Stan Collymore Syndrome?

By: Daryl | February 22nd, 2009

Managing: Newcastle
Date: Feb 18th, 2011
Progress: 5th in Prem after 26 games, 1 point behind 4th place Man City.

OK, so the post transfer window drama era begins. And I’m defining success like this. Either:

a) Qualify for Champions League, or
b) Win a trophy (any trophy)

Otherwise I’m going to seriously consider drafting a resignation letter. This is my third season and it’s about time I had something to show for it.

So… I’ve played four games recently against weakish opposition recently. Rested a few tired legs like Skjelbred, Camacho etc, but tried not to turn into Rafa the Rotator. I get the feeling that FM09 will punish you with a shock defeat for not fielding your best team.

Good news is that Nicklas Bendtner has made an almost suspiciously good start to his life in black and white stripes.

vs Portsmouth (away) W 2-1

- – - – - – - – Given – - – - – - -
Taylor – Rusol – Coloccini – Enrqiue
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
- – - Hummels – - Camacho – - – -
Dzagoev – - – Diego – - – Arshavin
- – - – - – Marquinhos – - – - – -

4-2-3-1, lots of width, short passing, slow tempo; offside trap, high defensive line

Started with Marquinhos as lone striker, with through balls being played for him to run on to. I’m not saying it can’t work, but it didn’t today. More worrying: Diego had a shocker.

We were actually 1-0 down until I shook things up a bit, brought Lew on up front, dropped Marquinhos back to AM and got young John Fleck off the bench.

Camacho equalized when Fleck found him in the box, and Fleck himselfgot the winner when he latched onto a Given kick and beat the keeper at the near post. Well done young Scotsman, you’re starting the next game.

vs West Ham (home) D 1-1

- – - – - – - – Given – - – - – - -
Jiranek – Rusol – Coloccini – Enrqiue
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
- – - Belletti – - Camacho – - – -
Arshavin – - Marquinhos – - – Fleck
- – - – - – Lewandowski- – - – - -

4-2-3-1, lots of width, short passing, slow tempo; offside trap, high defensive line

Mon Capitan Steven Taylor has been a bad boy and picked up too many yellows, so Martin Jiranek gets to play. Which is probably a good thing as the Czech has been in my office every day this week asking why he’s not playing. “Because Steven Taylor is better than you, even when he’s playing out of position” has been my answer, which hasn’t done much for Jiranek’s morale.

Marquinhos somehow gave away a penalty, but man of the moment John Fleck was around to get on the end of another long ball:

Bendtner came on late for a bit of match fitness, but didn’t have time to do anything.

vs Hull City (away) W 3-1

- – - – - – - – Given – - – - – - -
Taylor – Rusol – Coloccini – Enrqiue
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
- – - Belletti – - Skjelbred – - – -
Jonas – - Marquinhos – - – Arshavin
- – - – - – Lewandowski- – - – - -

4-2-3-1, lots of width, short passing, slow tempo; offside trap, high defensive line

Camachos’ turn for a rest, and Fleck was a little tired too. Good news is that Jonas was back, and back on the scoresheet after two minutes. Sounds good, but Hull equalized before halftime and we were 1-1 with just a few minutes to go. Against Hull.

The perfect time for Nicklas Bendtner to show me what he’s got in those pink boots. Here’s what he did after coming off the bench:

Yep, he tackled a Hull defender and ran through to score. Not once, but twice. In the 86th and 89th minutes, turning a 1-1 disappointment into a 3-1 win. So that’s his transfer fee paid for already.

One thing that worries me: Does Bendtner suffer from Stan Collymore Syndrome? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s Stan Collymore’s debut for Bradford City:

Brilliant, but it soon went to poop.

Stan the Man had also scored a hat-trick on his home debut for Leicester City before going off the boil and leaving on a free.

So Stan Collymore Syndrome is basically where players are hyper-motivated on their debuts/early days at a club and do amazing things but get cozy/lazy a few games later. I believe Mido has battled this illness too. Very sad.

So let’s hope Nicklas “Two Tackles” Bendtner (cus that’s his nickname now) isn’t the latest footballer to suffer from this terrible affliction.

vs Derby County (home) W 4-1

- – - – - – - – Given – - – - – - -
Taylor – Rusol – Coloccini – Enrqiue
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
- – - Mascio – - Camacho – - – -
Jonas – - – Diego – - – Fleck
- – - – - – Lewandowski- – - – - -

4-2-3-1, lots of width, short passing, slow tempo; offside trap, high defensive line

Shook things up again, first XI wise. Just making sure everyone gets a rest. Sadly, Digeo isn’t taking the opportunity to impress. He got a 6.9 here, but has been putting in mostly low to mid 6s. Trying not to think about the 9m I spent on him just yet. Deep breaths, deep breaths.

Luckily, Lewandowski was blowing hot today, and bagged two. Marquinhos came off the bench to bend in a free kick and score a penalty too. So after all the transfer drama, my first choice attackers are probably still Jonas, Marquinhos, Arshavin as AMs with Lewandowski as CF.

Two bright spots: Bendtner played the last 30 and got a repesctable 6.9, and Mascio put in an excellent performance (7.6) and looks capable of contributing more to the first team now. As for Alan Dzagoev… remember him? I actually forgot he played for me for a while. Let’s hope he picks up towards the end of the season.

Next up: Liverpool in the FA Cup 5th Round and you’ll never guess who I drew in the UEFA Cup knockout round: Sampdoria, and Salvatore Foti. Now I definitely wish I’d bought him.