Josh Wright from Scunthorpe signing this week

[BensGrandad]

I think they agree terms etc and then actually sign on 1st July.

 

[Commander]

With Bridcutt - as soon as you saw him make his playing debut you could see he could kick a ball, and was quick.
He immediately had the sense to take up good positions, get amongst the opposition and make problems for them.
He's a live wire - and I suspect he could be simply deployed in several positions.

Yes, there's definitely a lot to be said for players who can do what they are told - but allowing for initiative is a margin a good manager will appreciate. Gus has encouraged Adam el-Abd to develop on his own initiative, and players who work with each other in that way can then be called a team. Robotic positional play might work to an extent, but won't rise to the top against sides who learn each others' individuality.

When it looks like instinct - group instinct, it's teamwork - hunting in packs and defending for the team - and that's when football is at its' best. I'm a little uncomfortable when I watch 'experts' on tv replaying and stop-motion for pointing out that a team had a 'bad formation, lost the defensive line' etcetera. They indicate what SHOULD have been done, but you could shoot their 20/20-vision assumptions full of holes when you realise what might also have happened to their formations just as easily!

Football is not like chess, where pieces get moved by one mind - it's a lot of pieces with their own abilities, ideas and instincts. A manager preps them, often in accordance of what to expect from the opposition - but it's how the players work together, and also still think as individuals that matters once they are on the field of play.

You should stick to talking about football, NMH, because it's the only subject in which you actually talk any sense. Good post.