Back from the game - Swansea (A)

[Maguire]

Well I certainly hope he doesn't intend to spend £2million on a striker who is as useless as Mills..
I assume we are lining up the £2M offer for Bas Savage as we speak.

Come on, give Mills a bit of time. He had a dodgy game. That does not make him useless.

Of course it does, this is HobNob. Never mind the fact this is his first league start and he's had no pre-season to speak of.

Anyone remember Matt Upson's first game(s) for us? Absolute toilet.

Exactly. Look at the long game, not the short one. Matt Mills will be a top defender at this level.

[Vision]

We didn't spend £2 million on Upson though.

We haven't spent 2m on Mills yet either.

[Royal Lady]

You know what I mean. Upson was a loanee.

[Vision]

You know what I mean. Upson was a loanee.

And you knew exactly what I meant as well.

[Royal Lady]

We'll be spending more on Mills than we ever did on Upson is MY point.

[Woodcote Royal]

We didn't spend £2M on Paul Bodin either, and compared to Mills he was a regular Franco Baresi!!!

Mills is a quality defender.

Having decided to make a fresh start with a brand new young team, it was never going to gel in 3 league matches, as would be obvious to anyone with the slightest under standing of the game.

I believe I'm right in saying that Upson's first match for us was in the League Cup at Cambridge.

Mills looked like a seasoned international against Burton compared to Matt that night.

[I was there at Elm Park]

Federici 8 - Superb display, kept us in the game and on this evidence looks the one area where we are stronger than last year. Nice to see a penalty saved, when was the last time (think it was against Watford 5/6 years ago)?
Rosenior 6 - Worked and defended hard, didn't do too much wrong but you could hear the fans getting on his back. Favourite moment was when despite him clearly shouting but not being listened to asking for support someone yelled at him to "shout at them Rosenior".
Bertand 6 - A bit like Rosenior and at the end of the game you can look back and say Dyer wasn't as dangerous as in January. He did let himself down with two poor crosses though.
Mills 4.5 - Looked woefully short of match fitness but when you consider he's apparently only had 45 mins of preseason you can see why. Looks good on the ball with an over tendency to hit it long but needs to get match fit because he made two awful mistakes that should have resulted in goals. Did come close to scoring from a corner though
Pearce 6 - Reasonable display but I think him and Mills are going to have more courage in dribbling the ball out of defence. I've got no problem them passing it sideways between them but when the opportunity arises they should take the ball and help us gain territory.
Cisse 6 - Was clearly in the side to add height and aerial presence to a team that looked vulnerable in the air on Saturday. Usual Cisse display of promise without substance. Needs to be better on the ball.
Karacan 6 - Was one of our better players until he went off and was one of the few clearly looking for the ball. Along with Pearce is probably the only youngster who looks ready to be a first team regular.
Davies 6 - Didn't really get involved but did come closest to scoring in the first half. His performance was more the fault of the system though he maybe should have looked for the ball more.
Henry 5 - Rarely got on the ball and really needs to start showing his potential. Like the wingers against Newcastle was too easily isolated by the opposition and didn't offer enough graft.
Robson-Kanu 6 - Like Henry but did at least offer a goal threat. Probably needs more experience around him because at the moment he doesn't look ready to step up to being a first team regular.
Church 5 - Clearly got potential but not ready to be the main striker. Goes vanishing far too often.
Hunt 6 - Needs o start on Saturday. His substitution didn't really help and he should have replaced one of the front three but still looked his usual self.
Harper 6 - Same as last year and it was worrying that after he came on we looked outnumbered in the middle.
Tabb 6 - Should have scored but worked hard.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Boro deserved the win but we made it easy for them. The big difference between the teams was that they had the likes of O'Neill, who controlled the midfield, and Huth, who marshalled the defence, to rely on. Johnson also had an excellent game.

.

Grrr. Should have been our player

[Vision]

We'll be spending more on Mills than we ever did on Upson is MY point.

And judging the worth of a player who isn't close to being 100% fit on one League appearance is complete and utter nonsense which is MY point. Hence the Upson example.

[I was there at Elm Park]

£2M makes him one of our most expensive signings ever.
There have been very few players signed by us for that kind of money.

I think it is fair to say most people have certain expectations when a player is signed for such a big sum of money.

True and there's no hiding from the fact he was bad last night but in his defence you could see he was short of match fitness. If he's still this bad next month then we'll know we've signed a duffer but until then give him a chance.

[Woodcote Royal]

£2M makes him one of our most expensive signings ever.
There have been very few players signed by us for that kind of money.

I think it is fair to say most people have certain expectations when a player is signed for such a big sum of money.

Likewise when Arsenal spent £18m on Theo Walcott..............................I don't remember Wenger screaming for his money back just because it took several seasons for one of the best young players in the country to establish himself in the first team.

[Hugo Boss]

LOL @ People worrying and moaning after 3 games!!

[Alan Partridge]

LOL @ People worrying and moaning after 3 games!!

Heard the same stuff two years ago gr8 m8, reLOLegation ensued.

[papereyes]

Likewise when Arsenal spent £18m on Theo Walcott.

It was, iirc, about £5 million up front and the rest was 'bonus payments'.

I don't remember Wenger screaming for his money back just because it took several seasons for one of the best young players in the country to establish himself in the first team.

Because the great proportion of the fee would only be paid when he established himself in the first team.

[weybridgewanderer]

Likewise when Arsenal spent £18m on Theo Walcott.

It was, iirc, about £5 million up front and the rest was 'bonus payments'.

I don't remember Wenger screaming for his money back just because it took several seasons for one of the best young players in the country to establish himself in the first team.

Because the great proportion of the fee would only be paid when he established himself in the first team.

and wenger did not play walcott every week as a regular first team player

the walcott analogy would only work if mills was on the bench and being used as a bit part player at the moment

[I was there at Elm Park]

Forgot to mention that I actually thought the player we missed most was Stephen Hunt. Doyle would have struggled last night with the lack of service but a Stephen Hunt with the right mentality is the sort of player we need at the moment. On his day can be dangerous going forward but you know he'll put a shift in and work hard. Robson-Kanu, Henry and Kebe may be potentially be better players than Hunt but they will never match his work effort which is what we need.

[Woodcote Royal]

Likewise when Arsenal spent £18m on Theo Walcott.

It was, iirc, about £5 million up front and the rest was 'bonus payments'.

I don't remember Wenger screaming for his money back just because it took several seasons for one of the best young players in the country to establish himself in the first team.

Because the great proportion of the fee would only be paid when he established himself in the first team.

And how much of Mills fee will be add ons?

So Wenger, apparently, forked out just £5m upfront for Walcott..................does this really devalue the point I was making?

[Vision]

LOL @ People worrying and moaning after 3 games!!

Heard the same stuff two years ago gr8 m8, reLOLegation ensued.

And the year before that after getting beaten at Wigan. We finished 8th.

End of the day keep predicting failure or success and eventually it'll come true. However actually making informed judgements about the whole season after 3 games is a bit mental.

[Alan Partridge]

LOL @ People worrying and moaning after 3 games!!

Heard the same stuff two years ago gr8 m8, reLOLegation ensued.

And the year before that after getting beaten at Wigan. We finished 8th.

End of the day keep predicting failure or success and eventually it'll come true. However actually making informed judgements about the whole season after 3 games is a bit mental.

I think usually the first 5-6 games or so can set the tone for the season, it's where I'd even go as far to say that results are secondary to performances. The 8th place year we'd beaten Boro, beaten Sheff U, narrowly lost against Villa unluckily and had we played CHelsea? If so again spirited effort.

Relegation year was the opposite,trounced at Bolton was the one that sparked the 'over reaction' thread.

So far it's been more like that season than the unlucky but spirited start of the 8th place. But it's only 3 matches. A decent win against Sheffield utd and it's a reasonable return 5 points from 4.

[papereyes]

Likewise when Arsenal spent £18m on Theo Walcott.

It was, iirc, about £5 million up front and the rest was 'bonus payments'.

I don't remember Wenger screaming for his money back just because it took several seasons for one of the best young players in the country to establish himself in the first team.

Because the great proportion of the fee would only be paid when he established himself in the first team.

And how much of Mills fee will be add ons?

So Wenger, apparently, forked out just £5m upfront for Walcott..................does this really devalue the point I was making?

Well, yes, because he wasn't going to be screaming for his money back when the great chunk hadn't been paid yet.

Seriously, are people this stupid in real life?