Do I need to watch Will Keane more often to understand that he's not a goalscorer, nor is he a 'Firmino type', who's going to create chances for others to score the 10/15/20 goals a season required to challenge higher up the table?
Admittedly PNE got him from a Club who are/were in deep financial trouble - Wigan Athletic. But in his last two seasons was very good:-the 2020-21 season 11goals/34 games & 21-22 season 26goals in 44 games. Coming to PNE for an "undisclosed" fee ( why any secrecy, I dunno ) he was the top scorer last season with 12. No, we don't score enough, I know. The guy's been playing well IMO this season but he took a bad knock whilst away for the R.o.I.
The 'Value' of Keane, is quite poor really,
I couldn't disagree with that, because we swooped in and picked him up in what might be called a 'fire sale'. If he was getting those figures above and he was only aged 18, 19, 20 - Clubs like Leicester would be watching him like with Vardy at Fleetwood. And he would then leave PNE to go to a Club like Leicester. ( We know what's then supposed to happen is that PNE reinvest that money & hope that it improves the Club, in order to get better & better players. The 'model' )
as toonot with Evans, as you pointed out, PNE require 'Evolution' and buying players of 30+ years who aren't really good enough at this level, is very poor 'Value'.
Same with Evans. We picked him up for (again) probably not-very-much from Fleetwood and gave him a chance at a higher level. A gamble, with his age, and the surrounding controversy. We all know as much as anyone needs to know about that. I don't think PNE would have been able to afford him if all that stuff had never happened, & by know the guy might have become a top coach or some other role in the professional game. As it is, there's a theory that if someone's either a late-comer to the game, or their career's been put on 'hold' - that can actually either extend their 'window' or simply move that window a bit further along.
Ched & Will are short-term buys. This is the Chairman's philosophy, rather than invest more into the 'Youth' side which is what, say Rovers & Leicester have done, and possibly as you say, Sunderland, as below. Let's talk about the three clubs. Two of them were just jogging-along doing average in the second tier and then along came their Knight in Shining Armour or Family in Shining Armour. Those two both had pots of money invested in them and as well as getting in very good managers, top players etc & either rebuilt the ground or wiped off the debt on the ground. The long-term thing they did do was invest in the youth. In Sunderland's case they are a Club which deserves a "Leeds United" award for being badly run. They have been mired in controversy for years now, their massive attendances being the factor that's enabled survival - a former Prem. Club who were in L1 for years with former managers like Chris Coleman & PNE'S Simon Grayson both accepting the Poisoned Chalice. Their ground is great, their stable attendances for a Champ Club - massive . Good for them that they might have developed decent Youth Facilities. Because their other Board Room philosophies & decisions about most other footballing matters were simply dreadful.
Meanwhile PNE's owners , despite being Billionaires, have kept the Club 'just ticking over'. They finally broke their transfer record this season - a record which had held since the early 2000's - (the best part of 20 years.) The Chairman is the former Leeds Chairman who at Elland Road, quote, "Dared to Dream" . The owners have even successfully pulled the wool over the Council in order to build houses on a former Golf Course, by leading them to believe that they were going to invest in building the Highest Escelon Top Training / Youth Facilities. One promising lad's just gone to Brighton. Draw your own conclusions.
I appear to be one of the few who actually realises that 'Evolution' is what mush happen, and for that to happen, replacing Lowe just starts that process all over again. What happens if you bring a manager in who doesn't rate you big money summer signings, and he has to wait 2-3 years to get them and others off the books, to even begin investing again? If you bring in a manager who wants to use wingers for example, you're going to have to wait at least two summer windows before he's got the players he wants to even play his system at an adequate level to match Lowe's current performance.
Don't disagree. And if the current manager wants to subscribe to a current fashion in football ( Wingbacks) - it's only to be expected that we have two good ones with two younger players of the same ilk in reserve. We have never had two, let alone 2+2. Instead he keeps persevering with ' square pegs' etc.
Claiming I'm just a 'Lazy Prem fan' is a lazy observation by yourself.
I can't recall throwing that at you in respect of your attitude - but it seems reasonable to comment of the strength of the Leicester squad and how it got there - ( and that wasn't through the Club's Youth System - fantastic as those facilities are )
I've watched my side play in three tiers of English Football and have seen many a side 'Progress' themselves as a Club in the mean time. I've seen Swansea progress with a specific style, I've seen Luton and Stoke progress with completely different styles.
Ditto.
I think Sunderland is a very good example actually, for years they were signing 'Plodders', 28-33 year old players with no chance of progression. Now they're signing youngsters, playing high energy football and are a completely different Club compared to what they were just a few years ago, spending much less in the process.
I've written about the Mackems as above. I'm pleased for them that that dreadful time is over - but that period did last for donkey's years. I believe a Club like them, bigger than any other Club mentioned by me today, are of a size that make them deserving of a Premier League place. Pity about NUFC & their owners, mind.
You will not like it, but Blackburn impressed me this season too. Admittedly they've been forced into promoting youth, as their ownership have been a disgrace, but they too were high energy and played in a way that can be progressive on the pitch, despite getting no help off it.
PNE could have the same Youth Policy. Why they don't, ask the Hemmings family.
Ched Evans will soon be 35 and Will Keane 31, relying on these players who aren't great players at this level, does not scream 'Evolution' to me.
It screams realism to me. The realism of doing things on a budget that's on the low or, even minimal side, imo.
Whether it be Lowe, Maresca, Mckenna, Pep or Klopp, they're not getting more out of those than Lowe is. Being 8th in the league with such quality deserves credit, not negativity.
PNE 'rode their luck' to be at the top of the table for so long, and for so early. Reality is biting-in now. We do need 2-4 reasonable quality buys at Christmas to make the playoffs cut.
Keep your fingers crossed for us and don't offer us Jamie Vardy, we wouldn't be able to afford his wages probably 😮😄
