Lavanier is an attacking right back, if Jacko is fed up with either playing wingers or Matthews as right wing back, maybe that could be an option
I'd rather he just tried Clare there or changed the formation since both right and left wing backs are integral to it and we have no one in the squad capable of playing the role he wants well. Need a Maatsen type player on both sides ideally and I'd say the left is in more need of cover.
This.
Utterly pointless bringing in a loan player for less than 20 games. Season's over & we should be looking towards next season instead of giving game time to a Premiership team's player who wont be here next season.
Season isn't over until we are mathematically safe from relegation. I don't think we will go down but I really hope they don't down tools and look to far ahead just yet.
Lot of points to play for .. 5/6 straight wins and top 6 will be in sight again
You are deluded my friend.
Even he doesn't believe the crap he comes out with. He's just a Wum.
20 games to go - 60 points to play for we are 13 points of 6th spot .. so I repeat this season far from over ….
Keep digging son.
Ronnie Moore is Golfie Junior???
Explains everything.
How hilarious golfie and Ronnie digging each other out….you couldn’t make it up. 😂
A player leaves on a free and we re-sign him for a fee a few months later. Another player signs for 500k (a fortune in a post-covid league one) and we let him go on the cheap after 5 league starts.
Personally i think we might regret this, his record at Crewe shows us he's clearly a decent player but i guess some players just don't work out at certain clubs.
If Charlie Kirk leaves for Blackpool, he goes with my best wishes. It can’t have been easy for a young lad to up sticks and expect to settle straight away especially after his dad had just died.
If Kirk leaves for Blackpool, he likewise goes with my best wishes.
Also my 1935 copy of Bert Unsworth's (of Grimethorpe Academicals, Putney Lane Rovers and Leeeeeeds fame) "How t'be a reet greatly footballer and leather t'ball proper ard like" (United Press 12th edition).
Kirk, meanwhile, is believed to be unsettled in the capital and is pushing for a move back to the North West.
The 24-year-old only signed for the Addicks on a four-year deal back in August after the League One side triggered his £500,000 release clause from Crewe Alexandra.
But his move to Charlton hasn’t gone to plan, with the winger making just 14 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
While the Cheshire-born player has yet to find the back of the net for Charlton, his record at Crewe was an impressive one with 32 goals to his name in 206 appearances.
Kirk, who will be well known to Neil Critchley given his Crewe connections, has struggled for game time since Johnnie Jackson took charge as he prefers a wing-back system.
It’s believed personal reasons may also have been a factor in Kirk’s mixed displays.
The winger last started a league game for Charlton at Lincoln City in October, although he has featured more heavily in the cup competitions.
Sources close to Charlton suggest the third tier outfit would like to bring in one or two players before allowing Kirk to depart, but would be open to letting him go.
The Addicks are, however, thought to be close to making a couple of signings this week, which could push Kirk closer to the exit door.
That will put Blackpool on high alert should they lose Bowler, who is also said to be interesting Blackburn Rovers, Fulham and Stoke City.
But Forest are pushing hard for both Bowler and Millwall winger Jed Wallace, amid reports they could be set to lose Brennan Johnson to Brentford for as much as £15m.
Speaking about the interest in Bowler last week, Critchley told The Gazette he had recently sat down with his player to discuss the speculation.
“I spoke to Josh and we had a good chat,” he said.
“We explained what our thoughts and feelings were and Josh is happy here and is playing really good football.
“He’s of the opinion that what will be, will be. But he’s more than happy here and he’s playing fantastic football, so if he continues in that vein his future might get taken out of our hands and his hands.”
The winger has been one of Blackpool' s standout performers this season and it appears his form has not gone unnoticed.
The 22-year-old has made 28 appearances in all competitions this season, with 26 of those coming in league games.
He's scored two goals this term, one in the Carabao Cup defeat to Sunderland and the winner in the 1-0 league win against Fulham.
The former Everton man also has three assists to his name.
Bowler arrived at Bloomfield Road during the summer on a free transfer, agreeing a one-year deal with the club holding the option to extend the deal by 12 months.
The winger was a free agent following his release from Everton, a club he joined in 2017 from QPR for a fee rising to £4.25m.
Judging by the article above, there are lots of ifs buts and maybes to happen before Kirk to Blackpool amounts to anything. A lot of dominoes to fall in two weeks.
First, Forest have to lose Brennan Johnson to Brentford. Then they have to replace him with Bowler or Wallace from Millwall. If they get Wallace, they won’t need Bowler.
Bowler is apparently happy to stay at Blackpool and isn’t forcing a move so it would have to be a decent offer from Forest to make a move happen.
Then once all of that happens, then maybe this rumour of Kirk to Blackpool can be seen as likely. Just my reading of it.
If Charlie Kirk leaves for Blackpool, he goes with my best wishes. It can’t have been easy for a young lad to up sticks and expect to settle straight away especially after his dad had just died.
Listening to the Undr the Cosh podcasts has reempahsised how these are just young men not robots*.
He's probably massively homesick and not settled in London which is probably like a different country compared to where he hails from. Add in the loss of his old man it may mean he's not happy and wanting to move back up north (genuinely, not in a Dale Stephens/ Iain Dowie sense).
Good luck to him.
*On a related note it is really weird seeing grown men in their 50s screaming abuse at 20 year olds warming up by the corner flag when the lads they are slagging are probably younger than their own sons.
Also one of the secrets of Curb's magnificent success was really sussing out players' characters before bringing them in.
The black box analytics are great etc but probably don't pick up non- stat stuff that doesn't show up on a spreadsheet.
Hopefully we will supplement it with scouting and getting to know the character and mentality of potential signings prior to offering deals if we're not already doing so.
Also one of the secrets of Curb's magnificent success was really sussing out players' characters before bringing them in.
The black box analytics are great etc but probably don't pick up non- stat stuff that doesn't show up on a spreadsheet.
Hopefully we will supplement it with scouting and getting to know the character and mentality of potential signings prior to offering deals if we're not already doing so.
The article on the OS from September says we use analytics + traditional scouting + understand personalities.
“Some players come from our network of scouts, some from agents, some from our analytics team,” said Roddy. “Wherever the player comes from, it all goes through the Black Box.”
“When we put a player through that, we can look at them in the context of how they fit to the playing style of our club. It is a useful benchmark and is used on a daily basis and formed a big part of the weekly conversations with Thomas.”
“You can do all the data and video based research,” Roddy continued. “Then you need eyeballs at games. Our scouting network is developing as we had to rebuild it.”
As well as the data test and the eye test, a player must also match what the club is looking for from a personality point of view.
Sandgaard said: “It is actually part of the recruiting, we have the conversation with the player. Nigel will often have a phone call or Zoom call with the player, so we get to know about the personality. We look at the personality and personal life that the player has had throughout their career and that is very helpful in making sure we put a team together.
Kirk was a panic buy & one to appease the frustrated fans. He wasn't going to work in Adkins formation as he likes an overlaping fullback & certainly not in Jacksons where he is asked to do both jobs !!
He will probably come good somewhere as his Crewe form shows he's a decent player at this level. If we had bought him in June & given him a full pre-season to gel with his team mates then it might have worked out. But it seems that fans of many many years standing know jack shit & we should trust a black box, a director of football who's now moved sideways & the owners son who has the most powerful shot in the universe.
Also one of the secrets of Curb's magnificent success was really sussing out players' characters before bringing them in.
The black box analytics are great etc but probably don't pick up non- stat stuff that doesn't show up on a spreadsheet.
Hopefully we will supplement it with scouting and getting to know the character and mentality of potential signings prior to offering deals if we're not already doing so.
Also very similar to the way Powell, Varney and team bought in 11/12
To Callum's point, it sounds like there are still a lot of moving pieces in this, and it sounds far from a done deal.
I actually wouldn't mind Kirk going out on loan this window to get himself some playing time and potentially put himself in the shop window. I don't know that that would be the Blackpool move though.
If we do let him go, the club need to be sure that they are now committed to playing with a back three and wingbacks. That means either keeping Jacko for the long term, or knowing that if things don't work out with him, that they will need to bring in another manager who plays with wingbacks. Because Kirk is currently our only left winger. And, he has shown at times last year that he can be a top winger in this division. So if he does go, we basically need to be sure that we're not looking to replace him in six months.
A lot of people are upset with our summer transfers business for what I feel are the wrong reasons. There is talk that the players aren't good enough or that the business is done too late. What I think is missed is the imbalance in the squad and the lack of a coherent system that drove recruitment. Adkins was a dedicated 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 man. But in our big outlay on a striker, we brought in Jayden Stockley who doesn't have the mobility to play up front on his own. We have three wingers in Leko, CBT, and DJ who all seem more comfortable on the right.
And arguably our marquee signing, Kirk, wasn't set up for success. We didn't bring in an attacking, overlapping LB who can go outside and get to the endline to draw defenders away from Kirk. Souare can put a good cross in, but he doesn't seem to be the swashbuckling attacking fullback Kirk needs, at least not at this stage of his career. And we brought in Lee, a good signing, but someone who ends up taking up positions advanced on the left side that are very similar to those Kirk wants to occupy. When Purrington plays at LB he also likes to drift into similar spaces. Maybe, if given more time to play together, Kirk and Lee at least would have found ways to work it out, but the brief time we saw them play together they just seemed to get in each others' way and stand really close together, making themselves really easy to mark.
I just remembered we have also tried playing Kirk as a 10, but it's been so forgettable that I forgot about it until just now.
Also one of the secrets of Curb's magnificent success was really sussing out players' characters before bringing them in.
The black box analytics are great etc but probably don't pick up non- stat stuff that doesn't show up on a spreadsheet.
Hopefully we will supplement it with scouting and getting to know the character and mentality of potential signings prior to offering deals if we're not already doing so.
The article on the OS from September says we use analytics + traditional scouting + understand personalities.
“Some players come from our network of scouts, some from agents, some from our analytics team,” said Roddy. “Wherever the player comes from, it all goes through the Black Box.”
“When we put a player through that, we can look at them in the context of how they fit to the playing style of our club. It is a useful benchmark and is used on a daily basis and formed a big part of the weekly conversations with Thomas.”
“You can do all the data and video based research,” Roddy continued. “Then you need eyeballs at games. Our scouting network is developing as we had to rebuild it.”
As well as the data test and the eye test, a player must also match what the club is looking for from a personality point of view.
Sandgaard said: “It is actually part of the recruiting, we have the conversation with the player. Nigel will often have a phone call or Zoom call with the player, so we get to know about the personality. We look at the personality and personal life that the player has had throughout their career and that is very helpful in making sure we put a team together.
To Callum's point, it sounds like there are still a lot of moving pieces in this, and it sounds far from a done deal.
I actually wouldn't mind Kirk going out on loan this window to get himself some playing time and potentially put himself in the shop window. I don't know that that would be the Blackpool move though.
If we do let him go, the club need to be sure that they are now committed to playing with a back three and wingbacks. That means either keeping Jacko for the long term, or knowing that if things don't work out with him, that they will need to bring in another manager who plays with wingbacks. Because Kirk is currently our only left winger. And, he has shown at times last year that he can be a top winger in this division. So if he does go, we basically need to be sure that we're not looking to replace him in six months.
A lot of people are upset with our summer transfers business for what I feel are the wrong reasons. There is talk that the players aren't good enough or that the business is done too late. What I think is missed is the imbalance in the squad and the lack of a coherent system that drove recruitment. Adkins was a dedicated 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 man. But in our big outlay on a striker, we brought in Jayden Stockley who doesn't have the mobility to play up front on his own. We have three wingers in Leko, CBT, and DJ who all seem more comfortable on the right.
And arguably our marquee signing, Kirk, wasn't set up for success. We didn't bring in an attacking, overlapping LB who can go outside and get to the endline to draw defenders away from Kirk. Souare can put a good cross in, but he doesn't seem to be the swashbuckling attacking fullback Kirk needs, at least not at this stage of his career. And we brought in Lee, a good signing, but someone who ends up taking up positions advanced on the left side that are very similar to those Kirk wants to occupy. When Purrington plays at LB he also likes to drift into similar spaces. Maybe, if given more time to play together, Kirk and Lee at least would have found ways to work it out, but the brief time we saw them play together they just seemed to get in each others' way and stand really close together, making themselves really easy to mark.
I just remembered we have also tried playing Kirk as a 10, but it's been so forgettable that I forgot about it until just now.
It's not that we recruited bad players, or play/ed a bad system. Over the last 18 months it's almost been impossible to say what our best team is and what formation would best suit most of our best players.
It's like it was a tick box exercise. Sign a striker, sign a left back, sign a winger. Without any consideration how it all fits together or taking into account the other things that make a good team.
Even last January Gallen said we signed Millar because we needed pace. Then Bowyer played him up front in a two, on the left of a 3, left mid in a 4 then as a 10 in his first 3 halves for us.
When Gallen and Bowyer had a plan, where left alone, and stuck to it they were brilliant. Unless Tommy D was the real mastermind (), I suspect there has since been too many other voices in the conversation.
Kirk was a panic buy & one to appease the frustrated fans.
We tried to buy him for four transfer windows and under two managers. How is that a panic signing. That is the opposite of a panic signing.
Please back that up because you've been corrected on it before.
Ok, let me explain.
I called it a panic buy as you (and a few others) have said we tried to buy him during previous transfer windows, so he must have been one of our top targets in the summer.....yes ?
So did we push the boat out & offer the £500k release fee in June ? I would say not. It seems to me that we ditherred & delayed and bought him after the season had started - not what I would expect for a player that we really really wanted.
Maybe not a panic buy perhaps.....but not a purchase that says "here's a marquee signing - we been after him for 2 years"
Who buys a winger with 2 goals and 3 assists in 28 games?! Jesus. It's not just our wingers then who don't pull up trees!
I heard some stats on Bowler the other day and while his goals record is poor I believe his completed dribbles and goal involvement stats are up with the best in the league. Goals doesn’t always tell the full story.
…. as for Wallace well he’s a quality player hard as it is to admit that
Kirk was a panic buy & one to appease the frustrated fans. He wasn't going to work in Adkins formation as he likes an overlaping fullback & certainly not in Jacksons where he is asked to do both jobs !!
He will probably come good somewhere as his Crewe form shows he's a decent player at this level. If we had bought him in June & given him a full pre-season to gel with his team mates then it might have worked out. But it seems that fans of many many years standing know jack shit & we should trust a black box, a director of football who's now moved sideways & the owners son.
Did we panic last January when we tried to sign him. I have never worked out where he was going to play in Bowyer's formation, or actually what Bowyer's formation was by then.
Can't argue with that!
I'm surprised we went after Kirk (rather than DJ it seems) when we had Millar as that's surely where Kirk would have played, albeit in a slightly different way.
I think we wanted both, remember there was another winger half way down the m1 as well. Millar played 4 different positions, in 4 different formations in his first 3 halves with us. Doesn't strike me that a lot of these players are signed because the manager wants them.
I said it before and got laughed at but Jackson has gone from potentially not getting the job twice to being the most powerful manager in a decade. Good luck to him, its the way it should be.
From what I recall we made a bid in the morning for Kirk , but then some agent shenanigans blocked that , then had Josh Morris ready to sign but then got DJ last minute and didn't sign Morris
It’s a shame for us that nobody wants DJ too as in my opinion he’s a far worse player than Kirk. No end product, hides in games and is usually knackered after 70mins.
Kirk was a panic buy & one to appease the frustrated fans. He wasn't going to work in Adkins formation as he likes an overlaping fullback & certainly not in Jacksons where he is asked to do both jobs !!
He will probably come good somewhere as his Crewe form shows he's a decent player at this level. If we had bought him in June & given him a full pre-season to gel with his team mates then it might have worked out. But it seems that fans of many many years standing know jack shit & we should trust a black box, a director of football who's now moved sideways & the owners son.
Did we panic last January when we tried to sign him. I have never worked out where he was going to play in Bowyer's formation, or actually what Bowyer's formation was by then.
Can't argue with that!
I'm surprised we went after Kirk (rather than DJ it seems) when we had Millar as that's surely where Kirk would have played, albeit in a slightly different way.
I think we wanted both, remember there was another winger half way down the m1 as well. Millar played 4 different positions, in 4 different formations in his first 3 halves with us. Doesn't strike me that a lot of these players are signed because the manager wants them.
I said it before and got laughed at but Jackson has gone from potentially not getting the job twice to being the most powerful manager in a decade. Good luck to him, its the way it should be.
From what I recall we made a bid in the morning for Kirk , but then some agent shenanigans blocked that , then had Josh Morris ready to sign but then got DJ last minute and didn't sign Morris
It’s a shame for us that nobody wants DJ too as in my opinion he’s a far worse player than Kirk. No end product, hides in games and is usually knackered after 70mins.
To quote Golfie he really was a panic signing.
DJ has had some good games at wing back. He’s tailed off lately and I agree that he could be fitter.
Kirk was a panic buy & one to appease the frustrated fans. He wasn't going to work in Adkins formation as he likes an overlaping fullback & certainly not in Jacksons where he is asked to do both jobs !!
He will probably come good somewhere as his Crewe form shows he's a decent player at this level. If we had bought him in June & given him a full pre-season to gel with his team mates then it might have worked out. But it seems that fans of many many years standing know jack shit & we should trust a black box, a director of football who's now moved sideways & the owners son.
Did we panic last January when we tried to sign him. I have never worked out where he was going to play in Bowyer's formation, or actually what Bowyer's formation was by then.
Can't argue with that!
I'm surprised we went after Kirk (rather than DJ it seems) when we had Millar as that's surely where Kirk would have played, albeit in a slightly different way.
I think we wanted both, remember there was another winger half way down the m1 as well. Millar played 4 different positions, in 4 different formations in his first 3 halves with us. Doesn't strike me that a lot of these players are signed because the manager wants them.
I said it before and got laughed at but Jackson has gone from potentially not getting the job twice to being the most powerful manager in a decade. Good luck to him, its the way it should be.
From what I recall we made a bid in the morning for Kirk , but then some agent shenanigans blocked that , then had Josh Morris ready to sign but then got DJ last minute and didn't sign Morris
It’s a shame for us that nobody wants DJ too as in my opinion he’s a far worse player than Kirk. No end product, hides in games and is usually knackered after 70mins.
To quote Golfie he really was a panic signing.
I really rate DJ and not sure that assessment is totally fair.
He’s being asked to adapt to a more defensive role than he’s ever been used to and IMO done it quite well. He is well disciplined, he gets up and down the line constantly and doesn’t shirk the 50/50s (he wins more than his fair share of contested headers and upper body duels).
In fact, it’d almost be surprising if he wasn’t one of the most knackered players every week.
Comments
Oh okay.
A player leaves on a free and we re-sign him for a fee a few months later. Another player signs for 500k (a fortune in a post-covid league one) and we let him go on the cheap after 5 league starts.
Personally i think we might regret this, his record at Crewe shows us he's clearly a decent player but i guess some players just don't work out at certain clubs.
Also my 1935 copy of Bert Unsworth's (of Grimethorpe Academicals, Putney Lane Rovers and Leeeeeeds fame) "How t'be a reet greatly footballer and leather t'ball proper ard like" (United Press 12th edition).
Good luck on your journey Charlie.
It’s believed the Seasiders are happy with their current crop of wide players and aren’t planning to strengthen in that position this month.
However, that could all change if they lose Josh Bowler, who has been the subject of strong interest from Nottingham Forest.
The latest reports suggest Blackpool’s Championship rivals are preparing to make a third bid for the 22-year-old, having failed with their opening two offers.It’s claimed the Seasiders are holding out for seven figures.
Kirk, meanwhile, is believed to be unsettled in the capital and is pushing for a move back to the North West.
The 24-year-old only signed for the Addicks on a four-year deal back in August after the League One side triggered his £500,000 release clause from Crewe Alexandra.
But his move to Charlton hasn’t gone to plan, with the winger making just 14 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
While the Cheshire-born player has yet to find the back of the net for Charlton, his record at Crewe was an impressive one with 32 goals to his name in 206 appearances.
Kirk, who will be well known to Neil Critchley given his Crewe connections, has struggled for game time since Johnnie Jackson took charge as he prefers a wing-back system.
It’s believed personal reasons may also have been a factor in Kirk’s mixed displays.
The winger last started a league game for Charlton at Lincoln City in October, although he has featured more heavily in the cup competitions.
Sources close to Charlton suggest the third tier outfit would like to bring in one or two players before allowing Kirk to depart, but would be open to letting him go.
The Addicks are, however, thought to be close to making a couple of signings this week, which could push Kirk closer to the exit door.
That will put Blackpool on high alert should they lose Bowler, who is also said to be interesting Blackburn Rovers, Fulham and Stoke City.
But Forest are pushing hard for both Bowler and Millwall winger Jed Wallace, amid reports they could be set to lose Brennan Johnson to Brentford for as much as £15m.
Speaking about the interest in Bowler last week, Critchley told The Gazette he had recently sat down with his player to discuss the speculation.
“I spoke to Josh and we had a good chat,” he said.
“We explained what our thoughts and feelings were and Josh is happy here and is playing really good football.
“He’s of the opinion that what will be, will be. But he’s more than happy here and he’s playing fantastic football, so if he continues in that vein his future might get taken out of our hands and his hands.”
The winger has been one of Blackpool' s standout performers this season and it appears his form has not gone unnoticed.
The 22-year-old has made 28 appearances in all competitions this season, with 26 of those coming in league games.
He's scored two goals this term, one in the Carabao Cup defeat to Sunderland and the winner in the 1-0 league win against Fulham.
The former Everton man also has three assists to his name.
Bowler arrived at Bloomfield Road during the summer on a free transfer, agreeing a one-year deal with the club holding the option to extend the deal by 12 months.
The winger was a free agent following his release from Everton, a club he joined in 2017 from QPR for a fee rising to £4.25m.
First, Forest have to lose Brennan Johnson to Brentford. Then they have to replace him with Bowler or Wallace from Millwall. If they get Wallace, they won’t need Bowler.
Bowler is apparently happy to stay at Blackpool and isn’t forcing a move so it would have to be a decent offer from Forest to make a move happen.
Then once all of that happens, then maybe this rumour of Kirk to Blackpool can be seen as likely. Just my reading of it.
Listening to the Undr the Cosh podcasts has reempahsised how these are just young men not robots*.
He's probably massively homesick and not settled in London which is probably like a different country compared to where he hails from. Add in the loss of his old man it may mean he's not happy and wanting to move back up north (genuinely, not in a Dale Stephens/ Iain Dowie sense).
Good luck to him.
*On a related note it is really weird seeing grown men in their 50s screaming abuse at 20 year olds warming up by the corner flag when the lads they are slagging are probably younger than their own sons.
The black box analytics are great etc but probably don't pick up non- stat stuff that doesn't show up on a spreadsheet.
Hopefully we will supplement it with scouting and getting to know the character and mentality of potential signings prior to offering deals if we're not already doing so.
The article on the OS from September says we use analytics + traditional scouting + understand personalities.
https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/6139d07e655f0/in-depth-summer-transfer-window-2021
“Some players come from our network of scouts, some from agents, some from our analytics team,” said Roddy. “Wherever the player comes from, it all goes through the Black Box.”
“When we put a player through that, we can look at them in the context of how they fit to the playing style of our club. It is a useful benchmark and is used on a daily basis and formed a big part of the weekly conversations with Thomas.”
“You can do all the data and video based research,” Roddy continued. “Then you need eyeballs at games. Our scouting network is developing as we had to rebuild it.”
As well as the data test and the eye test, a player must also match what the club is looking for from a personality point of view.
Sandgaard said: “It is actually part of the recruiting, we have the conversation with the player. Nigel will often have a phone call or Zoom call with the player, so we get to know about the personality. We look at the personality and personal life that the player has had throughout their career and that is very helpful in making sure we put a team together.
I actually wouldn't mind Kirk going out on loan this window to get himself some playing time and potentially put himself in the shop window. I don't know that that would be the Blackpool move though.
If we do let him go, the club need to be sure that they are now committed to playing with a back three and wingbacks. That means either keeping Jacko for the long term, or knowing that if things don't work out with him, that they will need to bring in another manager who plays with wingbacks. Because Kirk is currently our only left winger. And, he has shown at times last year that he can be a top winger in this division. So if he does go, we basically need to be sure that we're not looking to replace him in six months.
A lot of people are upset with our summer transfers business for what I feel are the wrong reasons. There is talk that the players aren't good enough or that the business is done too late. What I think is missed is the imbalance in the squad and the lack of a coherent system that drove recruitment. Adkins was a dedicated 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 man. But in our big outlay on a striker, we brought in Jayden Stockley who doesn't have the mobility to play up front on his own. We have three wingers in Leko, CBT, and DJ who all seem more comfortable on the right.
And arguably our marquee signing, Kirk, wasn't set up for success. We didn't bring in an attacking, overlapping LB who can go outside and get to the endline to draw defenders away from Kirk. Souare can put a good cross in, but he doesn't seem to be the swashbuckling attacking fullback Kirk needs, at least not at this stage of his career. And we brought in Lee, a good signing, but someone who ends up taking up positions advanced on the left side that are very similar to those Kirk wants to occupy. When Purrington plays at LB he also likes to drift into similar spaces. Maybe, if given more time to play together, Kirk and Lee at least would have found ways to work it out, but the brief time we saw them play together they just seemed to get in each others' way and stand really close together, making themselves really easy to mark.
I just remembered we have also tried playing Kirk as a 10, but it's been so forgettable that I forgot about it until just now.
Great thanks Schoham, wasn't aware of that.
It's like it was a tick box exercise. Sign a striker, sign a left back, sign a winger. Without any consideration how it all fits together or taking into account the other things that make a good team.
Even last January Gallen said we signed Millar because we needed pace. Then Bowyer played him up front in a two, on the left of a 3, left mid in a 4 then as a 10 in his first 3 halves for us.
When Gallen and Bowyer had a plan, where left alone, and stuck to it they were brilliant. Unless Tommy D was the real mastermind (
Absolutely not a goer.
I called it a panic buy as you (and a few others) have said we tried to buy him during previous transfer windows, so he must have been one of our top targets in the summer.....yes ?
So did we push the boat out & offer the £500k release fee in June ? I would say not. It seems to me that we ditherred & delayed and bought him after the season had started - not what I would expect for a player that we really really wanted.
Maybe not a panic buy perhaps.....but not a purchase that says "here's a marquee signing - we been after him for 2 years"
…. as for Wallace well he’s a quality player hard as it is to admit that
To quote Golfie he really was a panic signing.