Our Centre halves

[Del 667]

I dont know what to think about potential signings....

Broadfoot hasnt been given a chance and Webster when fit is good defender but if we have to bring one in im confident Smith will get a good one. He pulled Cuellar from nowhere!!

[Muff 245]

I'd take Jean-Alain Boumsong back in a heartbeat, supposidly going for around £1.4million. A Cuellar__Boumsong partnership would be a class act.

Weir's past it he's been a terrific signing but he's far too slow, error's are beginning to creep in and he's one of the worst passers of a ball. I dont think Webster is the answer and I'd rather have Ehiogu in there than Papac. I'd be very worried if Broadfoot got a game. A quality CB is needed.

[nvager 498]

Webster is good WHEN FIT - ?????

[Muff 245]

Webster hasn't been fit since day one. No use keeping him.

[Del 667]

Webster is good WHEN FIT - ?????

I would defo say so!

We would have signed him years ago if we werent so skint.

Was a good player hearts and was good for Scotland as well!

But the "When fit" is a big factor, we have a history of signing injured players and i hope we dont sign him!

[nvager 498]

Webster is good WHEN FIT - ?????

I would defo say so!

We would have signed him years ago if we werent so skint.

Was a good player hearts and was good for Scotland as well!

But the "When fit" is a big factor, we have a history of signing injured players and i hope we dont sign him!

I think we WILL sign him - so I hope he GETS FIT FAST and STAYS FIT TOO.

[Boab 73]

Yeh i do remember that actually but he was great for us on the park!

And i think his ego has taken a severe beating in the past few years!!

He was excellent for Auxerre, marvellous for us, then absolutely shambolic for both Newcastle and Juve.

Actually he had a few good games for us but against a big strong striker like DeVries he was shambolic and he was poor against small quick strikers.Watching re runs of his time here you can see he was not the class defender we ALL thought at the time and you can see how Marv bailed him out quite often.

Bombscare at Newcastle and in Serie B.

I strongly agree.

Yep, I always remember that day when we won 3-2 and Boumsong was bullied - no better word since Boumer was such an 'athlete'.

Do NOT want him back. I wouldn't want him or Soti back, they were as over-rated as McCulloch is as a midfielder. Infact, even more.

[Danny 9]

Yeh i do remember that actually but he was great for us on the park!

And i think his ego has taken a severe beating in the past few years!!

He was excellent for Auxerre, marvellous for us, then absolutely shambolic for both Newcastle and Juve.

Actually he had a few good games for us but against a big strong striker like DeVries he was shambolic and he was poor against small quick strikers.Watching re runs of his time here you can see he was not the class defender we ALL thought at the time and you can see how Marv bailed him out quite often.

Bombscare at Newcastle and in Serie B.

I strongly agree.

Yep, I always remember that day when we won 3-2 and Boumsong was bullied - no better word since Boumer was such an 'athlete'.

Do NOT want him back. I wouldn't want him or Soti back, they were as over-rated as McCulloch is as a midfielder. Infact, even more.

Oh for God's sake. A completely unrelated thread and you're still bitching on about loverboy. You're obsessed. Actually obsessed.

[Danny 9]

Yeh i do remember that actually but he was great for us on the park!

And i think his ego has taken a severe beating in the past few years!!

He was excellent for Auxerre, marvellous for us, then absolutely shambolic for both Newcastle and Juve.

Actually he had a few good games for us but against a big strong striker like DeVries he was shambolic and he was poor against small quick strikers.Watching re runs of his time here you can see he was not the class defender we ALL thought at the time and you can see how Marv bailed him out quite often.

Bombscare at Newcastle and in Serie B.

If all of us, you included, thought he was class at the time, why do you now think differently?

[docspiderman 1,225]

Yeh i do remember that actually but he was great for us on the park!

And i think his ego has taken a severe beating in the past few years!!

He was excellent for Auxerre, marvellous for us, then absolutely shambolic for both Newcastle and Juve.

Actually he had a few good games for us but against a big strong striker like DeVries he was shambolic and he was poor against small quick strikers.Watching re runs of his time here you can see he was not the class defender we ALL thought at the time and you can see how Marv bailed him out quite often.

Bombscare at Newcastle and in Serie B.

If all of us, you included, thought he was class at the time, why do you now think differently?

The match against Hearts made me wonder about him at the time and then other displays especially againt Auxerre got me worried. Later, after he was gone, I watched that season on Setanta and saw all the mistakes that I had not noticed when I was at the games. A bit like not noticing at the time the assists that Latapy had when he was with us until the seasons dvd came out.

I think watching re runs of the games that Boumsong played for us might open a lot of peoples eyes as it did mine.

[Boab 73]

Yeh i do remember that actually but he was great for us on the park!

And i think his ego has taken a severe beating in the past few years!!

He was excellent for Auxerre, marvellous for us, then absolutely shambolic for both Newcastle and Juve.

Actually he had a few good games for us but against a big strong striker like DeVries he was shambolic and he was poor against small quick strikers.Watching re runs of his time here you can see he was not the class defender we ALL thought at the time and you can see how Marv bailed him out quite often.

Bombscare at Newcastle and in Serie B.

I strongly agree.

Yep, I always remember that day when we won 3-2 and Boumsong was bullied - no better word since Boumer was such an 'athlete'.

Do NOT want him back. I wouldn't want him or Soti back, they were as over-rated as McCulloch is as a midfielder. Infact, even more.

Oh for God's sake. A completely unrelated thread and you're still bitching on about loverboy. You're obsessed. Actually obsessed.

I used someone as an example, on the theme about players being over-rated! He came to mind, funnilly enough.

Mind you if I'd meant it to wind you up then I should have just put in this reply post:

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,782]

I think it is because the midfield is poor and Barry was posted missing.

You seem to be blaming our midfield for everything that's going wrong for us at the moment.

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,782]

Do NOT want him back. I wouldn't want him or Soti back, they were as over-rated as McCulloch is as a midfielder. Infact, even more.

This is getting somewhat tiresome............................

[Boab 73]

Do NOT want him back. I wouldn't want him or Soti back, they were as over-rated as McCulloch is as a midfielder. Infact, even more.

This is getting somewhat tiresome............................

I explain why I said so above. Make no apologies for it.

[nvager 498]

I think it is because the midfield is poor and Barry was posted missing.

You seem to be blaming our midfield for everything that's going wrong for us at the moment.

It is where this team falls down. It's rather OBVIOUS I would think - no pace, no creativity, etc. It may improve now Burke and Buffel are maybe going to get a chance and JCD and Novo will add pace up front. Can you honestly say that Barry, Adam, McCulloch, Thomson, have pace or creativity. Barry has been poor for weeks now and we RELY on him. If we had a good functioning midfield then we would walk this league.

[Del 667]

Yeh i do remember that actually but he was great for us on the park!

And i think his ego has taken a severe beating in the past few years!!

He was excellent for Auxerre, marvellous for us, then absolutely shambolic for both Newcastle and Juve.

Actually he had a few good games for us but against a big strong striker like DeVries he was shambolic and he was poor against small quick strikers.Watching re runs of his time here you can see he was not the class defender we ALL thought at the time and you can see how Marv bailed him out quite often.

Bombscare at Newcastle and in Serie B.

I strongly agree.

Yep, I always remember that day when we won 3-2 and Boumsong was bullied - no better word since Boumer was such an 'athlete'.

Do NOT want him back. I wouldn't want him or Soti back, they were as over-rated as McCulloch is as a midfielder. Infact, even more.

Oh for God's sake. A completely unrelated thread and you're still bitching on about loverboy. You're obsessed. Actually obsessed.

I used someone as an example, on the theme about players being over-rated! He came to mind, funnilly enough.

Mind you if I'd meant it to wind you up then I should have just put in this reply post:

Is that big JC???

hahaha

[Boab 73]

Yeh i do remember that actually but he was great for us on the park!

And i think his ego has taken a severe beating in the past few years!!

He was excellent for Auxerre, marvellous for us, then absolutely shambolic for both Newcastle and Juve.

Actually he had a few good games for us but against a big strong striker like DeVries he was shambolic and he was poor against small quick strikers.Watching re runs of his time here you can see he was not the class defender we ALL thought at the time and you can see how Marv bailed him out quite often.

Bombscare at Newcastle and in Serie B.

I strongly agree.

Yep, I always remember that day when we won 3-2 and Boumsong was bullied - no better word since Boumer was such an 'athlete'.

Do NOT want him back. I wouldn't want him or Soti back, they were as over-rated as McCulloch is as a midfielder. Infact, even more.

Oh for God's sake. A completely unrelated thread and you're still bitching on about loverboy. You're obsessed. Actually obsessed.

I used someone as an example, on the theme about players being over-rated! He came to mind, funnilly enough.

Mind you if I'd meant it to wind you up then I should have just put in this reply post:

Is that big JC???

hahaha

Don't know!

Sometimes folk post a fisherman do that when a poster says something and they take their bait and get outraged!

[Scott-RFC 308]

Boumsong was a class act for us

Him and Cuellar would be great

[Laudo 31]

I think it is because the midfield is poor and Barry was posted missing.

You seem to be blaming our midfield for everything that's going wrong for us at the moment.

It is where this team falls down. It's rather OBVIOUS I would think - no pace, no creativity, etc. It may improve now Burke and Buffel are maybe going to get a chance and JCD and Novo will add pace up front. Can you honestly say that Barry, Adam, McCulloch, Thomson, have pace or creativity. Barry has been poor for weeks now and we RELY on him. If we had a good functioning midfield then we would walk this league.

I'm with you on this one. I wouldnt mind walter finding a new Arteta/Tugay/McCall/Reina out there somewhere.Miracles can happen !!!!

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,782]

It is where this team falls down. It's rather OBVIOUS I would think - no pace, no creativity, etc. It may improve now Burke and Buffel are maybe going to get a chance and JCD and Novo will add pace up front. Can you honestly say that Barry, Adam, McCulloch, Thomson, have pace or creativity. Barry has been poor for weeks now and we RELY on him. If we had a good functioning midfield then we would walk this league.

I know what you are saying NVA and I don't doubt it for one second. I've been saying for a few weeks now that Burke, Buffel and Naisy should all be playing in our team, but that point is irrelevant in the context of this thread.

Sure if our midfield were over zealous when it came to attacking and were leaving 20 yard gaps left right and centre that opponents could burst through and cause our defence problems then yeah I could see where you are coming from, but I just don't see how you can come to the conclusion that a midfield that lacks in attacking creativity and is generally considered tro be a bit defense minded contributes to our defence playing poorly.

Afterall thats what this thread is about is it not?

[nvager 498]

It is where this team falls down. It's rather OBVIOUS I would think - no pace, no creativity, etc. It may improve now Burke and Buffel are maybe going to get a chance and JCD and Novo will add pace up front. Can you honestly say that Barry, Adam, McCulloch, Thomson, have pace or creativity. Barry has been poor for weeks now and we RELY on him. If we had a good functioning midfield then we would walk this league.

I know what you are saying NVA and I don't doubt it for one second. I've been saying for a few weeks now that Burke, Buffel and Naisy should all be playing in our team, but that point is irrelevant in the context of this thread.

Sure if our midfield were over zealous when it came to attacking and were leaving 20 yard gaps left right and centre that opponents could burst through and cause our defence problems then yeah I could see where you are coming from, but I just don't see how you can come to the conclusion that a midfield that lacks in attacking creativity and is generally considered tro be a bit defense minded contributes to our defence playing poorly.

Afterall thats what this thread is about is it not?

Yes - but my point is that if we had a fluid creative midfield then two things would change drastically:

1. We would have the other team on the back foot and under pressure - rather than us being under pressure AND

2. Midfielders that can move can also track back in time to help the defence.

Rangers of old had a midfield that included Davis/Greig, MacMillan and Baxter + wingers Henderson and Wilson - Only Davis/Greig (ONE PLAYER) was defensive, but they were all fluid and all could move and control the football and dictate the play.

If you had seen that team play you would know where I am coming from.

Cheers Buddy and hope you had a great Xmas!

:beer2: :beer2:

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,782]

Yes - but my point is that if we had a fluid creative midfield then two things would change drastically:

1. We would have the other team on the back foot and under pressure - rather than us being under pressure AND

2. Midfielders that can move can also track back in time to help the defence.

Rangers of old had a midfield that included Davis/Greig, MacMillan and Baxter + wingers Henderson and Wilson - Only Davis/Greig (ONE PLAYER) was defensive, but they were all fluid and all could move and control the football and dictate the play.

If you had seen that team play you would know where I am coming from.

Cheers Buddy and hope you had a great Xmas!

:beer2: :beer2:

I had a good Xmas mate, thanks Hope you did too.

What you say is true but the danger with that is that the players we have now are nowhere near as good as the players you mentioned, and some would say that they don't care about the club as much either and that poses a major problem in terms of what they put into their performances.

I find that the main problem with us is that we don't really have a polished all rounder who is equally comfortable at both attacking and defending. We have grafters like Thomson, Adam and McCulloch and then we have luxury players like Buffel and Burke. The closest we have to players who can be equally as effective at both attacking and defending are Beasley and Novo, and it's even a stretch giving them a mention.

Playing Thomson, Ferguson and Adam in the same team is just madness. If Thommo and Adam are going to play (4-5-1) then we need pace on the wings and if McCulloch is going to play out wide (4-5-1) then we need pace through the middle in the form of a Buffel or dare I say it a Gow.

Basically to get around this we need to find a balance to accomadate a bit of both which we don't do at the moment.

Ideally I think we need to sign a more box to box minded midfielder, who will work hard and raise others through his own preformance.

Hopefully we don't though as I would kind of miss our discussions about it

[polar bear 0]

Our defence (as a unit) is really starting to give me the shits.We laugh at Celtics defence,but in reality they are no worse than we are(goals against average)

What do you think guys?

[nvager 498]

Yes - but my point is that if we had a fluid creative midfield then two things would change drastically:

1. We would have the other team on the back foot and under pressure - rather than us being under pressure AND

2. Midfielders that can move can also track back in time to help the defence.

Rangers of old had a midfield that included Davis/Greig, MacMillan and Baxter + wingers Henderson and Wilson - Only Davis/Greig (ONE PLAYER) was defensive, but they were all fluid and all could move and control the football and dictate the play.

If you had seen that team play you would know where I am coming from.

Cheers Buddy and hope you had a great Xmas!

:beer2: :beer2:

I had a good Xmas mate, thanks Hope you did too.

What you say is true but the danger with that is that the players we have now are nowhere near as good as the players you mentioned, and some would say that they don't care about the club as much either and that poses a major problem in terms of what they put into their performances.

I find that the main problem with us is that we don't really have a polished all rounder who is equally comfortable at both attacking and defending. We have grafters like Thomson, Adam and McCulloch and then we have luxury players like Buffel and Burke. The closest we have to players who can be equally as effective at both attacking and defending are Beasley and Novo, and it's even a stretch giving them a mention.

Playing Thomson, Ferguson and Adam in the same team is just madness. If Thommo and Adam are going to play (4-5-1) then we need pace on the wings and if McCulloch is going to play out wide (4-5-1) then we need pace through the middle in the form of a Buffel or dare I say it a Gow.

Basically to get around this we need to find a balance to accomadate a bit of both which we don't do at the moment.

Ideally I think we need to sign a more box to box minded midfielder, who will work hard and raise others through his own preformance.

Hopefully we don't though as I would kind of miss our discussions about it

Hey I love your reply - well reasoned and a bit of humour too!

I see exactly what you are saying and yes the players I mentioned are MUCH better than we have today and hence they COULD dictate the games. With a football brain of MacMillan, the sublime skill and artistry of Baxter and two fabulous effective wingers, backed up with the steel of Davis and or Greig - there is no comparison and you are RIGHT in that that makes a big difference.

I agree we need to find a blend in midfield of pace and power. To do that we need to be creative hence maybe:

Burke on the right and Naismith on the left; in the center we really struggle as Thomson or Hemdani can play defensively, but Barry is struggling big time just now. Adam is just not good enough and neither is McCulloch. I would play Barry but if he does not improve substitute him at half time and play Buffel or Gow in centre mid and see how they do. I would play JCD and Boyd up front.

I think we do need a quality centre midfielder that can replace Barry or assist Barry. He better be good though.

My gut feeling is that Buffel and Hemdani may leave come January. I also hear that Eck is after Boyd.

Anyway do not worry our discussions will continue unabated! haha! (With Danny too!) :beer2:

Have a great NY DBBTB :beer2: :beer2:

[polar bear 0]

Yes - but my point is that if we had a fluid creative midfield then two things would change drastically:

1. We would have the other team on the back foot and under pressure - rather than us being under pressure AND

2. Midfielders that can move can also track back in time to help the defence.

Rangers of old had a midfield that included Davis/Greig, MacMillan and Baxter + wingers Henderson and Wilson - Only Davis/Greig (ONE PLAYER) was defensive, but they were all fluid and all could move and control the football and dictate the play.

If you had seen that team play you would know where I am coming from.

Cheers Buddy and hope you had a great Xmas!

:beer2: :beer2:

I had a good Xmas mate, thanks Hope you did too.

What you say is true but the danger with that is that the players we have now are nowhere near as good as the players you mentioned, and some would say that they don't care about the club as much either and that poses a major problem in terms of what they put into their performances.

I find that the main problem with us is that we don't really have a polished all rounder who is equally comfortable at both attacking and defending. We have grafters like Thomson, Adam and McCulloch and then we have luxury players like Buffel and Burke. The closest we have to players who can be equally as effective at both attacking and defending are Beasley and Novo, and it's even a stretch giving them a mention.

Playing Thomson, Ferguson and Adam in the same team is just madness. If Thommo and Adam are going to play (4-5-1) then we need pace on the wings and if McCulloch is going to play out wide (4-5-1) then we need pace through the middle in the form of a Buffel or dare I say it a Gow.

Basically to get around this we need to find a balance to accomadate a bit of both which we don't do at the moment.

Ideally I think we need to sign a more box to box minded midfielder, who will work hard and raise others through his own preformance.

Hopefully we don't though as I would kind of miss our discussions about it

Hey I love your reply - well reasoned and a bit of humour too!

I see exactly what you are saying and yes the players I mentioned are MUCH better than we have today and hence they COULD dictate the games. With a football brain of MacMillan, the sublime skill and artistry of Baxter and two fabulous effective wingers, backed up with the steel of Davis and or Greig - there is no comparison and you are RIGHT in that that makes a big difference.

I agree we need to find a blend in midfield of pace and power. To do that we need to be creative hence maybe:

Burke on the right and Naismith on the left; in the center we really struggle as Thomson or Hemdani can play defensively, but Barry is struggling big time just now. Adam is just not good enough and neither is McCulloch. I would play Barry but if he does not improve substitute him at half time and play Buffel or Gow in centre mid and see how they do. I would play JCD and Boyd up front.

I think we do need a quality centre midfielder that can replace Barry or assist Barry. He better be good though.

My gut feeling is that Buffel and Hemdani may leave come January. I also hear that Eck is after Boyd.

Anyway do not worry our discussions will continue unabated! haha! (With Danny too!) :beer2:

Have a great NY DBBTB :beer2: :beer2:

Good morning Nvager,and a merry Christmas.I have just got up and didn't notice that you had already started a similar thread,sorry mate.