In case the naysayers hadn't noticed, we have lost Steve Stone, Sean Derry,
Kevin Nicholls to injury and Eirick Bakke to the strain of dragging that
wheelbarrow of cash back to Norway. That leaves us with a midfield of er
Lewis and Carole + Einarrson going into what will probably be the toughest
month of the season.
The few times I saw Douglas he seemed a reasonable if not outstanding
player. He had an excellent game against Reading and scored five times in
forty odd appearences last year. I also remember him making several goal
saving tackles and as a box to box player he has the stamina if not the
skill to match almost anyone. I'd say a reasonable buy under the
circumstances.
Personally, faced with the fixtures we have and the injuries we have, I
would settle for not getting beaten in September. We desparately need to
fill the void left by Sean Derry otherwise we're looking at having to score
at least two goals a match to win - and that is unlikely to happen until
the side settles.
On the subject of Bakke, my patience is worn out - his utterances have
become increasingly disconnected with reality and his statement yesterday
about returning to Leeds because he doesn't fancy playing in Norway just now
has more to do with the drop in wages than anything else. His performances
have been patchy to put it mildly and let's not forget that his injury
crisis was precipitated because he chose to ignore the club medical staff
and turned out for Norway in a meaningless friendly, turning what may have
been a treatable injury into a chronic condition. I hope Blackwell makes him
train with the juniors - with his attitude he has no place in the first team
squad.
On the Blackwell out issue - I think he has bought quality into the squad,
he has so far been deprived of the luxury of a settled first team, but from
what I have seen, Westlake is a step up from Miller, Carole is a proper ball
playing winger with some considerable pace, Foxe looks like an improvement
on Gregan. Nicholls is exactly the type of player we need and I suspect will
galvanise the team once he's fit. Healy is playing well this season, but
isn't yet on the same wavelength as the wingers - against Wednesday several
balls went across the box, on the ground while Healy loitered on the edge -
that understanding will come. So Blackwell in for me - there are no real
alternatives for the moment. What will be interesting though is watching Roy
Keane at Sunderland - he'd certainly sort out the Bakke issue pretty damn
quick!
Chris Wright
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oh alright then :-)
