Fans forum

[Dirk Gently]

Agreed, but then when one of the "bad apples" is removed (or at least not stopped from going) there are howls of protest from a majority of supporters. It's a no-win situation....

Well as we didn't get rid of anyone who might've been considered one of those bad apples we'll never know what the reaction from the majority would've been.

Getting rid of Shorey and Kitson this season hasn't really been met with howls of protest has it? I think the majority of the debate has been about whether or not we're bringing in players capable of replacing them than whether or not it was time to cash in on them.

Making tough decisions, maybe even explaining them, and living with them is what these guys get paid a hell of a lot of money for. Without wanting to go into it all again, it just seems like we wanted to avoid it.

I seem to remember a whole lot of protest when Kitson left.

[papereyes]

Possibly because he was, quite rightly, regarded as our best striker?

That said, I remember last season, Lita's loan getting the howling treatment and we actually won games when he was away from the club ...

[Hoop Blah]

Fair enough.

I remember debate and misgivings that we were losing our best individual forward who provided something different to the team, but my memory was of comments of sorrow at him nolonger being with us as opposed to criticisms of the club for selling a player that it appeared didn't want to be here.

I'm talking general consensus here, not the odd inflamatory individual, and furthermore I definately remember a lot of praise for the fee we're apparently receiving.

[Dirk Gently]

Possibly because he was, quite rightly, regarded as our best striker?

That said, I remember last season, Lita's loan getting the howling treatment and we actually won games when he was away from the club ...

And, of course, the link between the two stories is that DK refused to play in the same team as LL. Hence the loan.....

[Hoop Blah]

Possibly because he was, quite rightly, regarded as our best striker?

That said, I remember last season, Lita's loan getting the howling treatment and we actually won games when he was away from the club ...

The Lita one is a very good example, I'd forgotten about that!

Again though, wasn't a lot of that howling because of the timing and the lack of options and goals within the squad?

If we'd have shipped Lita out and bought in another forward who was perceived as being a Premiership standard forward (say a 3 month loan of Nugent) capable of filling Lita's boots and improving our team, instead of leaving us with a shot shy out of form Doyle, a fragile Kitson and a woeful Long as out only forward options, the reaction would've been totally different.

[papereyes]

Possibly because he was, quite rightly, regarded as our best striker?

That said, I remember last season, Lita's loan getting the howling treatment and we actually won games when he was away from the club ...

The Lita one is a very good example, I'd forgotten about that!

Again though, wasn't a lot of that howling because of the timing and the lack of options and goals within the squad?

If we'd have shipped Lita out and bought in another forward who was perceived as being a Premiership standard forward (say a 3 month loan of Nugent) capable of filling Lita's boots and improving our team, instead of leaving us with a shot shy out of form Doyle, a fragile Kitson and a woeful Long as out only forward options, the reaction would've been totally different.

Exactly. I mean, people might have differing opinions as to who would be a suitable replacement but that's life.

The interesting thing here is the poster seeing everything as 'protest', imo.

I think this is also true:

I'm talking general consensus here, not the odd inflamatory individual, and furthermore I definately remember a lot of praise for the fee we're apparently receiving.

One of my favourite things on the board is the Holier-Than-Thou "xxxx months ago, you were all doing this and now you're all doing that" when its usually different fans saying different things.

And, of course, the link between the two stories is that DK refused to play in the same team as LL. Hence the loan.....

Two great things about that.

1) We went on a mini-run of form with Lita sent to Charlton

2) In the longer term, we're left with the less good of the pair.

[Thaumagurist*]

1) We went on a mini-run of form with Lita sent to Charlton

But it didn't last and we had to bring back Lita when we were again struggling for goals....

[The 17 Bus]

Possibly because he was, quite rightly, regarded as our best striker?

That said, I remember last season, Lita's loan getting the howling treatment and we actually won games when he was away from the club ...

And, of course, the link between the two stories is that DK refused to play in the same team as LL. Hence the loan.....

That's twice i have heard that said today, is this official news??

[Dirk Gently]

Possibly because he was, quite rightly, regarded as our best striker?

That said, I remember last season, Lita's loan getting the howling treatment and we actually won games when he was away from the club ...

And, of course, the link between the two stories is that DK refused to play in the same team as LL. Hence the loan.....

That's twice i have heard that said today, is this official news??

It was confidential at the time it happened, but as it's now ancient history I don't think there's any harm in it becoming public knowledge now.

[PEARCEY]

How do you know this Dirk? The more I hear about Kitson the more thewords prima donna spring to mind

[Hoop Blah]

It was confidential at the time it happened, but as it's now ancient history I don't think there's any harm in it becoming public knowledge now.

Tut tut Dirk, and there was you poo-pooing the talk of any rift at the time knowing all along that it was true!

Let's just cut all the crap about attitudes, anti-player bias, favourites, etc.

How about if SC has decided that two of his strikers Kits & Lita can't play together for whatever reason?

He either drops Kits and brings in Lita now, except that he's not match fit - or he decides to stick with Kits for the next 4 matches while Lita goes on loan for the shortest period you can do a loan for, gets match fit and hopefully bangs in a hatful of real goals and gets a good confidence boost.

Seems eminently sensible to me, and in 28 days SC's range of options will be a lot stronger than they are now.

OK - now back to the wild speculation, prejudices and bickering.....

How do you know this Dirk? The more I hear about Kitson the more thewords prima donna spring to mind

Before I'd judge Kitson I'd probably want to have some indication of why he took that stance.

[Thaumagurist*]

Tut tut Dirk, and there was you poo-pooing the talk of any rift at the time knowing all along that it was true!

I guess he found out about it after writing the post.

[PEARCEY]

Ok but Kitson is a player and should not be dictating to the manager who he will play alongside...it hardly helps to provide a united dressing room. Given Coppell's comments at the Fans forum plus Kitson's drink drive ban and his outspoken comments about the FA Cup it all seems to have gone to his head.

[Dirk Gently]

It was confidential at the time it happened, but as it's now ancient history I don't think there's any harm in it becoming public knowledge now.

Tut tut Dirk, and there was you poo-pooing the talk of any rift at the time knowing all along that it was true!

Let's just cut all the crap about attitudes, anti-player bias, favourites, etc.

How about if SC has decided that two of his strikers Kits & Lita can't play together for whatever reason?

He either drops Kits and brings in Lita now, except that he's not match fit - or he decides to stick with Kits for the next 4 matches while Lita goes on loan for the shortest period you can do a loan for, gets match fit and hopefully bangs in a hatful of real goals and gets a good confidence boost.

Seems eminently sensible to me, and in 28 days SC's range of options will be a lot stronger than they are now.

OK - now back to the wild speculation, prejudices and bickering.....

How do you know this Dirk? The more I hear about Kitson the more thewords prima donna spring to mind

Before I'd judge Kitson I'd probably want to have some indication of why he took that stance.

the key words at the time of the posting were "can't play together for whatever reason"

I knew what the reaosn was but couldn't post it at the time - it would have helped no-one.

[Hoop Blah]

Ok but Kitson is a player and should not be dictating to the manager who he will play alongside...it hardly helps to provide a united dressing room. Given Coppell's comments at the Fans forum plus Kitson's drink drive ban and his outspoken comments about the FA Cup it all seems to have gone to his head.

'greed.

I wonder if Coppell tried to test Kitsons metal over the refusal to play with Lita. Did he try to sort the issue out? Did he tell Kitson to get on with the job he's paid to do and let him worry about who he's playing alongside? Or did he run away from the confrontation? Did he use it as the last excuse to get Lita out of the way? What did the other players think?

So many questions, but it does seem as though Kitson was a bit of a devisive character in the squad, although if Harper is reading this he'll probably be in tears at the criticism Kitson has come in for.

[PEARCEY]

Ok but Kitson is a player and should not be dictating to the manager who he will play alongside...it hardly helps to provide a united dressing room. Given Coppell's comments at the Fans forum plus Kitson's drink drive ban and his outspoken comments about the FA Cup it all seems to have gone to his head.

'greed.

I wonder if Coppell tried to test Kitsons metal over the refusal to play with Lita. Did he try to sort the issue out? Did he tell Kitson to get on with the job he's paid to do and let him worry about who he's playing alongside? Or did he run away from the confrontation? Did he use it as the last excuse to get Lita out of the way? What did the other players think?

So many questions, but it does seem as though Kitson was a bit of a devisive character in the squad, although if Harper is reading this he'll probably be in tears at the criticism Kitson has come in for.

Indeed. It smacks of player power because at the time our forwards could not score for love or money and loaning Lita out reduced Coppell's strike options. I'm sure Lita was no innocent in all of this but Kitson clearly isn't afraid of speaking his mind and perhaps as you suggest Coppell saw this as an opportunity to move Lita on for a while...albeit reducing his own options at a time when he needed more not less.
Your point about what the other players thought is interesting...did they side with Kitson?? I would guess(purely a guess) that they did otherwise Coppell would not have risked loaning out Lita if the dressing room was against Kitson...