Naby Keita

[Mark79]

So it was either his form or fitness that meant he wasn’t near the starting line up the majority of the time…

Well it wasn’t his fitness, because as we just established, he was fit.

No, it was because we used him as Thiago’s rotation. We know that neither of them are going to manage 40+ starts a season like a Gini, so we alternated them with each other so as not to overload either of them.

[Tribute]

He missed a further 4 games because of Afcon, other than that he was fit and available all season bar one month with an injury.

So it was either his form or fitness that meant he wasn’t near the starting line up the majority of the time…

[Mark79]

Wasnt he missing a lot more than that?

He missed a further 4 games because of Afcon, other than that he was fit and available all season bar one month with an injury.

[Charly]

Wasnt he missing a lot more than that?

[kev776]

As good as he can be (he's shown glimpses), he's not available 75% of the time... huge waste of talent. Needs to go in the summer.

Lst season he missed 8 games through injury.

[danperkins]

We should give him a new contract. Be like a new signing

8 year deal imo

[SB]

We should give him a new 6 month contract. Be like a new signing

[Doc_Piptorious]

We should give him a new contract. Be like a new signing

[SB]

As good as he can be (he's shown glimpses), he's not available 75% of the time... huge waste of talent. Needs to go in the summer.

[Tribute]

Naby has to go just based on his availability alone as if it was footballing reasons I’d keep him.

As good as he can be (he's shown glimpses), he's not available 75% of the time... huge waste of talent. Needs to go in the summer.

[SB]

Naby has to go just based on his availability alone as if it was footballing reasons I’d keep him.

[Fredo]

Naby Keita

No the players he brought on were exactly the problem. Neither usually press or tackle, one finally did yesterday & should have been sent off, the other just runs around aimlessly chasing butterflies. How long of playing completely **** can you describe it as a "rough patch"? 6 months? 12 months? 18 months?

I'm not a fan of Keita at the very least he presses and he does try to move the ball around and link the play.

Neither of those players started yesterday and were brought on because we needed to manage the other’s game time, so was a necessary change.

Fab had a nightmare but Hendo, not sure what was wrong with his 20 mins yesterday, he has a different game to Keita and by the time they came on the game had changed and opened up, press maybe not functioning perfectly already as in latter stages. Didn’t cost us the game.

I can’t define what is the length of a rough patch, because no one can. No one would have known that one of our most important midfielders would have gone missing for the best part of 6 months, added to the fact we lose the spine of our forward line. You expect the manager to stack the bench with players just in case something happens so that we have depth?

Why we didn’t successfully replace players might be for a multitude of reasons that you lot know nothing about. Can’t be blaming the manager for playing the way he does when this has brought success. Some of these players are hardly that old and in their early 30s. And I’m not talking about Milner.

It’s also clear we have started rebuilding, and it’s going to carry on with recruitment over the next few years. Unrealistic to expect we could have signed and replaced everyone under a single window, or expected a drop off of that level.

Also, we’re not living in the 80s where a few clubs only could afford a few players, it’s a totally different ball game to when Paisley managed (in case a smart arse shows up with this argument).

[danperkins]

I have no doubt that you can pull up stats that show we have a great win % when he plays or whatever. I don't think he's ****, I think he is a decent player who has been at or just below the level of our midfield even when we were at our peak. The issue is his reliability (and let's be honest things like that are unlikely to improve with age), IMO you can keep that type of player if they really are something special and when they are available they elevate the team to another level. For me he isn't that player, he is a player who at his and our best wasn't seeing a drop off in form when he came into the side, that IMO means that he should be replaceable. I read a stat which claimed he has only completed 90mins for us ~15 times in his 4.5 years here, while I want quality players we can't afford to be dealing with players with reliability issues. Between him and Ox we are probably getting 1 player who is available for much of the season, but we are paying them a combined wage of probably £300k a week and they are occupying 2 spots in the squad that's a false economy IMO.

[Mark79]

It’s beyond win %, its overall team performance level is regularly greater.
Basically, our best midfield includes him, and not just this season in comparison to everyone else struggling.

I don’t think anyone has any arguments over the availability issue.

[Exiled_red]

I have no doubt that you can pull up stats that show we have a great win % when he plays or whatever. I don't think he's ****, I think he is a decent player who has been at or just below the level of our midfield even when we were at our peak. The issue is his reliability (and let's be honest things like that are unlikely to improve with age), IMO you can keep that type of player if they really are something special and when they are available they elevate the team to another level. For me he isn't that player, he is a player who at his and our best wasn't seeing a drop off in form when he came into the side, that IMO means that he should be replaceable. I read a stat which claimed he has only completed 90mins for us ~15 times in his 4.5 years here, while I want quality players we can't afford to be dealing with players with reliability issues. Between him and Ox we are probably getting 1 player who is available for much of the season, but we are paying them a combined wage of probably £300k a week and they are occupying 2 spots in the squad that's a false economy IMO.