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"Flop One In" ACN Pod 101
68 Plays2 years ago
The boys rate the #ncfc players on their performances so far after a hectic 9-games-in-5-weeks schedule. We might have forgotten some, we didn't get round to giving Dean Smith a mark either. We also guarantee what will happen on Saturday, so go and lump your cash on the opposite outcomes.
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Transcript
Introduction and Recent Success
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to Long Come Norwich Podcast, a sedentary session of some slightly cynical so-and-so serenading you with a series of suggestions of why Norwich have sidelined their setbacks and climbed into second place. It's just pickles and punt today, so let's get started.
Early Season Ratings: Players and Managers
00:00:38
Speaker
The season's only five weeks old. I've decided we've seen enough football to give out some early season ratings to player and manager. So we're going from back to front. So Johnny, punny, punny, punt, punt, punt. Can you give me a rating out of 10 and your wise for Timmy, Timmy Cruell?
00:00:57
Speaker
Oh, Timothy. I mean, Timothy is probably one of my favorite humans in the Norwich City Squad. And given we've talked about this, that we didn't necessarily think that it was a squad full of characters. I think he definitely is one, but that doesn't really feed into what we're talking about, does it? It's
00:01:16
Speaker
For Tim, I think he's made a solid start, not necessarily a brilliant start. His save the other day against, hang on, who was it? We beat 1-0 Sunderland. His save against Sunderland for the volley that he tipped on the bar, which you don't even see in real time that he's got a touch to that, was...
00:01:34
Speaker
peak. I mean, it was absolute vintage, Tim Cruell. It was phenomenal. And he has, on a couple of occasions, kept us in games. I think I'll probably go for a seven. You know, there's been times where his distribution hasn't been great. There's been times when he's been pressured and perhaps he's considered possession when we didn't need to. I haven't seen a whole lot of errors that have perhaps led to goals, but there's probably a bit more to come from Cruell. Yeah, all being well.
00:02:01
Speaker
Quite a funny moment last night with Deanie. He decided, Cruell decided relatively early in the game. You can't call him Deanie.
00:02:10
Speaker
What do you mean Troy Dini? I thought you meant you were talking about Dean Smith. I was severely worried that you've gotten to that level of nickname. What the fuck? Dini. Shaky's bad enough, but Dini, fuck about. Shaky and Dini. I find my trios in that one, because it is cringe-verbally bad. Troy Dini, last night, relatively early in the first half, Tim Kroll tried to do the shepherd of the out of play manoeuvre.
00:02:37
Speaker
And Troy Dini being Troy Dini was like, I'm four times the thickness and girth of you across my entire body, you are not going to be able to do this and basically pushed cruel into concede the corner had that had gone in from the resulting corner.
Goalkeeper Showdown: Krul vs Gunn
00:02:51
Speaker
I think a lot of things would have been pointed
00:02:53
Speaker
there has been a couple of moments distribution wise where where he's looked a little bit more rushed because teams have tried to press Norwich because particularly in the first half before we've kind of got on top of teams that has been a time that has been a way to to make make force us into mistakes but I think I think you've been fair and on him moving on to to Angus
00:03:15
Speaker
I think, you know, he has played two meaningful games for us and therefore he deserves a rating. And I would say that I would rate him an 8 out of 10 in terms of what he's been asked to do. I would say his performances have neither been incredible or dreadful in any way, which would be kind of the seven mark. However, he gets the bonus point for penalty heroics.
00:03:41
Speaker
and nothing he could have done in the Bournemouth shootout maybe they were all absolutely fantastic he nearly got his hand to one of them but it was right in the corner and so you can't take that away from him so so i think he i'm still very comfortable personally that cruel is the best keeper we have at the club saves like the one you mentioned on saturday against Sunderland being case in point and also
00:04:05
Speaker
There is an element of the character side of things. He has been there, seen it, done it with us, more so than Gunn has. And you see the way he interacts with O'Neill last night and Max Aaron is often and Hanley, there is a leadership element there that whilst Gunn may have that in
00:04:23
Speaker
maybe the eventual successor to Crawl and I'd be very happy with that and maybe in four or five years time Gunn is that senior figure in the GSM room but there's a way they look up to Crawl like a bit of a daddy which I think you can see on the pitch don't you agree?
Max Aarons: Rising Star
00:04:37
Speaker
I think we saw that
00:04:39
Speaker
We physically saw that actually when we did the podcast with Tim and with Ben Godfrey that Ben Godfrey spoke glowingly about his leadership skills and he brought, he almost brought Max Aarons and Ben Godfrey and Jamal Lewis through and I think had we not had that kind of really
00:04:56
Speaker
stable, you know, kind of force at the back, then they probably wouldn't have been as settled as they were. And he's now doing that potentially with Omar Bamedali as well. You know, we've got to remember that this lad is 20 years old, and I'm sure we'll get on to him in a moment. But he's a phenomenal defender and has been absolutely brilliant. And to get back to your rating of Angus, I'd agree with the eight. I'd say also just honorable mention to the fact that he probably kept us in that game.
00:05:23
Speaker
against Bournemouth and took it to penalties and his penalty heroics in the previous round. Yeah, definitely merit an eight and maybe even an eight and a half. He's
00:05:33
Speaker
I would agree with you that Krull is definitely the goalkeeper that should be retaining the number one shirt for now. And Dean Smith has mentioned it in press conferences. He really wants to see them battling it out. He really wants them to be pushing each other. And that can only be a good thing because when Krull was pushed previously in the Premier League, and we're talking about when Ralph
00:05:58
Speaker
So Ralph Fierman came in from Schalke, like he really cruel elevated his game to another level. And we've just got to hope that perhaps Angus can extract that from him as well. Well, moving on to Max, you mentioned briefly and going into right back before we tackle the centre backs. We'll be here for a while with the left backs as well, mate. Well, that's a separate sub-series of pods, like a true crime series of pods just on our left back situation.
00:06:27
Speaker
we were, I never come to that in a second.
Mixed Ratings and Player Positions
00:06:31
Speaker
With Max, I want to be strong here and give Max a nine. And he's my only nine I think that there's going to be today. But I just, I'm really loving
00:06:44
Speaker
the energy enthusiasm the anger the aggression last night case in point and the two or three brilliant videos of people from the stands and the city few kind of stuff of the winning goal some andrews and
00:07:04
Speaker
I love watching Max celebrate goals because he's one of those that celebrates almost with equal vigor if he's sticking it to the opposition fans. And he was getting, you could hear on the kind of effects mics, very quiet most of the time at St. Andrews last night, which is mentioned a lot in the commentary and fair play to a decent number that went up there. I wasn't able to go up there. I was there the last time I only scored an away goal kind of last minute.
00:07:29
Speaker
But you could see the aggression that Max was celebrating with, because he had been receiving quite a lot of abuse, I think, down that sideline, constantly looking to get forward this season. In our worst performances, he has been
00:07:44
Speaker
I don't think he's earned any criticism at all. I don't think he's been slow to play the ball. He seems to be the first one of all of the 11 on the pitch at any point to get frustrated when we're playing too slowly. He's got a sort of almost pantomime-y thigh slap thing he does with both hands when he's getting a little bit across that the ball isn't moving, he hasn't got anywhere to go to.
00:08:03
Speaker
And he's had a bit of a revolving door in front of him in terms of, you know, being able to create a relationship with a wise player in front of him. So I don't think you can, you know, 10 would be, he scored some, he scored more than one goal maybe, or assisted a bit more, like maybe something like last night, he had a really good opportunity to put the ball across and it was too hard and he hit it too high after a brilliant kind of almost self-assist to get himself through, he lofted the ball over the vendor's head and ran through and then
00:08:32
Speaker
that basically the adrenaline was pumping so much, you cannon the ball across the box. I would say that's the only place you can take a mark off at the moment is final delivery. Other than that, he's been anything you would want from a championship fullback. Tell me I'm wrong, punk. Now I can't, and you know I like telling you that you're wrong. I think with Max, that has always been the criticism that maybe his output offensively hasn't been as good as it should be.
00:08:59
Speaker
But actually, you could probably make the counter argument to that, that he's got Teemu Pukki in the box, and Pukki isn't necessarily going to make the kind of runs that a fullback will traditionally find, unless the crossing is a really high accuracy fizzed into areas where Pukki's going to be there. Max has been, I think, our
00:09:18
Speaker
our most potent attacking outlet this season. He's the one who looks like he will take the game to the opposition maybe with, you know, Conneales as well. You know, they've looked like they're the ones that are going to make things happen. And Max does, dare I say it, Max looks like he might be back to the 2018-19 Max Ahrens, where, you know, he was a bit more cavalier. He did push on.
00:09:40
Speaker
And he also has added to the fact that I think, as you've mentioned there, he's getting angry. But I think he's starting to call out colleagues as well. He's starting to demand higher standards from people. He's maybe becoming a bit of a leader. And he's always been someone who I've looked at and thought he looks a little bit surly and never really plays with a smile on his face, does he? It is an angry celebration or an angry tackle that he makes.
00:10:04
Speaker
But let's say he's calling out other people now, and that can only be healthy for a dressing room when we're
Player Development and Team Strategy
00:10:10
Speaker
winning. I think it's a bit more difficult when times are tough and you've got someone who's angry and he's digging people out. But when you're winning and you're making sure that people are on their game, I think it's brilliant. But yeah, maybe nine would be a little bit high for me, but eight, eight and a half. But it's been terrific.
00:10:32
Speaker
Well staying in the high numbers, I'll give you the opportunity to do a rating for Andy O after the start of what is hopefully going to be a breakout season for him. Yeah, I think this is going to be the season where he probably gets 40 championship games under his belt because he looks like he's the first choice centre back now. He looks like he's the one that almost
00:10:55
Speaker
almost looks like he's assuming more of a leadership role than Hanley for me at the moment. He's just so, and that's in the way that he plays. He's so composed, he's stepping out of defense and he's making meaningful contributions with the ball. He just looks so relaxed in everything that he's done. And Hanley's great at the getting your head on the end of things or the last ditch stuff, or just being a bit of a beast when you need him. But Oma Bamadeli is
00:11:22
Speaker
just a really really calming influence in the defence and this is a time where actually defensively we have looked a little bit circumspect from time to time especially when we're pressured but he's never looked like the one short of maybe the one that max can end against in which he can't really lay at his door i forget
00:11:40
Speaker
which goal that was that might have been the whole game maybe where we conceded and maxed Canada against Omar Bamadeli. But apart from that, he's been relatively unruffled throughout his campaign so far. He could be an early tip, I think, for top three in the Barry Butler. I think he's that good. And I think he only gets better from here on in. I'd go with eight for Omar Bamadeli as well.
00:12:06
Speaker
And I would go with a 7.5 purely on the basis that I think that actually he might be someone who, coming into the season, the reason he's in the conversation for the Barry Butler was because he's only just beginning. And by February, March time, we're talking about him in terms of, oh my goodness me, even if we go up, I'm not sure we'll keep it. I just feel that his ceiling is so high.
00:12:35
Speaker
There's a little bit of him in terms of the leadership side of things. He could have. He was very lucky last night. He instigated the pushing and shoving that resulted in a couple of yellow cards. And he did the same thing in the Cardiff game. He was the one that raised his hands and then that's right. And then that's two out of six league games where he's raised his arms and gone in. Now, I like the fashion at both times. It was don't knock my mate over.
00:13:03
Speaker
But there is clearly maybe a bit of a maturity thing there whereby you've got to be clever about when you do it. And as the non-Norridge Nunez saw, when the referee's already got his eyes on the situation, that's not the time to then lash out. But you mentioned their grant and kind of leadership things. So to go on the grant, I would give Grant a seven.
00:13:26
Speaker
I've seen him control games better than he has so far from a kind of defensive point of view and there have been a couple of situations where I wouldn't say it is your fault we conceded a goal because it's never true unless it's like a goalkeeper throwing it in or literally just giving the ball away like Gibson has a couple of times.
00:13:43
Speaker
Most goals are never down to just one play, but there has been a few aerial things where you think, cruel or Hanley, don't care who, but one of you has to take everything there and deal with it. And I just think he hasn't been quite as imperious as we've seen in season's pass so far. However, I am a lot happier when Grant Hanley is on the team sheet at two o'clock or 6.45, whenever it's announced. Any kind of differences on seven for Hanley?
00:14:10
Speaker
Yeah, I think I'd go six. I think there's been two or three goals. Not to his face you wouldn't. No, no, certainly not. No, certainly not. No, I think I'd go six. I think for Hanley, I think he's been culpable for maybe more than you're letting on there. I think there's been two or three goals where I've been like, I'd really like to see you get a bit closer. I'd really like to see you take ownership of a situation, not necessarily aerially, but sometimes as it develops. And he hasn't. And also his distribution
00:14:41
Speaker
It's never been great. I think it's been quite poor this season thus far in terms of playing out of defence. Now, some of that is around the options that he's got in front of him and our defensive midfield. You know, look, we've been lacking options there and we've been working on, you know, if the fact that we're relying on a 19-year-old or however old Liam Gibbs is doesn't, you know, that tells you everything you need to know about the fact that we haven't got strength in depth there or that we've signed injured players there.
Transfers and New Player Integration
00:15:08
Speaker
So that's not purely on him. Six isn't a bad rating. Six is just running the mill, isn't it? But I think, you know, he's been poor in some areas and he's been brilliant in others. I mean, you know, he cleared one off the line with his bollocks the other day. So, you know, that's clearly amazing and putting it all on the line. I think the elements that have gone well this season, the difference with me between sixes and sevens is
00:15:28
Speaker
have you had an impact on the good stuff and has a lot of the bad stuff been your fault and maybe we disagree on whether or not how comfortable he has been for some of those elements. And I think just on that though quickly there's been... And then leading to Ben Gibson with this, I think he's relevant.
00:15:46
Speaker
There's a lot of times where our defence has looked at sixes and sevens this season, especially maybe at Neil Neil's, where it's like, shit, this looks a bit shaky. And I think Hanley has been part of that this season. I think with Ben Gibson, it is very, I think I've said it on this pod before, it is very, very difficult to judge him on the limited football that he's had.
00:16:06
Speaker
and the game where he was thrust back into it with no level of football, you know, barely any pre-season, and then just like, right, you kind of barely fit and Hanley's been sent off, so you're gonna have to play, mate.
00:16:18
Speaker
is really harsh on him. I think you probably give him a five because he was poor when he was thrust into that situation. But I'd expect a lot more from him and I would expect that if Hanley is ever injured or suspended again and Gibson is sharp and has been on it in training and
00:16:39
Speaker
He's anywhere near the levels that he was two years ago. I really like him as a foil from Obama Delhi I think I've said this again on the pod before I think they could be the most effective partnership in defense Maybe longer term. So yeah, he's a five for now But I think there's a lot more to come from him if we need him and that's the big if at the moment So moving across to the problem area that the difficult the difficult child of left back and now so many people have played there and
00:17:06
Speaker
And I don't think really many of the early indications of the people who have been there can really be rated because, you know, Sorensen looked poor in Sennemid Field, which is a shame because we really, really want him to look great. He's such a great guy. And then, you know,
00:17:24
Speaker
left back, we're thinking, yo, there you go. What a trooper, he's kind of slotted in there, happy days. So I always feel like he hasn't had enough football to be rated beyond maybe a six, simply because he would have been a five going on a set in the field performances, and then a seven for a bit of left back elements. So I kind of settle on a five or five for him maybe, or maybe a six. And likewise,
00:17:52
Speaker
uh you know dimmy um it's not enough football to to be able to same with McAllen as well really you know McAllen who played for about 40 minutes or whatever total across those two games um and then that kind of brings us on to Gibbs who um you know I would say is probably an eight um approaching an eight and a half if we're allowed to do halves because yeah go on
00:18:17
Speaker
Let's go eight and a half, and I'll give you the half for the kind of feels, the unexpected element of we hoped you might be good. You actually looked a bit tasty in pre-season, but then lots of people look tasty in pre-season and fail to do it on the big stage, Jollis. And you just think, well, actually, this is fantastic. We've got another young guy who really looks
00:18:47
Speaker
so assured on the ball in centre field and it may well be that he is part of the long-term solution to how we play so yeah eight and a half gives really really confident that
00:18:59
Speaker
great to hear last night from Dini that he he isn't going to be out as long as the left backs and he doesn't need surgery so hopefully we'll have him back kind of early winter and that could be that could be massive for us for a sentiment field which seems to me to be something that we're going to have to rotate all season.
Midfield Dynamics
00:19:18
Speaker
I think we're going to have to manage the situation until the World Cup break, aren't we really? Because Hayden, look, let's be honest, he's back on the grass. They haven't said he's back kicking footballs yet. So, you know, he's way off being able to play 90 minutes. And, you know, it might be that there's a number of cameos before he's up to speed. Going back to Gibbs.
00:19:39
Speaker
I get your logic in terms of eight and a half and I think maybe he's been given extra points because he's young and he's a youth player and actually it was nice that we nicked him off Ipswich and it's a lovely story. I think there's been some naivety around his performances. I think there's been a lot of energy and industry around his performances.
00:19:57
Speaker
really reminds me of Corey Smith when he came through in that Lambert team and just looks like he has a lot about him and never really does anything massively expansive, but does everything simply and well. I think there's a lot to be said for that, that you need players like that, especially at the base of your midfield. I'd probably, if we were talking in halves, I'd have given him a seven and a half
00:20:20
Speaker
I think there's so much more to come from him and if we can get him fit and firing and understand that there's going to be an inconsistency because of, you know, that he's a youth player, that we've got a real, hopefully we've got a real gem on our hands and it's really nice actually to see that there are younger players coming through that have either been signed by this regime or have come through with this regime because the
00:20:47
Speaker
I wouldn't necessarily say it's a lazy comparison, but all the success stories, say your Max's, your Jamal Lewis's, your Todd, your Ben Godfrey's, were all in the building when Stuart Weber took over. But that's changing now. And I think maybe we're getting some of the fruits of that labor. And look, we've been critical of Stuart Weber on this podcast.
00:21:09
Speaker
a lot in terms of transfer activity, but he has laid some really good foundations and hopefully these young lads coming through will make us a load of money and will improve us as a team moving forward.
Player Evaluations: Roles and Fit
00:21:21
Speaker
And talking of transfer activity, if we look, if we continue kind of talking in the middle of the pitch as we start to, we give stickers from the left back to the middle. Let's talk about Nunez and Sara. So Nunez, for me, I would go eight and Sara, I would go six. Now Nunez for eight is because I think he's already shown just similar to what I'm saying about Andy O.
00:21:49
Speaker
even in just these first few games, I think Nunez has showed us what he could be. And now I've seen him.
00:21:56
Speaker
And I've seen some of what he can do. I no longer think the Emmy Gwendia comparison is unfair or unrealistic. Not necessarily in terms of his career path or what's going to happen with him, but some of the things that he does on the ball are exactly what Emmy used to do. Completely unnecessary backheel and twist and turn to beat a play when he could have just turned and passed it. Same end result, but much more entertaining to watch.
00:22:22
Speaker
scooped balls over the top to flop it in behind for someone to run on to, which is very brain dearest. Unbelievable. Flop it in, Tom, go on. Flop it in. I can't do it the way that he can with the top of his foot. He's raking balls, kind of crookie-esque laces, passes across the pitch, which one was terrible last night, but a couple were really nice second half. And just the
00:22:49
Speaker
He's got a smilier enthusiasm than the angry enthusiasm that the Emmy played. I'll say played. He doesn't play anymore, does he? He's on the bench at Villa. But yeah, so I think the sky could be the limit for him, or rather than an Emmy-Wendy-shaped sky could be the limit for him. He was abysmal first half yesterday. I mean, he was really bad. He came to ball away so many times, and it was really odd watching someone who has been so impressive. And then
00:23:18
Speaker
the second half he was back to kind of the new year's we we knew him banging he's putting balls around. Sara I think six because you know he's looked fine when he's come on he's looked tidy he doesn't look like a shocking signing in the small things he's done so far he looks strong and he looks like he does want to progress the ball and he looks like his positioning is very very good and without the ball.
00:23:42
Speaker
However, we haven't seen anywhere near enough of a sample size and you would hope that his cameos would kind of get bigger. They seem to be getting smaller, which is the only concern with him.
00:23:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I like the look of him technically. I think, you know, whenever he's received the ball, whenever, as you say, positionally, you know, the way in which he's shaped his body to receive the ball sometimes encourages me. That's a weird thing to say about a player sometimes. But actually, there's initial moments where you're forming opinions and the way in which he's gone about his business has looked good. But he hasn't had anywhere near enough football to say, right, well, you know, he could be a steal or he's a record sign in, isn't he, pretty much?
00:24:22
Speaker
My worry with him is I don't see where he fits in Armid Field right now and he looks like the type of player who needs to be super sharp to be making a meaningful difference because those
00:24:34
Speaker
as YouTube highlights that you sometimes watch. Back in Brazilian football, there was a lot of ghosting runs in the box and headers and playing, not necessarily with massively high energy, but certainly higher energy than the colleagues around him. Almost he was billed as a box-to-box midfielder with lots of industry and
00:24:54
Speaker
He hasn't done that yet for me. And I think maybe he needs a lot more fitness before he does that. But, you know, we're judging him when he'd had an injury and he's feeling his way back in. And I think in a new country, in a new team. Exactly. And the noises out of the training ground are this guy has it.
00:25:11
Speaker
And the guy who definitely has it as well, as you've just said, is kind of Marcelino Nunez. It is ridiculous that we are completely reliant on him as a playmaker when he's only been here for, what, four weeks or whatever it is. He's a better set peacetaker than Emi Wendia by an absolute mile. So, you know, that's already kind of a really, it's a huge weapon in our armory. And there are, you know,
00:25:41
Speaker
when we signed him and Adam Brandon was on this pod saying, look, he's not an Emmy Buendia, but there's so much similarity in terms of the way in which he plays and the freedom with which he plays and the expansiveness with which he plays. I mean, you know, he tried a lob from his own half. I can't remember which game that was in. It might have been in one of the cup games. And you just think he sees things that other players don't see. And so I'm fully prepared to take the, you know, maybe chuck it in a half where everything he does doesn't come off.
00:26:11
Speaker
because actually we know that there are going to be more halves of football where nearly everything he does comes off and he plays with or expresses himself in such a way that just makes an orange tick. And we need that with the with the players that we've got, you know, with Pookie, if he's if he's going to be our striker or if it's going to be Josh Sargent, it doesn't really matter who it is. They're still going to need decent service, be it early or along the ground. And he looks like he's the one who can make that happen, you know, more than anyone else, really.
00:26:42
Speaker
OK, then. So this is one where we might be the furthest apart. I hand you the floor. Look, I think we all regular listeners of this podcast will know I'm not the biggest fan of Kenny Mac in the Premier League. And I think he's one of these guys that runs around a lot, points a lot, shouts a lot and manages like him because he does lots of the things that managers like.
00:27:12
Speaker
He has performed really ably when he's deputized at left back and better than I had thought he would. And the fact that we had a left footer out there gave us a better balance to the side than maybe say when, you know, Surinson was out there. I think in midfield, when he doesn't, defensively, if he is the Lynch pin,
00:27:37
Speaker
I don't feel like we're very well balanced as a team. He can't be the sit-in midfielder for my money. I just don't think he's got that to do it on his own. You put him alongside an Ollie Skip, you put him alongside an Alex Tetti, no problem. Zara, if he's fit and flying. Yeah, or Hayden when he's back. I think that, you know, that's perfect. If he's back. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, well, yeah. Again, that's one of those, get to the World Cup and then hopefully he's sharp after that.
00:28:05
Speaker
I don't know, with Kenny, he hasn't massively impressed me this season. He's been fine, like six and a half maybe, like he's been fine. There's been games where I think he's done enough and he's looked okay, and there's been games where Kenny has a couple of brain farts, as Kenny does, and then it puts us into trouble.
00:28:22
Speaker
He is a perfectly capable performer at this level and I've got no issue with him being in the team. I don't see him as a starter when everyone is fit. I don't see how he gets in a team where you're playing 4-3-3 with him as the defensive midfielder. 4-3-3, quite possibly. However, I think one of the reasons you end up with Kenny in the team
00:28:45
Speaker
is going back to your manager's point. Dini referred to... If only our listeners could see that cheeky little smile. You hadn't mentioned you didn't like it. I wouldn't keep doing it.
00:29:00
Speaker
It's not that I don't like it, I just think you sound like a bit of a bellend when you're saying it, mate, so carry on. It's on brand, yeah, fine. Yes, exactly. So, Denier said that he had a bit of a penknife, utility, utensil, or whatever, in Surinton. And actually, I think that's Kenny. I think there was some fantastic quotes from O'Neill last night saying, when Dean Smith told him he was out of the team, I want to be celebrating in May,
00:29:33
Speaker
I always think that Kenny shows that on the pitch, Kenny shows he will fill in and play at left-back and he was great at left-back. We run back-to-back games with him at left-back and last night against Birmingham he went before the changes which were very sorely needed and left far too long. Obviously it wasn't because we won, we got the three points but
00:29:58
Speaker
You know, it shouldn't have been as hairy as it was because we should have made the changes sooner. He was the one trying to progress up the pitch. He was the one trying to carry the ball. And I think that that goes kind of overlooked a lot by his detractors. So we'll agree on a seven for him. So that's great. Six and a half. Yeah, let's agree on a seven. You can round up if you want, mate. It's your podcast. You're the host.
Tactical Decisions and Starting Lineups
00:30:26
Speaker
Do what you like. Dan Elsinani.
00:30:29
Speaker
That's a good one, yeah. Had we been doing this a week ago, I think he might be a whole mark higher, but I think he's played his way out of the starting 11 in the last two games. Yeah, he's an interesting one. For him, I'm going to go six and a half, because we've said we can do half, because six seems a bit too harsh, because he has done some really good things, but there's no way he's a seven, because I don't think he's going to start Saturday against Coventry.
00:30:56
Speaker
I'd have been tempted to give him a seven just because I think if you look at this and you look at his numbers, then he's probably done enough to merit that. But if we're going on recency bias, I can absolutely see why we might go with a six and a half.
00:31:10
Speaker
his delivery into the box looks really good. The fact that he's able to just feed a pass into good areas, I really like. I don't, and this maybe kind of extends into the conversation about Kieran Dow and Sonani. Don't quite know if we're getting the best out of those two and whether the system lends itself to those two being at their kind of optimal output. And the reason I say this is that Sonani is kind of getting played
00:31:38
Speaker
maybe as a kind of a false 10 or a wide 10 and Dowell is getting played as a wide 8. I wonder whether we could just swap them. Dowell for me looks way more effective when he's higher up the pitch. Agreed, yeah.
00:31:53
Speaker
And he's not getting that at the moment. I think he's a straight up 10. I think he's a straight up 10. And that's where he needs to be in the middle of the pitch. But if the system doesn't accommodate that, then I think we need to play him as a wide 10. And then Dowell is the same. Sorry, you know, kind of Sonani maybe needs to be further back. And you can almost just throw Todd into that mix as well, because Todd is playing, you know, kind of as that 4-3-3, sorry, in the three in the middle of the park, almost like Grealish did for Villa.
00:32:22
Speaker
And that might be a lazy comparison because of the haircuts and, you know, and the perhaps the strops and all the rest of it. But, you know, I think that is what Dean Smith is trying to get out of him is. But again, I think Todd would be more effective higher up the pitch and would you need. So I just thought Todd needs to start on Saturday. I cannot understand what I don't know if he warrants it. I don't know if he warrants it yet. His performance is tailed off. I think Smith was clear with him that, you know, look, you've had a couple of not stinkers, but there's other people knocking on the door.
00:32:53
Speaker
But I think we just haven't got that mix right. We haven't got the midfield mix right. And whether Hayden unlocks that or whether, you know, a consistent Gibbs... I can't see how Hayden fixes the people in front of him, though. No, but I wonder whether he just... He might resolve that it's a McLean and Hayden holds it. But it might be a bit more assurance, shall we say, than saying a McLean gives you defensively. Yeah, maybe you're happier to have Toddy. See, I would set Todd at a seven.
00:33:22
Speaker
because he has shown that he does want to play in the championship and even last night he was given far too much of a bit part he should have been on the pitch earlier last night I would have started him
00:33:32
Speaker
But he should have went on the pitch definitely earlier at least, crying out for someone to get hold of. I didn't see the game. What time did he do the subs? And how much was it into Tom losing his shit with Farka kind of subs, you know? It was 60, but it should have been 45. I mean, it was abundant. You're never happy with when subs are made, are you? 60 is perfectly reasonable.
00:33:52
Speaker
I think you'll find that Lambert quite often would have bring a sub on before I'd realized it needed to happen. I think Lambert was the best at subs that we've seen, manager-wise. He so often changed the game with substitutes and made them early and made them aggressively.
00:34:07
Speaker
Smith has done that over the last few games as well. In the last two games, Smith has corrected bad lineup choices. Oh, he's influenced games, and he's played players on merit, and then he's played players on merit. I think he's played players on merit, which I've got no issue with. And then actually, when you see that maybe it's not quite working, you change it. We've got so many options. I applaud him for getting four wins in a row. I cannot complain at all with being secondly four wins in a row.
00:34:37
Speaker
The only point I'm making is I completely agree as well on the merit, but I think last night was a step too far on the merit for some players. So I think Sanani has been tailing off to a point where he needs to come out now.
00:34:52
Speaker
to the, whereas there are a couple of other players, like a Todd, like an O'Neal, where they only seem to need to have a bad 30 minutes and that's enough to decide that the merit's gone. Like, at what point does the merit balance kind of run down? And so I completely agree that it's, and this goes back to what we were saying right at the start of the season about having five substitutes when you are one of the better squads in the league, really, really. So if you are a bigger team in terms of wages and depth of squad,
00:35:20
Speaker
in any league you play in, whether it be Sunday League or the Premier League or the Champions League. And if someone gives you the opportunity to make five corrections, changes, improvements, however you view it, the point is that it benefits you. And other managers have mentioned it a couple of times already this season, before last night, you know, when Norwich have got the bench they've got, it's very tricky for our lads to be able to keep their levels when they're able to bring in
00:35:47
Speaker
Championship winning caliber players who've been there seen it done it who are then also got that motivation of I shouldn't have been some I'll show you and For me Pookie has to start Todd has to start satay because I think we're just so much better with them on the pitch Maybe you've done you maybe you've done your I'm in charge and you're unless you play brilliant What do you do with Sarge then if you're starting Pookie, what do you do with Sarge?
00:36:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think Sarge has now got the confidence to be able to perform in that role to the level that Sarge's best position is through the middle, but he's still not as good at it as Pookie. So are you saying you'd play him as a wide riot forward and then start Pookie? No, we haven't got to worry about Rachika anymore because he's so far up everywhere. Are you playing Todd through the middle? Yeah. And who are you playing up in the other three?
00:36:36
Speaker
No, I'd play Todd out wide the other side, and I'd play Nunez, and I'd play Nunez in a 10. Oh, you're going for a 10? Okay. 10-ish sort of position behind Pookie, and I would say to Nunez and Todd, you do whatever you want. Sarge, I want you out wide. Okay, so if we talked practically, and we said that Dean Smith is not going to play a 4-2-3-1, which is what you're advocating, and he's going to play a 4-3-3 without a 10.
00:37:02
Speaker
If you play Pookie, you play a 4-2-3-1. That's how Pookie gets going. He won't do that, but he won't do that. Whoever he plays up front, he will continue with a 4-3-3. If we say Pookie is the forward, Sargent is the right-sided forward and Todd is the left-sided forward,
00:37:18
Speaker
Kenny picks himself at the base of the midfield because just by virtue of the fact that he's the only defensive-minded midfielder that's available, and he points a lot, Nunez absolutely picks himself. Who is your other midfielder?
00:37:37
Speaker
Well, depending on fitness and their numbers, they talk about numbers a lot, don't they? They like numbers, yeah. I would like to see, I would like to see Sara, but it may well be, I'd be happy with Dal, I'd be happy with Sara, I'd be happy with Tsunani. If he can find a way of getting Tsunani and Campwell in the team at the same time, I actually think that might be the thing that unlocks our balance because I like that there were periods in our,
00:38:07
Speaker
When we started the season, the good bits were when they were both on form on the pitch at the same time. Can I just throw something into mix? So that means that you're not starting Hernandez? Yeah, I think Hernandez is an impact sub that comes on at 60 minutes on the dot every game.
00:38:26
Speaker
I think I think he starts on Saturday. I think Dean Smith cannot not start him now. I think I think he play. I think the likelihood here is he probably plays where you've put Todd instead of maybe. No, I think Todd might drop back into the midfield and replace Dow. And then you'd have Hernandez further forward as part of the front three rather than the midfield three, because Dow has been playing in that midfield three. Hernandez Pookie. So Hernandez Pookie side across the front. Yeah. And then the middle three is McLean.
00:38:58
Speaker
I mean it's hyper-attacking. It's hyper-attacking but we've got Coventry who should be pretty fit because they can't be tired. Have they played three games? Are they playing tonight or am I dreaming that? Have they got home tonight? We don't do that level of research on this podcast. Well normally I do but I didn't think we were going to do much on anyone other than the players ratings which by the way we've just completely gone away for. We should probably have a structure as any tier of us.
00:39:25
Speaker
I'll just look this up in my mind. They're playing Preston today, so that'll be Neil, Neil. So yeah, they're playing Preston. Well, it's at home, so aren't they allowed to play at home yet?
00:39:38
Speaker
I don't really know. I don't know what's going on. Because their pitch was absolutely disgrace, wasn't it? Well, they've got a win probability of 43% according to the internet. I don't know where that's come from. We've picked the team for Saturday. Going back to our ratings then as a completist thing, Sarge, you've got to go nine. You've got to. You've got to go eight. You've got to go eight.
00:40:02
Speaker
You've got to go nine, you've got to go eight. I'm going eight. Because I'm looking at these numbers as I'm writing them down. Can I also just say that Josh Sargent t-shirts are available on the internet, alongcomenourish.com. Sarge on the sleeve, which was a piggy pasty suggestion. It was your idea. And they're available to pre-order until this Friday at midday. So get yours now. Don't delay.
00:40:26
Speaker
Daniel Sinani, I'm actually going to give him a 7.5 because he has been a present surprise. I didn't think he would. Hang on, didn't you just go six and a half? I've gone seven and a half because I've just remembered back to the earlier times in the season, I was suffering from my own recency points. Earlier in the season, the best bits of Cardiff involved Sinani, the best bits of Wigan involved Sinani.
00:40:49
Speaker
You know, he was really good. I don't disagree. I think, you know, he was, he was, did he, hang on, did he play in those games? I thought he played in the cup. And last night, he's been really good when he was in the starting line. Last night, everyone other than Max was dreadful for 45 minutes last night. Even Kenny didn't play well in the first half last night. I didn't see last night. I only saw the goals. I was watching the winner. You've had a tremendous result. 7-0 last night. Well done. Well done then.
00:41:12
Speaker
Bournemouth is the only game I haven't seen in every minute of so far this season. So, Pookie, I'm going to give a six. Yeah, that's fair. Because he is comfortably
00:41:24
Speaker
I mean, form wise, he's probably a five in terms of what he could do. You could argue he's a five, but I'm getting six because he has been involved and made such a difference. And I can't believe he doesn't start. The last two games he's come on and he's made a tangible difference to the way in which we've looked at the attacking force that we've been.
00:41:42
Speaker
And he gets the assist for the winner last night with a really intelligent ball and a really well-weighted ball through to Hernandez, where Hernandez didn't have to do much to finish that. I mean, he barely slotted it in the corner. He just slotted it early, which was, you know, probably just beat the keeper in itself. We need a number for Todd. Todd, seven.
00:42:00
Speaker
Yeah, I think he'd have been on the pitch more, he might be higher. Which means our top three so far through the season is Max, Nunez and Sarge, which, you know, I'm pretty comfortable that we've got that one. Have we rated everyone? Oh, and we've got Gibbs. We've got Gibbs as well.
Promotion Prospects and Implications
00:42:14
Speaker
We've got Gibbs. O'Neal? No, we haven't given O'Neal a number. I think O'Neal's gotta be an eight, hasn't he?
00:42:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think also just from an unexpected surprise point of view, because look, I think before this season, I was quite critical of the lad and felt like he celebrated our last title win hard when I didn't think he'd done enough to really, you know, get the credit. You know, he wasn't a major part of that team. He was a major part of 2018-19. You know, it would be pure revisionism to write him out of that. He's got a lot to offer at this level.
00:42:49
Speaker
and they were talking about it on, I think it was Michael Bailey's video actually last night after the game, he was almost suggesting that we don't need to worry about the Premier League, let's just worry about the Championship and if O'Neal Hernandez is an effective performer in the Championship and gets you to where you want to be, well let's worry about that in the summer and I think that's absolutely right. Well next part I want to talk about whether or not we need a PL2 and the fact that
00:43:13
Speaker
that actually looking at the table last night is the first time you know sitting in second is the first time I actually had a pang of
00:43:22
Speaker
I don't know if I want to go up. But I think we don't need a PL2. We need a more effective way to redistribute the wealth from the Premier League down into the pyramid. And then it's all fixed in it. That's a whole other thing.
Predictions and Performance Summary
00:43:33
Speaker
We need to get someone who understands football wealth better than you and I on to talk about that. So that's that's that's a target we can set ourselves. I mean, it's not much of a target to find. Sorry, no. I'll say anyone across the street, mate. No, my point is let's actually get someone who means some way for it. And Bailey, Ozers, Ozers a pod. So let's see if we can get him on.
00:43:52
Speaker
Right, let's have a couple of guarantees for Saturday, so a guaranteed score line and a guaranteed score, please, Jonathan, punty, punty, punty. I'm going to say this will be the first time this season where we will effectively just dispatch a team. I think we're going to win 4-0 and I think that Taimi Pookie is going to return to goalscore in form and he's going to get a brace.
00:44:15
Speaker
Love that. My guarantee is a clean sheet and a walk in the park. I'm going to go six nil. Six. And I'm going to go, I'm going to double guarantee a two, a tenpuki brace.
00:44:31
Speaker
Lovely. It's locked in. The joy of six and a brace. Lovely. So, Punt, I acknowledge you exist. Everyone enjoy the game on Saturday. It's almost now guaranteed to be a 1-0 defeat.
00:44:47
Speaker
We've now effectively, as far as we're concerned, we've spelled out how well everyone has played so far. We've definitely missed people as well, we've definitely missed players. We've probably missed players because the science was a notepad and even though we talked about it now, we forgot to give them a number until you remembered at the end. So the good news is...
00:45:07
Speaker
accuracy has never been a particularly important part of the forecast. Yeah, fair. Absolutely fair. I will look forward to chopping up with you again soon, Punt. Everyone enjoy the game Saturday. Mind how you go.