can get away with.

Finally, as others have said, you're not going to be critical to the press about your players. look where that got Bruce and there have been a whole host of other managers that have criticized players in the press and it never ends well.

 

[Guinness Boy]

True - Tau, Trossard, Maupay and Connolly are similar in height but Welbeck and Zeqiri are 6ft 1 and different types of striker. Potter has been alternating Welbeck with Maupay and Connolly in the last few games and earlier on this season. Is that not a Plan B (it might not be a good one but its a different one). ?

I don't think Welbeck is what we would think of as a "traditional number nine". Not a "cross it in and he'll bury it with his head" type of player. And I've not been impressed with his hold up play either. He runs the channels just like Maupay.

Zeqiri - well, none of us know too much but on the face of it he is a different option. Just one who is never used, for whatever reason.

 

[Frankworthington]

Think you’re being too negative.

Despite the stick he gets on here, I think Maupay is already premier league standard. He got 10 goals last season and will probably equal that this season.

Apart from the top, top strikers like Kane, Salah and Vardy almost no one gets more than that in this league consistently.

Think Connolly might get there but certainly isn’t up to it yet.

As an aside, I think it’s a pity we didn’t bring in Lingard if he was on offer? Certainly no more of a gamble than Welbeck and not injury prone.

Thought he was pretty good in his previous stint with us and would certainly put in a shift. Look what he’s doing at West Ham......!

I am sorry you feel i was being negative,i honestly want them and the club to do well.

The lack of quality up-front is the reason we are in the position we are in.We are like toothless tigers.

You are right about Lingard.The guy is quality but we were never going to compete with West Ham.

Dont get me started on Trossard!!

 

[twickers]

The difference between staying up under CH and staying up (I think we will) under GP is simple. Under CH, we were playing sh*t, negative football and eventually we would have gone down. Under GP we are playing skillfull, entertaining football everywhere on the pitch except the 6yd box and eventually we will climb the table.

IT IS ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT! WE DIDN'T PLAY FOOTBALL IN THE PL UNDER CH, WE JUST KICKED A BALL AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO STOP ANY FOOTBALL OCCURRING. AT LEAST WE HAVE MOVED ON FROM THAT.

I agree and think we'll look back on it and judge this as the hard pivot that started to turn us into a greater club.

 

[vagabond]

He said that to the press, yes.

He's not going to publicly say 'I wish Tony had invested another £30M in a next level striker for me' is he ?

Quite. I don’t get how people can’t see this.

What do they expect him to do, start slagging off our recruitment department in his pre match presser? Of course he’s going to be diplomatic.

 

[andy1980]

Opinions are subjective. Yours and theirs.

But you can look at the situation objectively.

 

[Blue3]

Denial that's a river in Egypt who's in it?

 

[andy1980]

Firstly, if he told the press his squad was too weak he's being openly critical of his boss's recruitment and, ergo, lack of investment!

Secondly, managers talk to the press because they have contractual obligations. They'll say as little as they think they can get away with.

Finally, as others have said, you're not going to be critical to the press about your players. look where that got Bruce and there have been a whole host of other managers that have criticized players in the press and it never ends well.

You notice the ones that never ends well. I'm sure it does sometimes.

Just because managers have to do press conferences doesn't mean they have to answer questions that they don't want to.

 

[andy1980]

Quite. I don’t get how people can’t see this.

What do they expect him to do, start slagging off our recruitment department in his pre match presser? Of course he’s going to be diplomatic.

Don't talk daft. Just dont say you are happy with the squad. You dont have to blame anyone.