Mikele Leigertwood

[Snowball]

2WW

Our last six games, against TOP opposition have yielded 9 points, that's 1.5 points per game (a 69-point season)

Our first 12 games yielded 16 points = 1.33 ppg game (a 61-point season)

That is, while you complain, we are doing better!!

And that is against

QPR, Cardiff, Doncaster, Norwich, Burnley, Watford, TOP, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 10th
our HARDEST RUN OF MATCHES TO DATE, and we are getting 1.5 points per game, top scorers in the CCC

it is not a contradiction in terms to say that previously I was arguing Goal Difference. I STILL AM!!

Our GD has improved by +3 in the last 6 games. We managed +3 in the previous 12

You can creep ahead by going 1-0, 0-0, 1-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0 1-0 = +3

or you can do it by winning games 4-3, 4-0 and drawing the others, even losing one...

[Snowball]

Sorry to pick on three of your posts in a row, Snowball, but it's fast coming clear to me (and remember I think you're a top bloke), that almost everything you write is quite questionable and contradicts a previous post of yours somehow! I may be wrong but was it not you who not long ago discounted Brian's first few games as irrelevant because it was his time to bed in? And now all of sudden you're going back on that argument and using them because it helps make a different point?????

I do agree Liverpool was a big plus though.

But I said IN that post that I think Mac is great. ALL I am saying (and I believe this) is that if we had lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool we would have probably been relegated.

We probably only needed a couple of more defeats for the confidence to disappear forever.

That doesn't mean that McDermot would then have been a poor manager. It just means that
sometimes a club gets on a terrible run, tries too hard and can't change the way the luck goes etc.

As for me changing my tune, again I am NOT. I have said "It's reasonable to discount Mac's first X games because it takes time for new manager to change things and turn confidence around. That is nothing to do with the historical facts WIN-LOSE-DRAW but WHEN IT IS FAIR TO BLAME THE OUTGOING MANAGER OR THE NEW ONE.

Somewhere around six games is probably the mark.

But saying I believe we might well have gone down had we lost to Liverpool, is not a criticism of McDermot. I would have blamed RODGERS for messing the club around and killing the confidence that the players might otherwise have had.

[Snowball]

I suggest you learn how to count, with all due respect.

Hunt, Church... who is our third?????

BIGNALL?

[RoyalBlue]

2WW

Our last six games, against TOP opposition have yielded 9 points, that's 1.5 points per game (a 69-point season)

Our first 12 games yielded 16 points = 1.33 ppg game (a 61-point season)

That is, while you complain, we are doing better!!

And that is against

QPR, Cardiff, Doncaster, Norwich, Burnley, Watford, TOP, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 10th
our HARDEST RUN OF MATCHES TO DATE, and we are getting 1.5 points per game, top scorers in the CCC

it is not a contradiction in terms to say that previously I was arguing Goal Difference. I STILL AM!!

Our GD has improved by +3 in the last 6 games. We managed +3 in the previous 12

You can creep ahead by going 1-0, 0-0, 1-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0 1-0 = +3

or you can do it by winning games 4-3, 4-0 and drawing the others, even losing one...

Thank you Goebbels!

[Millsy]

2WW

Our last six games, against TOP opposition have yielded 9 points, that's 1.5 points per game (a 69-point season)

Our first 12 games yielded 16 points = 1.33 ppg game (a 61-point season)

That is, while you complain, we are doing better!!

And that is against

QPR, Cardiff, Doncaster, Norwich, Burnley, Watford, TOP, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 10th
our HARDEST RUN OF MATCHES TO DATE, and we are getting 1.5 points per game, top scorers in the CCC

it is not a contradiction in terms to say that previously I was arguing Goal Difference. I STILL AM!!

Our GD has improved by +3 in the last 6 games. We managed +3 in the previous 12

You can creep ahead by going 1-0, 0-0, 1-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0 1-0 = +3

or you can do it by winning games 4-3, 4-0 and drawing the others, even losing one...

Just goes to show that you can use stats how you wish. But the undeniable fact is that our defence suffers because we have a toothless front line so the whole team has to do the job that fit-for-purpose strikers would do.

Thankfully though having a fit-for-purpose striker in Hunt we have, as you say, made a small improvement in that department. Which makes it even more imperative that we build on this and get another one to give Church and Hunt some competition.

[RoyalJames101]

There's a player did quite well in Scotland as a winger and striker.
He then played at the top end of the championship in a side that
came fourth and made the play-offs. Quality finisher.

He scored 13 goals despite only playing 29 Starts, each just 60-65 minutes
and is as brave as they come.

He had major surgery last year and has come back carefully,
and is now fully fit, and scoring goals for fun, 3 in his last 3 games.


I have it on good authority he will play for RFC without any fee involved
and any increase in our wage bill. Nice bloke too. And Irish.

And if he gets injured?

Sheer Madejski cost cutting lunacy expecting a team to mount a sensible campaign with just three 'senior' strikers on its books.

I suggest you learn how to count, with all due respect.

Hunt, Church... who is our third?????

Please! You're killing me

[Ian Royal]

Oh good, another stats bitchfest to welcome our new signing.

[Millsy]

Sorry to pick on three of your posts in a row, Snowball, but it's fast coming clear to me (and remember I think you're a top bloke), that almost everything you write is quite questionable and contradicts a previous post of yours somehow! I may be wrong but was it not you who not long ago discounted Brian's first few games as irrelevant because it was his time to bed in? And now all of sudden you're going back on that argument and using them because it helps make a different point?????

I do agree Liverpool was a big plus though.

But I said IN that post that I think Mac is great. ALL I am saying (and I believe this) is that if we had lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool we would have probably been relegated.

We probably only needed a couple of more defeats for the confidence to disappear forever.

That doesn't mean that McDermot would then have been a poor manager. It just means that
sometimes a club gets on a terrible run, tries too hard and can't change the way the luck goes etc.

As for me changing my tune, again I am NOT. I have said "It's reasonable to discount Mac's first X games because it takes time for new manager to change things and turn confidence around. That is nothing to do with the historical facts WIN-LOSE-DRAW but WHEN IT IS FAIR TO BLAME THE OUTGOING MANAGER OR THE NEW ONE.

Somewhere around six games is probably the mark.

But saying I believe we might well have gone down had we lost to Liverpool, is not a criticism of McDermot. I would have blamed RODGERS for messing the club around and killing the confidence that the players might otherwise have had.

Criticise Brian all you like mate - he's a big ugly thorn in my otherwise 100% spot on record of vocally judging managers. I agree as I say Liverpool made a big difference, but then again Liverpool wa down to Brian, not luck. So in a way we're saying Brian would be rubbish if he, erm, wasn't so good at turning things around!

[Millsy]

How do we pronounce Leigertwood?

I think it is "Lighter-wood"

I think it's "Sorryguyspleasedon'thatemejustbecauseI'mnotthestrikeryoureallyneedinstead"

[Millsy]

I suggest you learn how to count, with all due respect.

Hunt, Church... who is our third?????

BIGNALL?

I rest my case

(that was easy!)

[royalp-we]

Not saying he's parky quality

Do you mean Parky quality as in 'likes a tackle' or Parky quality as a footballer?

I always thought he looked a decent player when he's played against us over the years. Ought to bring a bit of physical presence to our midfield.

As though he 'likes a tackle'

[loyalroyal4life]

How do we pronounce Leigertwood?

I think it is "Lighter-wood"

I think it's "Sorryguyspleasedon'thatemejustbecauseI'mnotthestrikeryoureallyneedinstead"

Litawood

[Snowball]

Litawood

Should be good for the fourth goal in 90+ when we are already relegated, then

[The Rouge]

This is not a high-horse thread but reading this thread has been painful. It has triggered what I find so frustrating about HNA and football fandom that it has sparked a rant and I wonder why some of you invest so much time in watching football if you are not going to fully open your eyes.

- For a start, there are many saying 'who is he/where does he play'? Well he has played against RFC many times and been on TV many times. An average football viewer in terms of RFC and TV games should know this... If you are going to watch so little football, or watch it by ,merely looking at your own 11 men, then decline an opinion by saying 'I haven't really seen him play enough' or something...
- (If you do know the player) As a fan you can have different views on whether he is a good player/bad player but there are things we don't see as fans (the extent of injuries if any, whether he has previously been asked to play his ideal position) that make it hard to say if he will be a success here or not
- We do not know if this signing is as well as a striker loan, or instead of a striker loan - or if indeed McDermott thinks we need a striker
- I read on this forum 'play 4-4-2' all the time. Most of us know with 4-4-2 you tend to have 2 midfielders in the middle of the park, as opposed to the 3 that the 4-5-1 allows (it's actually more like having 2.5 players in the middle of the pitch to be honest but we wont get into that..) - so it can give you a soft centre and make you concede more goals. Yet when a signing comes in that may help to allow that system here, nobody really makes the link...

FWIW - my opinion is that if the guy is fit, and he manages to get back to his successful rob the ball and lay it off approach, it may allow the likes of Kebe and McAnuff to get on the ball more, and may make us even better in terms of counter attacking - so could be a good thing. He has been a very good player in the Championship and at 28, most of you would have to concede he could be again. Either way, it is one more option McDermott has - let's see if it helps us much.

[Tredder]

If you ask really nicely, we'll loan you Agyemang as well.

[Wycombe Royal]

In Summer 2009 Leigertwood signed a new 3 year deal contract at QPR, which according to The Mirror, was for wages of around £10k per week. They obviously rated him then......

[Wimb]

I'll actually defend Snowball for once here, don't quite see why people are slagging off some well rationalised and thought out points

[brendywendy]

its because thats just what they do now. they dont see it as their problem. but it is.

[Hoop Blah]

But I said IN that post that I think Mac is great. ALL I am saying (and I believe this) is that if we had lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool we would have probably been relegated.

We probably only needed a couple of more defeats for the confidence to disappear forever.

That doesn't mean that McDermot would then have been a poor manager. It just means that
sometimes a club gets on a terrible run, tries too hard and can't change the way the luck goes etc.

As for me changing my tune, again I am NOT. I have said "It's reasonable to discount Mac's first X games because it takes time for new manager to change things and turn confidence around. That is nothing to do with the historical facts WIN-LOSE-DRAW but WHEN IT IS FAIR TO BLAME THE OUTGOING MANAGER OR THE NEW ONE.

Somewhere around six games is probably the mark.

But saying I believe we might well have gone down had we lost to Liverpool, is not a criticism of McDermot. I would have blamed RODGERS for messing the club around and killing the confidence that the players might otherwise have had.

I agree with a lot of this Snowball, and have said much the same on here before.

McDermott took over a reasonable squad that was under achieving and low on confidence and morale. He was very well placed to address the morale and confidence issues because he knew the players and they all seemed to trust him.

It was a case of picking them up and getting a bit of momentum. He did that, and the Liverpool cup win was certainly a turning point and the catalyst to the good form that followed.

I said all along last season that the real test of McDermotts managerial ability would be building his own team and squad and how he dealt with the challenges of doing so after his honeymoon period was over.

This summer and autumn have been a bit disappointing to be honest, and his record in the transfer market isn't inspiring confidence. He's not been able to strengthen the side (the money may not be there) and things on the pitch are distinctly average.

I think this signing has the potential to be a positive, but when you see that someone like Lansbury has gone to a rival (albeit only for a month initially) it makes you wonder if our reluctance to bring in some proper talent is good management when we have a glaring lack of cutting edge and match winners in our squad.

[brendywendy]

We sign Legs of Wood whilst Norwich snap up Henri Lansbury on loan!

young, unproven player, in position we dont really need, and we have no chance of signing permenantly and couldnt afford anyway.

or

established decent championship player, at his peak,in a position we need, who we can afford, and we have a chance of signing permanantly?