Skip to main content

Current Squad.

  • Thread starter Thread starter JK
  • Start date Start date

Current Squad.

Realistic said:
"Lot of football to be played though still."

97.82% of the season left, If my abacus is correct. We should have a reasonable idea in about a month--six weeks. The only positive from that game I could see was that Riis looked a prospect.
Click to expand...
I didn’t think Riis offered anything at all in that game. How much of that was due to the rest of the team I’m not sure, but he didn’t hold the ball up at all. Took his goal well, especially given he’d have been caught offside last year

I can’t help but feel he’s a lone striker. He plays off the shoulder and stretches defenders by finding space, like Magennis did, but he can’t do that with a striker partner because he has to factor in Evans’ position too. His best performances came as a lone 9

I’d like to see him on his own with Sinclair and Barky alongside, all 3 stretching the defence with DJ in behind. But McAvoy won’t do that
 
When you play a front 2 and a back 5, you can afford to have a poacher who doesn't contribute much in build up, as long as he can finish.

That's why the striker hunt should be a lot easier than it was under Neil. We don't need a tall, strong, fast, skillful player who can finish anymore. We have Evans to do the first 2. We need someone to do the other 2.

Still need backup for Ched, mind.
 
StickyBrick said:
I agree but I think (at this stage?) that he may be that kind of player - useless outside the box but comes alive when its in there.

As we used to call them when I was a kid "a goal-hanger"
Click to expand...
Making him unusable in a team that’s allergic to getting the ball in the box
 
Worrying that a lot of peoples ‘top players’ wouldn’t have been 2/3 seasons ago.

A lot would have said DJ and Barky were disposable and now they’re the only 2 we want to keep.

Worrying times and the recruitment has gone backwards. I think the likes of Pearson/Robbo may have been pure flukes.
 
sf said:
I thought he was absolutely diabolical apart from the goal.
Click to expand...
He wasn't great. But, no one covered themselves in glory. We finally get a striker who scores and yank him off after 45 mins. I just fear he's been mismanaged since he arrived and this move was another potential knock to his confidence.

Some of the best strikers over the years can look shit all game but pop up with a goal that matters. I'd liked to have seen him in the second half rather than watch Potts tear around aimlessly like he was in another dimension.

Riis needs minutes on the pitch. I fear Frankie will just stick to Evans & Barky and very soon if the wins don't materialize go back to one up front with Evans and a (Potts or someone) just behind
 
sf said:
Remember when people used to bad mouth Callum Robinson & Jordan Hugill?

🤣 🤣 🤣
Click to expand...
jamesOB said:
I would love to know who they were watching that made them think those two were crap
Click to expand...

It's not so much funny as an indication of how far we have fallen.

When Hugill was being criticised, we were a solid top-half team with momentum and some strength in depth, but we needed more of a cutting edge up front to break into the top 6.

Replace Hugill with someone better, was the thinking, and we'd be virtually there.

And when £10m landed in our laps following the sale, it seemed inevitable we'd invest that money wisely and the Prem would finally be ours. Surely we couldn't fuck this up?

Instead we replaced Hugill, months later, with what became a relentless series of much, much shitter strikers.

So now - 4 years of stagnation and useless recruitment later - the momentum is a memory, the squad depth has evaporated, the fringe players of yesterday are the star players of today by default, and we're no longer looking for the final piece in the puzzle, we've got an empty box and not even a picture of what we're supposed to be building.

Of the current senior squad, I'd keep Barky (the only pace we've got), DJ (the only flair we've got) and Riis (the only vaguest, briefest sniff of a goal we've got).
 
jamesOB said:
I didn’t think Riis offered anything at all in that game. How much of that was due to the rest of the team I’m not sure, but he didn’t hold the ball up at all. Took his goal well, especially given he’d have been caught offside last year

I can’t help but feel he’s a lone striker. He plays off the shoulder and stretches defenders by finding space, like Magennis did, but he can’t do that with a striker partner because he has to factor in Evans’ position too. His best performances came as a lone 9

I’d like to see him on his own with Sinclair and Barky alongside, all 3 stretching the defence with DJ in behind. But McAvoy won’t do that
Click to expand...
So would i, or Evans as the lone striker. At the moment we're just not stretching defences or putting them under any kind of real pressure.
 
Henry Weston said:
So would i, or Evans as the lone striker. At the moment we're just not stretching defences or putting them under any kind of real pressure.
Click to expand...
Not sure Evans would stretch defences, more likely give the squad the excuse to hoof - I mean, play it direct - up to him

A player like Evans works if you’re getting players up the pitch quickly. The only thing this lot does quickly is capitulate
 
Realistic said:
He took the opportunity (scored). He didn't panic and slice it, or hoof it over, he scored, biggest part of his job done in my book.
Click to expand...

For once, I agree. You can afford to have a poacher as part of a 2. But your workhorse has to win his battles, and there needs to be chances for him to take. We can't only create one opportunity per game and slate someone for missing it- everyone will miss them sometimes.
 
Peters now talking about some of the youth lads being given a chance.

Disgusting, another way to save the owner money buying proven players. No issues with kids being used, if they’re good enough.

Is Rodwell-Grant good enough to lead the line? If not, buy an actual striker.
 
jamesOB said:
I didn’t think Riis offered anything at all in that game. How much of that was due to the rest of the team I’m not sure, but he didn’t hold the ball up at all. Took his goal well, especially given he’d have been caught offside last year

I can’t help but feel he’s a lone striker. He plays off the shoulder and stretches defenders by finding space, like Magennis did, but he can’t do that with a striker partner because he has to factor in Evans’ position too. His best performances came as a lone 9

I’d like to see him on his own with Sinclair and Barky alongside, all 3 stretching the defence with DJ in behind. But McAvoy won’t do that
Click to expand...
He gambles too much for me. It seems that instead of holding the ball up and looking for a simple lay off he wants to wait for the defender to commit or dive in and then turn him.

Having said that, Saturday was the first time I’ve seen most of those players in the flesh. I had opinions on them last season but it’s nowhere near the same as being there and seeing their movement, their body language off the ball and how they interact with their team mates. I actually thought Riis showed a fair bit of promise and if you were taking that first half in isolation he showed a lot more than Evans.

I do find the lack of a striker coach simply astounding. For someone who tells us how much he knows about football, the director surely must see that for the sake of a month worth of Harrop’s wages they could employ a striker coach for a day or two a week.
 
wld said:
He gambles too much for me. It seems that instead of holding the ball up and looking for a simple lay off he wants to wait for the defender to commit or dive in and then turn him.

Having said that, Saturday was the first time I’ve seen most of those players in the flesh. I had opinions on them last season but it’s nowhere near the same as being there and seeing their movement, their body language off the ball and how they interact with their team mates. I actually thought Riis showed a fair bit of promise and if you were taking that first half in isolation he showed a lot more than Evans.

I do find the lack of a striker coach simply astounding. For someone who tells us how much he knows about football, the director surely must see that for the sake of a month worth of Harrop’s wages they could employ a striker coach for a day or two a week.
Click to expand...
See, I’ve no issue whatsoever with him gambling. I’d take a striker that’s brave and takes risks in a hope to get the ball into a dangerous area over a striker who takes a touch then plays it back to the midfield who play it back to the defence who play it back to the goalie who then hoofs it up to the striker who inevitably doesn’t win the header
 
I counted 7. The rest are lucky to have championship contracts. I did not count the youth I have not seen.
For me that has been the most disappointing aspect of PNE over the last four or five years.
Also I would contemplate bringing back Mr Greyson to manage.
 
Double J said:
Peters now talking about some of the youth lads being given a chance.

Disgusting, another way to save the owner money buying proven players. No issues with kids being used, if they’re good enough.

Is Rodwell-Grant good enough to lead the line? If not, buy an actual striker.
Click to expand...
I agree but when I read your post I took it as Gary Peters was back in the building!

The issue with kids is they need to be brought into a settled team one or two at a time. It’s similar to England in the past, there’d be a settled team and certain players would only get a chance in friendlies but the whole team would be changed and not give a true reflection of whether or not said player could succeed in the full team. Often they’d disappear after the friendly. Rodwell-Grant looked a real athlete and unit and I’d love him to succeed but it should be because it’s the right time for him, not because the rest of them are not performing and we’re desperate.
 
jamesOB said:
I didn’t think Riis offered anything at all in that game. How much of that was due to the rest of the team I’m not sure, but he didn’t hold the ball up at all. Took his goal well, especially given he’d have been caught offside last year

I can’t help but feel he’s a lone striker. He plays off the shoulder and stretches defenders by finding space, like Magennis did, but he can’t do that with a striker partner because he has to factor in Evans’ position too. His best performances came as a lone 9

I’d like to see him on his own with Sinclair and Barky alongside, all 3 stretching the defence with DJ in behind. But McAvoy won’t do that
Click to expand...
He only played half a game, to be fair. My point was he scored. Most of his job done.
 
HunterLionheart said:
For once, I agree. You can afford to have a poacher as part of a 2. But your workhorse has to win his battles, and there needs to be chances for him to take. We can't only create one opportunity per game and slate someone for missing it- everyone will miss them sometimes.
Click to expand...
For once I agree twice !
 
Back
Top