Back to football & the Team

[davieG]

From The Merc.

City not good enough - Megson We may not be there yet but we will be. That is City manager Gary Megson's verdict after his first week in charge.

Megson is still gauging the personnel he has taken over, and when he was asked whether the squad has what it takes to get City into the top flight this season, his answer was brutally frank.

"Not as it is at the moment, not from what I have seen. But we have got to cope with that, and find a way of playing that suits everybody.

"People have got to accept that they will be judged on what they do, not what they have done or what they say. I have not changed it too much, and I certainly haven't changed it by choice as yet, but that will come.

"Right now they have the chance to stake their claims but, if they don't produce, they will be out and someone else will get the chance. That is not just football but life in general.

"The squad itself is too big, the quality is not there at the moment, and that is not a criticism of anyone else. It is the same at a lot of football clubs.

"This is a Premiership club in everything but status and the squad needs improving. We have 45 players and they are much of a muchness.

"It is not the squad but the team you can get out of it, and we have chucked away two points against QPR and, after a really good first half at Forest, we didn't play anywhere near as well.

But we won thanks to a couple of players coming on with a point to prove, and a bit of fortune. But mainly a tremendous desire to get through the tie.

"What we have to do is be successful short term which gives you the opportunity to take your time. You can't just say we want to be in the Premiership, you have to have a method of how to actually do that, and it is early days for me to say €˜Yes we can,' or €˜No we can't', but there are things that are decent, some things that have to change.

"I have been here only a week, a full week time wise, but not in the sense that I could make them do the work we need to do and would want to do."

It was bizarre even by modern-day standards for a new manager to come in after only four games, and Megson joked at the time that his contract was "long-term, six-weeks".

Now there is a new M&M, Megson and Mandaric, but the manager said: "It is not just the two of us. There is a lot of input from some very good people here. There is a demarcation line where everyone has their responsibilities, but there is always input.

"The ambition has to be all the same. I don't think anyone would disagree this club wants to be in the Premiership as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, 23 other clubs in the Championship feel the same and, rather than give a target, the question is can the team

actually achieve that? Will the team be good enough? We will see. We want to be successful short-term and long term. That is the target that has been set.

"It is like having a ladder and you are on the bottom rung and you want to get to the top, which means the Premiership, so how are you going to get there?

"You can't just state your intentions, you have to get a method and plan of what you want to do to climb that ladder to the top."

[Geo V]

No manager comes into a club and doesnt want to stamp his authority with changes whether its in training methods or the playing staff. All managers think differently so will have their personal favourite players or preffered style of players so what Megson is saying is to be expected. As a fan, Im delighted to read into the comments because hopefully that means a few more will sign on initially, obviously on loan but hopefully we can now get that left-back, creative central midfielder and real quality striker because quite a bit of the current players who fill the positions Ive just mentioned are very hit and miss.

[Ric Flair]

Straight talking from Megson. I don't agree that all 45 are a much of a muchness, there's the nucleus for a good team in Fulop, N'Gotty, Kaebi, Kisnorbo, McAuley, Clemence, Wesolowski, Ferreira & Hume, possibly DJ Campbell as well.

But we do need to strip the squad down and still bring some quality in to certain areas, which is mind boggling considering the 16 signings we've already made this summer.

[Fez of Mahrez]

But we won thanks to a couple of players coming on with a point to prove, and a bit of fortune. But mainly a tremendous desire to get through the tie.

Good news for our boy Stearz - and Matty too.

[eaststandtom]

i think megson is a straight talking kind of guy

to the point, which is what is needed

[Bellend Sebastian]

Straight talking and pulling no punches.

I wasn't inspired by his appointment when I heard about it, but this is encouraging. He gives the impression of knowing what he's doing.

I think we have a good nucleus of a team, but I'd agree that there are a lot of players in the squad making up the numbers, quite a few of which were signed over the summer

[gosfox]

Encouraging straight talking from Megson..... but is he calling into question the alleged signings by Milan????

Its all very well saying better quality players are required, we all know that, but we also know that it is virtually impossible to tempt any player away from a Prem team to come and ply his trade in the championship..... why should they. Because of all the money sloshing around in the upper eschelons the prem is 'the only place to be' and teams like LCFC will have to make the most they can from those past there best, or not quite good enough, which also makes it all the more difficult to remain in the prem if you manage to get there!

[Daggers]

No manager comes into a club and doesnt want to stamp his authority with changes whether its in training methods or the playing staff. All managers think differently so will have their personal favourite players or preffered style of players so what Megson is saying is to be expected.

Yup - but it goes beyond that...it's an honest assessment of the squad and our chances at present that many of us already understood but no one from the club would say otherwise ~ which led to the daft over-hyping of our chances on these boards.

Well said Meggo - one more plus point for him.

[AyewJoking]

Sounds like hes sitting on the fence but is there a nice way to say, "what a shambles!"

[hebangsthedrums]

This is my view of the squad:

* get rid depending on replacements and other transfers in/out

# consider getting rid at end of season

Key Members

2 James Chambers

3 Patrick Kisnorbo

4 Bruno N'Gotty # (depending on if he can keep the pace)

5 Gareth McAuley

6 Stephen Clemence

7 Iain Hume

14 James Wesolowski

21 Marton Fulop (on loan from Sndrlnd )

Squad Players

8 Radostin Kishishev #

9 Carl Cort * (one of these three)

10 Dudley Campbell * (one of these three)

12 Matt Fryatt * (one of these three)

15 Jonathan Hayes* #

16 Alan Sheehan #

17 Richard Stearman

20 Mark De Vries #

22 Levi Porter #

31 Paul Henderson*

Prospects/Unknown quantities

13 Hossein Kaebi

21 Conrad Logan (on loan to Stckprt ) #

23 Joe Mattock

24 Louis Dodds (on loan to Lincoln ) #

25 Max-Alain Gradel (on loan to Brnmth )

29 Reneil Sappleton

30 Eric Odhiambo (on loan to Southnd )

35 Julio Marco Ferreira (on loan from Benfica )

Adda Djeziri (on loan from BK Frem )

Andy King

Billy McKay

Dead Wood

1 Jimmy Nielsen

11 Shaun Newton

18 Sergio Hellings

19 Elvis Hammond

28 Darren Kenton

Robert Douglas (on loan to Millwll )

Alan Maybury

Not sure how to categorise CC, can't see him playing again myself.

26 Clive Clarke (on loan from Sndrlnd )

* get rid depending on replacements and other transfers in/out

# consider getting rid at end of season

The problem as others mention is three of our better players are centre backs so either one doesn't play or N'Gotty play RB which means Chambers misses out. Other than that if we were to get rid of all the players I've categorised dead wood plus the other three I've starred thats a much better squad size and still has a fair bit of depth. If we take a slightly longer term view then maybe Kish and MDV won't be here next year, some of the young strikers will have given a better indication of their ability, so there will be space to add some decent players, not just mediocrity in numbers.

[Smudge]

Milan must be wondering what the hell has he done. Having personally brought in a bunch of players including the last two. His new manager is saying that this squad is not good enough and it's too big. I can't imagine him being is pleased to hear that said in public........

Nevertheless, it's good to hear an honest appraisal..........

[davieG]

Milan must be wondering what the hell has he done. Having personally brought in a bunch of players including the last two. His new manager is saying that this squad is not good enough and it's too big. I can't imagine him being is pleased to hear that said in public........

Nevertheless, it's good to hear an honest appraisal..........

As good as it is to hear it's not exactly a revelation, we all know that we have too many hangers on and too many that aren't up to scratch. What we can be sure of though is there wouldn't be universal agreement from the fans on who would be on which list.

[Thracian]

From The Merc.

City not good enough - Megson We may not be there yet but we will be. That is City manager Gary Megson's verdict after his first week in charge.

Megson is still gauging the personnel he has taken over, and when he was asked whether the squad has what it takes to get City into the top flight this season, his answer was brutally frank.

"Not as it is at the moment, not from what I have seen. But we have got to cope with that, and find a way of playing that suits everybody.

"People have got to accept that they will be judged on what they do, not what they have done or what they say. I have not changed it too much, and I certainly haven't changed it by choice as yet, but that will come.

"Right now they have the chance to stake their claims but, if they don't produce, they will be out and someone else will get the chance. That is not just football but life in general.

"The squad itself is too big, the quality is not there at the moment, and that is not a criticism of anyone else. It is the same at a lot of football clubs.

"This is a Premiership club in everything but status and the squad needs improving. We have 45 players and they are much of a muchness.

"It is not the squad but the team you can get out of it, and we have chucked away two points against QPR and, after a really good first half at Forest, we didn't play anywhere near as well.

But we won thanks to a couple of players coming on with a point to prove, and a bit of fortune. But mainly a tremendous desire to get through the tie.

"What we have to do is be successful short term which gives you the opportunity to take your time. You can't just say we want to be in the Premiership, you have to have a method of how to actually do that, and it is early days for me to say €˜Yes we can,' or €˜No we can't', but there are things that are decent, some things that have to change.

"I have been here only a week, a full week time wise, but not in the sense that I could make them do the work we need to do and would want to do."

It was bizarre even by modern-day standards for a new manager to come in after only four games, and Megson joked at the time that his contract was "long-term, six-weeks".

Now there is a new M&M, Megson and Mandaric, but the manager said: "It is not just the two of us. There is a lot of input from some very good people here. There is a demarcation line where everyone has their responsibilities, but there is always input.

"The ambition has to be all the same. I don't think anyone would disagree this club wants to be in the Premiership as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, 23 other clubs in the Championship feel the same and, rather than give a target, the question is can the team

actually achieve that? Will the team be good enough? We will see. We want to be successful short-term and long term. That is the target that has been set.

"It is like having a ladder and you are on the bottom rung and you want to get to the top, which means the Premiership, so how are you going to get there?

"You can't just state your intentions, you have to get a method and plan of what you want to do to climb that ladder to the top."

He's recognised two things that have been blindingly obvious.

The squad is far too big and too many of the players are of the same sort of standard.

We don't need more journeymen. we need quality.

Only a week or so ago I said we should out at least eight, probably 10 players.

It's not that they are all useless either. Just that they won't be utilised much or because we're already overloaded in their department.

Those I'd retain for now from our published squad are:

Fulop/Logan;

Chambers/N'Gotty/Rowe-Turner;

McAuley/Kisnorbo/Stearman;

Sheehan/Mattock;

Kaebi/Ferreira/Gradel;

Wesolowski/King;

Clemence/Kishishev;

Porter/Hayes;

Hume/DeVries/

Fryatt/Cort/Dodds

Odhiambo/Sappleton

That's 26 of the 34 listed.

Of these I would seriously try to improve four positions immediately and would shed three players when that was done.

Our strongest available team right now is:

Fulop;

Chambers, McAuley/Kisnorbo, N'Gotty/Stearman, Sheehan/Mattock;

Kaebi, King/Kishishev, Clemence, Sheehan/Porter;

Hume/Fryatt/Campbell, DeVries/Cort.

[Dames]

He might talk the talk.

But will he get rid of the players that are not needed and bring in this supposed quality ?

I don't see any signs yet.

[ithuriel]

He might talk the talk.

But will he get rid of the players that are not needed and bring in this supposed quality ?

I don't see any signs yet.

its only been a week

[Daggers]

I'm quite chuffed that he has the same perspective as some of the posters here

[Zingari]

it was quite obvious very early on that MA was in the barry fry school of squad recruitment ( buy enough and hope there is a couple of good ones )

lets hope GM and GT take a good look at what we've got and only bring in quality replacements ; not signing for signing sake

[Steven]

It should be pointed out that the much of a muchness could be applied to Smegson himself and rather than tar the whole squad, I would have preferred to have heard what he is going to do to lift himself and the squad out of this mediocrity.

[Dames]

It really is about time we thought about mutual consent for some of our transfer listed players and the other duffers.

[Manwell Pablo]

Didn't Megson say something like this about his squad at Forest?

[Bellend Sebastian]

It should be pointed out that the much of a muchness could be applied to Smegson himself and rather than tar the whole squad, I would have preferred to have heard what he is going to do to lift himself and the squad out of this mediocrity.

Sign some players presumably. There's not much he can do with some of the ones that aren't much cop - you can't polish a turd.

I'd be interested to hear the results if anyone on here wants to try

[Smudge]

As good as it is to hear it's not exactly a revelation, we all know that we have too many hangers on and too many that aren't up to scratch. What we can be sure of though is there wouldn't be universal agreement from the fans on who would be on which list.

Agreed; the revelation is that someone's admited it.

Sounds like he does what all managers do when they takeover, blame the previous incumbent and hedge your bets for the future. I've got the teeshirt.

[Steven]

Sign some players presumably. There's not much he can do with some of the ones that aren't much cop - you can't polish a turd.

I'd be interested to hear the results if anyone on here wants to try

I feel it is a cop out myself, just look at the squads Davies and Boothroyd have got into the PL.

[Thracian]

Sign some players presumably. There's not much he can do with some of the ones that aren't much cop - you can't polish a turd.

I'd be interested to hear the results if anyone on here wants to try

I don't think the squad is full of bad players. I've already said that any manager worth his salt could get this squad into the top six. But it is too big and at least eight or 10 players are simply not going to play any meaningful part.

Megson needs to shed those players and a few more as and when he signs quality alternatives.

[Dames]

List to go.

Maybury.

Hammond.

Kenton.

Dodds.

Porter.

Douglas.

Neilsen.

Hellings.

Newton.

Henderson.

Feel free to add or take as you please (Unless your Thracian, Porter and Dodds are soulbound to this list)