Do you think players leaving our club are better then when they arrived?

[Thunder Bolt]

Noone is the odd one for me, and part of the reason I no longer wear the rosy specs, although still firmly on the bus.

He was what he was, we all knew his play and it never changed.
So when he left, irrespective what posters say now, nobody was too bothered and we were happy for the cash.

But the complete revelation that is Nooney, him now being the player he should have been but never was for Gus, doesn't sit right.

I think Noone did improve during his time here, we also made a good profit on him but think that his replacement, ie Orlandi is better.

 

[Stat Brother]

I was gutted when he left.
But we had Buckley and KLL, Noone barely figured in 2012, and we weren't jumping up and down for his inclusion.

 

[Stat Brother]

I think Noone did improve during his time here, we also made a good profit on him but think that his replacement, ie Orlandi is better.

Orlandi definitely makes it all rather academic.

Noone may well have improved slightly under Gus, but nothing when comparing to how he is/was playing for Cardiff.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Noone improved every aspect of his game here. But as is so often the case, the club which produces the player doesn't get the benefit of it. We created him for Cardiff's benefit, which is a shame but in reality that is the type of team he is going to thrive in. Not our more controlled and slow team, Cardiff get it to him nice and quick, he has people in the box to find rather than just CMS and he has a lot more freedom. Fair play, Cardiff scouted him brilliantly and they were absolutely right... He's been a smash there. But Orlandi is a better footballer for how we play, and we got a million for Noone so it WAS brilliant business in every respect.

 

[Doc Lynam]

Ok so as a sub question who do you think has improved the most under Gus and not forgetting Tanno? For me in pure adaptability it has to be Ashley Barnes but at 23 i think he could turn into one hell of a centre forward given a few more years.

 

[maresfield seagull]

Adam El Abd vast improvement Dicker and Barnes seem to have been most receptive/adaptable to gus s ideas Hence their perceived protected status in some fans eyes when picked frequently If seemingly out of form

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Adam El Abd vast improvement

Absolutely this. For a start, he gave him massive confidence as soon as he arrived. Really bigged El-Abd up in the press and I remember a lot of dissenting voices on here when he did that, I was dubious as well to be fair. But the improvement in El-Abd from error prone League 1 struggler into a solid central defender in the upper reaches of the Championship has been incredible to watch. He is a completely different player now.

But as someone said on the other page, it's not just Gus. Taricco and Oatway, principally take their bow too because without them, what have you got? Same with Godden and now Beasley with the goalkeepers.

 

[Doc Lynam]

Noone improved every aspect of his game here. But as is so often the case, the club which produces the player doesn't get the benefit of it. We created him for Cardiff's benefit, which is a shame but in reality that is the type of team he is going to thrive in. Not our more controlled and slow team, Cardiff get it to him nice and quick, he has people in the box to find rather than just CMS and he has a lot more freedom. Fair play, Cardiff scouted him brilliantly and they were absolutely right... He's been a smash there. But Orlandi is a better footballer for how we play, and we got a million for Noone so it WAS brilliant business in every respect.

I think this is getting closer to what my original question was asking and i have to agree, for me Gus's style asks for you to be changeable to whats going on during the course of a game, this is where i think Spanish Dave will shine as he develops to our style. I don't think Noony had that, Cardiff had a square hole the needed filling and Noone was that peg.

Adam El Abd vast improvement Dicker and Barnes seem to have been most receptive/adaptable to gus s ideas Hence their perceived protected status in some fans eyes when picked frequently If seemingly out of form

Completely forgot about Dicker as well but i think he was a player with a good football brain and was lucky enough to find a manger who could teach him the finer details of his role, i have to say i do love seeing Dicker switching the play when no one else expects it.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

I think this is getting closer to what my original question was asking and i have to agree, for me Gus's style asks for you to be changeable to whats going on during the course of a game, this is where i think Spanish Dave will shine as he develops to our style. I don't think Noony had that, Cardiff had a square hole the needed filling and Noone was that peg.

I think our game requires real technicians. I think we sacrifice talents like Noone but that's not universally a bad thing. I like that we're playing a distinctive style and completely agree with signing players who are going to thrive in it. Spanish Dave is really starting to look an absolute footballer now and considering how he looked when he first started playing, it's a world of difference. At the start, I thought he looked lost in that he didn't really understand what we wanted from him. He looks like he totally gets it now, but my only concern is Will Buckley. I don't see him particularly thriving as the team keeps evolving, I think the move to put him up front is very significant and to me suggests that is where Gus sees him playing longer term. I don't really think that suits his game though, so I wouldn't be totally suprised if he left in the summer. I think we need to keep different options to change the game when we need to, but in terms of the starting line up, I think we're very close now that Vicente is back to not including Buckley in our strongest team.

Completely forgot about Dicker as well but i think he was a player with a good football brain and was lucky enough to find a manger who could teach him the finer details of his role, i have to say i do love seeing Dicker switching the play when no one else expects it.

This completely. Dicker was on the bench for the Slade team, he was struggling to make an impact. Personally, I never doubted him and I know there was a lot of support for Dicker on here around that time. But he has benefitted massively from Gus taking over, Dicker's talents and strengths are pretty obviously in his passing and for me, Gus got lucky as well in that he immediately had an absolute gem to make us play the way he wanted without having to bring him in. We needed to sign the goalkeeper to play the system and we needed a centre back who would lead that passing style from the back. Casper was free, as was Brezovan and now Kuszczak, and Greer cost a drop in the ocean at £250,000... But he was also lucky in that El-Abd was here (although we didn't all know it at the time), Dicker was here, Bennett was here and Murray was here. We had the basic ingredients for him to cook up his feast.

 

[Doc Lynam]

I think our game requires real technicians. I think we sacrifice talents like Noone but that's not universally a bad thing. I like that we're playing a distinctive style and completely agree with signing players who are going to thrive in it. Spanish Dave is really starting to look an absolute footballer now and considering how he looked when he first started playing, it's a world of difference. At the start, I thought he looked lost in that he didn't really understand what we wanted from him. He looks like he totally gets it now, but my only concern is Will Buckley. I don't see him particularly thriving as the team keeps evolving, I think the move to put him up front is very significant and to me suggests that is where Gus sees him playing longer term. I don't really think that suits his game though, so I wouldn't be totally suprised if he left in the summer. I think we need to keep different options to change the game when we need to, but in terms of the starting line up, I think we're very close now that Vicente is back to not including Buckley in our strongest team.



This completely. Dicker was on the bench for the Slade team, he was struggling to make an impact. Personally, I never doubted him and I know there was a lot of support for Dicker on here around that time. But he has benefitted massively from Gus taking over, Dicker's talents and strengths are pretty obviously in his passing and for me, Gus got lucky as well in that he immediately had an absolute gem to make us play the way he wanted without having to bring him in. We needed to sign the goalkeeper to play the system and we needed a centre back who would lead that passing style from the back. Casper was free, as was Brezovan and now Kuszczak, and Greer cost a drop in the ocean at £250,000... But he was also lucky in that El-Abd was here (although we didn't all know it at the time), Dicker was here, Bennett was here and Murray was here. We had the basic ingredients for him to cook up his feast.

Have to say i agree with almost everything you posted and i also have my doubts about how Buckley fits into a highly technical team, if you see adaptability as high on the players requirements. But given his long contract extension i can only surmise Gus wants top dollar for him or just as possible, sees the very obvious qualities of a very direct player with an eye for a goal. But i wouldn't be surprised if Gus still sees him as a winger, to be honest there aren't many players like Will around these days.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I would say that Liam Bridcutt has improved since he arrived. He was on loan at Watford and then trialled at Palace, with nobody giving him a chance until August 2010 when Navarro ruptured his cruciate ligament. Bridcutt arrived and learned from Kish as soon as he went into the team until now when he must be the first name on the team sheet every week.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Have to say i agree with almost everything you posted and i also have my doubts about how Buckley fits into a highly technical team, if you see adaptability as high on the players requirements. But given his long contract extension i can only surmise Gus wants top dollar for him or just as possible, sees the very obvious qualities of a very direct player with an eye for a goal. But i wouldn't be surprised if Gus still sees him as a winger, to be honest there aren't many players like Will around these days.

Sometimes my ramblings make sense! I think there is more than enough space for variety in the squad, and there will be plenty of games where we need Buckley and LuaLua but think about this midfield;
Bridcutt Hammond Lopez Vicente Orlandi (Ulloa). Amazing. You need LuaLua and Buckley, to scare opposition as much as anything else but also to have options. I fear a bit for the future of LuaLua though. Buckley is more adaptable, but this is what LuaLua does. He won't change. I think he might need a move to realise his full potential.

I would say that Liam Bridcutt has improved since he arrived. He was on loan at Watford and then trialled at Palace, with nobody giving him a chance until August 2010 when Navarro ruptured his cruciate ligament. Bridcutt arrived and learned from Kish as soon as he went into the team until now when he must be the first name on the team sheet every week.

I remembrr Bridcutt playing at Withdean for Stockport and thinking he'd be a class player eventually. His sending off confirmed we should be interested! Thanks for him, Ray Wilkins. And Kish. Granted, it meant him dropping out and not playing much but I suspect he was imperative in Bridcutt's development.