Good article on QPR's Adel Taarabt.

[Dolly Potter MD 0]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/20...abt.html#286656

 

 

....... in particular Warnock being prepared to build a system around him, covering up his flaws in the process while maximising his strengths.

 

But it's the mindset of the manager, of prepared to accept & forgive particular weakness', which stands out in this instance. This handling of a player, who is an instinctive all-out creative type, is the antithesis of the approach once adopted by Souness. The said manager would try to beat whatever weakness' a player had out of them [particularly creative talents], and at times would use the press as his voice to bash a player. There was no middle ground in Souness' eyes. It probably relates to Souness once being a wonderfully balanced offensive & defensive midfielder himself, and as such views himself as 'the' prototype or the yardstick as to whether his chargers cut the mustard out on the paddock, there was no room for compromise.

 

Prominent examples being Dunn & Robert. Robson accepted that the later was rarely going to provide a physical presence in the defensive half, but his unpredictable brilliance on the ball more than countered his flaws as a player & his enigmatic personality. Robert's attacking presence [which provided the team with true left-to-right balance, when complimenting Solano on the right] in relation to the overall structure of the team was more important than nit-picking any failings.

 

Dunn, in his early years at Blackburn, has arguably been the most gifted creative midfielder to grace Souness later years in the management game. I remember him being an instinctive & wildly skillful [although not pacey] playmaker, with the necessary vision to compliment his passing range & technical prowess. He was a top-drawer talent back then, and 20m figures were mentioned back then.

 

I think it was season 2002/03 when he sunk us with a in the second half long-range strike, to cap off a MOM performance - he dictated the pace & flow of the game from the centre of the park, pulled all the strings. And i remember Souness post match assessment, of Dunn. "He needs to do alot more defensively" and the insinuation that he wasn't hard enough etc, was the overall message conveyed by Souness. Of course he would later try and beat the flair out of Dunn, in an attempt to create a more balanced central midfielder, and Dunn didn't have the physical tools [or the application] to comply with the blueprint layed out by the manager, and found himself relegated to long stints on the bench. The man prematurely destroyed and demotivated a purely creative talent, a pure ball-playing footballer - a criminal offence given that such players are seldom produced with the sort regularity as seen in Spain. Blackburn supporters still haven't forgiven Souness' handling of Dunn, and the mentioning of it opens old wounds.

 

Of course the step-up in divisions will be the true yardstick, as to whether the Tarabaat gamble will pay off. Robert was surrounded with better players [and Bellamy's left-to-right defensive workrate can never be discounted] to accomodate him, in a looser formation when sitting back in defense when compared QPR's interchangeable set-up, which adjusts from attack to defensive with of course two deep sitting midfielders.

 

Nonetheless it's first class management on Warnock's part. Unlike Stoke , they'll have a crack at it while playing football, and thus will be a welcome addition to the top flight.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Year Zero

[LeazesMag 0]

he's alright Neil Warnock like.

 

When he was younger he was great for Scarborough, then Notts County, but he turned down his big chance when Chelsea offered him the job. At that time, he was ready to move up. Nobody knows what could have happened, but you don't hear ex players speaking badly of him and he strikes me as being the sort of man manager that players respect, in the lower leagues anyway. Who knows what would have happened if he had gone to Chelsea.

[ewerk 31236]

Colin Wanker

[LeazesMag 0]

Colin Wanker

 

[Guest]

Wow, Year Zero

Edited March 22, 2011 by AshleysSkidMark

[KeithJ 0]

You look at Adel and thinking of the team you could stick behind him at Newcastle.

 

Tiote would suit him perfectly. Maybe stick Barton or Nolan as a pairing with Tiote in the centre and you have a very creative team!

 

Problem is, we need a striker who will actually score. You can provide all the bullets you want however without an accurate gun, you wont get much out of it!