The league is very much split into two groups of 12. One dozen will be hopeful of promotion, the others will likely be happy with another season in this league.
Of the 12 contenders, I'd bracket them like this:
1st to 8th: Sheff Wed, Ipswich, Peterborough, Bolton (something would go horribly wrong for them to not be top six)
4th to 12th: MK Dons, Barnsley, Portsmouth, Oxford, Derby, Charlton, Wycombe, Plymouth (dog fight between eight clubs for 2-4 additional places in the top six)
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
Let’s decide that once it has closed.
The goalkeeping position was a priority. No way McG is able to effectively play the way we want to this year.
I'd rather a goalkeeper be able to stop shots & catch crosses than be able to dribble the ball around an onrushing attacker, but hey ho.
I think 4th - 12th is honestly a fair assessment of our likely "range" of finishing positions this season.
That could change very quickly if we go out and sign Harry Kane and Heung Min Son. Or it can change in the other direction if both Stockley and Aneke get injured at the same time without adequate replacement.
But for now, assuming we go along this season without too much incident, I'll stick by 4th being the ceiling and 12th being the floor.
I think your floor is right, I think your ceiling is optimistic "as it stands".
I honestly think our squad has got back to the level it was at the end of the 2020/21 season. Lack of quality here, needs a bit of depth there. With a fair wind, a bit more before the window slams shut and a cherry on the cake in January there is no reason we can't challenge at the right end.
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
Let’s decide that once it has closed.
The goalkeeping position was a priority. No way McG is able to effectively play the way we want to this year.
I'd rather a goalkeeper be able to stop shots & catch crosses than be able to dribble the ball around an onrushing attacker, but hey ho.
So would I. Expecting goalkeepers to play the ball out at this level is hopeful to say the least.
I do feel that a portion of our fanbase need to wake up and realise we are a league one side. People seem to expect us to be spending millions on household names.
SCMP means we can only spend 60% of turnover on wages. Sensibly this stops clubs paying way beyond their means unless they have a super rich owner who is happy to throw money at it at their own cost and not risking the future of the club.
Overall considering the limitations of being a league one club I think we have assembled a good squad that should be competing for the top 6 at a minimum. We can probably all agree our defence and midfield look stronger than the last few years, yes we need a couple of additions up top to give us options but one is almost through the door and we should sign another prior to the window closing.
It feels like a corner of our support will use any excuse to bash the club/owner. We are a third division side with a top end third division budget.
Myself, I am excited to see how we get on this season. BG will have us playing a good style of football and I am confident he will get us into the playoffs.
Personally I am less convinced. And when respected pundits like the Not the top 20 podcast forecast us to finish 12th, that reinforces my concerns that against the other decent L1 sides, we are still lacking.
How accurate were their predictions the season before?
They had us in 8th for last season. Ahead of both Blackpool and Wigan...
6th actually. Some right, a lot very wrong.
Indeed, so like fans on here they can make an informed decision on what they see (and are probably less susceptible to positive and negative confirmation bias), but on the whole for lower league football it is basically a lottery until we get into the season.
Which is why I am always so miffed why some people are so confident in their predictions on how the season will go. When in truth no one will really know until the first 10 games.
Why on earth would you waste energy getting "miffed" about it?
What an unusual comment. What ‘energy’ am I wasting precisely? Or am I not allowed to have an emotional response to people views either positive or negative.
Why an earth did you waste your energy responding to my comment?
I think 4th - 12th is honestly a fair assessment of our likely "range" of finishing positions this season.
That could change very quickly if we go out and sign Harry Kane and Heung Min Son. Or it can change in the other direction if both Stockley and Aneke get injured at the same time without adequate replacement.
But for now, assuming we go along this season without too much incident, I'll stick by 4th being the ceiling and 12th being the floor.
I think your floor is right, I think your ceiling is optimistic "as it stands".
I honestly think our squad has got back to the level it was at the end of the 2020/21 season. Lack of quality here, needs a bit of depth there. With a fair wind, a bit more before the window slams shut and a cherry on the cake in January there is no reason we can't challenge at the right end.
Definitely assuming with my prediction that Garner gets the three signings he wants. No other striker or wide player comes in and I’ll downgrade the prediction to 6th - 14th.
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
Let’s decide that once it has closed.
The goalkeeping position was a priority. No way McG is able to effectively play the way we want to this year.
I'd rather a goalkeeper be able to stop shots & catch crosses than be able to dribble the ball around an onrushing attacker, but hey ho.
I'd rather the goalkeeper can stop shots, catch crosses and be able to pass accurately to his own players and not just hoof it. Bearing in mind that on occasions you need to clear the ball quickly.
The league is very much split into two groups of 12. One dozen will be hopeful of promotion, the others will likely be happy with another season in this league.
Of the 12 contenders, I'd bracket them like this:
1st to 8th: Sheff Wed, Ipswich, Peterborough, Bolton (something would go horribly wrong for them to not be top six)
4th to 12th: MK Dons, Barnsley, Portsmouth, Oxford, Derby, Charlton, Wycombe, Plymouth (dog fight between eight clubs for 2-4 additional places in the top six)
Out of interest, why do you rate Bolton so much and ahead of Barnsley? Have they really strengthened this summer or something?
I mean, we finished 13th in a season where our striking options were Leko, Lee, Burstow and Kanu for a two month stretch ffs.
Things can't get any worse than that, can they?
We're currently only 1 injury away from it being Leaburn and Kanu, but at least they are actually strikers.
I have no doubt that we'll add another striker before the window closes though.
We’re completely on the same page. Another striker and a winger is a must if we want a serious promotion challenge this season.
It’s still possible that we could sneak in with the current set up but that relies on a lot of fragile assumptions. That Stockley can make 40+ starts, that Leaburn is capable of stepping up and scoring half a dozen goals in his absence, that Payne, Fraser and Kirk all find their shooting boots in a Charlton shirt etc.
Having two more options gives us flexibility in case some of the above doesn’t work out as hoped.
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
This has been repeated a few times but it's a bit of a red herring. We played with two strikers last season so we needed 5 in the squad ideally. Garner only plays with 1, so we need 3. We don't actually have to replace both the strikers we lost as we're not playing the same way. One more will do it.
Remind me of that when all 3 are out either injured or suspended. Last season we had 5 strikers and in March that wasn't enough when Stockley, Washington & Aneke were all out injured.
Its funny, because in a World Cup squad you find Countries will almost invariably take 3 goalkeepers when they might only be playing 3 or 4 games, and will be lacking players upfront (Look at the 2006 WC when Bent didn't go). This is a 46 game season & currently we might have just 1 senior striker available tomorrow if Aneke isn't fit.
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
Let’s decide that once it has closed.
The goalkeeping position was a priority. No way McG is able to effectively play the way we want to this year.
I'd rather a goalkeeper be able to stop shots & catch crosses than be able to dribble the ball around an onrushing attacker, but hey ho.
So would I, which is why replacing MacG was definitely a priority.
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
Let’s decide that once it has closed.
The goalkeeping position was a priority. No way McG is able to effectively play the way we want to this year.
I'd rather a goalkeeper be able to stop shots & catch crosses than be able to dribble the ball around an onrushing attacker, but hey ho.
Macgillivray didn't catch crosses anyway so what you're actually saying is "a keeper was the priority, but I'm too busy moaning about a million other things to acknowledge that"
The league is very much split into two groups of 12. One dozen will be hopeful of promotion, the others will likely be happy with another season in this league.
Of the 12 contenders, I'd bracket them like this:
1st to 8th: Sheff Wed, Ipswich, Peterborough, Bolton (something would go horribly wrong for them to not be top six)
4th to 12th: MK Dons, Barnsley, Portsmouth, Oxford, Derby, Charlton, Wycombe, Plymouth (dog fight between eight clubs for 2-4 additional places in the top six)
Out of interest, why do you rate Bolton so much and ahead of Barnsley? Have they really strengthened this summer or something?
Bolton would have gone up if the season started at Christmas last season IMO, they have got better every window for 2 seasons.
The league is very much split into two groups of 12. One dozen will be hopeful of promotion, the others will likely be happy with another season in this league.
Of the 12 contenders, I'd bracket them like this:
1st to 8th: Sheff Wed, Ipswich, Peterborough, Bolton (something would go horribly wrong for them to not be top six)
4th to 12th: MK Dons, Barnsley, Portsmouth, Oxford, Derby, Charlton, Wycombe, Plymouth (dog fight between eight clubs for 2-4 additional places in the top six)
Out of interest, why do you rate Bolton so much and ahead of Barnsley? Have they really strengthened this summer or something?
I really rate their manager and was very impressed by their team when we played up there in the spring time. A well drilled team but with quality sprinkled throughout.
In my opinion, they didn’t really need a bumper summer because what they brought in in January (Charles, Morley, Sadlier, Dempsey) had already taken them up to the level required.
Between 31st Jan and the end of the season they picked up 38 points from 19 games and haven’t let go of any of their better players. I can only see them going from strength to strength.
On the other hand, Barnsley may be worthy of being in the upper bracket. To be honest I have t paid them much attention.
I feel as though their recruitment badly let them down last summer, will they do better this year? Time will tell. On top of that, with Duff coming in, while I rate him highly, it’s going to be a tough season of transition for them.
For all those reasons, I don’t see Barnsley as too dissimilar to us.
I do feel that a portion of our fanbase need to wake up and realise we are a league one side. People seem to expect us to be spending millions on household names.
SCMP means we can only spend 60% of turnover on wages. Sensibly this stops clubs paying way beyond their means unless they have a super rich owner who is happy to throw money at it at their own cost and not risking the future of the club.
Overall considering the limitations of being a league one club I think we have assembled a good squad that should be competing for the top 6 at a minimum. We can probably all agree our defence and midfield look stronger than the last few years, yes we need a couple of additions up top to give us options but one is almost through the door and we should sign another prior to the window closing.
It feels like a corner of our support will use any excuse to bash the club/owner. We are a third division side with a top end third division budget.
Myself, I am excited to see how we get on this season. BG will have us playing a good style of football and I am confident he will get us into the playoffs.
Personally I am less convinced. And when respected pundits like the Not the top 20 podcast forecast us to finish 12th, that reinforces my concerns that against the other decent L1 sides, we are still lacking.
How accurate were their predictions the season before?
They had us in 8th for last season. Ahead of both Blackpool and Wigan...
6th actually. Some right, a lot very wrong.
Indeed, so like fans on here they can make an informed decision on what they see (and are probably less susceptible to positive and negative confirmation bias), but on the whole for lower league football it is basically a lottery until we get into the season.
Which is why I am always so miffed why some people are so confident in their predictions on how the season will go. When in truth no one will really know until the first 10 games.
Why on earth would you waste energy getting "miffed" about it?
What an unusual comment. What ‘energy’ am I wasting precisely? Or am I not allowed to have an emotional response to people views either positive or negative.
Why an earth did you waste your energy responding to my comment?
People making confident predictions on a football forum? It's of no consequence, why get miffed? Please yourself
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
This has been repeated a few times but it's a bit of a red herring. We played with two strikers last season so we needed 5 in the squad ideally. Garner only plays with 1, so we need 3. We don't actually have to replace both the strikers we lost as we're not playing the same way. One more will do it.
Even when we played 2 we only ever had 3 of Stockley, Washington, Davison-Ponytail and A&Eneke in the squad at anyone time.
Yep, and we suffered for that last season massively. Adkins started the season wanting to play one up front, and we could have done with a backup to Stockley given Adkins didn't fancy Washington as a striker but we didn't get one in. Then Jackson played two up front so we brought in Chuks but we were still short and when the injuries hit we were screwed. I hope that's addressed this season with a proper bit of first team competition for Stockley.
But my point is we shipped Davison out as soon as we brought Aneke back so we aren't two strikers down, no matter how many times @golfaddick says it
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
This has been repeated a few times but it's a bit of a red herring. We played with two strikers last season so we needed 5 in the squad ideally. Garner only plays with 1, so we need 3. We don't actually have to replace both the strikers we lost as we're not playing the same way. One more will do it.
Remind me of that when all 3 are out either injured or suspended. Last season we had 5 strikers and in March that wasn't enough when Stockley, Washington & Aneke were all out injured.
Its funny, because in a World Cup squad you find Countries will almost invariably take 3 goalkeepers when they might only be playing 3 or 4 games, and will be lacking players upfront (Look at the 2006 WC when Bent didn't go). This is a 46 game season & currently we might have just 1 senior striker available tomorrow if Aneke isn't fit.
pfft.
Because they are the rules?
"The 32 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 23 players, including three goalkeepers."
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
This has been repeated a few times but it's a bit of a red herring. We played with two strikers last season so we needed 5 in the squad ideally. Garner only plays with 1, so we need 3. We don't actually have to replace both the strikers we lost as we're not playing the same way. One more will do it.
Remind me of that when all 3 are out either injured or suspended. Last season we had 5 strikers and in March that wasn't enough when Stockley, Washington & Aneke were all out injured.
Its funny, because in a World Cup squad you find Countries will almost invariably take 3 goalkeepers when they might only be playing 3 or 4 games, and will be lacking players upfront (Look at the 2006 WC when Bent didn't go). This is a 46 game season & currently we might have just 1 senior striker available tomorrow if Aneke isn't fit.
pfft.
Come off it. Aside from the fact the answer to all three being out is, obviously, Leaburn plays, how many strikers should we have competing for one spot just in case then? Should we have 5 first team strikers hanging around hoping that Stockley's legs explode? 10? What if we have 15 and then all get injured. WHY DIDN'T WE PLAN FOR IF WE HAD 15 STRIKERS INJURED?? Last season we had Stockley, Washington and Davison up to January and then Stockley, Washington and Aneke from there. Burstow was a youth player we catapulted up because we were short. It wasn't enough. This season we will, hopefully have Stockley, Aneke, another striker and Leaburn as part of the squad, with Kanu hopefully developing if real disaster strikes. Three proper first team options, Leaburn pushing to play and then some youth options if things are really desperate. We only need one more striker to meet that, not two.
The reason teams take 3 goalkeepers to the World Cup is because the rules say you have to. 'Three players must be goalkeepers, with the number 1 shirt reserved for one of them'.
If it’s same formation wide players up front Stockley isolated again we are fucked the 3 up front have to play inside and let the wing backs overlap.
Totally different but nearly always ends up 451 same as 352 ends up 532.
My only hope is garner sticks to it as his comments about the fan shouting forward forward suggest.
If he says 3 up front they’ve got to be up front but not wide.
For what it's worth I think it will be the case having watched every pre-season game. The key element for me is the way the full backs move central midfield when the ball is on the opposite flank, it allows the CDM/CMs to be involved on the ball without worrying about a quick switch of play and being outnumbered. Also on a number of occasions Sessegnon especially overlapped with CBT so I think it will comfortably be a 433.
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
You were right last year and I agree with your summary of where we are right now. Season after season we go through the first half a dozen games with significant weaknesses in the squad and an expectation from many that this will be solved by the time the window closes. We lose too many points during that first phase. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again.
Second half of last season our striker options (for two places) were: Stockley, Washington, Aneke, Burstow, Kanu
Going into tomorrow, our striker options (for one place) are: Stockley, Aneke, Leaburn, Kanu
The fact that we have Aneke puts us in a difficult situation as theoretically the numbers we have (4) should cover us for the formation we want to play.
But the problem is that Chuks can't be relied stay fit and so, treating the real number as 3, we need someone with senior experience added to the group. I'd argue that we needed that additional senior presence last season too.
To reiterate, we are playing a formation this year that requires one striker fewer than we did last season. Hence it makes sense to have one striker fewer in the squad than we did last season. Add to the fact that Davison wasn't here while Aneke came in and we are in my opinion, no better or worse in terms of bodies vs positions to fill than we were at the end of last year.
The problem is that we were one short then and we remain one short now.
For what it's worth, with a month to go, I think our transfer window so far has been pretty impressive
really ??
lost 2 strikers that haven't been replaced lost a left footed left back that hasn't been replaced recruited 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder, a goalkeeper (that wasn't a priority) and 1 attacking midfielder.
In a team last year that didn't score enough goals to even get into the top half of the league. I understand you "build from the back" but goals win you games.
Currently I would give the "rebuild" 5 out of 10. The squad itself about a 7 (and that's being generous)
We start our first game tomorrow with just 1 fit striker. If Stockley gets injured or sent off tomorrow we have big problems.
But I'm just a doom monger & everything will be alright once the transfer window closes on Sept 1st.
This has been repeated a few times but it's a bit of a red herring. We played with two strikers last season so we needed 5 in the squad ideally. Garner only plays with 1, so we need 3. We don't actually have to replace both the strikers we lost as we're not playing the same way. One more will do it.
Remind me of that when all 3 are out either injured or suspended. Last season we had 5 strikers and in March that wasn't enough when Stockley, Washington & Aneke were all out injured.
Its funny, because in a World Cup squad you find Countries will almost invariably take 3 goalkeepers when they might only be playing 3 or 4 games, and will be lacking players upfront (Look at the 2006 WC when Bent didn't go). This is a 46 game season & currently we might have just 1 senior striker available tomorrow if Aneke isn't fit.
pfft.
So negative you fail to even understand the rules.
Second half of last season our striker options (for two places) were: Stockley, Washington, Aneke, Burstow, Kanu
Going into tomorrow, our striker options (for one place) are: Stockley, Aneke, Leaburn, Kanu
The fact that we have Aneke puts us in a difficult situation as theoretically the numbers we have (4) should cover us for the formation we want to play.
But the problem is that Chuks can't be relied stay fit and so, treating the real number as 3, we need someone with senior experience added to the group. I'd argue that we needed that additional senior presence last season too.
To reiterate, we are playing a formation this year that requires one striker fewer than we did last season. Hence it makes sense to have one striker fewer in the squad than we did last season. Add to the fact that Davison wasn't here while Aneke came in and we are in my opinion, no better or worse in terms of bodies vs positions to fill than we were at the end of last year.
The problem is that we were one short then and we remain one short now.
And, with the best will in the world, I would suggest we need more experience than Leaburn and Kanu to get us near to a top six position.
Second half of last season our striker options (for two places) were: Stockley, Washington, Aneke, Burstow, Kanu
Going into tomorrow, our striker options (for one place) are: Stockley, Aneke, Leaburn & Kanu.
The problem is that we were one short then and we remain one short now.
Of those 4 you mention, 2 are raw and 1 is injury prone and cant play 90 mins.
We might only need 1 "striker" but the options are hardly awe inspiring. I bet you before too long Leaburn will the main striker (either due to injury or suspension) and he will follow in his father's footsteps of being asked to compete way before his time. Carlo was a force later in his career with us but the first 3 seasons he was ridiculed & I just hope it doesn't happen to his son.
Comments
Of the 12 contenders, I'd bracket them like this:
1st to 8th: Sheff Wed, Ipswich, Peterborough, Bolton (something would go horribly wrong for them to not be top six)
4th to 12th: MK Dons, Barnsley, Portsmouth, Oxford, Derby, Charlton, Wycombe, Plymouth (dog fight between eight clubs for 2-4 additional places in the top six)
I'm still confident that'll be addressed before the end of the window. But yes, if it's not addressed, we're leaving ourselves wide open for problems.
I honestly think our squad has got back to the level it was at the end of the 2020/21 season. Lack of quality here, needs a bit of depth there. With a fair wind, a bit more before the window slams shut and a cherry on the cake in January there is no reason we can't challenge at the right end.
Expecting goalkeepers to play the ball out at this level is hopeful to say the least.
I have no doubt that we'll add another striker before the window closes though.
Out of interest, why do you rate Bolton so much and ahead of Barnsley? Have they really strengthened this summer or something?
It’s still possible that we could sneak in with the current set up but that relies on a lot of fragile assumptions. That Stockley can make 40+ starts, that Leaburn is capable of stepping up and scoring half a dozen goals in his absence, that Payne, Fraser and Kirk all find their shooting boots in a Charlton shirt etc.
Having two more options gives us flexibility in case some of the above doesn’t work out as hoped.
Its funny, because in a World Cup squad you find Countries will almost invariably take 3 goalkeepers when they might only be playing 3 or 4 games, and will be lacking players upfront (Look at the 2006 WC when Bent didn't go). This is a 46 game season & currently we might have just 1 senior striker available tomorrow if Aneke isn't fit.
pfft.
So would I, which is why replacing MacG was definitely a priority.
In my opinion, they didn’t really need a bumper summer because what they brought in in January (Charles, Morley, Sadlier, Dempsey) had already taken them up to the level required.
On the other hand, Barnsley may be worthy of being in the upper bracket. To be honest I have t paid them much attention.
It's of no consequence, why get miffed?
Please yourself
"The 32 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 23 players, including three goalkeepers."
433 is 451 with the wide players further up...
Going into tomorrow, our striker options (for one place) are: Stockley, Aneke, Leaburn, Kanu
The fact that we have Aneke puts us in a difficult situation as theoretically the numbers we have (4) should cover us for the formation we want to play.
But the problem is that Chuks can't be relied stay fit and so, treating the real number as 3, we need someone with senior experience added to the group. I'd argue that we needed that additional senior presence last season too.
To reiterate, we are playing a formation this year that requires one striker fewer than we did last season. Hence it makes sense to have one striker fewer in the squad than we did last season. Add to the fact that Davison wasn't here while Aneke came in and we are in my opinion, no better or worse in terms of bodies vs positions to fill than we were at the end of last year.
The problem is that we were one short then and we remain one short now.
Expecting Rak-Sakyi will be coming in early next week. That gives us 3-4 weeks to find a striker and a left sided defender.
We might only need 1 "striker" but the options are hardly awe inspiring. I bet you before too long Leaburn will the main striker (either due to injury or suspension) and he will follow in his father's footsteps of being asked to compete way before his time. Carlo was a force later in his career with us but the first 3 seasons he was ridiculed & I just hope it doesn't happen to his son.