| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? 19:55 - Oct 26 with 684 views | joserobertorene |
It’s been many years now since Michu had that incredible first season. Back then, we didn't have such easy access to the internet, as many social media platforms, or the constant stream of rumours like we do today. I remember reading somewhere that when the Russian league was looking to expand and do what Saudi Arabia is doing now, Michu was a target, and a £60 million offer was supposedly on the horizon. To me, that sounded absurd—that was the kind of money paid for Zidane years earlier.
I don't know how true that rumour was, but I also recall reading that no offer would be accepted for our star player at the time. If that offer was genuine, turned down, it was arguably the most brutal financial management error in our Premier League era. With those funds, the scope for reinforcements would have been huge, and perhaps we wouldn't have been relegated if we'd built a stronger squad.
The current situation with Vipotnik made me think back to this. We might not have sold him for £20 million, but perhaps £15 million was on the table. We’ve kept him, and now he’s sitting on the bench, being largely irrelevant, and we’ve missed out on a financial opportunity that looks like it was a one-off. If that sale had gone through, maybe we’d have a couple more players in the squad and be in a stronger position.
Although I think QPR was a final wake-up call to determine whether we’re fighting for a miracle automatic promotion spot or if we need to focus on the playoffs, it’s clear the squad has improved, the business was better overall, and Matos is building something. Still, I can't help thinking that keeping Vipi might end up being the mistake of the season, and it reminds me that perhaps the exact same thing happened with Michu all those years ago. |  |
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| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 20:09 - Oct 26 with 637 views | Dr_Winston |
Michu was always on borrowed time. His ankles were knackered before he signed for us. It's one of the reasons we got him so cheap in the first place. Other clubs were aware, but decided not to take the risk. It was always possible, maybe even likely that he'd struggle to hit the same heights again.
Vipotnik this season has two goals and an assist in three starts, in a team playing in a way to suit another striker. There's absolutely no reason to believe that if we shifted back to a style that suited him and actually gave him a game or two to get up to speed he couldn't be as prolific as he was last campaign. |  |
| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
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| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 20:30 - Oct 26 with 601 views | max936 |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 20:09 - Oct 26 by Dr_Winston |
Michu was always on borrowed time. His ankles were knackered before he signed for us. It's one of the reasons we got him so cheap in the first place. Other clubs were aware, but decided not to take the risk. It was always possible, maybe even likely that he'd struggle to hit the same heights again.
Vipotnik this season has two goals and an assist in three starts, in a team playing in a way to suit another striker. There's absolutely no reason to believe that if we shifted back to a style that suited him and actually gave him a game or two to get up to speed he couldn't be as prolific as he was last campaign. |
Kicking the hoardings didn't help his ankles,  |  | | |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 20:47 - Oct 26 with 542 views | Dr_Winston |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 20:30 - Oct 26 by max936 |
Kicking the hoardings didn't help his ankles, |
Just not a factor. Repeated so often that people take it for gospel, but not true.
Guy I used to work with had a missus in the X-Ray dept at Morriston Hospital. Michu was a regular there from early in the first season. | |
| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
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| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 07:53 - Oct 27 with 336 views | KeithHaynes |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 20:09 - Oct 26 by Dr_Winston |
Michu was always on borrowed time. His ankles were knackered before he signed for us. It's one of the reasons we got him so cheap in the first place. Other clubs were aware, but decided not to take the risk. It was always possible, maybe even likely that he'd struggle to hit the same heights again.
Vipotnik this season has two goals and an assist in three starts, in a team playing in a way to suit another striker. There's absolutely no reason to believe that if we shifted back to a style that suited him and actually gave him a game or two to get up to speed he couldn't be as prolific as he was last campaign. |
Good points, but the team needs a fresh starter up front. |  |
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| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 07:59 - Oct 27 with 320 views | Dr_Winston |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 07:53 - Oct 27 by KeithHaynes |
Good points, but the team needs a fresh starter up front. |
The team needs to worry a bit more about creating chances than retaining possession for the sake of it.
Off the ball we're not doing a lot wrong. We're working hard and winning possession back fairly quickly for the most part, but we're not hurting teams enough when we do have it. Don't see that it matters much who is up front when you're creating as few clear cut chances as we have been against all but the worst teams. | |
| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
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| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 08:23 - Oct 27 with 289 views | wwcigne |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 07:59 - Oct 27 by Dr_Winston |
The team needs to worry a bit more about creating chances than retaining possession for the sake of it.
Off the ball we're not doing a lot wrong. We're working hard and winning possession back fairly quickly for the most part, but we're not hurting teams enough when we do have it. Don't see that it matters much who is up front when you're creating as few clear cut chances as we have been against all but the worst teams. |
Agree with that , we are really quick in the press but when we’re on the ball it’s sideways and backwards ,slow stuff ,we need to get it wide and then into the box,
If we were as fast on the front foot as we are in the press it would be brilliant but we still have to get the ball in the box quicker and even have more shots from outside the box
Zan and Stewart are 9’s ,one of them should be starting,we need that out and out target man |  | | |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:20 - Oct 27 with 233 views | Dr_Winston |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 08:23 - Oct 27 by wwcigne |
Agree with that , we are really quick in the press but when we’re on the ball it’s sideways and backwards ,slow stuff ,we need to get it wide and then into the box,
If we were as fast on the front foot as we are in the press it would be brilliant but we still have to get the ball in the box quicker and even have more shots from outside the box
Zan and Stewart are 9’s ,one of them should be starting,we need that out and out target man |
Stamenic is a big, strong unit. He should be motoring through midfield but rarely makes headway. Just faffs about a bit. Fulton can play a nice pass but isn't someone we should be relying on to.open teams up. Eustaquio is a capable #6.
I think the capability is there but maybe the emphasis has been a bit one sided on the press as opposed to what we do when we've won it back. | |
| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
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| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:39 - Oct 27 with 208 views | Whiterockin |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:20 - Oct 27 by Dr_Winston |
Stamenic is a big, strong unit. He should be motoring through midfield but rarely makes headway. Just faffs about a bit. Fulton can play a nice pass but isn't someone we should be relying on to.open teams up. Eustaquio is a capable #6.
I think the capability is there but maybe the emphasis has been a bit one sided on the press as opposed to what we do when we've won it back. |
I think people have been calling for us to be more attack minded than defensive, looking at Saturday's team it clearly didn't work. I have no problem with the back four or Idah up front, it has worked. Opoku on the right has flair and causes problems he has also been decent covering defensively, but would Ronald have been better because he could interchange with Lissah, its debatable. The main problem for me was selecting Stamenic/Just/Eustaquio/Widell it just didn't look balanced to me, far too attack minded without a solid base. Fulton/Stamenic/Eustaquio/Eom would have been a lot better balance for me, some would argue its not attacking enough, possibly but QPR wouldn't have cut through us like they did. Personally I would sacrifice attacking flair to be defensively solid. |  | | |
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| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:54 - Oct 27 with 176 views | Dr_Winston |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:39 - Oct 27 by Whiterockin |
I think people have been calling for us to be more attack minded than defensive, looking at Saturday's team it clearly didn't work. I have no problem with the back four or Idah up front, it has worked. Opoku on the right has flair and causes problems he has also been decent covering defensively, but would Ronald have been better because he could interchange with Lissah, its debatable. The main problem for me was selecting Stamenic/Just/Eustaquio/Widell it just didn't look balanced to me, far too attack minded without a solid base. Fulton/Stamenic/Eustaquio/Eom would have been a lot better balance for me, some would argue its not attacking enough, possibly but QPR wouldn't have cut through us like they did. Personally I would sacrifice attacking flair to be defensively solid. |
I don't think we were leaky on Saturday because we suddenly decided to take the game to QPR. They caught us cold and a couple of otherwise reliable players had arguably their worst games for us.
I do take your general point about a Fulton/Stamenic combo being generally more defensively solid though. Maybe things would have been different on Sat. | |
| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
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| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:58 - Oct 27 with 170 views | Fireboy2 |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:54 - Oct 27 by Dr_Winston |
I don't think we were leaky on Saturday because we suddenly decided to take the game to QPR. They caught us cold and a couple of otherwise reliable players had arguably their worst games for us.
I do take your general point about a Fulton/Stamenic combo being generally more defensively solid though. Maybe things would have been different on Sat. |
Fulton and Stamenic have started most of our away games, playing those two ,as you say, gives us a solid centre of midfield and its no coincidence that when we start those together we dont concede many goals.
I was absolutely flabbergasted when I saw that they werent starting last Saturday and when I saw us go 3 nil down so early it didn't surprise me. |  | | |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:59 - Oct 27 with 170 views | Whiterockin |
| Did history just repeat itself with Michu and Vipotnik? on 09:54 - Oct 27 by Dr_Winston |
I don't think we were leaky on Saturday because we suddenly decided to take the game to QPR. They caught us cold and a couple of otherwise reliable players had arguably their worst games for us.
I do take your general point about a Fulton/Stamenic combo being generally more defensively solid though. Maybe things would have been different on Sat. |
I wouldn't be surprised if we start ultra defensively on Saturday and keep it tight, then make attacking minded changes later in the game, it is one we can't afford to lose. [Post edited 27 Oct 10:00]
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