Gary O'Neil

[ZLF]

Interesting to see that the other wise impressive GON is dropped in preference of Johnson,  making him the second person critical of the players at forest to lose a spot.    Cant see many players coming out and accurately criticising performances in future.    

 

[Surgeryman]

Indeed. Another fault of Adams. It's about what's best for the team, nothing else.

Grabban is Neil's marquee signing and he is awful. Hooper should gave started.

O Neil is far better than Johnson. At least we won't see him next week.

Awful diamond formation with Johnson on the left! Simply awful!

Pulis alongside Phelan please ( or Sir Alex for a season!)

 

[GJP]

In the Bolton home game O'Neil got booked and was subbed off in plenty of time afterward.

Yet today both Howson and Johnson stayed on after bookings. It was always likely Johnson would get a second, so why wasn't he taken off for O'Neil or someone else?

Be interested to know the thinking behind it.

 

[splutcho]

I'm led to believe that O'Neil hadn't trained all week, at all, and was only to be used in emergencies.

 

[GJP]

Well that explains that then.

 

[Watling the Gnome]

Interesting to see that the other wise impressive GON is dropped in preference of Johnson,  making him the second person critical of the players at forest to lose a spot.    Cant see many players coming out and accurately criticising performances in future.

Only interesting if he was dropped for being critical of the players, which we don't know is the case.

 

[Yellow Fever]

I also can't see a player being dropped for that, the injury sounds far more likely to me.

 

[Salopian]

For what it is worth, my view is that O'Neill is better in virtually all aspects of the game than Johnson, - especially in passing constructively. I, and I suspect others, were seduced by Johnson's all running game, and he may have a slight edge in pace and stamina over O'Neill, but he is not a good defender. Even if Adams decides to proceed with the fault-ridden defenders because he has no choice, I still think that putting O'Neill in would not weaken the team, and it would improve the midfield considerably.

 

[Din]

Yeah can't see him being dropped for his comments after the Forest game tbh.

Plus, Johnson was playing from the left hand side yesterday, so it makes a little bit more sense to play him there than O'Neil, as he's left footed. Why we're playing a diamond formation with Johnson on the wing is another argument.

 

[digsb]

Yeah can't see him being dropped for his comments after the Forest game tbh.

Plus, Johnson was playing from the left hand side yesterday, so it makes a little bit more sense to play him there than O'Neil, as he's left footed. Why we're playing a diamond formation with Johnson on the wing is another argument.

I may have been looking at the match funny - but I don't think we started with a diamond.  When I saw the lineup, my first thought was "urgh".  My second thought was "actually, that looks like a 4-3-3", and that's how it looked to me in the first 15-20 minutes (with the front three being pretty 'fluid' about their positioning).  I thought it was working and we seemed to be getting the upper hand.

Then I noticed that Jermome and Grabban seemed to be up-top together, and Jonno was out wide.  I commented to the bloke next to me that we'd changed shape, and low-and-behold, Brighton's midfield started to get more control and their defence was under less pressure.  Then they scored.

Of course, I could have been looking at the match funny - I had had a couple of beverages before kick off...

 

[Yellow Fever]

I also thought that it looked more like a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 early in the match and I wonder if it was Adams or Johnson who decided to change things.

 

[digsb]

My thoughts are that Adam's blinked - we we're getting the upper hand, but hadn't had the breakthrough - and he thought that changing the shape somewhat would lead to the first goal.

IMO it did lead to the first goal, unfortunately not for us!

 

[Salopian]

We have seen Johnson perform on many occasions, but have seen very little of O'Neill, although he comes with a good reputation and was impressive in at least one game.

My own feeling is that O'Neill is the better player in virtually all aspects of a central midfielder's game. If we play with a diamond, I think that he could play behind the striker, where touch and passing are all important. To accommodate him, certainly in away games if we play a single striker, to overcome the problem of width on the left, I would suggest Josh out there. With O'Neill and Howson to supply the wingers and Tettey providing defensive cover, the 4-5-1 could work. And with Wes not far away and Vadis due back in a week or two, it could be worth a trial in the meantime.

 

[Fenway Frank]

Don't think we'll see Vadis until after Christmas