Is Merson right?

He say relegation dawns as we have not bought well and our manager only has experience in relegation.
From my perspective, he's right in the first part, we have hardly bought in anyone to significantly strengthen our squad, Hughes and Chalboah are hopes for the future rather than experienced premier players with experience, if Deeney gets injured or loses form I cannot see where goals are coming from and without a regular consistent goal scorer we will be in trouble.
I think he is unreasonably harsh on Silva, he did well at all he previous clubs and at Hull he was trying to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.
I'm in agreement with Silva, the squad need about 6 decent experienced players if we are to have any chance of staying up.
Additionally, I wonder how long the supporters will put up with negative football and punting long balls up to Deeney when things go pear shaped.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines

 

We will finish top half .... let's see whose closer me or the idiot that cannot string two words together

 

He is right, but not because he knows what he's talking about.

We've bought good squad players, but we need 3 attacking players who are better than what we have. Those are expensive commodities and we seem unwilling to pay for them, or unable to afford them.

I think our current attackers are relegation fodder. We have a decent midfield and a defence lacking pace.

I would love to be excited about our season, but we must remember that we have not really improved the first team over the shower of shyte which lost 6 games in a row last season and finished 17th.

I can't say we'd be favourites to beat most sides in the division, so at this stage, I think we're relegation material.

The window isn't closed yet, but I fear we don't have the cash to buy what we need.

 

After we have played Brighton we will have a good indication of what's what! as I believe Bournemouth away and Brighton Home are the types of games we should be getting our points from! if its not the case then there will still be a few days left for a few player changes!

 

Is a washed up, inarticulate ex pro who has pi55ed up, snorted and gambled a fortune away right?

 

I read Merson's preview of the season last night. He quite often sees Watford as relegation certainties - this isn't the first time he has said we'd go down but then of course we didn't. I suppose if he keeps on predicting us to go down he will one day, maybe, get it right - who knows - but his preview when broken down doesn't quite reflect reality. His criticism of Silva is unusual. I don't recall anyone else criticising this appointment. In fact, he's our best signing this summer, bar none.

Conversely, he has a point regarding our signings. Nobody with any real top flight / premier league experience, replacing those WITH prem experience (Behrami, Parades, etc).

I keep saying "we'll have made a few signings by the weekend" only for the weekend to arrive and we've not made any further signings that are 100% confirmed.

Initial feeling - Gino knows what he's doing. No need to panic.

Today's hunch - We may well be in trouble here....

 

Nail. Head.

 

Firstly, it's easy to look at the table and see who came 17th the previous and tip them to go down. They finally got that right with Sunderland last time out! But it doesn't always follow! Merson won't be the only pundit or newspaper to tip us to drop.

Secondly, I think he's harsh on Silva. Had Silva been at Hull all season. Merson's comments would have validity. But he wasn't. Hull had 13 points from 20 matches before he arrived. He re-energised them, but in the end couldn't save them. True their defeats to Sunderland and Palace were both poor and costly, but averaged out over a whole season Silva's record at Hull was decent. Better in fact than our hapless Italian.

Thirdly, I think Moog makes excellent points. We do need more strengthening, and I believe that will happen, although it's frustratingly slow compared to previous summers where new arrivals seemed to appear almost daily. But let's see where we are player-wise come September 1st, when there will still be 35 matches of the season to play!

Yes we will start as many peoples' favourites to occupy one of the three relegation places, but with good coaching and organisation (which many of us like to hope we will have this year after last season's fiasco) equally we could surprise people. We definitely need more firepower though for that to happen!

 

He's wrong, he's always wrong

Lets stop continually bashing the squad and writing off our own players just because idiots like Merson do - Gomes, Prodl, Pereyra, Deeney, Doucoure, Chalobah etc are as good as you will find outside the top 8

Last year was awful but I put 90% of that down to our complete idiot of a manager. How Merson can say Silva isn't an upgrade on Wally just shows what a fool he really is.

We need to strengthen in places yes but don't you think the club know this and are trying as hard as they can? The higher up the football food chain the smaller and vastly more expensive the pool of players who can improve your team. Its the same for everyone: Stoke, West Brom, Palace, Wet Ham, Swansea...

Silva teams don't play hoof

 

I fear the Merse speaks some painful truth.

The signing I wanted to see was in our recruitment department, to replace the ones that bought the immobile lump that was Oulare, the petulant, mouse hearted Berghuis and his dad, Jurado and all the other expensive dross.

Capoue seems to wear the number 29 as a signal his "performances" peter out after the date of 2/9 when it colder and wetter in the UK.

Yet did anybody ever think, "I wish we could sign Will Hughes or Chalobah to improve on Etienne Capoue and Valon Behrami?"

Or did you hope for better, even if we are little old Watford?

We needed a strong midfielder or two who don't get bullied out of the game or disappear when they don't fancy it.

Both Hughes and Chalobah have previous for exactly that, though as they are older now, I can only hope they're mentally stronger.

We need more productive wide players as well as a strong CM to feed the strikers, so will Amrabat finally click and return to early season form of last year?

Did anybody think when Aaron Lennon was reported as going for a walk on a motorway and getting sectioned, "I cannot wait for us to take him on loan next season to really improve our team?" Yet, some are hoping for just that.

I just hope that a full fit Isaac Success and Okaka, a determined and newly disciplined Holebas and a newly resilient Daryl Janmaat stick it to the Merse and take him by surprise.

 

Anyone know why he hates us so much?

 

Because he keeps losing money betting on us to go down.

 

There is a grain of truth in what Merson says but he knows very little about football. He has only kept his job on SSN because he is a complete buffon and clown. His assessment of Silva is unchanged and bigoted. It does not reflect his excellent record abroad, his heroics at Hull or all the positive reports from those who have worked with him. On the other hand we do need more creative goal scoring front players. Getting players in that are talented if not always EPL proven is crucial. Merson is wrong on this one as Mahrez, Payet and Sanchez were successful in EPL if talented enough. Richarlison is a good example if he gets a WP. We need another striker and a winger, but apart from Andre Gray, who we won't get, the trail has gone cold and that is my biggest concern. It is well known we need some defensive reinforcements but I reckon Silva has already got them better organised. We are definitely not going to finish 10th as that is nailed on for Bournemouth. We might flirt with relegation but I think Brighton, Burnley, Stoke, WBA, Huddersfield, Palace, Newcastle are definitely in that mix. Aside from Huddersfield who are coming from further back none have made significant signings and I'd say our business has been better. A surprise side that could struggle this year could be Southampton. Bournemouth, West Ham and Leicester have all strengthened offensively and defensively and are going to be at least mid-sole if not top eight. So all in all I think we have a better manager, to date Gino has done a grand job with signings but we need minimum of 4 more players which will be crucial - Striker, Winger, Left Back and CB. Anything else a bonus. Haven't read the rest of Merson's rubbish but might take a peak at what he says about the beloved Arse'. I expect he has bigged up one of the promoted teams to ensure he can neatly slot us into 18th place!

 

Coz he's a
C
U
N
T

 

I ignore basically everything that oaf says.

Regardless, I'm actually less confident going in to this season than I have been in our other two Premier League seasons, even though I believe we have a better manager.

The lack of goals and ageing defence are serious concerns.

Even with Deeney I don't see where the goals are coming from. In our first season we had Ighalo on fire for the first 2/3rds of it banging them in, and last season Capoue's goal contribution was more important than Deeney's. We don't have Ighalo or a comparable striker any more and Capoue won't repeat his exploits from last season. Deeney isn't getting any younger or fitter either.

 

Let's face it . The obvious thing to do is to make us favourites , along with a couple of promoted sides ( as Newcastle and rafa won't go down )
I'm sure we've been among the favourites every year so far. So it means nothing .

Having said that , like others on here I'm concerned about our strikers and getting goals. I think we now have quality in all other areas ( plus potential future recruits) and chalobah and doucoure in front of the back four should improve our ability to play out quickly from the back.

I don't think deeney playing up front on his own is great , we are lacking someone with pace and if we don't recruit one or two decent strikers I would worry where the goals are going to come from. However , Im not panicking yet . I believe we will recruit up front and If we can get better service to them i actually think deeney and okaka are both decent finishers , but up front on their own they will need some serious support and whoever plays behind them Will need to provide that
.

 

Here's a full transcript of what he actually said:-

"They will get relegated. To have a manager who has enhanced their reputation by being relegated is remarkable,"
"He had the chance to bring in players and didn't achieve what he was brought in for."
"Will Hughes looked a decent player and he was doing well in the Championship but it is a different challenge entirely stepping up to the Premier League."
"Nathaniel Chalobah is going to face a completely different game. I could have a game for Chelsea every now and then and do alright but this is a different gear."
"I always enjoy watching Troy Deeney, he's a proper leader on and off the field. I read that they might not give Deeney the captaincy and for me he's kept the club together. If they left him out they'd really struggle and I don't think they've bought well."
"If they get sorted in what's left of the transfer window and Deeney has a good season then they can stay up. They've got a leader who knows the club and will score goals so he'd be their main strength for me."
"I don't think they've bought very well when they needed to strengthen so their weaknesses are exactly the same as last season. The problem is Watford will go to grounds and get dominated."

I don't agree with all of it, but he's bang on with his assessment overall. We are brittle in defence and are nowhere near strong enough up front. Only the midfield has a chance of improving.

We needed a complete overhaul, and so far have only managed to sign Chalobah, Hughes and Femenia. It's nowhere near enough.

Now we're only 1 week away from the Liverpool match and I'm getting concerned. Maybe we are not attractive enough or cannot afford the players we need, either way, the situation we are in is not ideal at all and I can fully understand why pundits looking in from the outside would think we're not good enough. I'd think the same too.

 

The fact that he concludes we'll get relegated by slating the manager but bigging up Deeney says it all for me really about the quality of his opinions. Yes Hull still got relegated, but their form under Silva was comfortably mid-table - it was a remarkable feat for him to even get so close to saving them considering where they were when he came in.

 

Reading his words is like going into a hatters' pub and reading the graffitied walls of the toilet. Poorly written, ignorant and completely biased. Better not to do it.

 

Only one comment to make Merson is a **** who knows fook all, just look at his punditry and historical predictions.

 

To me it all depends on Silva. We have some good players but Mazzarri had them all over the shop and pissed most of them off. If he's a good motivator and tactician then we've already improved on last year's 17th place.

Much as I hated it as an excuse, we also had a lot of injuries last season.

 

Did we need a 'complete overhaul' though? The most important thing we needed was to change the Head Coach and his team. Now we wait to see how he can improve the players we already have, and integrate the new signings we've made so far. Who is to say he can't get the best out of the likes of Deeney, Okaka, Amrabat (hmm lol), Janmaat etc?? Who is to say if he won't improve our general fitness and make us less prone to injuries?

Our last three pre-season friendlies have seen us keep three clean sheets. Maybe he's starting his work from the back first? Trying to make sure we don't lose matches, before we can add the much-needed sparkle up top?

The window closes at the end of the month. It doesn't close next Saturday. It's frustrating I agree not to have our whole new squad assembled in time for the big kick-off next Saturday lunchtime. But it's a 38 game season. We need to stay patient.

 

From the outside you can't argue with people's assessment on us being relegation favourites. The difference a new coach makes cannot be underestimated though. The more we hear about Mazarri the more we can see why it didn't work. Silva without question is our biggest signing. He plays a brand of football that is far more enjoyable to watch and more importantly, play. He seems more likeable, approachable and of course the language issue has been resolved. We already have some very good players who, if played in their correct positions could be very productive. Pereyra is like a new signing and I believe Chalobah and Hughes are more than good enough for the EPL. I agree we need more players but to say nothing is happening or we can't afford this or that is wrong as proved by the Brazilian we signed. Nobody had even mentioned him until he was already hear for a medical so if nothing is apparently going on I'm not that concerned.
I am very much glass half full person though

 

Not to forget a new head of performance, the whole department restructured, and revised fitness and training programs better aligned to player ages

 

Sums it up perfectly

 

At this stage it's too difficult to predict. H&J on talksport were tipping us for a top 10 finish after an excellent summer of recruitment.

Merson historically has dreadful predictions but realistically I think we'll just stay up as long as we get a 10 goal CF in and/or Pereyra has a decent season

 

Did we need a 'complete overhaul' though? The most important thing we needed was to change the Head Coach and his team. Now we wait to see how he can improve the players we already have, and integrate the new signings we've made so far. Who is to say he can't get the best out of the likes of Deeney, Okaka, Amrabat (hmm lol), Janmaat etc?? Who is to say if he won't improve our general fitness and make us less prone to injuries?

Our last three pre-season friendlies have seen us keep three clean sheets. Maybe he's starting his work from the back first? Trying to make sure we don't lose matches, before we can add the much-needed sparkle up top?

The window closes at the end of the month. It doesn't close next Saturday. It's frustrating I agree not to have our whole new squad assembled in time for the big kick-off next Saturday lunchtime. But it's a 38 game season. We need to stay patient.

 

Sorry..dunno how that posted twice!

 

Yep Moog entirely echoes my thoughts too.

 

Yes, I think it's fair to say we did and still do.

New coach, new coaching staff, and 9 new first team players.....I think that's quite a big change. (Don't forget we've signed 3 and want 6 more).

That was the conclusion from the head coach, even he knows we're not strong enough. Nowhere near in fact. Of course we can all say improve the injuries and form of players, but that's only a small part. You cannot turn Okaka into Lukaku. You cannot turn Amrabat into Saha, you cannot turn Kaboul into Kompany etc. They are all bound by their own limitations. Sure you can try to make them play to their optimum, but we all know we need better players.....it's no secret.

Pundits can only judge on what they know. He's even placed a little caveat in there saying if we managed to make some good signings we'd be ok. I think that's bang on. Go into the season with what we've got and we're in big trouble. We are just not strong enough at either end of the pitch to compete successfully......IMO of course.

 

Like you, I would very much like to see several quality new arrivals. In some cases to bring in players with a better attitude too, as well as talent. With that caveat in mind, I like the arrivals of Chalobah and Hughes. Young and hungry rather than worldweary here for the pay cheque. It's frustrating that things aren't moving faster. You seemed confident and relaxed last week that new arrivals were imminent! So I guess we are all getting frustrated now after another week with no official announcements. I'm not stupid enough to think we will do well with the existing squad. I'm terrified about the lack of goals. But I think it's perfectly valid to remain calm as it's only August 5th, and equally to believe that Silva can improve several of the players he's inherited. If we get the right players in, I'm happy to forego them being able to play in the first couple of matches of the season, because it's a long old slog ahead!

 

We've been worrying that our squad is too old, too slow and too unfamiliar with English football and when we sign two people to remedy that and who've just done well in international competition, that's apparently not what we need either.

Looks as if we won't get it right until the Qataris buy us

 

I'm not sure it's fair to say we have signed a Brazilian (other than Gomes) the guy has not signed and hasn't got a work permit, and even if he has, it's a big gamble as he is totally unproven at this level.
We are less than a week away and to waste an entire close season without any proven strengthening seems something of a risk. If at the end of the season there are only a few points between staying up and going down, the failure to recruit suitable players could be the difference between success and failure.
I'm not optimistic but I love our new coach and feel he is our best hope.