Two Teams!

[Platypuss]

LW - was Convey/Hunt now Hunt/Convey/Robson-Kanu - as Hunt has improved - stronger

And as Convey has regressed?

RW - was Little/Oster - now Kebe/Henry - little in it

[Victor Meldrew]

As somebody has already said we have quantity but are a bit low on quality.
Murts,Bryn and Ivar and Marcus are the wrong side of thirty as is Duberry and the likes of Karacan,Pearce,Kelly,Golbourne,Mooney and Henry are very much in the unproven category.
Sonko hasn't looked the same player since his injury.
Same goes for Convey.
The jury is still out on Cisse,Marek,Kebe,Rosenior,Bikey and Long.
Lita and Doyle don't know where the net is and James' mind seems elsewhere.
Three top quality players in Kitson,Shorey and Little have gone.
Other than that everything is fine and at about 10/1 we represent fantastic value to emerge as champions,or do we?

[winchester_royal]

Why does everybody keep linking quality with being proven?

EG. Anderson isn't proven at prem level. Darren Fletcher is. Who is the better player?

[rg6royal]

Why does everybody keep linking quality with being proven?

EG. Anderson isn't proven at prem level. Darren Fletcher is. Who is the better player?

Anderson son son!

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

RW - was Little/Oster - now Kebe/Henry - little in it

Can't agree with that... Little/Oster was a much more proven strong side.

Proven does not mean better.

Kebe IMO is a quicker version of Little.

Kebe's nothing like little. He resembles him more in looks than playing style. Little is a player of genuine premier league ability, with the skill to take on players and turn them inside out with skill, before putting a measured cross in. He just lacks any kind of pace.

Kebe is quick but rather unpredictable to put it mildly.

[earleyroyal]

Then and now

Goalkeeper was USA/Stack now USA/Fed/Andersen/Hamer - stronger
LB- was Shorey/Makin/Golbourne now Armstrong/Golbourne/Kelly - probably weaker
CB - was Ingi/Sonko/Gunnar now Ingi/Sonko/Bikey/Pearce/Duberry/Cisse - def stronger
RB- was Murty/Halls now Rosenior/Murty/Kelly - stronger
LW - was Convey/Hunt now Hunt/Convey/Robson-Kanu - as Hunt has improved - stronger
CM - was Sidwell/Harper/Gunnar now Matejovsky/Harper/Gunnar/Cisse/Karacan - little in it
RW - was Little/Oster - now Kebe/Henry - little in it
Attack was Kitson/Doyle/Lita/Long now Doyle/Lita/Long/Hunt/Mooney - time will tell

Overall much more strength in depth. Before anyone says it I have excluded the inward loan players from 2005/6 as none of them ever started a league game for us and they only made a handful of sub appearances.

I'll give you the keepers. Left-back PROBABLY weaker!?!?! Doesn't even dignify a response, it is ten times weaker. The centre of defence is much weaker, Ingimarsson looks shot and Sonko is a shadow of his former self. Hopefully Bikey will improve it. Murty was excellent at right-back, Rosenior hasn't been yet.

The left wing was stronger then as we had someone who could cross, as was the right wing. Ferguson said we were the best crossers in the country in 06/07 and many of our goals/much of our success came from having two excellent wingers. To suggest there is 'little in it' or even that our wings now are 'stronger' is just wrong. I can't believe there are people suggesting that with a straight face, I'm sorry. Midfield is the same, we had Sidwell. End of, he would piss all over us now if we had 5 central midfielders on the pitch at the same time. Harper is not the same without him, Matejovsky could be good if he can stay fit/find time on the ball. Bikey would be decent there in my opinion.

In attack we had three Premiership quality strikers who were largely fit and hungry, now we have Doyle whose confidence looks shot, Lita who is fine for this level but doesn't seem to be reaching his best, Long who is crap, Noel Hunt who looks quite good and Mooney who I haven't seen, so I'd still have to go for it being weaker now.

Our team is nowhere near the level of the 05/06 team, it's probably about the same as the 04/05 team. Anyone thinking that Kebe and Henry is the same as Little or Oster, or Sidwell/Harper just on a level with our current midfield, is watching through different eyes to me.

[earleyroyal]

Proven does not mean better.

Kebe IMO is a quicker version of Little.

Is this thread a pisstake? Am I missing something?

[ScottishRoyal]

I agree that the squad is really starting to come togeather now with Armstrong another important piece of the jigsaw. To suggest we have two championship standard sides in our squad however is very biased and makes you look a bit foolish.

And as has been said by others, depth means nothing when all the players are much of a muchness. You can only play 11 players at a time and so real quality in the squad is a must. Noel Hunt and Matejovsky are exciting prospects, and having seen Armstrong play a few times for Sheffield Utd I think he'll do well. But to suggest that we are stronger defensively with Shorey gone, Murty over the hill and Rosenior struggling to refind his consistency and form is crazy. And the right midfield comment is just plain daft.

[royal-arkansas]

I agree that the squad is really starting to come togeather now with Armstrong another important piece of the jigsaw. To suggest we have two championship standard sides in our squad however is very biased and makes you look a bit foolish.

And as has been said by others, depth means nothing when all the players are much of a muchness. You can only play 11 players at a time and so real quality in the squad is a must. Noel Hunt and Matejovsky are exciting prospects, and having seen Armstrong play a few times for Sheffield Utd I think he'll do well. But to suggest that we are stronger defensively with Shorey gone, Murty over the hill and Rosenior struggling to refind his consistency and form is crazy. And the right midfield comment is just plain daft.

I hope that Rosenior finds his form , he was a leader on the pitch againest Plymouth , but all over the place againest Charlton . In time I believe he has the ability to be a future Captain .. Our midfield needs to be sorted, we got the players just need to find the right combination , this has been a problem since Sidwell left .. I love wing play but sometimes we need to come through the middle .. Our midfield is too defensive and a little predicable .

[winchester_royal]

Proven does not mean better.

Kebe IMO is a quicker version of Little.

Is this thread a pisstake? Am I missing something?

No.

Little's dribbling style looked awkward but was effective, similar to Kebe.

Little is 6ft +, so is Kebe.

Kebe is quicker than Little.

Hence my comment.

[kwik-silva]

CM - was Sidwell/Harper/Gunnar now Matejovsky/Harper/Gunnar/Cisse/Karacan - little in it

You are having a laugh here. Harper and Sidwell worked together, as it did Gunnar when stepped in most games, that season.

Matejovksy, Cisse are still not proven and Karacan has yet to play against a decent side.

As stated proven does not mean less quality. Yes Harper and Sidwell were effective in the middle, but we now have 5 CM's capable of playing at this level. Gunnarson was very effective when he played, I do think he's lost a bit, but he's still a good player, Karacan shows the bite that Sidwell showed, Harper is Harper, Cisse may not be the best player in the world but he's solid if played in the right role and Matejovski is the creative one.

I don't think we've seen the best of this bunch of guys and therefore you can't start judging them so early in the season.

[earleyroyal]

Proven does not mean better.

Kebe IMO is a quicker version of Little.

Is this thread a pisstake? Am I missing something?

No.

Little's dribbling style looked awkward but was effective, similar to Kebe.

Little is 6ft +, so is Kebe.

Kebe is quicker than Little.

Hence my comment.

But Little has skill, Kebe boots the ball past the left-back and occasionally meets up with it. Apart from this, he goes on about one good run per game and normally then falls over. Little was the best winger outside the Premiership in 05/06 and one of the better ones in it in 06/07, Kebe couldn't get a game in the French league.

Quicker and shitter maybe.

[Woodcote Royal]

After Tuesday nights win I reckon we have two very good Championship Teams this season;

Hahnemann/Federici

Rosenior/Murty/Kelly
Armstrong/Goldbourne

Sonko/Bikey
Ingi/Bennett/Pearce

Kebe/Henry
Hunt/Convey
Harper/Karacan
Cisse/Marek/Gunnarsson

Doyle/N Hunt
Lita/Long/Mooney

which was roughly where we were last year! A very well balanced squad though.

I would like to think the majority of Fans would not be concerned if any of the above were in the starting XI on Saturday.

I totally agree but suggest you now put your tin hat on and wait for a good slagging off from the STG's.

My view is that the "squad" is now much stronger than 2005/6 - all that is lacking is the motivation, organization and consistency that we achieved then.

The 7,500 fans who turned up on Tuesday night (myself included) should have left being in no doubt that we have a strong squad.

What they have every right to be less sure about is whether the squads manager will ever be prepared to drop some of his under performing favourites so that others can have the chance they deserve.

Had the managers reluctance to drop his favourites not been a major factor in our totally uavoidable relegation, then perhaps some of the sceptical post on this forum would not exist

HTH

[SCIAG]

And on another point how on earth can you use Tuesday night against Luton as a yardstick

Look at the games vs Forest and Charlton and open your eyes!!!

We played Luton when we came up, lost once and won twice. We didn't play either of the other two.

[/irrelevant point]

[chandog]

CM - was Sidwell/Harper/Gunnar now Matejovsky/Harper/Gunnar/Cisse/Karacan - little in it

You are having a laugh here. Harper and Sidwell worked together, as it did Gunnar when stepped in most games, that season.

Matejovksy, Cisse are still not proven and Karacan has yet to play against a decent side.

And on another point how on earth can you use Tuesday night against Luton as a yardstick

Look at the games vs Forest and Charlton and open your eyes!!!

agreed
we'll have to wait for a while to see how good karacan is
think we know matejovsky is quality and cisse is more than capable at this level

[Franchise FC]

And on another point how on earth can you use Tuesday night against Luton as a yardstick

Look at the games vs Forest and Charlton and open your eyes!!!

We played Luton when we came up, lost once and won twice. We didn't play either of the other two.

[/irrelevant point]

I'm sure someone else will point this out, but the Luton we played that year were in the top four of the Championship until late October. The team we played this year, even allowing for the 30 point deduction would only be mid-table in League Two.
HTH

[REALROYAL]

After Tuesday nights win I reckon we have two very good Championship Teams this season;

Hahnemann/Federici

Rosenior/Murty/Kelly
Armstrong/Goldbourne

Sonko/Bikey
Ingi/Bennett/Pearce

Kebe/Henry
Hunt/Convey
Harper/Karacan
Cisse/Marek/Gunnarsson

Doyle/N Hunt
Lita/Long/Mooney

which was roughly where we were last year! A very well balanced squad though.

I would like to think the majority of Fans would not be concerned if any of the above were in the starting XI on Saturday.

WOW, how would think RFC had 2 shit team, not just 1

[winchester_royal]

After Tuesday nights win I reckon we have two very good Championship Teams this season;

Hahnemann/Federici

Rosenior/Murty/Kelly
Armstrong/Goldbourne

Sonko/Bikey
Ingi/Bennett/Pearce

Kebe/Henry
Hunt/Convey
Harper/Karacan
Cisse/Marek/Gunnarsson

Doyle/N Hunt
Lita/Long/Mooney

which was roughly where we were last year! A very well balanced squad though.

I would like to think the majority of Fans would not be concerned if any of the above were in the starting XI on Saturday.

WOW, how would think RFC had 2 shit team, not just 1

How ironic that you call yourself REALROYAL

[REALROYAL]

After Tuesday nights win I reckon we have two very good Championship Teams this season;

Hahnemann/Federici

Rosenior/Murty/Kelly
Armstrong/Goldbourne

Sonko/Bikey
Ingi/Bennett/Pearce

Kebe/Henry
Hunt/Convey
Harper/Karacan
Cisse/Marek/Gunnarsson

Doyle/N Hunt
Lita/Long/Mooney

which was roughly where we were last year! A very well balanced squad though.

I would like to think the majority of Fans would not be concerned if any of the above were in the starting XI on Saturday.

WOW, how would think RFC had 2 shit team, not just 1

How ironic that you call yourself REALROYAL

O'ye your right.. No real RFC fan would think selling our best players and investing peanuts over the last 3 years is a bad thing. Im more RFC than you will ever know, thats why im pissed off

[winchester_royal]

WOW, how would think RFC had 2 shit team, not just 1

How ironic that you call yourself REALROYAL

O'ye your right.. No real RFC fan would think selling our best players and investing peanuts over the last 3 years is a bad thing. Im more RFC than you will ever know, thats why im pissed off

Get over yourself.