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Current Squad.

  • Thread starter Thread starter JK
  • Start date Start date

Current Squad.

GK: Daniel Iverson (Season Loan - June 2022)
GK: Declan Rudd (Contracted to June 2023)

DF: Sepp Van Den Berg (Season Loan)

MF: Ryan Ledson (Contracted to June 2023)
MF: Alan Browne (Contracted to June 2024)
MF: Ben Whiteman (Contracted to June 2024)

FW: Emil Riis Jakobsen (Contracted to June 2024)

2 goalkeepers, and players we don't even own!!
 
jamesOB said:
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
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I was really meaning using Evans as a target man with the others playing off him and using their pace to stretch the defence.. I agree about the tendency to resort to hoof ball though.
 
sf said:
I think there's good potential there and glad he scored but his overall game was woeful. Bad touches, lazy passing and easily out muscled.

It's clear he's not a back-to-goal, link up player. He needs through balls & balls over the top so he can use his pace and get shots away. He's also a good dribbler and can make a yard, the type of striker who always needs to be facing goal.
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I think that he was back to goal when he laid the ball off earlier in the move that got him his goal - or does that not count?
 
Meldrew's Ghost said:
I think that he was back to goal when he laid the ball off earlier in the move that got him his goal - or does that not count?
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You mean his header on the throw in line at the opposite side of the pitch, about 45 yards from goal?

Wow, that completely defeats my point, top insight.
 
Bren27 said:
Damn it Messi to PSG, what is Risdale doing , missed a decent free transfer there 😂🤪🤪
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Messi must be loaded by now too, bet hes got at least a few hundred quid in the bank, we needn't pay him anything.

Fucking Ridsdale.
 
Just a thought that's crossed my mind too. Why so we have so many players that are a jack of all trades, master of none. I'm thinking more or less some of our central midfielders.

Browne, Ledson, Bayliss and Whiteman.

I don't know what half of these are good at. Are they ball winners? Box to box midfielders? Goal machines? Quality with assists?

Same with some of our defenders - what are all their best positions? Is this the downside to buying players who can play in multiple different positions?
 
Many Clouds said:
Just a thought that's crossed my mind too. Why so we have so many players that are a jack of all trades, master of none. I'm thinking more or less some of our central midfielders.

Browne, Ledson, Bayliss and Whiteman.

I don't know what half of these are good at. Are they ball winners? Box to box midfielders? Goal machines? Quality with assists?

Same with some of our defenders - what are all their best positions? Is this the downside to buying players who can play in multiple different positions?
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Dunno, I can tell you what I think they are....

Browne - goalscoring midfielder.
Ledson - combative midfielder who can also create a bit on his day
Whiteman - not really sure. Whatever it is we haven't used him as it yet.
Bayliss - I think I'll die not knowing.

Defenders is a bit easier on the whole. Whether they're any good is a different matter.

Hughes, Cunningham, Earl are all left sided and could all feasibly play full back/wing back or to the left of a three.
Van den Berg - similar but right sided
Rafferty - cover left and right back
Olusunde - right back/wing back
Lindsay, Bauer, Storey, Huntington all centre back.
 
Many Clouds said:
I remember at the start of Neil's first full season (2017/18) expectations were high. Grayson had established the side as a competent championship team and players like Hugill, Robinson and Pearson were beginning to flourish. I and probably a lot on here, were really expecting us to finally push on under Neil.

Our main players in Neil's first season was pretty much:

Rudd
Fisher
Clarke
Huntington
Davies - starting to establish himself as a competent championship CB.
Cunningham
Browne
Pearson
Gallagher
Johnson
Robinson
Barky
Hugill
Maguire - who back then really hit the ground running in Neil's first year.

Comparing that to the players that played Saturday;

Rudd / Iversen
Barky (wing back) / VDB
Storey
Lindsay
Hughes
Cunningham (ageing)
Browne (well off it these past 18-24 months)
Johnson
Ledson
Whiteman
Riis
Evans

The drop in quality in certain positions is stark.

I don't think I'd be sad to see any of them go apart from Rudd. Probably DJ and Barky too (as frustrating as they both can be sometimes)

Extremely worrying times ahead I fear.
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That top team in your post, would give the present one a fucking good hiding, we were exciting for a while back then, Neil could have been a very good manager if he was backed getting in his first or second choices in, but that's history now. What happens next, none of us know, but if this is our team going forward, then it'll be a big struggle to stay above the bottom three or four, a new striker is essential, but that won't change much, it needs a complete rethink or rebuild from the top down, our prehistoric owner (Hemmorrhoisaurus) has money "piled" up, but won't spend it. I also don't think Frankie is the answer, plus poor old Gally has got to fuck into his mates, I don't think he's made for that. The Captain needs changing too, he's not captain material imo.
I loved this fucking club since 1965 & it hurts.
Rant over. 👍
 
simo said:
Dunno, I can tell you what I think they are....

Browne - counting wages
Ledson - dangerous tackles
Whiteman - penalties i think
Bayliss - Master of disguise

Defenders is a bit easier on the whole. Whether they're any good is a different matter.

Hughes, Cunningham, Earl are all left sided and could all feasibly play full back/wing back or to the left of a three in league 1.
Van den Berg - ginger and young, did ok last season
Rafferty - cover left and right back for a league 1 side
Olusunde - see Bayliss
Lindsay, Bauer, Storey, Huntington all centre back, however their fragility prevents them playing as a 2.
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Edited for accuracy.
 
On the basis we are in the Championship I think this is the weakest squad for years , literally very few players I would be bothered to keep , I got it to 5 and that’s 2 Loan Players and I was being generous …. I so hope I’m wrong but with that large squad full of players IMO not good enough for the Championship without additions I cannot see four worse teams on paper than us …
 
JoeJF said:
GK: Daniel Iverson (Season Loan - June 2022)
GK: Declan Rudd (Contracted to June 2023)

DF: Sepp Van Den Berg (Season Loan)

MF: Ryan Ledson (Contracted to June 2023)
MF: Alan Browne (Contracted to June 2024)
MF: Ben Whiteman (Contracted to June 2024)

FW: Emil Riis Jakobsen (Contracted to June 2024)

2 goalkeepers, and players we don't even own!!
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This for me (obviously barring the youthies) , excluding Rudd and adding Earl, who I still think will grow into a good player
 
simo said:
I've looked at it a bit more rationally than before and have listed players as below. We could probably argue over one or two (Hughes and Potts for example) but I think its about there.

The main concerns as I see it are:
5 players who are seem unlikely to be part of the long term plans contracted for another two years.
A lack of quality and quantity up front
A lack of quantity at the back (and that assume that Hughes is up to it which I know divides opinion).

That all said, there is a core of a half decent team with some pretty decent quality in midfield especially. But generally its players of the level who would fill out a decent side without necessarily having the ability to be leaders/key players themselves. Overall its hard to see where goals or clean sheets are going to come from which is kind of a fairly big problem.

UNABLE TO JUDGE AS I'VE NOT SEEN THEM
GK: Oliver Lombard* (Contracted to June 2022 + 1Yr option)
DF: Lewis Coulton* (Contracted to June 2022 + 1Yr option)
DF: Matthew Olosunde (Contracted to June 2023)
MF: Lewis Leigh* (2nd Year Scholar)
MF: Jack Baxter* (Contracted to June 2022)
MF: Tom Bayliss (Contracted to June 2023)
MF: Adam O'Reilly* (Contracted to June 2023)
MF/FW: Ethan Walker* (Contract June 2022)
MF/FW: Izzy Brown (Contracted to June 2022 + 1Yr option)
MF/FW: Jamie Thomas (Contracted to June 2022 + 1Yr option)
FW: Jacob Holland-Wilkinson* (Contracted to June 2022 + 1Yr option)
FW: Joe Rodwell-Grant* (Contracted to June 2022 + 1Yr option)

SURPLUS TO REQUIREMENTS
GK: Matthew Hudson (Contracted to June 2022)
GK: Connor Ripley (Contracted to June 2022)
DF: Paul Huntington (Contracted to June 2022)
DF: Joe Rafferty (Contracted to June 2022)
MF: Josh Harrop (Contracted to June 2023)
FW: Sean Maguire (Contracted to June 2023)

NOT CONVINCING (ABILITY/FITNESS ISSUES)
DF: Jordan Storey (Contracted to June 2022)
DF: Patrick Bauer (Contracted to June 2022)
DF: Josh Earl (Contracted to June 2023)
DF: Liam Lindsay (Contracted to June 2023)
DF: Greg Cunningham (New Contract to June 2023)
MF/FW: Scott Sinclair (Contracted to June 2022)
MF/FW: Brad Potts (Contracted to June 2022)

CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST TEAM SQUAD LEVEL (OR DECENT POTENTIAL TO BE SO)
GK: Daniel Iverson (Season Loan - June 2022)
GK: Declan Rudd (Contracted to June 2023)
DF: Sepp Van Den Berg (Season Loan)
DF: Andrew Hughes (Contracted to June 2022)
MF: Ryan Ledson (Contracted to June 2023)
MF: Daniel Johnson (Contracted to June 2023)
MF: Alan Browne (Contracted to June 2024)
MF: Ben Whiteman (Contracted to June 2024)
MF/FW: Tom Barkhuizen (Contracted to June 2022)
FW: Ched Evans (New Contract to June 2023)
FW: Emil Riis Jakobsen (Contracted to June 2024)
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Couldn't put this any better myself 👍
 
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
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A lone striker needs to hold the ball up. Riis can't control a long ball coming to him.
As far as I can see he needs through balls and balls coming across the area.
With most players you've got to play to their strengths, as we see with Maguire, it's no good hoofing the ball to him.
 
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