Merrick's Marvels

Personally, I think that should be "Do you see Naismith as primarily irrelevant?". And I'd make it rhetorical.

Difficult to tell whether some of those comments are from Boro or City fans! Presumably taken from Boro forum but some of them sound very familiar.

It's highly likely the choices were made by committee. Whenever that happens, the final choice is very often a compromise.

The point is you might want to consider if it's horseshit or not before you post it. For the reasons stated. Which no doubt are beyond your ken.

All entirely reasonable. But “He’s been demoted right back down to the u18s I’m hearing he has a big attitude problem” isn't. Imo. And the fact you have to explain to people why is a sad reflection on where we are.

Gray looked ridiculously good for his age. I look forward to watching him many times more, just not for Leeds hopefully.

To have a team whose achievements aren't a grave disappointment to the city it represents. I could write embarrassment but we're not munter fc from over the river, so lets stick with disappointment.

Yes which is exactly why this annoys me so much. It's not only dumb behaviour but irresponsible. These people will be the adults in the room, one day. Dear god, we're all done for when that happens.

I was responding to the suggestion - posted as if it was fact - that Yeboah has a bad attitude, had thrown his toys out the pram, might be a bad egg and has been slapped down as a result. All based on "only pub talk but apparently..." But thanks for the link as this suggests it's more likely a grown up conversation was had and him spending more time in the U18s than the first team since Manning arrived may not have anything to do with his attitude. It’s perfectly obvious to anyone with a half a brain who’s seen Yeboah play that he’s incredibly raw. And to anyone with half a brain, it's also perfectly obvious this is likely to be the reason he’s back with the U18s. Yet some are unable to come to that reasonable, logical conclusion and prefer to go with: “He’s been demoted right back down to the u18s I’m hearing he has a big attitude problem”. And then when asked to back that up – “That would be a shame, who did you hear that from” – “Where did you hear this? I can’t imagine that being the case, he seems a very well mannered young lad and doesn’t strike me as the type” – I watched him play in the u18s and didn’t seem to be an issue with his attitude on the pitch” – “I don’t know where the story of Yeboah having an attitude problem comes from, it’s the opposite from what I have been told” – “Just came from an attention seeker” (BINGO!) the reply begins “Only pub talk but apparently…” I mean, it’s laughable. How thick can some people actually be? To either believe it or want to post it on the internet. Should be used to it by now but it gets my goat, I'm afraid.

When a rumour starts "Only pub talk but apparently..." why are you even wondering if it's true? How likely is that? Not very, I'd say. It reeks of wannabe itk bullsh1t straightaway, never mind then going on to suggest a 17 year old with a few minutes of first team football has been banging down the manager's door. So I don't know about you but I smell horsesh1t.

The clue's in the bit that goes "Only pub talk but apparently..."

Yes Araoye as deputy to Atkinson when Naismith is gone. What to do with Knight-Lebel then - as 2 into 3 won't go if he's competing with Vyner and Dickie for RCB. Sell him like Towler? Or perhaps compete with McCrorie for RB to start with and Tanner becomes expendable. Carey and Vyner both started at RB before moving to RCB, maybe that's the plan for Knight-Lebel too.

There will be a vacancy at LCB soon enough - once someone puts Naismith out of his misery. A successful loan next season will see Araoye knocking on the door.

Agree 100%. Been thinking the same for a while but was waiting to post. Imagine having a player in the building who knows what it takes to win promotion from the Championship and who knows what it takes to play in the Premiership. In short, a player who's already achieved precisely what we're trying to achieve. He's been there and done it - no, wait, he's been there and won it. And you let that player walk out the door. Imagine that player is a boyhood fan of your club, so he might just be desperate for success, it might be more than just a job for him. And if you're building a team filled mostly with promising young uns, imagine having someone like that in the building to inspire and mentor you (see the way he looked after Scott & Conway). Then imagine letting that player walk out the door. Football is a small world where who you know is as important as what you know. I'll wager King's little black book of contacts knocks Tinnion's into a cooked hat. We've got an international, Premier league winning player in the building who just happens to also be a supporter. Never happened before and unlikely to ever happen again, I'd wager. And we're happy to let all that knowledge and experience walk out the door. I'm not one for cosy jobs for the boys but, on this occasion, it's the height of stupidity not to find a role for Andy King. If he wanted a role of course. But all the indications are that he's being allowed to walk out the door without being offered any sort of role going forward. If not the case - communicate that.

With respect, you only need one hand to count the number of young players we've let go who have subsequently proved us wrong. Wes Burns, for example, is very much in a minority. But he took years to hit his straps and had to drop down a level to do so. We weren't in a position to wait that long nor risk dropping into league one, having narrowly avoided relegation in 2015-16. Instead we replaced him with Josh Brownhill, sound judgement surely? Wes had to spend 4 years at Fleetwood finding his feet (great to see him doing so well now, for sure). As to Mehemti, if he was the best player on the pitch at Watford then I'm Mother Teresa. After the recent Coventry game, Manning said - for the umpteenth time in a post match interview - that we got into dangerous areas many times but then failed to create chances - we got into great areas to hurt the opposition in the final third, then didn't, because a cross or a pass wasn't good enough. That, in a nutshell, was Mehmeti at Watford. He must have had the ball in dangerous areas nearly a dozen times and - bar one excellent shot that led to Sykes scoring - he consistently took the wrong option, coughed up possession too cheaply, hit a poor pass, failed to create. Which is the story of our attacking play as a whole, it's a failure of all our attacking players. Surely the reason Manning was desperate to sign attacking players in January is because most of the ones he's got aren't good enough. Players at the level of Twine are what we require up top and I think we can all so that he's a clear level above our current attacking options. One thing Manning has also said ore than once is that his style requires players who can receive the ball in tight areas - now this Mehmeti can do, he has an excellent touch. Which is why I can see Manning sticking with him, even if only as a squad player. To my mind, what Mehmeti needs to improve is his decision making. Who knows if he's capable of that but time is on his side. As for Bell, he needs to rediscover that happy knack of being in the right place at the right time, often at the back post, because he's got a goal in him. The bench is the best he can hope for next season, though, if we're to make serious progress.

Nowt in there worth nicking!

Who's saying just because something hasn't been done before means it won't work? I'm not. I don't have the solution, others are paid to find that. Do you think Jon Lansdown and Brian Tinnion can? With a novice manager in tow? For what it's worth, I think trying to play tippy tap requires the sort of players the owner doesn't want to pay for, so the alternative is to find a style that's suited to good players from the lower leagues who are cheaper and in our price bracket. Which is what Luton did. You also need a spine of experience.

Exactly. Wolves bought from L1 ! Played academy kids? Leeds? Brentford are an outlier for all sorts of reasons, no-one's doing what they're doing. They're unique. No point trying to replicate them. I can't think of another team that's been promoted using mostly lower league buys and academy kids and played tippy tap football. Which is what our plan seems to be. Genuinely interested if anyone else has managed it. I somehow doubt it.

Sh1t comment AGAIN See above. What teams have been promoted from the Champ with a majority of the team made up of L1 buys + academy kids + tippy tap football.?

Mind reader? All you had to do was read the first sentence of the post you replied to. Next. I knew you'd say Luton so now go back and read my question again. I'll save you time: What teams have been promoted based on most of the players being L1 buys and home grown academy kids, playing tippy tap football. If you'd read that properly, you wouldn't have said Luton. Because Luton don't play tippy tap football and haven't put the emphasis on academy players. As I also said, if you'd stop to read carefully, non parachute payment teams can compete at top end of our league but not doing what we're doing - L1 buys + academy kids + tippy tap football. They find alternative strategies. If teams have been promoted doing what we're trying to do, please name them. I'm genuinely interested to know which ones.

Apologies. "Promoted". Amazed you couldn't work that out. Await a genuine answer to a genuine question.

@sh1t_ref_again Name me the non parachute teams who've been promoted using mostly league 1 players and academy kids playing tippy tap football. There are ways non parachute teams can compete at the top of the Championship - but it's not by doing this. sh1t comment again incoming. Actually, don't bother, I've remembered you’re on ignore. @Leabrook how about you tell me which teams have been removed using this strategy.

But don't worry, buying L1 players and "improving them on the training ground" will see us alright when we turn into tippy tappy worldbeaters.

Ok. Finishing mid table ish would be acceptable? Finishing not much different to this season would be acceptable? What's the point of Manning then? What happened to top 6? What happened to promotion? Unless Manning has us consistently top end and knocking on the door next season (no chance imo) whats the point of all this upheaval? Petty score settling??

And that's the plan is it? Mid table ish. Not much different to this season. What's the point of Manning then? What happened to top 6? What happened to promotion?