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Post by blakey on Jan 2, 2018 21:05:19 GMT
Never been as solid since he went
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Post by Davef on Jan 2, 2018 21:07:25 GMT
We know.
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Post by scfcrmagic on Jan 2, 2018 21:07:30 GMT
I agree, he was a top drawer player, real quality.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2018 21:08:14 GMT
Losing nzonzi was huge. Not replacing him is even bigger
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Post by GeneralFaye on Jan 2, 2018 21:14:03 GMT
It was obvious to most of us when it happened yet you still find a few idiots on here who still think he's toss and offered us nothing.
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Post by werrington on Jan 2, 2018 21:19:03 GMT
Oh Lordy here we go again
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Post by Linx on Jan 2, 2018 21:19:06 GMT
Losing Nzonzi weakened us. Then losing Arnie has weakened us further. Their inadequate replacements have demonstrated that a club like us getting players like that is getting harder and harder.
An in-form Arnie would have made the difference against Newcastle.
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Post by Jimm on Jan 2, 2018 21:23:20 GMT
He was our orchestrator. He broke down any danger, slowed it down, got us back in to shape and controlled the game from the middle. He bridged defence to attack and let the front line shine whilst we were playing some of the best football we've seen. Absolute Rolls Royce player. Always looked like he had all the time in the world when on the ball, had that steel and grit about him and really matured under Hughes. One of our biggest fuck ups was never replacing him or even coming close. One of the most important positions on the pitch and we have a huge void we're yet to fill and he left years ago....
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Post by darksideofthemoon on Jan 2, 2018 21:23:33 GMT
Losing Nzonzi weakened us. Then losing Arnie has weakened us further. Their inadequate replacements have demonstrated that a club like us getting players like that is getting harder and harder. An in-form Arnie would have made the difference against Newcastle. THIS is the problem; not losing them. Neither of them wanted to play for us, and their performances on and off the field showed that. I still hold out some hope that we can hang on this year (with or without Hughes) and consolidate in the summer; am I delusional??  |
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Post by Jimm on Jan 2, 2018 21:27:20 GMT
Losing Nzonzi weakened us. Then losing Arnie has weakened us further. Their inadequate replacements have demonstrated that a club like us getting players like that is getting harder and harder. An in-form Arnie would have made the difference against Newcastle. THIS is the problem; not losing them. Neither of them wanted to play for us, and their performances on and off the field showed that. I still hold out some hope that we can hang on this year (with or without Hughes) and consolidate in the summer; am I delusional?? Disagree massively about their performances on the pitch showing they didn't want to play for us. Both we're our stand out players before they left. |
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Post by darksideofthemoon on Jan 2, 2018 21:31:00 GMT
THIS is the problem; not losing them. Neither of them wanted to play for us, and their performances on and off the field showed that. I still hold out some hope that we can hang on this year (with or without Hughes) and consolidate in the summer; am I delusional?? Disagree massively about their performances on the pitch showing they didn't want to play for us. Both we're our stand out players before they left. I agree that on occasions they stood out......more often, they dropped their shoulders, spat the dummy and appeared as if they didn't give a sh*t; much like a number of our current players, I'm afraid to say  |
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Post by malteser68 on Jan 2, 2018 21:48:29 GMT
Nzonzi ???
Isnt he the one who some illuminati on this board used to criticize as 'slowing us down' and only passing 'backwards and sideways' ..., ?
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Post by LL Cool Dave on Jan 2, 2018 21:52:01 GMT
Arnautovic is a bigger miss than N'Zonzi.
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Post by crapslinger on Jan 2, 2018 21:55:41 GMT
Selling your best player and replacing them with shit is a recipe for where we are now simple.
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on Jan 2, 2018 21:57:12 GMT
It was obvious to most of us when it happened yet you still find a few idiots on here who still think he's toss and offered us nothing. Signalled the high point and the change , top player leaves on the cheap , replacement Is unproven Chelsea loan who fails miserably but is cheap , scholes hang your head in shame |
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Post by southernish on Jan 2, 2018 21:57:35 GMT
N'Zonzi was where we lost the spine of our team whilst losing against Liverpool in the cup was a big turning point at which we became truly shit. The Mark Hughes Wikipedia tracks it pretty well:
"Stoke recovered well, however, winning their next three matches against AFC Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Swansea.[138][139][140] Stoke's improvement continued through November and December with victories against Premier League champions Chelsea, Southampton, Manchester City and Manchester United with the style of football being played by Hughes' team being praised by the national press.[141] Stoke ended 2015 with a dramatic 4–3 win away at Everton, while they also reached the semi-final of the League Cup after defeating Luton Town, Fulham, Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday en route.[142] Stoke started 2016 poorly, falling to West Brom and then Liverpool in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.[143] The club endured a tough final week of January as they lost 3–0 to both Leicester and Manchester United and were knocked out of the League Cup by Liverpool after losing on penalties, and were also ousted from the FA Cup by Crystal Palace." That January window we signed Imbula and that March Butland got injured playing for England.
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Post by crapslinger on Jan 2, 2018 21:59:52 GMT
It was obvious to most of us when it happened yet you still find a few idiots on here who still think he's toss and offered us nothing. Signalled the high point and the change , top player leaves on the cheap , replacement Is unproven Chelsea loan who fails miserably but is cheap , scholes hang your head in shame MVG a player Mark Hughes was tracking before he sold the Zonz that cheap option you mean ? |
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Post by GeneralFaye on Jan 2, 2018 22:02:53 GMT
It was obvious to most of us when it happened yet you still find a few idiots on here who still think he's toss and offered us nothing. Signalled the high point and the change , top player leaves on the cheap , replacement Is unproven Chelsea loan who fails miserably but is cheap , scholes hang your head in shame Wasn't a Scholes signing, he assures me he wanted us to sign Kante but Hughes didn't fancy him, honest. |
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Post by southernish on Jan 2, 2018 22:04:29 GMT
Signalled the high point and the change , top player leaves on the cheap , replacement Is unproven Chelsea loan who fails miserably but is cheap , scholes hang your head in shame Wasn't a Scholes signing, he assures me he wanted us to sign Kante but Hughes didn't fancy him, honest.  Is this the one that was not signed and we got Imbula instead? Or is that entire status bullshit? |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2018 22:05:50 GMT
It doesn't matter. We are where we are, which is in the shit up to our necks.
It's still not irretrievable but we must act now, we must be decisive. However to maintain our status will not come cheap. Sacking Hughes will not cost peanuts but it has to be done. A new manager will not come cheap that's before any transfer funds are made available. Im not sure there is the appetite from the board for that sort of expenditure.
It's absolutely heart breaking.
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