There’s a phrase used in American Football – quarterback purgatory.
It refers to a situation where an NFL team has a quarterback that will never be good enough to get them to the Super Bowl, but is competent enough to win games against the lesser teams.
The downside of this is that in the NFL the teams with the worst records get the first pick of the new college players, and that is where teams can draft a quarterback that has the potential to get them to a Super Bowl. So when you’re in quarterback purgatory you’ll never truly bottom out and be awful, but at the same time, you’ll never get to where you want to be.
As we entered January I felt that City were in centre-back purgatory.
In terms of results we were not good enough to keep clean sheets against good teams but not so bad that we got battered by just anyone.
And in terms of recruitment we had players that were good enough that they couldn’t be replaced cheaply (in terms of either fee or wages) and already had a sizeable chunk of the wage budget invested in the position, but on the flip side we had (and still have) players that are too expensive to shift on.
Big contracts, big reputations, but with recent bodies of work that won’t encourage anyone to take an expensive chance on them. To borrow another metaphor, our squad is in negative equity.
Centre-back, like striker, is a position I never expected us to invest in during January. In a month where we were told we had to move players out to move them in it was highly unlikely we were going to shift anyone in these positions in the first place.
Unfortunately this stagnation is at the root of many of our current problems. And the centre of defence has been the definition of stagnant for years.
At the start of January we had five senior centre backs in Klose, Martin, Bassong, Bennett and Turner. Of those, only Klose has been here for less than four-and-a-half seasons, or to put it another way, nine transfer windows.
In fact, with the brief exception of Ignasi Miquel, Klose is the only centre-back we’ve bought in nine transfer windows. The other four have combined to make 601 appearances for the club.
Add in four-and-a-half years and 99 games for Steven Whittaker and three-and-a-half years and 129 games of Martin Olsson, and you had a defensive front that should have been as well-drilled and in tune as any unit in the country.
Yet all too often they appeared like new signings hastily thrust together, not understanding how to play with the other. Whilst Klose and Pinto have freshened things up at the back, and Dijk will hopefully continue to do so, the defensive squad remains clogged with players who have been there, done that, been dropped for it, and then been recalled because their replacements have been equally hapless.
And the cycle has continued year in, year out, although perhaps this is harsh, especially on Russell Martin who at seven years of service and approaching 300 games is in bona fide legend territory.
Individually they’ve all had plenty of good moments, but the maddening inconsistency of obviously gifted players is the reason that centre-back has been a revolving door position for what feels like forever.
This summer however represents a watershed moment for the entire defence. Whittaker, Turner, Bassong and Bennett are all out of contract (further year options not withstanding) whilst at left-back, Dijk is highlighting every one of his social media posts with a very big “four months” caveat, which serves to remind that left-back is far from settled as a position.
And whilst Klose and Pinto seem to be happy in their adopted Norfolk home, if City fail to somehow make it through the play-off jungle as the last men standing, admirers in higher leagues are unlikely to be in short supply.
Olsson’s departure felt like the beginning of the end for this group, and whomever is installed as CEO is going to earn his wages in June and July as a long overdue overhaul to our defensive ranks cranks up in earnest.
Whether the players that line up in defence for us come August come in from the rarefied echelons of European football or the upper half of League One is entirely dependent upon how well this group can hold the line in the weeks and months that lie ahead.
Which in itself creates some individual dilemmas. Stay down and your time in Norfolk on big money is over. Go up and you may be rewarded with another contract, or you may impress other clubs enough to get yourself a Bosman cash cow contract.
But equally the manager may recall how much you struggled at Premier Level before and choose to take the opportunity to replace you while they can. Perhaps centre-back purgatory works both ways. Either way, we live in interesting times.
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Whilst I am as pleased as anyone with the signings of Yanic Wildschut and Mitchell Dijks, I’m not with those who declared themselves happy with City’s transfer window business.
For me there are two glaring holes in the current squad that have been ignored. We have one left-back in Dijks and one fit central midfielder that can move the ball in Jonny Howson. We are effectively a couple of Achilles’ tendon injuries away from having half a season of Steven Whittaker at left-back and Alex Tettey and Youssef Mulumbu trying to switch the ball from defence to attack.
Terrifying.
That’s a hell of a lot of reliance on good luck with injuries, and on Dijks fitting in immediately and playing well. I hope I’m wrong but I can see this failure to add back-up options biting us sharply on the backside at some point and costing us dearly.
Good stuff Andy.
I couldn’t agree more with your final few paragraphs.
Jonny Howson remaining fit is vital, as our record without him in the side shows. It shouldn’t be a case of “here’s hoping”, but, erm, here’s hoping!
It is sad that some players have been prepared to take the money from City and not play. This is a relic of the Hughton/McNally era and there has been little that the current management team could do. But if the present mix of players is to achieve their potential, it helps if the preferred players play every week. belatedly this appears to be happening, the loss of Olsson and Brady apart.
I am looking forward to seeing Dijks on Saturday. If he is as good as Mark Walton appeared to think on Radio Norfolk in the Cardiff game then he may provide the catalyst to improve the defence until May.
City have been unlucky with sendings off but the players in midfield have certainly stepped up. Now that Jerome has hit form, and Oliveira is back City can hope to defend from the front rather than rely on the back four to shore up a crumbling team OTBC
Far too early and wrong to speculate about whether Dijks will stay long term. If he settles like Pinto and Oliveira then who knows where it will go. Huckerby is the prime example of the unexpected.
How come AN hasn’t tried with 3 CB again Bennett Klose and Martin looked good a few games ago now with the new left back and possibly Whittaker at RB we should beable to defend and Martin could always drop in to RB while Whittaker bolster the midfield when needed.
Just an opinion seems it works for the better teams in the prem
The reluctance to give youth a chance early means that the likes of Toffolo, Godfrey, Thompson (sadly now injured) etc are not ready to fill the gap when needed. Had they been blooded early in the season with 20 minutes here and there we may have been in a better position. The contracts for Turner and Whittaker sent all the wrong messages to the young players right at the start.
I would take issue with Douglas’s first comment. It is too easy to accuse players of taking the money. I am sure players like Lafferty, Bassong and Turner would like to be playing regular football elsewhere. But it is not their fault that the club offered them the contracts they have. Yes they could take a drop to play at another club but all have families and are not young. Who amongst us would be selfish at the detriment of their family? And it should also be noted that when called upon, all of them have given their all even if their ability maybe in question. It is also a question of the club,I suspect that some of those players could have had loan deals that involved only a contribution to their salary. The club has to weigh up whether that is in it’s interest, in such cases the club would no doubt prefer to keep the player here.
I don’t think you can blame the players. That’s the equivalent of being the teacher of a class of schoolchildren, picking the ones to put forward for a test and then shouting at them for failing the test. When you’re doing that for the umpteenth time it’s not the kids that aren’t learning.
I’m not suggesting they don’t give their all, I think they do. We, as a club when looking at our transfer policy, need to see what is and isn’t working long-term as well as short-term.
Here we go again – if in doubt, blame the centre backs.
Think back to 2003/4 when we one the league. Here are the appearance stats for a number of key players:
Green 46
Edworthy 42
Mackay 45
Fleming 46
Drury 42
Holt 46
Francis 39
It’s not just about one position, it’s about building a coherent unit. That group above were put together over 3 or 4 years, not a single season.
If we could have had
Ruddy
Pinto
Martin
Klose
Olsson
Howson
Tettey
being available every week I believe we would have been in a much better place by now.
OK, Olsson’s left, so we’ve had to replace him. And unfortunately whilst Gary Holt somehow did his dirty work with very few bookings or injuries there are very few who can manage that in his position – and Tettey certainly isn’t one of them.
Bur frankly if from now on we can put that group out (with Dijks instead of Olsson obviously) every week, once Tettey returns, I think we have a very good chance of forcing our way into the play-offs. For every one of the 4 teams above us to maintain their form for the rest of the season is just as big an ask for them as it is for us.
And if we do have a hiccup – and for various reasons tonight’s game is very much a banana skin – don’t panic. Stick, not twist, it’s the only way to build.
I can agree with a lot of what you say Keith B (8) but with a sound core like that it gives you the chance to blood those young players without putting too much pressure on them. That’s how you build a sustainable team. Sadly AN does not seem to be able to settle on that core and keeps playing people out of position (Howson?).
Keith – The difference is that the 2003-2004 defence all individually earned their places which is why they were successful as a group. We’ve ended up cycling through CB’s who all drop out through poor form only to have to replace the players that replaced them for the same reason. Whilst solidity is important there’s a slim dividing line between that and stagnation of competition which I think we’ve crossed.
I do agree that if we’d stuck with Martin and Klose we wouldn’t have conceded so many though (although that’s not to say either is necessarily the answer, just the best of what we have).
Excellent article Andy, agree totally. Sadly a couple of positive results against mediocre opposition creates a certain amnesia/forgiveness with some fans.
This is a dose of reality and even on Saturday there was a certain frailty in defensive areas that better teams would have exploited.
We are going nowhere this season and will continue in that vain until we learn the lesson that good sides are built on solid defences!
Andy (10), I agree they earned their places, but also ironically there was less quality cover – so if they did have a bad game or two they weren’t dropped. Social media was only just taking off too of course so there was less of a hoohah if that happened.
There’s no doubt Worthy was lucky with a lack of injuries that season too – I’ve not checked but I suspect Wagner and Hughton have been this year (so far). We certainly haven’t been.
As for blooding young players Cyprus, well in the days before the playoffs our season would have been all but dead by now and maybe that’s what we’d be doing. But it didn’t happen in 03/04 (although Shackell came through the following year I think) and it isn’t going to happen now, because the stakes are so high.
If you are lucky enough to have a genuine top class talent on your hands, fine, but right now we haven’t. Toffolo has had several loans and is pushing 50 league starts now. As far as I can see he’s done OK, but not been outstanding, even at League One level.
#3 Richard: Good point. I feel Darren Huckerby may well have been unique in that respect, but as you say, time alone will give us the answer.
#8 Keith B: Interesting viewpoint. Tonight isn’t just a banana skin, it’s also a very tough match and one I wish Tettey was available for. Until Man U scored just before half time, Wigan looked committed and a very decent side.
As you say, if it goes wrong, no need to panic. Be disappointed, sure, but don’t panic.