Maybe the idea is to get as close to 30 games out of Inniss as possible & split the remaining games between Gunter and Elerewe.
Barker could fill in right back duties alongside Gunter-Famewo if Inniss & Matthews were out at the same time.
Barker doesn’t seem to have progressed like we thought he would, and Gunter is ok only as a last resort. Elerewe might do the job based on what we’ve seen in friendlies, but he’s unproven in L1. What would happen if he had a shaky first couple of games? I think we have to assume that Inniss may be missing for long periods.
Why isn’t barker progressing? Bowyer was forced to play him as a 17 year old ahead of older u-23 players for non footballing reasons. He then went back to the u-18’s and worked his way up to play for the u-23’s. He has been around the first team squad again this pre season. I would say that he is progressing nicely.
the problem is that because he played aged 17, people expect him to be Gomez or konsa. He is 18!!!! Another year of academy football, then 12 months of being with the squad, then regular game time aged 20.
Maybe the idea is to get as close to 30 games out of Inniss as possible & split the remaining games between Gunter and Elerewe.
Barker could fill in right back duties alongside Gunter-Famewo if Inniss & Matthews were out at the same time.
Barker doesn’t seem to have progressed like we thought he would, and Gunter is ok only as a last resort. Elerewe might do the job based on what we’ve seen in friendlies, but he’s unproven in L1. What would happen if he had a shaky first couple of games? I think we have to assume that Inniss may be missing for long periods.
Why isn’t barker progressing? Bowyer was forced to play him as a 17 year old ahead of older u-23 players for non footballing reasons. He then went back to the u-18’s and worked his way up to play for the u-23’s. He has been around the first team squad again this pre season. I would say that he is progressing nicely.
the problem is that because he played aged 17, people expect him to be Gomez or konsa. He is 18!!!! Another year of academy football, then 12 months of being with the squad, then regular game time aged 20.
Just an observation from watching the friendlies. And that could just be rustiness.
It could be that he’ll rise to the occasion if given a chance though. Certainly hope he does.
But I think you have to have faith in Adkins, Jacko and the rest to judge whether he’s ready or not. They see much more of him than we do.
The problem with 433s and 4231s is that unless you have goals from central midfield, you can end up heavily reliant on the number 9 to score your goals unless the wingers are goal scorers as well (the Raheem Sterling types as opposed to the hug the touchline types)
Looking at Posh last season, Clarke-Harris got 33, but they also had scoring midfielder and wingers too - Szmodics with 15, Dembele with 13
For Hull, Wilks got 22, Magennis 19, Lewis-Potter 15
At the moment, we seem short of goals up top, especially with the enigma of Ronnie who seems best suited to a 442 anyway
DJ will get double figures this season as will Stockley and Washington
40 goals from those 3 should be the conservative target.
40 goals between the 3 won't be enough
The Posh 3 got 61 between them, the Hull 3, 56
Yeah hense the Conservative part, ideally it's 50+. Despite our apparent lack of goals last season, only 3 teams scored more than us.
If we can pick up another midfielder that can chip in with 10, we are only 10 short of what we achieved last season (70 goals). Keep Innis fit and that's another 5 from corners.
Whilst you're being conservative, worth noting our front 3 or even top 3 scorers on our last promotion scored 21, 14 & 9 respectively.
We finished 3rd by 3 points (plus GD), with 73 goals in total. Realistically do we expect this squad to at least equal that?
And the EFL insider exclusively told Football FanCast that 25-year-old Purrington, who previously scored against Sunderland in a League One play-off final, would meet the requirements needed to become a successful full-back at the Stadium of Light:
“He was part of a late play-off push and has a good year of game time under his belt to go and play for a big club like Sunderland.
“He fits the hard-working full back type clubs look for, and he is a good size to win headers and defend his posts.”
I love the end of that article:
"But in Lee Johnson, Sunderland arguably have the best manager in the division and are expected to end their four-year stay in the third-tier, meaning it would be a no-brainer for the defender."
Maybe the idea is to get as close to 30 games out of Inniss as possible & split the remaining games between Gunter and Elerewe.
Barker could fill in right back duties alongside Gunter-Famewo if Inniss & Matthews were out at the same time.
Barker doesn’t seem to have progressed like we thought he would, and Gunter is ok only as a last resort. Elerewe might do the job based on what we’ve seen in friendlies, but he’s unproven in L1. What would happen if he had a shaky first couple of games? I think we have to assume that Inniss may be missing for long periods.
Why isn’t barker progressing? Bowyer was forced to play him as a 17 year old ahead of older u-23 players for non footballing reasons. He then went back to the u-18’s and worked his way up to play for the u-23’s. He has been around the first team squad again this pre season. I would say that he is progressing nicely.
the problem is that because he played aged 17, people expect him to be Gomez or konsa. He is 18!!!! Another year of academy football, then 12 months of being with the squad, then regular game time aged 20.
Barker was very good against Chatham last night/. He’s progressing just fine
Maybe the idea is to get as close to 30 games out of Inniss as possible & split the remaining games between Gunter and Elerewe.
Barker could fill in right back duties alongside Gunter-Famewo if Inniss & Matthews were out at the same time.
Barker doesn’t seem to have progressed like we thought he would, and Gunter is ok only as a last resort. Elerewe might do the job based on what we’ve seen in friendlies, but he’s unproven in L1. What would happen if he had a shaky first couple of games? I think we have to assume that Inniss may be missing for long periods.
Why isn’t barker progressing? Bowyer was forced to play him as a 17 year old ahead of older u-23 players for non footballing reasons. He then went back to the u-18’s and worked his way up to play for the u-23’s. He has been around the first team squad again this pre season. I would say that he is progressing nicely.
the problem is that because he played aged 17, people expect him to be Gomez or konsa. He is 18!!!! Another year of academy football, then 12 months of being with the squad, then regular game time aged 20.
Armed was very good against Chatham last night/. He’s progressing just fine
And the EFL insider exclusively told Football FanCast that 25-year-old Purrington, who previously scored against Sunderland in a League One play-off final, would meet the requirements needed to become a successful full-back at the Stadium of Light:
“He was part of a late play-off push and has a good year of game time under his belt to go and play for a big club like Sunderland.
“He fits the hard-working full back type clubs look for, and he is a good size to win headers and defend his posts.”
I love the end of that article:
"But in Lee Johnson, Sunderland arguably have the best manager in the division and are expected to end their four-year stay in the third-tier, meaning it would be a no-brainer for the defender."
Lee Johnson has a career win rate of 38.8%, Adkins has a win rate of over 42%, the cowleys even higher. I haven’t looked at warne, gobinsons or Appleton’s records but I’m confident in saying that Johnson is far from the best manager in this league
we should isolate a particular signing, a positive move would be a young LB kicking his heels at a premier league club. we could go Dutch on the salary with said club
The problem with 433s and 4231s is that unless you have goals from central midfield, you can end up heavily reliant on the number 9 to score your goals unless the wingers are goal scorers as well (the Raheem Sterling types as opposed to the hug the touchline types)
Looking at Posh last season, Clarke-Harris got 33, but they also had scoring midfielder and wingers too - Szmodics with 15, Dembele with 13
For Hull, Wilks got 22, Magennis 19, Lewis-Potter 15
At the moment, we seem short of goals up top, especially with the enigma of Ronnie who seems best suited to a 442 anyway
I make you right... what we are missing is our Wilks or Szmodics. At the moment I only see Jayden scoring, maybe DJ. We need more goals!
This.
Your last 4 words had been my mantra for years. Look at every season we got promoted, especially automatically. We had a 20+ goal machine (Mendonce, Hunt, BWP and at a push Taylor). Stockley is good with his head but I doubt whether he will score many 1 on 1's or run off the last defender. We need a proper striker.....a finisher. Whether that is Mullins, Jephcott or 1 of a dozen strikers that must be doing the rounds out there. Without one of those then it will be play offs at best.
And before anyone asks, I'm not a scout so I dont have a scooby who is around & available. That is SG's job.
The problem with 433s and 4231s is that unless you have goals from central midfield, you can end up heavily reliant on the number 9 to score your goals unless the wingers are goal scorers as well (the Raheem Sterling types as opposed to the hug the touchline types)
Looking at Posh last season, Clarke-Harris got 33, but they also had scoring midfielder and wingers too - Szmodics with 15, Dembele with 13
For Hull, Wilks got 22, Magennis 19, Lewis-Potter 15
At the moment, we seem short of goals up top, especially with the enigma of Ronnie who seems best suited to a 442 anyway
I make you right... what we are missing is our Wilks or Szmodics. At the moment I only see Jayden scoring, maybe DJ. We need more goals!
This.
Your last 4 words had been my mantra for years. Look at every season we got promoted, especially automatically. We had a 20+ goal machine (Mendonce, Hunt, BWP and at a push Taylor). Stockley is good with his head but I doubt whether he will score many 1 on 1's or run off the last defender. We need a proper striker.....a finisher. Whether that is Mullins, Jephcott or 1 of a dozen strikers that must be doing the rounds out there. Without one of those then it will be play offs at best.
And before anyone asks, I'm not a scout so I dont have a scooby who is around & available. That is SG's job.
Agree we need more goals in the team though it doesn’t have to come from another striker. Magennis got close to 20 last season, no reason why Stockley can’t do the same.
In Adkins system it’ll be the wingers who go through one on one, much like Sterling and another in England’s setup rather than Kane.
Comments
the problem is that because he played aged 17, people expect him to be Gomez or konsa. He is 18!!!! Another year of academy football, then 12 months of being with the squad, then regular game time aged 20.
We finished 3rd by 3 points (plus GD), with 73 goals in total. Realistically do we expect this squad to at least equal that?
"But in Lee Johnson, Sunderland arguably have the best manager in the division and are expected to end their four-year stay in the third-tier, meaning it would be a no-brainer for the defender."
we could go Dutch on the salary with said club
Your last 4 words had been my mantra for years. Look at every season we got promoted, especially automatically. We had a 20+ goal machine (Mendonce, Hunt, BWP and at a push Taylor). Stockley is good with his head but I doubt whether he will score many 1 on 1's or run off the last defender. We need a proper striker.....a finisher. Whether that is Mullins, Jephcott or 1 of a dozen strikers that must be doing the rounds out there. Without one of those then it will be play offs at best.
And before anyone asks, I'm not a scout so I dont have a scooby who is around & available. That is SG's job.
In Adkins system it’ll be the wingers who go through one on one, much like Sterling and another in England’s setup rather than Kane.