I don’t think there is any point in being angry about it . Sure they got a fair bit wrong but being angry still seems a little strong to me.
They appear to have learned from previous mistakes. They bought in Duff and I suspect he is having an influence in who they sign. They also bought in Morley, several of the recruites did work out, and now they have addressed the goalkeeper situation. Norris came with a good reputation and track record. His personallity didn’t fit in and wasn’t well recieved ,this probably contributed to his poor performances. There is always a risk with any player.
They are allowed to make mistakes in my view as long as they learn from them and get it right moving forward.
I hope and trust they have and will ,I believe they make decisions for the betterment of the club even when they get it wrong so I have no anger towards them.
I’m interested to know your credentials and experience working at football league clubs. You seem to have extensive knowledge about how easy signing players are.
While I would like a CB I think we were really unlucky with injury’s and some of the form Anders and Casey started to show suggest we would be ok. But if a better CB comes up as the window is open, would be looking to strengthen. Same at right back.
We have a plethora of midfielders so that’s not an issue.
So that just leaves the front as a priority. And it’s very dependant on how Duff wants us to play. If it’s two up top we need two or three (probably 3 but I still hope the end of season goal for Fink will somehow see him prove most people wrong) and with Stones from the academy stepping into the squad a bit more.
If it’s front three then we may need as many as 5.
The GK was also a priority but only down to the ones we had being ooc. I don’t think it’s as key to have one of your star playing in that position at league one level. You just have to be pragmatic about what you have got.
I think someone else said it best the other day that of Shot stopping, command of area and distribution a league 1 keeper will have at most two of those or you’ll be playing higher in the league. I think having one and a half of those is probably enough for most league one sides - and that was Norris in a nutshell.
I have no idea of the two new ones will be any better than Norris, but I also don’t think they need to be if the defence is decent.
I agree that Pompey is a bit of a ‘meh’ fixture given that we’ve played them a number of times over the years. But they’re a level up and arguably in the sort of position we want to be in next season so should be a good test. And they might bring a few, which may have pleased the bean counters, should beans still need counting in this rarefied age.
I think it’s your general apathy at everything that seems to grate, @Chairboys80. Cheer up son.
I’ve heard this comment a few times already. Maybe I’m old but it’s not particularly funny. We have four first team keepers now and one will leave. Pretty similar to most clubs.
Norris was barely one of those whilst playing for us, and I won’t forgive him for his reaction to the bad back pass that lead to a goal at Luton. Which summed up his attitude.
I’m happy we have got the goalkeeper situation sorted quickly
I do feel sorry for van Sas, I saw some really promising potential from him in the early games. While there were the mistakes that we observed, I don’t think he made them again and was always learning.
If he does move on, I would only wish him well and would have no ill-feeling towards him. However, Norris, the experienced professional gave the impression that he was doing the club a favour just being there. There seemed to be very little respect to his team mates or the fans and you could see the relationship dissolve as the season went on
As I said, darling, it’s something I’ll keep an eye on over the summer but have no interest in providing a running commentary on. Having raised it in successive windows and knowing full well that the club’s hierarchy listen to and take note of @aloysius’s constructive criticism, I’m full of hope that when the window slams shut we’ll be in a more positive place re diversity of squad than we have been in recent times.
Friendlies are all Meh fixtures aren’t they ?