Albion keen to make a fast start against Hull (From The Argus)

So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Saul G P Tong wrote:
So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Its a good job you arnt the manager really isnt it, im sure they woudl be well up for it folloing a team talk from you.
One thing you cant mark is pace!!

Albion fan in London wrote:

Saul G P Tong wrote: So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Its a good job you arnt the manager really isnt it, im sure they woudl be well up for it folloing a team talk from you. One thing you cant mark is pace!!

Great response. So it would appear that you're saying pace is more important than the ability to capitalise on a scoring opportunity? It's a good job you're not the manager too, lol.

Saul G P Tong wrote:
So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Yes Hull will proably be in the mix but so will we. The season is not a sprint it was only in the latter part of last season that Reading really started to perform consistently. There will be good days and bad days to come. Keep calm and enjoy the ride:-)

Kaz knows how to spice it up. Should be a good game!

Saul G P Tong wrote:
So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Think you have missed the point. With faster players you can get the ball forward more quickly and create more scoring opportunities. Also, both these two players are more likely to score goals than the forwards we had on Tuesday, in my opinion.

Saul G P Tong wrote:

Albion fan in London wrote:

Saul G P Tong wrote: So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Its a good job you arnt the manager really isnt it, im sure they woudl be well up for it folloing a team talk from you. One thing you cant mark is pace!!

Great response. So it would appear that you're saying pace is more important than the ability to capitalise on a scoring opportunity? It's a good job you're not the manager too, lol.

So Saul GP Tong thinks Albion fan in London is an idiot and Albion fan in London thinks Saul GP Tong is an idiot.....There's only one way to decide this....Fiiiiiiiiggg
ghhhhttt !!!

Personally I think Saul should replace the S for a T in his name as his comments are totally ridiculous..

My optimism for a good season is undiminished by the Swindon result. Our squad is good enough to be in the mix come the end of the season and Gus knows how to get the best out of his players. For sure, we're going to be disappointed and will feel let down from time to time, but that doesn't change the fact we have a lot going for us this season and we shouldn't allow ourselves to become distracted by the occasional failure. That's all I've got to say.

I really hope Gus starts two wingers (KZZ and Nooney) because the quality of passes that our full backs can deliver to them to run on to will make us exceptionally dangerous

Its good that we are blessed with some fast wingers ... but and sorry for being realistic.. only works if you have target men in the box that means playing with two strikers or the midfield joining quickly ... didnt see much of that last season so hopefully that will be better this one.. Oh and of course , if the Super Fast wingers can cross a decent ball in ! Still want JFC back from Oxford ... he is one of the best young talents this club has had in ages and he is out on loan ! If your good enough your old enough !! GG

LesBerry wrote:

Saul G P Tong wrote:

Albion fan in London wrote:

Saul G P Tong wrote: So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Its a good job you arnt the manager really isnt it, im sure they woudl be well up for it folloing a team talk from you. One thing you cant mark is pace!!

Great response. So it would appear that you're saying pace is more important than the ability to capitalise on a scoring opportunity? It's a good job you're not the manager too, lol.

So Saul GP Tong thinks Albion fan in London is an idiot and Albion fan in London thinks Saul GP Tong is an idiot.....There's only one way to decide this....Fiiiiiiiiggg ghhhhttt !!! Personally I think Saul should replace the S for a T in his name as his comments are totally ridiculous..

Good one Les, hope it didn't take you too long thinking that one up. Muppet. I stand by what I say, you could have 10 of the quickest outfield players on the park but if the ability to score is not there then you wont win games. Simple as that.

Saul G P Tong wrote:
So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Saul, ask any fullback what he fears most and he's likely to say a technically gifted winger with real pace.
I agree that Hull are likely to be in the mix this season, along with at least a dozen other clubs, in my view,(and I do know everything there is to know about footy) Albion will also be there or thereabouts come next May.

The key to our success will be Crofty.....You read it here first.
There will be no 'Brucie Bonus' on Saturday!

dave from bexill wrote:

Saul G P Tong wrote: So what if they are the two fastest players at the club? Goals win games, not a 100m dash. What a joke this 'story' is. The reality is that we'll be lucky to come away with something tomorrow. Hull will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season.

Saul, ask any fullback what he fears most and he's likely to say a technically gifted winger with real pace. I agree that Hull are likely to be in the mix this season, along with at least a dozen other clubs, in my view,(and I do know everything there is to know about footy) Albion will also be there or thereabouts come next May.

Not disputing that Dave - my point is simply that speed alone is not enough to win games.

GosportGull wrote:
Its good that we are blessed with some fast wingers ... but and sorry for being realistic.. only works if you have target men in the box that means playing with two strikers or the midfield joining quickly ... didnt see much of that last season so hopefully that will be better this one.. Oh and of course , if the Super Fast wingers can cross a decent ball in ! Still want JFC back from Oxford ... he is one of the best young talents this club has had in ages and he is out on loan ! If your good enough your old enough !! GG

So, obviously GP doesn't think he's quite good enough. Yet.

I might be wrong but looking at the championship this season ,i think only Peterborough have not been in the top flight! says a lot for the quality of our football.I think the added pace terrifies defences and although we are light in the striker department,when you have quality as Kaz cutting in from the wing he will score a few himself.UTA

Nice to see this thread has got off to the usual start. One man's view is his and one can agree or disagree - with constructive argument - not derisory comments such as 'your comments are ridiculous'... As it comes from Les Berry one has to wonder whether this is an improvement on earlier comments branding us all as 'unbeleivable morons'. I suppose I should be grateful he has managed a 3 syllable word without a spelling mistake. So now, back to more serious matters and the subject of speedy wingers. There is no doubt that full backs are not too enthusiastic - having played in the n°3 shirt I always found a knee high challenge a suitable deterrant for the speed merchants - but those who have done their research will know that forcing ours along the touch line into corners and making them cross is the best solution. They will already know that Nooney has a major weakness for a winger - he can't cross the ball... Now go on Craig, prove me wrong, I shall be be delighted and eat humble pie, washed down, by a pint of Harveys. Fingers crossed!

I was thinking long and hard last night about how we go about getting the best from our current squad and I honestly believe that although Gus favours 4-5-1 or 4-3-3, this will not work until we have the new target man who will not only get on the end of crosses but more importantly have the ball stick to him when he receives it thus he can and will bring others in to play and we will then play our football further up the field and look a completely different team, the wingers and our exceptional fullbacks will then be able to push on and as stated, we will player higher up. I know some don't want to hear this but we had exactly this player in Murray and for me it's no coincidence that the season he performed, we played the best football we ever have and won a league that our budget shouldn't have got us. Glenn has obviously gone now and all have moved on but if there was an opportunity to get him back I for one would welcome this. We do not have this type of striker at the moment though and so for me it has to be a 4-4-2 all day long. I would play the back 5 as per Swindon and then have Crofts and Bridcutt in the middle with Vicente or Lua Lua on the left and Buckley on the right, we could then have both Barnes and CMS up front to at least try and cause a nuisance to there defence and make runs to get in behind the centre halfs.
As always this is just my opinion but in light of the current squad which I happen to think is superb by the way I think 4-4-2 for now at least is the only way for us to carry and attacking threat.

Everyone seems to be totaly pre occupied with finding the "Big Target Man", look, until the right player becomes available i'm certain that CMS,Barnes & Vicente will score goals, i just have a feeling this could be Macca's season.

What the report failed to mention is that Gus said about getting the Basics right and that a few players failed to do that against Swindon.We need to score first because then it puts a totally different perspective to the way the game is then played.

Jonathan Mouette wrote:
Nice to see this thread has got off to the usual start. One man's view is his and one can agree or disagree - with constructive argument - not derisory comments such as 'your comments are ridiculous'... As it comes from Les Berry one has to wonder whether this is an improvement on earlier comments branding us all as 'unbeleivable morons'. I suppose I should be grateful he has managed a 3 syllable word without a spelling mistake. So now, back to more serious matters and the subject of speedy wingers. There is no doubt that full backs are not too enthusiastic - having played in the n°3 shirt I always found a knee high challenge a suitable deterrant for the speed merchants - but those who have done their research will know that forcing ours along the touch line into corners and making them cross is the best solution. They will already know that Nooney has a major weakness for a winger - he can't cross the ball... Now go on Craig, prove me wrong, I shall be be delighted and eat humble pie, washed down, by a pint of Harveys. Fingers crossed!

Well put that man :0)

Bish May Turn wrote:
Everyone seems to be totaly pre occupied with finding the "Big Target Man", look, until the right player becomes available i'm certain that CMS,Barnes & Vicente will score goals, i just have a feeling this could be Macca's season.

Nice to hear something positive.I dont think we are seeing the Swindon game in perspective,they are a well organised team that plays well together and has an excellent manager,they wanted to beat a good team higher than themselves...us.As did we last year against Newcastle and Sunderland,it did`nt mean all of a sudden they were poor teams.I`m certain the Hull game will see a massive improvement and i think it will be equally as tough for them,who knows they may be dreading the thought of such a hard opening game?UTA

I am hoping that Guss has not only had his mind on the varying skills of each player but also how much self discipline they have. The number of yello cards we picked up last year was amazing. The amount of games missed by our players last year must also be a concern.

Do you think that maybe GP might be tracking the French dude Pongolle, he is looking to get mack to England. I just read a little about him on Sky Sports. It seems a few clubs have him on their radar so maybe cost will rule us out.

need an edit button on this site, sorry about my typos

Jonathan Mouette wrote:
Nice to see this thread has got off to the usual start. One man's view is his and one can agree or disagree - with constructive argument - not derisory comments such as 'your comments are ridiculous'... As it comes from Les Berry one has to wonder whether this is an improvement on earlier comments branding us all as 'unbeleivable morons'. I suppose I should be grateful he has managed a 3 syllable word without a spelling mistake. So now, back to more serious matters and the subject of speedy wingers. There is no doubt that full backs are not too enthusiastic - having played in the n°3 shirt I always found a knee high challenge a suitable deterrant for the speed merchants - but those who have done their research will know that forcing ours along the touch line into corners and making them cross is the best solution. They will already know that Nooney has a major weakness for a winger - he can't cross the ball... Now go on Craig, prove me wrong, I shall be be delighted and eat humble pie, washed down, by a pint of Harveys. Fingers crossed!

As you quite rightly point out - we are all entilted to our own views - mine is -constantly critising and finding fault in the team you claim to support makes you a moron. Not that I believe your posts are particuarly negative as it happens..
I also agree with freedom of choice and therefore I choose to be positive in my outlook on all things Albion. I cannot think of a more depressing way to spend ones life constantly looking on the dark side - however, I respect others decision to do that - whatever floats your boat...

VegasSeagull wrote:
I am hoping that Guss has not only had his mind on the varying skills of each player but also how much self discipline they have. The number of yello cards we picked up last year was amazing. The amount of games missed by our players last year must also be a concern.

I think Bruno may pick up one or two along the way.

Saul G P Tong wrote:

VegasSeagull wrote: I am hoping that Guss has not only had his mind on the varying skills of each player but also how much self discipline they have. The number of yello cards we picked up last year was amazing. The amount of games missed by our players last year must also be a concern.

I think Bruno may pick up one or two along the way.

One or two yellows we can live with, it's the reds and suspensions that bother me.
Whilst it's true that Bruno might see yellow from time to time it is also true that he should cut the number of goals we conceded from corners and set pieces around the box, Bruno and Bridge.

VegasSeagull wrote:

Saul G P Tong wrote:

VegasSeagull wrote: I am hoping that Guss has not only had his mind on the varying skills of each player but also how much self discipline they have. The number of yello cards we picked up last year was amazing. The amount of games missed by our players last year must also be a concern.

I think Bruno may pick up one or two along the way.

One or two yellows we can live with, it's the reds and suspensions that bother me. Whilst it's true that Bruno might see yellow from time to time it is also true that he should cut the number of goals we conceded from corners and set pieces around the box, Bruno and Bridge.

Been to Vegas three times,although nearly ten years ago now,it's a fast moving place,doubt that i would recognise much of it now. I sayed at the Sands & Tropicana, are you working out there?

VegasSeagull wrote:

Saul G P Tong wrote:

VegasSeagull wrote: I am hoping that Guss has not only had his mind on the varying skills of each player but also how much self discipline they have. The number of yello cards we picked up last year was amazing. The amount of games missed by our players last year must also be a concern.

I think Bruno may pick up one or two along the way.

One or two yellows we can live with, it's the reds and suspensions that bother me. Whilst it's true that Bruno might see yellow from time to time it is also true that he should cut the number of goals we conceded from corners and set pieces around the box, Bruno and Bridge.

Been to Vegas three times,although nearly ten years ago now,it's a fast moving place,doubt that i would recognise much of it now. I sayed at the Sands & Tropicana, are you working out there?

VegasSeagull wrote:

Saul G P Tong wrote:

VegasSeagull wrote: I am hoping that Guss has not only had his mind on the varying skills of each player but also how much self discipline they have. The number of yello cards we picked up last year was amazing. The amount of games missed by our players last year must also be a concern.

I think Bruno may pick up one or two along the way.

One or two yellows we can live with, it's the reds and suspensions that bother me. Whilst it's true that Bruno might see yellow from time to time it is also true that he should cut the number of goals we conceded from corners and set pieces around the box, Bruno and Bridge.

Been to Vegas three times,although nearly ten years ago now,it's a fast moving place,doubt that i would recognise much of it now. I sayed at the Sands & Tropicana, are you working out there?

Dont care about a fast start as long as its a winning start and to do that we have to score goals,goals win matches,who will get them for us.If we have 80% of the game and dont have many efforts on goal then they get one goal its game over.

I'm all worn out and the season hasn't even started yet, can't wait for it to be over I need a break ;o)

We haven't won at Hull for twelve years, so tomorrow will see that statistic put right. 1-2 is the outcome I suggest, withVicente getting both after dazzling runs into the box. Shock and awe..!
There, how's that for positive thinking. Now, go easy nurse, I'm just off for me lie down and a pill...

Bish May Turn wrote:
Everyone seems to be totaly pre occupied with finding the "Big Target Man", look, until the right player becomes available i'm certain that CMS,Barnes & Vicente will score goals, i just have a feeling this could be Macca's season.

I am not sure size should be a factor, two of the most effective goalscores around namely Messi and Rooney aren't that big.
What one needs is someone with physical presence who can hold the ball up, run intelligent lines and score goals. If they have 'pace' so much the better.
One of the best all round strikers I've seen was Teddy Sheringham who wasn't the quickest player on the pitch. Then again sheer pace isn't enough, if it were, Mr Bolt of 6 Olympic medal fame would be playing for Man United or Real Madrid.
I have seen a couple of 'rumour postings' today. One says we might be signing Lee Barnard (Soton) which wouldn't particulary excite. The other suggesting we might get Macheda (Man United) on a season long loan which I think would be interesting.
Did anybody else notice that the Dev. Squad drew 3-3 in midweek with Soton ? The missing man Bergkamp made a substitute appearance. Good to at last hear something about him.
Comments anyone ? Captain Haddock ?

One comment, I wouldn't mention Messi and Rooney in the same breath, he was useless in the World Cup and his wage demand of £200k a week is one of the reasons every other player has high expectations of an unrealistic pay cheque.

ballantrrae wrote:

Bish May Turn wrote: Everyone seems to be totaly pre occupied with finding the "Big Target Man", look, until the right player becomes available i'm certain that CMS,Barnes & Vicente will score goals, i just have a feeling this could be Macca's season.

I am not sure size should be a factor, two of the most effective goalscores around namely Messi and Rooney aren't that big. What one needs is someone with physical presence who can hold the ball up, run intelligent lines and score goals. If they have 'pace' so much the better. One of the best all round strikers I've seen was Teddy Sheringham who wasn't the quickest player on the pitch. Then again sheer pace isn't enough, if it were, Mr Bolt of 6 Olympic medal fame would be playing for Man United or Real Madrid. I have seen a couple of 'rumour postings' today. One says we might be signing Lee Barnard (Soton) which wouldn't particulary excite. The other suggesting we might get Macheda (Man United) on a season long loan which I think would be interesting. Did anybody else notice that the Dev. Squad drew 3-3 in midweek with Soton ? The missing man Bergkamp made a substitute appearance. Good to at last hear something about him. Comments anyone ? Captain Haddock ?

Agree with your observations on strikers. It is indeed as much (or more) about strength and hold up skills than "being a big target man".

Re: development squad....didn't even hear they'd played - no Argus report!
*irritated*

Not sure Bergkamp will last tbh. Think he was a John Stephenson signing.

Hovite wrote:
I'm all worn out and the season hasn't even started yet, can't wait for it to be over I need a break ;o)

Haha :0D

Its pointless having fast players up front when the defence are playing numerous balls in our half at walking pace,if Gus is not going to change this approach there is no point in signing another striker.
Steve Bruce must be optimistic after watching our efforts at Swindon.

Brilliant, guys!
I wonder if Gus has figured this one out yet?
We sell all the fast players, and buy slow and ponderous replacements.
Should be a nice little earner!

Would you buy a used Van from Arsene Wenger?

Lee Barnard: decent League 1 player. Would cost around £225,000.
A far better option would be Murray for double that ammount.

Found an interesting article:

http://soccerlens.co
m/the-evolution-of-t
he-target-man/66361/

Good read gordon

Anyone notice we are out of the play offs tonight!!!!!!!!!!

Yes Cardiff top, but they have a hard away game Tuesday.