Squad Strength

[Bromley shrimp]

Left for one reason or another: Fraser, Loft, Richards, Sullivan, Heath, Owusu.
Kept: Murray, McLeod, Hawkins, El Abd.

Shoot me down, but I can't see how this has contributed to strengthening the squad.

And with Elphick suspended is it any wonder that the Millwall game is now taking on such significance re the futures of Messers Boker, White and Slade? After all who else ultimately could have been responsible for the above?

 

[RexCathedra]

There are flavors of 'left' -- there's 'chucked out' and 'walked away', for starters.

Not a simple question.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Left for one reason or another: Fraser, Loft, Richards, Sullivan, Heath, Owusu.
Kept: Murray, McLeod, Hawkins, El Abd.

Shoot me down, but I can't see how this has contributed to strengthening the squad.

And with Elphick suspended is it any wonder that the Millwall game is now taking on such significance re the futures of Messers Boker, White and Slade? After all who else ultimately could have been responsible for the above?

There is no logic to your post at all. Fraser and Loft are not good enough, Richards never played under Slade so hard to blame him, Sullivan was out of contract and has been replaced by Smith who looks good, Heath was not our player and Owusu was offered a one year deal (rightly in my opinion) and chose to go to Australia for a two year deal.

With Murray we need another club to offer us sufficient money to sell him (or would you release our best player) and McLeod, Hawkins and El Abd would either have to get an offer from another club (which presumably there has not been) or released, in which case we have to pay them off so might as well keep them in case they are needed.

I think that is probably the most ridiculous case for Slade etc to get the push, unless it is meant as a wind up.

 

[Bromley shrimp]

There is no logic to your post at all. Fraser and Loft are not good enough, Richards never played under Slade so hard to blame him, Sullivan was out of contract and has been replaced by Smith who looks good, Heath was not our player and Owusu was offered a one year deal (rightly in my opinion) and chose to go to Australia for a two year deal.

With Murray we need another club to offer us sufficient money to sell him (or would you release our best player) and McLeod, Hawkins and El Abd would either have to get an offer from another club (which presumably there has not been) or released, in which case we have to pay them off so might as well keep them in case they are needed.

I think that is probably the most ridiculous case for Slade etc to get the push, unless it is meant as a wind up.

Any logic you have is seriously undermined by your assertion that Murray is our best player. Were you at Brentford?

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Any logic you have is seriously undermined by your assertion that Murray is our best player. Were you at Brentford?

I am not talking about this season. In terms of talent he is our best player. He may not be bothered now but that is due to motivation rather than ability. I was at Brentford and he was okay (caused a few problems). Did you watch him when he was fit last season during his brilliant run in September and October?

 

[RM-Taylor]

Any logic you have is seriously undermined by your assertion that Murray is our best player. Were you at Brentford?

He is, in my mind and quite a few others too, the BEST player at the club.

Just because he blanked some Albion fans doesn't make him instantly shit.

 

[Acker79]

The big flaw is that you're talking about squad strength and only considering those that left, and are ignoring those that joined us.

 

[Bromley shrimp]

Game of opinions mate re Murray and a debate in its own right, but my real point is whether the net result of what went on in the summer re the above players was to strengthen or otherwise the squad and ultimately the team we now rely on to represent us on the pitch. There comes a point when excuses start to look a bit thin and peoples' decisions have to be called into question.

 

[albionalex]

There is no logic to your post at all. Fraser and Loft are not good enough, Richards never played under Slade so hard to blame him, Sullivan was out of contract and has been replaced by Smith who looks good, Heath was not our player and Owusu was offered a one year deal (rightly in my opinion) and chose to go to Australia for a two year deal.

With Murray we need another club to offer us sufficient money to sell him (or would you release our best player) and McLeod, Hawkins and El Abd would either have to get an offer from another club (which presumably there has not been) or released, in which case we have to pay them off so might as well keep them in case they are needed.

I think that is probably the most ridiculous case for Slade etc to get the push, unless it is meant as a wind up.

 

[Bromley shrimp]

Well if you mean "needed" to get sent off, score blinding own goals, make dodgy back passes, play sick-note or never do a full 90 minutes. I have to applaud your vision.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Game of opinions mate re Murray and a debate in its own right, but my real point is whether the net result of what went on in the summer re the above players was to strengthen or otherwise the squad and ultimately the team we now rely on to represent us on the pitch. There comes a point when excuses start to look a bit thin and peoples' decisions have to be called into question.

In my opinion, as individuals we have better players but they are yet to gel. When they do we will be fine and Slade is the man to do that. I find it incredible that people are actually questioning his position after four games. People complain when managers and players leave and criticise their loyalty, yet here people are calling for Slade's head after four games when he brilliantly saved us from relegation last season.

In my opinion, all the players you mentioned were the right decisions except for Owusu (his not Slade's decision) and possibly Sullivan (although Smith looks better). I think Fraser and Loft are not good enough and the players we have bought in will prove to be better and would you seriously play Heath above Elphick, Tunnicliffe and Virgo?

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Well if you mean "needed" to get sent off, score blinding own goals, make dodgy back passes, play sick-note or never do a full 90 minutes. I have to applaud your vision.

Sorry so you are criticising Slade for severly weakening our squad and then you are having a go at him for keeping players who can play when we have players out. We have plenty of strength in depth and El Abd will play on Friday but he is 7th choice defender and is a pretty good option there.

Also, you could pick errors out from any other player. How about Heath, one of the players you mention. He gave away a penalty at Orient and got sent off giving away another penalty at Scunthorpe.

I would not play any of McLeod, Hawkins or El Abd as first choice but they are clearly options. Surely anyone can see that it is better to keep them as you will have to pay them off otherwise. If someone offered to take them on a free we would consider it.

Murray, on the other hand, is far more complicated. He will supposedly only move north and we need to get our money back for him. It is far from Slade's fault that this has not happened.

 

[Bromley shrimp]

I am not talking about this season. In terms of talent he is our best player. He may not be bothered now but that is due to motivation rather than ability. I was at Brentford and he was okay (caused a few problems). Did you watch him when he was fit last season during his brilliant run in September and October?

Probably. I was one of the ones up at Tranmere tho' chanting for "Super Glen" to come off the bench on Dec 20th. Apart from when in space at Brentford and he ran round in a circle before shooting I thought he was very much up for it, but when it takes White to defend his approach on the same day in the Argus and he blanks very pointedley the fans and more importantly his own team mates at the end of the game I can't see how this sits comfortably with a "best player" tag.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Probably. I was one of the ones up at Tranmere tho' chanting for "Super Glen" to come off the bench on Dec 20th. Apart from when in space at Brentford and he ran round in a circle before shooting I thought he was very much up for it, but when it takes White to defend his approach on the same day in the Argus and he blanks very pointedley the fans and more importantly his own team mates at the end of the game I can't see how this sits comfortably with a "best player" tag.

His attitude is irrelevant. His ability makes him the best Brighton player. I am not going to get into a debate about the rights and wrongs of the Brentford incident as it is not relevant to this situation (although I was pissed off with his reaction at the end too) but just because he didn't applaud the fans, does not mean his talent reduced.

 

[Skaville]

Left for one reason or another: Fraser, Loft, Richards, Sullivan, Heath, Owusu.
Kept: Murray, McLeod, Hawkins, El Abd.

Shoot me down, but I can't see how this has contributed to strengthening the squad.

And with Elphick suspended is it any wonder that the Millwall game is now taking on such significance re the futures of Messers Boker, White and Slade? After all who else ultimately could have been responsible for the above?

Bollocks. No losses there except for Owusu and he made his choice. We're much stronger as a squad... you'll see...

 

[Bromley shrimp]

I'm not on Slade's case, but there is a continuum from the old guard. So does he not have a say in who his backroom staff are and if so why was he so accepting of the part that White and Booker must surely have had in offering 2 year contracts to the aforementioned let alone what they were thinking of in paying £55k for Johnny Dixon. Or were they so much in Adams's pocket that I'm barking up the wrong tree?

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

Bollocks. No losses there except for Owusu and he made his choice. We're much stronger as a squad... you'll see...

Agree. Although it may not look like it at the moment, we at least have a half decent back-up in each position without relying too much on loans.

Under Adams, the squad was as strong as a vegetarian with ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

I'm not on Slade's case, but there is a continuum from the old guard. So does he not have a say in who his backroom staff are and if so why was he so accepting of the part that White and Booker must surely have had in offering 2 year contracts to the aforementioned let alone what they were thinking of in paying £55k for Johnny Dixon. Or were they so much in Adams's pocket that I'm barking up the wrong tree?

You mentioned in your first post about Slade's future so I assumed (fairly logically) that it was being questioned. I think he did have a say in who his backroom staff were but chose White and Booker. There seems to be an assumption that they are rubbish but surely Slade is in a better position to judge than any of us.

As for the players you mentioned, presumably they were Adams choice after scouting by Barry Lloyd. Lloyd apparently also scouted Dixon for Dean Wilkins.

 

[Bromley shrimp]

Millwall is important and could be a nail in the coffin. However, I'm not saying the result in itself should indicate a change of manager, neither would I say it is a must win game as Slade said before Stockport, but I don't think it's wrong even at this early stage in the proceedings to put decisions made up until this point under the microscope, given that we would end up with 11.5 points at the end of the season on current form.

 

[BensGrandad]

Y
As for the players you mentioned, presumably they were Adams choice after scouting by Barry Lloyd. Lloyd apparently also scouted Dixon for Dean Wilkins.

I am told that Dixon was signed by DK and that nobody from the backroom staff knew anything about it or wanted it. He apparently turned up at training as the new signing and everybody thought that he was a trialist. How true that is I dont know just told it by a player, dont even bother asking me who told me.