Bolton vs Chelsea

[Tombwfc]

And all N'Gog has done is run around a bit and had a couple of nice touches. Might as well have kept Elmander.

Whether Taylor can offer the same as Petrov has done is irrelevant, he doesn't play for us any more. More important is the fact that Gardner, Eagles and Kakuta can't offer those things.

Whether it means just opting for blind faith in Robbo, switching Petrov to the right, or deploying a small army of defensive midfielders to cover for him, Petrov has to play.

[lovethesmellofnapalm]

i think N'Gog will prove to be a far better signing than Elmander
Elmander was shite- just because he was in the team when we were better is just a (un)happy coincidence

[Tombwfc]

I was only using Elmander as an example, and I'm sure N'Gog will be a good player for us. But....










Completely co-incidental.

[Lord Kangana]

What, that he was shite under previous management?

[hisroyalgingerness]

That curse hasn't half had us this time out

[wanderers_on_tour]

And all N'Gog has done is run around a bit and had a couple of nice touches. Might as well have kept Elmander.

Whether Taylor can offer the same as Petrov has done is irrelevant, he doesn't play for us any more. More important is the fact that Gardner, Eagles and Kakuta can't offer those things.

Whether it means just opting for blind faith in Robbo, switching Petrov to the right, or deploying a small army of defensive midfielders to cover for him, Petrov has to play.

Lets start at the beginning. Elmander had 3 years at the club and, forgetting a slight purple patch between sept-dec last year, did the grand total of feck all. N'Gog has only had one real start in the premier league (Arsenal aside) as an almost lone attacker against Chelsea the other afternoon and showed more promise in that 70 odd minutes then the entirity of Elmanders reign. Pace, check. Good first touch, check. Strength, check. Not shy of a chellenge, check. All the qualities Johan occasionally promised, yet never really delivered, N'Gog has matched, if not raised. All he needs is games to prove if he can do it week in/week out. Given some better delivery, i.e a Tuncay/Kakuta I feel he's almost guaranteed a 10+ haul this season.

[Lord Kangana]

He only gets 18 months to prove himself at that pricetag though.

[Wandering Willy]

He only gets 18 months to prove himself at that pricetag though.

So at £50m Torres' time is up?

[Lord Kangana]

I thought you were good at maths.

[Tals-biggest-fan]

I was only using Elmander as an example, and I'm sure N'Gog will be a good player for us. But....










Completely co-incidental.

It all went downhill from here!!

[a1]

Since the opening day we've scored 7 goals in the games Petrov has played in (which is all of them bar Villa in the cup). He's scored two, has three assists and was directly involved in Klasnic's goal at Liverpool.

No-one slated him more than me last season, and he can't defend, but he is delivering (moreso than anyone else anyway) going forward. If Reo-Coker, who doesn't stop us conceding and is incapable of attacking, is our player of the season (by a mile), then why is it so bad for Petrov to be incapable of defending given he sets up or scores nearly all of our goals?

He's not fantastic by any means, but with Lee out he's just about all we've got.

coz we're losing by five pretty regular , and its making big paul look like an astmatic grandma chump when some 20 million pound winger / fullback is running at him full pelt. thus making half the goals 'his' fault.

i'd play darren p Out Of Position just for laughs. carnt be worse.

[Prufrock]

So, you know, counting games that count, and discounting those that don't, we've scored 11 goals, of which he has scored one, and set up three, two from open play, and all this for no defending?

[boltonboris]

If Petrov decided to actually do some defensive work, he'd still be able to take corners

[Hoboh]

Since the opening day we've scored 7 goals in the games Petrov has played in (which is all of them bar Villa in the cup). He's scored two, has three assists and was directly involved in Klasnic's goal at Liverpool.

No-one slated him more than me last season, and he can't defend, but he is delivering (moreso than anyone else anyway) going forward. If Reo-Coker, who doesn't stop us conceding and is incapable of attacking, is our player of the season (by a mile), then why is it so bad for Petrov to be incapable of defending given he sets up or scores nearly all of our goals?

He's not fantastic by any means, but with Lee out he's just about all we've got.

coz we're losing by five pretty regular , and its making big paul look like an astmatic grandma chump when some 20 million pound winger / fullback is running at him full pelt. thus making half the goals 'his' fault.

i'd play darren p Out Of Position just for laughs. carnt be worse.

"Big Paul" is a lump sorry chump he sure as hell ain't a premier league full back, my astmatic grandma could do much better but for the six foot of soil on top of her.

[bobo the clown]

His effort has been a lot better this year, yet he still can't defend. That, and we aren't scoring from any of this attacking work. It might be that we don't have the players that are going to attack crosses, I don't think we do, but event though it might not be his fault, all this attacking work is getting us nowhere, and he still can't defend.

Ermm did he not get an assist yesterday?

Fact is take Petrov out and we have a slow, ponderous midfield with no creativity or spark whatsoever. What we need to do is for Robinson to start doing what he's paid to do instead of running away from the ball every time a winger or striker playing out wide comes near him.

Petrov is now defined by many as a lazy player.

It's most unfair.

He's never going to be a defensive cover guy, but by God he tried on Sunday. He unfortunately has the task of covering for a full back who redefines 'slow' at this level. I like Robbo's honest, olf-fashioned style .... but he is, every week now, facing sheer speed and he's now out of his depth. To blame Petrov for gaps back there is ridiculous.

His forward play is good & hardly his fault that we have slow forwards also.

[bobo the clown]

I was only using Elmander as an example, and I'm sure N'Gog will be a good player for us. But....Completely co-incidental.

It all went downhill from here!!

... so, signing Sturridge then, eh ?

[Tombwfc]

So, you know, counting games that count, and discounting those that don't, we've scored 11 goals, of which he has scored one, and set up three, two from open play, and all this for no defending?

Because goals that aren't from open play count less, depending on whether you believe a player who doesn't play for us might've produced the same.

To cover a couple of points (and because I can't be arsed quoting), I'm not suggesting Petrov is a worldbeater, or comparing N'Gog to Elmander. Someone said that the fact Elmander was in the team when we were good was a complete co-incidence, which is clearly and obviously bollocks.

Saying Petrov does no defending at all is slightly stretching it too. I don't know what his stats are, but I would guess that his efforts at defending have improved this season (albeit, they were embarrasingly bad last season) even if he isn't that effective at it. All in all, given how shit we are generally, I'm content wiith a player who can't really defend but has scored/assisted over a quarter of our goals, and is the only outlet our players look for when they aren't twatting it to Davies. Again, considering our player of the season so far can't attack, and chose not to even defend on Saturday, I think Petrov is doing ok.

[lovethesmellofnapalm]

I said when we were "better" not "good" and i didn't use the word "complete"
pedantic perhaps
but how is it "complete bollocks" (quote) to suggest that Elmander was not the reason for our better results last season?
do "good"/"better" teams not occasionally carry inferior players?(think Jonny Evans for example). for a centre forward there was an awful lot he couldn't do that N'Gog has shown in the brief cameos he's had so far that he might just be able to do.

i prefer to go with the evidence of my own eyes - Elmander was shite for the best part of three seasons. ful stop

[BWFC_Insane]

I said when we were "better" not "good" and i didn't use the word "complete"
pedantic perhaps
but how is it "complete bollocks" (quote) to suggest that Elmander was not the reason for our better results last season?
do "good"/"better" teams not occasionally carry inferior players?(think Jonny Evans for example). for a centre forward there was an awful lot he couldn't do that N'Gog has shown in the brief cameos he's had so far that he might just be able to do.

i prefer to go with the evidence of my own eyes - Elmander was shite for the best part of three seasons. ful stop

You are right, we really carried our top goalscorer, and furthest running player last season.

Fook me, when NGog is our top scorer with 12 goals, then we can start to say we've replaced Elmander!

[Choppers]

Robinson = Coyle's best mate.

Petrov = Not.

Weird how one of them NEVER gets dropped, or subbed, no matter how shite they play, all the time.