by Bashmachkin Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:41 pm
If this goes through, then its another disgraceful transfer from Newcastles point of view, and one that suggests that Allardyce is ultimately a horribly limited manager, who tends towards the brutish player and ugly football. At Bolton, though they did use the long ball a lot in certain games, I always felt they had players who could pass it about too - like Okocha, Speed, and later Anelka - and it was to be hoped that, at a bigger club and with more money to spend, Allardyce would shed that style of football and bring in better players. But he obviously prefers a percentage game whereby you bully the opposition rather than outclass them, and this tactic is obviously very limited.
With Barton being charged today also, it makes the club a laughing stock once again, and makes us pretty hard to support fully. We seem to be going for the leagues most contemptible eleven - we could well have Smith, Barton, Butt, Carr in our starting eleven, along with Owen who I dont have much care for, and Viduka who, despite obvious talent, is lazy. Our buys so far have been mixed - Rozehnal I am excited about, Geremi and Viduka made sense and were very good buys for nothing, though they are short term. whilst Barton and Smith are disgraceful purchases. Of the lot, Rozehnal is the only one Id start with, though I do rate Geremi and Viduka. But in the end, if Viduka and Smith end up replacing Martins, then they are two of the worst buys the club will ever have made. And if Martins does stay - at the moment theres no real strong suggestion he wont, but Smiths signging makes me wonder - then I think he has to play, either alongside Owen, which is potentially our best line-up, our most exciting and most potent, or alongside Viduka, or in a front three.
The only real reason I can see for buying Smith is if we are going for a front three, and dont consider Shola to have the attributes to play in the centre of it. That may be true - he is strong, but hes not great in the air, and isnt at his best with his back to goal. But we have Andy Carroll coming through, and £6million for Smith is absurd. Especially considering we are selling Dyer, who is worth ten Smiths in terms of ability, for the same price.
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