Can we survive without … ?
Posted on October 21st, 2011 | 31 Comments |
Remember Ultravox? They were a lively and ‘edgy’ band when John Foxx was driving things but, when Foxx left, Midge Ure introduced a brand of commercial bland that concomitantly ruined their music and launched them to commercial success. ‘Vienna’ was a big success for Ultravox whilst John Foxx skirted the lower borders of the top 40 singing about ‘Underpants’* (click click drum).
The point, though, is that Ultravox survived the change of personnel and it seemed there was no one person without whom they were in the mire. In my warped and befuddled brain, this is just the sort of analogy that leads me on to Newcastle United and whether or not there are key players without whom we’d be rowing up the creek of excrement without any paddle-shaped objects.
We have lost supposed ‘key personnel’ by way of Carroll, Nolan, Barton and Enrique, yet we have survived and even prospered, so the signs are good. Recently John Carver said that the lack of ‘key players’ and ‘big egos’ is in fact one reason why we’ve had such a good start.
There has been much talk of a gap in the front line, one which Alan Pardew seems keen to plug in the January transfer window, yet last weekend when Ba and Best were replaced by Shola and Benny, we scored the goal that got us a point. The Fenham Eusébio really did live up to his diminutive and looked like he’d been given some magic boots to wear.
In midfield we seem to have a lot of options. It could be argued that we’d suffer without the ceaseless work-rate of Tiote, but I think we’d survive that somehow, and we seem to have plenty of options in most of the midfield areas.
Defence is, I think, the area in which we’d suffer most from a lost player, and central defence in particular. I think the loss of either Taylor(S) or Colo would be the most ‘damaging’ to the team at the moment. I think we’ve been pretty good in most areas so far this season but central defence has been the stand-out area for me.
So, given that this is an article that started off going nowhere and then continued to do so, I feel I ought to try and pick the single player who I think would be most missed. At the moment I think that’s Colo. Not just because he’s captain or because he raises the hair follicle to player average so dramatically (despite Obertan’s best efforts to average it back down again), but because I happen to think he’s one of the best central defenders in the Premier League at the moment.
So, in a team where there are generally no key players without whom we’d be in big trouble, I think Coloccini is the key player whose loss would have the greatest impact.
What do you think?
* Well, okay, it was ‘Underpass’ really.
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.
I think you have hit the nail on the head about us requiring defenders. I think to lose Coloccini would be a disaster. I still don’t think S Taylor is the answer in the middle. He has played above my expectations of him this season but, I don’t think he reads the game very well and he lacks pace. I think the coaching this season has helped him a lot. He does seem to cover at times when Coloccini goes forward, this is something he has not done before. He regularly leaves the other centre back exposed. I often wondered about all of the centre backs we have had that were deemed to be rubbish playing alongside him. I think he should be replaced and he could be used as cover at centre or right back or even in attack when we need a goal.
We also need a left back and a striker.