Braga post-match

[Lecter]

There were a couple of posters on here saying Joe Cole would be a big dissappointment when most were excited at such a transfer coup. Looks like they were right.

He'll be at West Ham next season.

I was probably one of them

Have never rated him that highly

[danperkins]

Put Kelly, Suarez and Gerrard in todays side and you'd be a talking a very different story even if teams pressed high

Also true and shows our horrible lack of depth.

[Mattshark]

He was only here 2 minutes. Is the weak squad really down to Hodgson?

Plenty of stuff to blame him for but the weakness of the squad? Surely not.

He made it worse by investing in players that were a lower standard again than those we let go. He spent a lot on Konchesky and Poulsen and let two players who are superior go on loan. We could have used that money to improve the squad. He managed to weaken us through it.

[Lecter]

They don't though do they. They get carried about by real players like Gerrard and Suarez. Which players from this squad give us consistently decent performances?

Reina, Carragher, Agger (when fit), Kelly, Gerrard (well he use to)

Then you have Suarez and Carroll who I think will give this

Maxi, Cole, Johnson are too inconsistent

Meireles and Lucas have been half decent under Kenny

Problem is in general our most consistent players are defensive ones

[alunevans]

on adam and young. the info on the day was that we were only a few million apart on both of these targets. if that's true i think given how little we have spent net that it's poor to let them go.

had we have made sure we got them two as well i think the side would have looked far better. we may not get them in the summer now. and we're definitely a less attractive proposition with no european football of any sort awaiting.

i was critical of the current powers that be on that one, and still am.

i am not blaming Kenny. I blame the previous owners. IF we could have built when we finished second we may be in hugely different place. We didnt and went back pretty quickly.

i dont think the squad has the quality required but the point about mentality was in response to your post that the players on the pitch should have won. I think that the lack of mental strength is one reason why we lost. Also if suarez was eligable we may have seen a much better performance. Same with gerrard.

i wonder what difference adam would have made if we had signed him? maybe not much due to a lack of movement ahead of him of maybe he would have taken responsibility that some didnt.

also young would he have made a difference?

hopefully the team on the pitch will look much different next year in terms of shape mentality and movement

[alunevans]

The only players we have in the squad with pace are

Johnson (played)
Kelly (injured)
Gerrard (injured)
Suarez (cup tied)

it's a big reason why the squad just isn't good enough.

[alunevans]

I was probably one of them

Have never rated him that highly

Nor me. Always viewed him as a circus act not a footballer.

[Lecter]

on adam and young. the info on the day was that we were only a few million apart on both of these targets. if that's true i think given how little we have spent net that it's poor to let them go.

had we have made sure we got them two as well i think the side would have looked far better. we may not get them in the summer now. and we're definitely a less attractive proposition with no european football of any sort awaiting.

i was critical of the current powers that be on that one, and still am.

Blackpool dicked us around over Adam - we bid higher than the bid they supposedly accepted from spurs

Young wasnt for sale from what I've heard - it wasnt a case of being a million or two out they just wouldnt sell him in January

[Lecter]

Nor me. Always viewed him as a circus act not a footballer.

[alunevans]

He made it worse by investing in players that were a lower standard again than those we let go. He spent a lot on Konchesky and Poulsen and let two players who are superior go on loan. We could have used that money to improve the squad. He managed to weaken us through it.

Agreed, but them 2 players aren't really why the squad is so weak. The squad is weak because by and large it's full of substandard players, most of whom Hodgson had nothing to do with.

[Arn]

Agreed, but them 2 players aren't really why the squad is so weak. The squad is weak because by and large it's full of substandard players, most of whom Hodgson had nothing to do with.

Paying £30m+ in interest plus not having a very big stadium. The two key points to why the squad is so weak.

[Lecter]

Agreed, but them 2 players aren't really why the squad is so weak. The squad is weak because by and large it's full of substandard players, most of whom Hodgson had nothing to do with.

Jones, Konchesy & Poulsen thats nearly £12 million spent and only one of those players has even featured under Kenny

Bearing that in mind we might have been better off just spending the £12 million on one player

[alunevans]

Reina, Carragher, Agger (when fit), Kelly, Gerrard (well he use to)

Then you have Suarez and Carroll who I think will give this

Maxi, Cole, Johnson are too inconsistent

Meireles and Lucas have been half decent under Kenny

Problem is in general our most consistent players are defensive ones

Reina agreed.
Carragher agreed.
Agger agreed but he doesn't consistently even play never mind consistently play well, so while I rate him, I won't count him for this one.
Kelly and Gerrard agreed.

Carroll I don't know yet.

Suarez will I'm sure.

That's 5 maybe 6 outfield players from the entire squad of how many.

We need a clearout. We'd be claiming a lack of strength in depth if we only had 11 good performers and the subs were ****.

To have half of the first team failing to give consistently good performances sets huge alarm bells off.

[alunevans]

Jones, Konchesy & Poulsen thats nearly £12 million spent and only one of those players has even featured under Kenny

Bearing that in mind we might have been better off just spending the £12 million on one player

I agree Lec, and I agree with Matt's point that Hodgson was cack in the transfer market for us. I just don't agree that he (here for one transfer window) is the reason why the squad is substandard.

He didn't help certainly. He exacerbated it. I'll agree to that too. But he's not the reason in my view.

[Mattshark]

I agree Lec, and I agree with Matt's point that Hodgson was cack in the transfer market for us. I just don't agree that he (here for one transfer window) is the reason why the squad is substandard.

He didn't help certainly. He exacerbated it. I'll agree to that too. But he's not the reason in my view.

Well the biggest reason obviously is H&G.