Marek for Sidwell

[Huntley & Palmer]

We never replaced Sidwell.

HTH.

'greed. Can we close this thread now?

[Fezza]

All the reasons you mention in my opinion are sole responsiblity of the manager and yet the majority of fans wanted him to stay. Coppell got us relegated simple as.

I have been saying that since the Bolton game - poor management has really cost us, you may blame Mr Mad for lack of investment, but, St Coppell spunked £2.5 million up against the wall on Fae when an experienced Premiership/Championship player was required.

[Fezza]

We never replaced Sidwell.

HTH.

'greed. Can we close this thread now?

Since when were you running a democracy?

[SpaceCruiser]

This thread is sometimes one of the reasons why I find the team forum very boring.

[papereyes]

This thread is sometimes one of the reasons why I find the team forum very boring.

I think, for your sake, we should pretend we didn't get relegated.

[brendywendy]

sidwell left
brynns injury
littles injury
sonkos injury and subsequent lack of form
faes abject failure to live up to the 2.5million price tag
fae maybe not being given enough of a chance to prove himself in the 1st team
conveys injury
doyles and litas loss of form
kitsons loss of form after the england hype and driving ban
constant chopping and changing of the CBs
murtys loss of form midseason
failure to freshen up squad in jan due to a slight upturn in team form and cisses performances in two games at CB
the fantastic recovery of both bolton and fulham spurred on by their wins over us
two silly results Vs pompey and spurs that totally knocked the attacking verve out of our team

the reasons are myriad

hopefully the way marek plays has changed the way we play-as we need to freshen things up slightly-get a ball winner alongside him and we'll fly this season
our defence is big strong and we have a little pace now in bikey
if we can keep our strikers we will score
the main problem is on the wings-we need to get in a player of equal ability to convey if hunt goes
and i dont know if we need cover on the right if little is going to injured alot, kebe hasnt proved hes good enough, nor had henry

[Vision]

All the reasons you mention in my opinion are sole responsiblity of the manager and yet the majority of fans wanted him to stay. Coppell got us relegated simple as.

I have been saying that since the Bolton game - poor management has really cost us, you may blame Mr Mad for lack of investment, but, St Coppell spunked £2.5 million up against the wall on Fae when an experienced Premiership/Championship player was required.

Not sure that would have made a difference. In my view Gunnarsson was an "experienced Premiership/Championship player who was already in the squad.

I'm covering old ground here but i feel its not just the position we lost with Sidwell but his leadership and what he meant to this group of players. Equally losing Little for the whole season wasn't just a case of missing a quality right-winger but actually missing our 1 truly creative player. In that context Marek is more of a replacement for Little than Sidwell.

Sidwell and Little were the 2 bravest characters in our squad. When things got a little tough it was Sidwell rolling up his sleeves and urging his teammates on and it was Little who was brave enough to want the ball and try to make things happen even when under pressure. Murty's a lovely chap and all that while Ivar is a good solid pro but neither of them inspire in the way Sidwell did. I suspect thats why Coppell likes Duberry so much as he seems to be one of the few that has a bit of character and stature in a side that lacked leadership.

Of course Coppell had more money to spend than he used but i'm not convinced he had enough to get the type of player he really needed.

[Archie's penalty]

All the reasons you mention in my opinion are sole responsiblity of the manager and yet the majority of fans wanted him to stay. Coppell got us relegated simple as.

I have been saying that since the Bolton game - poor management has really cost us, you may blame Mr Mad for lack of investment, but, St Coppell spunked £2.5 million up against the wall on Fae when an experienced Premiership/Championship player was required.

Not sure that would have made a difference. In my view Gunnarsson was an "experienced Premiership/Championship player who was already in the squad.

I'm covering old ground here but i feel its not just the position we lost with Sidwell but his leadership and what he meant to this group of players. Equally losing Little for the whole season wasn't just a case of missing a quality right-winger but actually missing our 1 truly creative player. In that context Marek is more of a replacement for Little than Sidwell.

Sidwell and Little were the 2 bravest characters in our squad. When things got a little tough it was Sidwell rolling up his sleeves and urging his teammates on and it was Little who was brave enough to want the ball and try to make things happen even when under pressure. Murty's a lovely chap and all that while Ivar is a good solid pro but neither of them inspire in the way Sidwell did. I suspect thats why Coppell likes Duberry so much as he seems to be one of the few that has a bit of character and stature in a side that lacked leadership.

Of course Coppell had more money to spend than he used but i'm not convinced he had enough to get the type of player he really needed.

As always Vision you have hit the nail squarely on the head. Incredibly precise analysis and I agree completely.

It is strange now looking back, and I know this has been said before, but the Gunnarrsson injury really cost us. One of the most crucial reasons for our slide. And to think we were so incredibly critical of him in the earlier stages of the season (me included)! At least he got the ball back sometimes. For half the season all we did was watch other teams play. That must have been demoralising for the players and one of the main reasons why we went down.
If I were to pick the two performances where it was most depressing watching us this year it would be Newcastle (away)and Fulham (home). Newcastle as we had been going well and then got tonked, putting no pressure on the ball and no drive or urgency. Fulham was the same, we just let them pass the ball around us - it was like a practice match where we were the defending team told not to put tackles in! At least Gunnarsson would have cropped a few players - we weren't even capable of doing that!

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

All the reasons you mention in my opinion are sole responsiblity of the manager and yet the majority of fans wanted him to stay. Coppell got us relegated simple as.

I have been saying that since the Bolton game - poor management has really cost us, you may blame Mr Mad for lack of investment, but, St Coppell spunked £2.5 million up against the wall on Fae when an experienced Premiership/Championship player was required.

Not sure that would have made a difference. In my view Gunnarsson was an "experienced Premiership/Championship player who was already in the squad.

I'm covering old ground here but i feel its not just the position we lost with Sidwell but his leadership and what he meant to this group of players. Equally losing Little for the whole season wasn't just a case of missing a quality right-winger but actually missing our 1 truly creative player. In that context Marek is more of a replacement for Little than Sidwell.

Sidwell and Little were the 2 bravest characters in our squad. When things got a little tough it was Sidwell rolling up his sleeves and urging his teammates on and it was Little who was brave enough to want the ball and try to make things happen even when under pressure. Murty's a lovely chap and all that while Ivar is a good solid pro but neither of them inspire in the way Sidwell did. I suspect thats why Coppell likes Duberry so much as he seems to be one of the few that has a bit of character and stature in a side that lacked leadership.

Of course Coppell had more money to spend than he used but i'm not convinced he had enough to get the type of player he really needed.

Coppell himself said he had the money to get the players. We could have signed O'Neill, Cahill, etc but for reason beyond logic, Coppell didn't want to.

[Wycombe Royal]

Coppell himself said he had the money to get the players. We could have signed O'Neill, Cahill, etc but for reason beyond logic, Coppell didn't want to.

We could have TRIED to sign them, but there would have been no guarantees.

[Vision]

I have been saying that since the Bolton game - poor management has really cost us, you may blame Mr Mad for lack of investment, but, St Coppell spunked £2.5 million up against the wall on Fae when an experienced Premiership/Championship player was required.

Not sure that would have made a difference. In my view Gunnarsson was an "experienced Premiership/Championship player who was already in the squad.

I'm covering old ground here but i feel its not just the position we lost with Sidwell but his leadership and what he meant to this group of players. Equally losing Little for the whole season wasn't just a case of missing a quality right-winger but actually missing our 1 truly creative player. In that context Marek is more of a replacement for Little than Sidwell.

Sidwell and Little were the 2 bravest characters in our squad. When things got a little tough it was Sidwell rolling up his sleeves and urging his teammates on and it was Little who was brave enough to want the ball and try to make things happen even when under pressure. Murty's a lovely chap and all that while Ivar is a good solid pro but neither of them inspire in the way Sidwell did. I suspect thats why Coppell likes Duberry so much as he seems to be one of the few that has a bit of character and stature in a side that lacked leadership.

Of course Coppell had more money to spend than he used but i'm not convinced he had enough to get the type of player he really needed.

Coppell himself said he had the money to get the players. We could have signed O'Neill, Cahill, etc but for reason beyond logic, Coppell didn't want to.

How would signing Cahill or O'Neill have solved the Sidwell issue?
Neither are they the "experienced premiership/championship" player Fezza believes was required.

To be fair I guess you could argue Cahill might have leadership qualities and O'Neill is creative in a level slightly above Stephen Hunt but its stretching it to think they would replace Sidwell and Little's influence. Cahill's capacity for giving away penalties is on a par with Sonko while Southgate is already looking to offload O'Neill. Its very easy to say we could/should have signed them but at a combined 10m & circa 50k a week wages its hardly the "no brainer" you make it out to be.

[papereyes]

May I just say that Cahill the previous January may have been cheaper, would have had 6 months to get the 'Reading way' and might have been a better, long term replacement than Duberry?

Likewise, had we moved for someone to replace Sidwell, even Marek, even Fae, I think we would have struggled less.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

O'Neill is looking to leave 'Boro cause his family never moved up north. He didn't want to join a northern club. He would have been a better player for us than Fae, Bryn or anyone we tried on the right wing.

And where does the £10m and 50k a week come from?

[Vision]

May I just say that Cahill the previous January may have been cheaper, would have had 6 months to get the 'Reading way' and might have been a better, long term replacement than Duberry?

Likewise, had we moved for someone to replace Sidwell, even Marek, even Fae, I think we would have struggled less.

Scott Brown was earmarked for that. We'd been linked with Fae (and John Mensah) for months before we actually signed him so i don't think its as if we weren't looking.

[Vision]

O'Neill is looking to leave 'Boro cause his family never moved up north. He didn't want to join a northern club. He would have been a better player for us than Fae, Bryn or anyone we tried on the right wing.

And where does the £10m and 50k a week come from?

I could be wrong but i'm pretty sure both were quoted as having gone for 5m a piece. 25k a week wages each is what we'd have paid to secure them ahead of Bolton and Boro respectively.

[Huntley & Palmer]

O'Neill is looking to leave 'Boro cause his family never moved up north. He didn't want to join a northern club. He would have been a better player for us than Fae, Bryn or anyone we tried on the right wing.

And where does the £10m and 50k a week come from?

What does that tell you about O'Neill? For me, that is a player that is looking after No.1 rather than one moving for footballing reasons

[sawyers left arm]

Is this post a joke?
Sidwell a ball winner what a joke. he spent most of the game trying to catch the ball up and when he did he just clattered the man and got booked.
Marek looks pure class and will create plenty of goals this season. Sidwell now plying his trade at Brentford on a monday night in front of 200 fans, ha ha.

[Alan Partridge]

Is this post a joke?
Sidwell a ball winner what a joke. he spent most of the game trying to catch the ball up and when he did he just clattered the man and got booked.
Marek looks pure class and will create plenty of goals this season. Sidwell now plying his trade at Brentford on a monday night in front of 200 fans, ha ha.

haha indeed as Sidwell relishes at worst another season in the Premiership for a club much bigger than his previous one who have just been relegated.

[Vision]

Is this post a joke?
Sidwell a ball winner what a joke. he spent most of the game trying to catch the ball up and when he did he just clattered the man and got booked.
Marek looks pure class and will create plenty of goals this season. Sidwell now plying his trade at Brentford on a monday night in front of 200 fans, ha ha.

Yes to answer your original question.

[brendywendy]

Is this post a joke?
Sidwell a ball winner what a joke. he spent most of the game trying to catch the ball up and when he did he just clattered the man and got booked.
Marek looks pure class and will create plenty of goals this season. Sidwell now plying his trade at Brentford on a monday night in front of 200 fans, ha ha.