by Woodcote Royal »
16 May 2007 11:02
Vision Woodcote Royal Vision Maguire There's no way we can get through a season with Gunnarrson in the middle of the park. No way. That's not criticism, just realism.
Exactly. In a lot of ways he's a better player technically than Sidwell but one of the mainstays of our consistent success in recent times is that both Harper & Sidwell can put in a shift for a whole 90 minutes virtually every week over a long season. I just don't see 31 year old Gunnar being able to do so and I'm pretty positive that Coppell has no intention of putting it to the test.
I've yet to see one post suggesting that Sidwell will not be replaced 
N ot that i said there was but there are several who still want to make direct comnparisons between the 2 players which is what myself and others were replying to.. Including this one
Blue Blood cmonurz Imho, we will not get a player of Sidwell's calibre in replacement for a lower wage than that anyway.
Imho we have one already.........Gunnarsson
and this one
noise Blue Blood cmonurz Imho, we will not get a player of Sidwell's calibre in replacement for a lower wage than that anyway.
Imho we have one already.........Gunnarsson
spot on
Oh and of course the next 4 paragrapghs where you directly compare the 2. Again.
Woodcote Royal However, rather than panicing at the prospect of us relying on
Gunnarsson as a regular in our midfield, you and the rest of
Sidwell's fan club should use his performances to gauge just how average dear
Siddie is at this level.
I didn't go to Blackburn but if
Gunnarsson scored at the away end, I'm sure most of our fans realised that
Sidwell would have threatened the corner flag rather than the net, had the same opportunity come his way.
Yes,
Gunnarsson's 31 and may well struggle to play every game next season, but you bet he's technically superior to
Sidwell I've seen plenty of games this season when
Sidwell and Harper have not controlled the midfield and I've seen nothing in the last few games, with Coppell perming 2 from 3 in the centre, that made it weaker with
Gunnarsson or stronger with
Sidwell.
At 8k a week, I guess 4 goals for the season isn't too bad a return but thank God he turned down 25
I remain convinced that we have every chance of replacing him without breaking the bank but would love this to be where we really push the boat out this summer.
I'll be mildly interested to know where Sidwell ends up but delighted when those who are pining for a player who clearly decided to leave a long time ago, finally turn their attention to the remainder of our squad who still want to play for this club
No-ones panicking at replacing Sidwell as such it's just that some of us believe his influence on this side is greater than others and that part of that influence is the fact that he can perform consistently for 90 minutes of a game throughout the course of the season.
Of course the positive thing is that it all allows the scope for your wonderfully sarcastic posts and ever increasing use of the rolling eyes emoticon which you love so much.
Oh dear.
My point is that everyone knows we will buy another central midfielder and the chances are we will be looking to sign the best we can afford, so, it should be painfully obvious that Coppell will not be risking Gunnarsson lasting the whole season, just like he won't be risking the fitness of similarly aged (but because they, too, are East stand heroes, no one talks about it
) Murty and Little........................which, I think, was your point, wasn't it?
So Sidwell's main attribute is that he can last 90 minutes .......................we agree
That's what we said about Andy Hughes and that's because Sidwell is little better in the Prem than Hughes was in the Championship................a decent enough performer but far from irreplaceable.
Mr Angry My view (for what its worth) is that there were times when playing one up front and a genuine defensive midfielder in Gunnar playing behind the central midfield pairing would have been the conservative approach; however, Coppell saw it differently and we finshed 8th.
Thats the point, isnt it - Coppell judges his squad and stuck pretty religeously to a Sidwell/Harper central midfield pairing.
I seem to remember he picked Nicky Forster pretty religiously until the day he left, and look how we've suffered since................
