Is it Redschnapps …Or The Players???

I’m not alone in always having loved the eclectic mix of contributors to this blog. I am after all merely the the first bloke to daub its walls. The best stuff for me has always lay beneath the line.

The last result of the fearless Tottinghams reheated a few chestnuts that if real, the vendor really ought have binned ’em long before then.

SpurredoninDublin raised some very, very good points in some of his recent comments and this is an exercise in debate rather than attempt to brainwash those unconvinced. And so a not inconsiderable ‘thank you’ for this evening’s sermon.

So has Arry run his course? Can you, yes you my highly distinguished reader actually  separate the manager’s failings from the player’s with a cigarette paper?

What I’ve done is C&P a few extracts, added my own thoughts to form a conversation of sorts that some of you might like to add to. No wrongs or rights, just talking…

SpurredoninDublin: Defoe is beginning to make Keane look good, and Pav after three years, has still never been given a run in the team. The January window didn’t produce any improvements, which when you look at the prices that were being paid, was hardly surprising. Look at the England Squad. When players like Nolan can get a game, then you know how poor the quality of strikers are in general.

HH : Do we then sack everyone and ship in at least 2 superstars? Because we simply cannot/will not pay the wages.

SpurredoninDublin: If you then look at our resource base, 12th largest ground in the 4 divisions, and there are approximately 100 teams in Europe that have bigger grounds than ours. Two of the clubs above us at present have “money no object sugar daddies”, and we have the smallest ground of the top seven in the league based on today’s table.

HH: One issue then appears to be we have bought cheap and therefore need to buy twice…

SpurredoninDublin: The injuries to the defenders (and an adequate explanation for Gomes), six different CB’s, three different RB’s and the only one that has remained more or less injury free, tears his hamstring in the game following the best performance by a LB that we have seen in years.

The injuries to the defenders (and an adequate explanation for Gomes), six different CB’s, three different RB’s and the only one that has remained more or less injury free, tears his hamstring in the game following the best performance by a LB that we have seen in years.

HH: I firmly believe that there is not a good goal keeper anywhere in the world stood behind a conveyor belt of defenders.

SpurredoninDublin:The manager: It’s amazing how many of us claim to know his mind. Unfortunately I lack that talent so all I will say, was that when he took over, most of us were expecting relegation. If you had told us when he took over, that we were going to 8th 4th and then 5th or 6th, we would have asked who your dealer was, because that is some powerful sh*t you must be consuming.

HH: I think the stat’s speak for themselves, but many of our fans speak for their expectations.

SpurredoninDublin:I am not happy with where we are at the moment, but on paper we are middleweights fighting super-heavies in terms of resources. Since the star of the PL, only one team smaller than us has won the PL, and they had a sugar daddy.

So this week, the villain was HR, a few days ago, it was Gomes, and before that Crouch. Next week it will probably be someone else. A few weeks ago, it was DL for not buying anyone, unless of course you are on the HR haters, in which case it was HR’s fault for not telling DL who to buy.

HH: ‘Everybody Or At Least Somebody Out!’ Syndrome.

SpurredoninDublin:There is nothing wrong with having high expectations, but these should be tempered with a reality check which says that on paper, we might occasionally win a cup, and every couple of years qualify for the EL, and maybe make the last eight now and again. Anything other than that should not be expected as a right.

In most previous years, the “Sky 4? had more or less guaranteed their places in the CL by Mid-March, but the last couple of seasons, we have competed all the way.

So there’s the start point. From what I hope two pretty decent perspectives.

Talk to me…