16th August 2004: After the first
weekend of the new Premiership season, it's a little early to draw
conclusions but it's clear that Arsenal have continued where they
left off last season. They looked awesome against Everton and I'm
glad that Albion won't be facing them until November - hopefully,
we'll have a few points on the board before they try to tear us apart.
Their rivals, however, failed to really impress. Chelsea seemed happy
to just do enough to get the three points against Manchester United
- they dominated the early stages but, after scoring the goal, they
sat back and let United come on to them. Indeed, an under strength
and under par United side probably deserved the draw.
With most results finishing in a draw, Albion find themselves in 16th
place with the same record as the team in 7th thanks to the alphabet!
One of the teams that won, however, was our opponents on Saturday,
Aston Villa. Southampton didn't look good, but Carlton Cole is certainly
the man to watch in the Villa side in the absence of Angel.
Looking back to the Albion game, a couple of things have come clearer
today. Gregan's absence was down to his wife being ill, and Megson
said he would've played otherwise. That is encouraging as his drive
and grit was certainly missing from the Albion midfield. He may be
on the transfer list, but until we have all our midfielders fit and
available, he should be in the side.
If Gregan does leave the club, he needs to be replaced. In terms of
the midfield, I believe his natural replacement is already at the
club in the guise of Riccardo Scimeca. He his playing a right back
at the moment in the absence of a better option. I don't see Haas
getting near the first team with everyone available, certainly not
at right back - he was found out far too many times last season. In
my opinion, it is a right back that we should be looking for rather
than a holding midfield player.
Speaking of transfer targets, the three being mentioned at the moment
are Dindane, Carrick and Konchesky. Dindane is obviously a quality
striker but we may have to wait until after Anderlecht's second leg
against Benfica next week before his future is decided. Konchesky
would be a good capture but surprising given that he appears to be
back in the Charlton first team after going on loan to Spurs last
season. Carrick has been a promising player for some time without
really fulfulling that promise so far. He would be a good addition
to the squad but whether he is worth £3.5 million with only one year
left on his contract is another matter. Megson seems keen but we will
have to wait and see what the lad himself wants to do.
The other thing that became clear today is the choice of captain for
Saturday. Andy Johnson revealed that Megson asked the players to vote
for who they wanted to be skipper for the day. It is a strange idea
that has some good and bad points. The skipper's main duty, in my
view, is to act as the manager's assistant on the field - he should
help him to get the players to do what he wants as well as encourage
and motivate throughout the game. Not everyone has those qualities,
and Clement wouldn't have been an obvious choice for me. Also, depending
on how the vote is taken, it could possibly have a detrimental effect
on relationships between individual players, although one would hope
that the team spirit is good enough for that not to be a concern.
Having said that, it does a number of things. Firstly, the manager
is showing his trust in the players to make the right decision. Secondly,
it should ensure that the skipper has the full support of his team
mates, or at least the majority of them. Finally, it must give a great
boost of confidence to the player chosen to know that his team mates
respect him. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if being captain got to Clem,
but his performance was not great although his commitment could not
be faulted.
Speaking of Clement, rumours are abound today that Crystal Palace
are interested in signing him - this could be related to Konchesky's
possible move and I'd be surprised if Clement was allowed to leave
without a replacement coming in. Talking of left-sided defenders,
whatever happened to Djimi Traore?
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