Albie Morgan would not have gone on loan to Cambridge and been as influential as him, can't imagine either of them bossing the midfield against Peterborough.
The Albie Morgan that totally bossed the midfield against Plymouth? 😉
If McGrandles is here next season, imo, depends on why he went out on loan. Holden not rate him, a bit of a dick head, had to reduce the wage budget, really wanted Kilkenny to have a good look for next season, it could be any number, or combination of reasons.
It doesn't matter if we have, or haven't, written him off prematurely. Holden knows why he went out on loan amd I suspect that will influence what happens in the summer.
I feel like it was quiet clear why he went on loan. He was injured coming into the season, had a couple of freak injuries when he had worked back to be playing again, and was underwhelming in the minutes he did get.
It made sense for him to go somewhere else out of that environment, and let him get some minutes elsewhere - a move which seems to have worked well for everyone involved - nothing more nefarious than that.
I would like the club to give him a chance. Up until Jackson took over after Adkin’s, everyone had wrote Dobson off, he wasn’t even in the squad. Jackson gave him an opportunity and the rest is history.
There must be a player in there somewhere, he has done at this level with Cambridge and Lincoln
Indeed, and many individuals also wrote of JRS, after a poor December by his standard (when the whole team were poor) and were happy for him to be recalled from his loan. It’
If McGrandles had not been involved in a team which had previously made the play offs, and had a poor loan to Cambridge then I’d be very dubious based on his performances for us. But there’s clearly some semblance of talent there.
Albie Morgan would not have gone on loan to Cambridge and been as influential as him, can't imagine either of them bossing the midfield against Peterborough.
The Albie Morgan that totally bossed the midfield against Plymouth? 😉
If McGrandles is here next season, imo, depends on why he went out on loan. Holden not rate him, a bit of a dick head, had to reduce the wage budget, really wanted Kilkenny to have a good look for next season, it could be any number, or combination of reasons.
It doesn't matter if we have, or haven't, written him off prematurely. Holden knows why he went out on loan amd I suspect that will influence what happens in the summer.
Here’s what Holden said in January - he didn’t rule out him coming back next season.
Manager Dean Holden said: “It’s a good loan for Conor who, through no fault of his own, has had some freak injuries this season. He's had to come back from them and he's had limited game time. He’s told me that when he's played he’s not performed at the level he would like to.
"This move allows him to get game time and hopefully by the end of the season he will have 15-20 League One games under his belt. We'll keep tabs on him and we'll reassess things in the summer."
With the benefit of hindsight, it looks a slightly odd decision to loan out McGrandles after half a season, and to bring in a young loan player as his squad replacement. Even at the time it seemed a bit surprising, as with JFC also departing and 433 being our favoured system, we weren't that stocked with central midfielders.
Albie Morgan would not have gone on loan to Cambridge and been as influential as him, can't imagine either of them bossing the midfield against Peterborough.
The Albie Morgan that totally bossed the midfield against Plymouth? 😉
If McGrandles is here next season, imo, depends on why he went out on loan. Holden not rate him, a bit of a dick head, had to reduce the wage budget, really wanted Kilkenny to have a good look for next season, it could be any number, or combination of reasons.
It doesn't matter if we have, or haven't, written him off prematurely. Holden knows why he went out on loan amd I suspect that will influence what happens in the summer.
Assume you're joking?
Albie didn't play at their place, I'm not fussed about the fake cup game and don't remember if he played either way, and there is no such thing as bossing it Vs a team that's a man down..
With the benefit of hindsight, it looks a slightly odd decision to loan out McGrandles after half a season, and to bring in a young loan player as his squad replacement. Even at the time it seemed a bit surprising, as with JFC also departing and 433 being our favoured system, we weren't that stocked with central midfielders.
With the benefit of hindsight, it looks a slightly odd decision to loan out McGrandles after half a season, and to bring in a young loan player as his squad replacement. Even at the time it seemed a bit surprising, as with JFC also departing and 433 being our favoured system, we weren't that stocked with central midfielders.
Manager Dean Holden said: “He’s told me that when he's played he’s not performed at the level he would like to."
Good that Conor saw it similar to me , he was poor for us in the limited time he played due to injuries and whatever but he knows he can do better . Hopefully he can turn in to the player I'd hoped he'd be but that's a promotion winning one for me , no ifs no buts or we can stick him with the rest of the 'will be a good squad player' pot
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
McGrandles, is probably the only one of the first team loanee's out that I would have back, but we probably need to keep him away from our medical team, who have a reputation up there with Josef Mengele.
Happy to have him back and give him a chance after a proper pre-season. He was excellent for Lincoln, poor for us and excellent for Cambridge.
He was never fit with us. Came in injured and then got injured twice more. The Cambridge loan has clearly got him back up to speed. My gut feeling is a fit and firing McGrandles is a better bet than Morgan, Payne, Henry or Clare.
Cliche I know, but he really will be like a new signing if it works out upon his return.
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
With the fear of repeating myself over multiple threads.
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
With the fear of repeating myself over multiple threads.
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
But McGrandles has been a first choice player in a promotion chasing team (actually three teams but we won’t count Falkirk or MK Dons as they were not league one) when he played 39 games for a Lincoln side who finished 5th with 77 points.
Does that mean he will be again, I don’t know - football is not that simple, and lots of external as well as internal factors will affect performances.
But at the risk of repeating myself there’s clearly some semblance of quality there. I don’t think Bonner was joking when he called him a ‘top, top player at this level’.
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
With the fear of repeating myself over multiple threads.
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Albie played in a team that finished in a team that finished in the top half, but he certainly wasn’t the reason (or even a reason) the team finished in the top half.
If we released him I don’t believe another team chasing promotion from L1 would snap him up, even as a squad player. That says to me he should be released.
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
With the fear of repeating myself over multiple threads.
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Albie played in a team that finished in a team that finished in the top half, but he certainly wasn’t the reason (or even a reason) the team finished in the top half.
If we released him I don’t believe another team chasing promotion from L1 would snap him up, even as a squad player. That says to me he should be released.
That's right but, most teams looking for promotion don't need bodies. If we are going to play 433 we need 6 center mids.
We need two that are better than what we have got, Dobson and Fraser then 2 more. Morgan would fit quite comfortably in the two more.
If we don't get the first two, it doesn't matter if we release Morgan or not, but I would like to know what type of player we should be recruiting to fit that gap?
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
With the fear of repeating myself over multiple threads.
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Albie played in a team that finished in a team that finished in the top half, but he certainly wasn’t the reason (or even a reason) the team finished in the top half.
If we released him I don’t believe another team chasing promotion from L1 would snap him up, even as a squad player. That says to me he should be released.
That's right but, most teams looking for promotion don't need bodies. If we are going to play 433 we need 6 center mids.
We need two that are better than what we have got, Dobson and Fraser then 2 more. Morgan would fit quite comfortably in the two more.
If we don't get the first two, it doesn't matter if we release Morgan or not, but I would like to know what type of player we should be recruiting to fit that gap?
Easy, one that’s better than Albie Morgan!
I think McGrandles could be in your “two more” bucket, I know Morgan shouldn’t.
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
With the fear of repeating myself over multiple threads.
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Albie played in a team that finished in a team that finished in the top half, but he certainly wasn’t the reason (or even a reason) the team finished in the top half.
If we released him I don’t believe another team chasing promotion from L1 would snap him up, even as a squad player. That says to me he should be released.
That's right but, most teams looking for promotion don't need bodies. If we are going to play 433 we need 6 center mids.
We need two that are better than what we have got, Dobson and Fraser then 2 more. Morgan would fit quite comfortably in the two more.
If we don't get the first two, it doesn't matter if we release Morgan or not, but I would like to know what type of player we should be recruiting to fit that gap?
Easy, one that’s better than Albie Morgan!
I think McGrandles could be in your “two more” bucket, I know Morgan shouldn’t.
How do we sign someone to be 5th or 6th choice who’s significantly better than Morgan to make it worthwhile yet no more expensive?
Correct me if I’m wrong but Plymouth don’t have 6 top end L1 CMs in their squad. Powell and Bowyer didn’t either.
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
He is getting better though. This season has been his best season for us and he’s still only 23 so still a lot of room for him to improve over his next contract
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
With the fear of repeating myself over multiple threads.
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Albie played in a team that finished in a team that finished in the top half, but he certainly wasn’t the reason (or even a reason) the team finished in the top half.
If we released him I don’t believe another team chasing promotion from L1 would snap him up, even as a squad player. That says to me he should be released.
That's right but, most teams looking for promotion don't need bodies. If we are going to play 433 we need 6 center mids.
We need two that are better than what we have got, Dobson and Fraser then 2 more. Morgan would fit quite comfortably in the two more.
If we don't get the first two, it doesn't matter if we release Morgan or not, but I would like to know what type of player we should be recruiting to fit that gap?
Easy, one that’s better than Albie Morgan!
I think McGrandles could be in your “two more” bucket, I know Morgan shouldn’t.
How do we sign someone to be 5th or 6th choice who’s significantly better than Morgan to make it worthwhile yet no more expensive?
Correct me if I’m wrong but Plymouth don’t have 6 top end L1 CMs in their squad. Powell and Bowyer didn’t either.
These are the midfielders that Powell used.
4 MF England ENG Johnnie Jackson
7 MF England ENG Danny Green
8 MF England ENG Dale Stephens 11 MF England ENG Scott Wagstaff
18 MF Zimbabwe ZIM Bradley Pritchard
21 MF Spain ESP Ruben Bover
22 MF England ENG Danny Hollands
23 MF Spain ESP Mikel Alonso
25 MF England ENG Lee Cook
37 MF England ENG Darel Russell
If you take out Green, Wagstaff and Cook as they would be "wingers" now. The 4 in bold would probably be the level we need in the 2+Dobson and Fraser spots. Pritchard only played towards the end of the season.
I am sure Albie could contribute more than the combined efforts of Bover and Alonso.
That list of midfielders in the 101-point season is hammering home one thing above all: how much harder League One is now ffs
I always felt the midfield was the weakest part of that team (but still very good with plenty of goals in it). I agree the standards have definitely increased since then.
We also used Andy Hughes in midfield but again he was closer to L1 standard than truly being Championship quality.
That list of midfielders in the 101-point season is hammering home one thing above all: how much harder League One is now ffs
Plymouth have something to say about that... Cant see there being many names in that squad that we'd be overly impressed with, had we signed them last summer - Organisation, and Unity in a team (on and off the pitch) is probably just as important, if not more important than having a team of superstars.
I feel its an under-rated reason why we're barely moving forward.
How can we do that, with so much noise as a distraction in the background? - Only a year ago, we had Martin Sandgaard talking to the likes of Washington too much, meaning they basically knew shit before they should have done.
A midfield 6 is needed, if we're to stick with playing 433.
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
It’s probably between Morgan and McGrandles for the 3rd spot. I would go with Morgan as he’s younger but happy to see McGrandles be given another chance. Think 5 options is probably fine with Henry as the 6th
I honestly can’t believe Charlton fans have watched a few years of Morgan and yet want more of the same. He has over 100 appearances in four years. He isn’t suddenly going to get better.
I really didn’t rate McGrandles in his short spell with us, but in fairness to him he seems to have achieved more in a poor Cambridge team than Albie did in a (relatively) better Charlton team over the intervening period.
With the fear of repeating myself over multiple threads.
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Albie played in a team that finished in a team that finished in the top half, but he certainly wasn’t the reason (or even a reason) the team finished in the top half.
If we released him I don’t believe another team chasing promotion from L1 would snap him up, even as a squad player. That says to me he should be released.
That's right but, most teams looking for promotion don't need bodies. If we are going to play 433 we need 6 center mids.
We need two that are better than what we have got, Dobson and Fraser then 2 more. Morgan would fit quite comfortably in the two more.
If we don't get the first two, it doesn't matter if we release Morgan or not, but I would like to know what type of player we should be recruiting to fit that gap?
Easy, one that’s better than Albie Morgan!
I think McGrandles could be in your “two more” bucket, I know Morgan shouldn’t.
How do we sign someone to be 5th or 6th choice who’s significantly better than Morgan to make it worthwhile yet no more expensive?
Correct me if I’m wrong but Plymouth don’t have 6 top end L1 CMs in their squad. Powell and Bowyer didn’t either.
These are the midfielders that Powell used.
4 MF England ENG Johnnie Jackson
7 MF England ENG Danny Green
8 MF England ENG Dale Stephens 11 MF England ENG Scott Wagstaff
18 MF Zimbabwe ZIM Bradley Pritchard
21 MF Spain ESP Ruben Bover
22 MF England ENG Danny Hollands
23 MF Spain ESP Mikel Alonso
25 MF England ENG Lee Cook
37 MF England ENG Darel Russell
If you take out Green, Wagstaff and Cook as they would be "wingers" now. The 4 in bold would probably be the level we need in the 2+Dobson and Fraser spots. Pritchard only played towards the end of the season.
I am sure Albie could contribute more than the combined efforts of Bover and Alonso.
Missing Andy Hughes from that list, probably listed as a defender on Wikipedia. We were lucky that season that we didn't have too many injuries but the big difference-maker was that short-term loans were still allowed. Hollands and Stephens were a good pairing and Hughes covered until we could get Russell in on loan. We also managed to get Ephraim (also not on the list), Cook and N'Guessan in on the left of midfield to cover Jackson's niggles at various points. I think Euell came on in midfield a few times as well. Squad building was so much easier back then. You built a team for the bulk of the season but you didn't need to plan for every eventuality; we sacrificed some depth in order to get in the players we really wanted. We only really had two first team centre mids than Powell would trust with a long run in the team and we had no squad cover for Jackson at all, we just dipped into the short-term market whenever he wasn't available.
Now with that market gone you need to be able to point to 22 players that you will have available from the second the window closes and that affects the level of player you can get at the top end when you have to spread the money out to cover a full squad. You could argue it leads to more opportunities for youth players but imagine how different 20/21 might have been if we'd been able to bring in a centre back as cover when Inniss, Famewo, Oshilaja and Pearce were all out instead of having the Gunter/Pratley axis, or what we might have been able to do at full back to spare Richard Chin the struggles he had this season when Sessegnon was injured.
It's such a shame they killed emergency loans. It was great for clubs on a budget and it gave game time to players who were good enough to play but not getting minutes at their current clubs. I truly believe that Rob Hulse coming in when he did with Fuller and Yann variously out saved our season in 12/13. He wasn't a brilliant player but he did his job and those 4 wins in 5 games he was a part of lifted the gloom massively at the time. I think if we hadn't had that turn starting with Cardiff it would have been curtains for Powell and our survival that year.
Comments
It made sense for him to go somewhere else out of that environment, and let him get some minutes elsewhere - a move which seems to have worked well for everyone involved - nothing more nefarious than that.
Indeed, and many individuals also wrote of JRS, after a poor December by his standard (when the whole team were poor) and were happy for him to be recalled from his loan. It’
If McGrandles had not been involved in a team which had previously made the play offs, and had a poor loan to Cambridge then I’d be very dubious based on his performances for us. But there’s clearly some semblance of talent there.
Manager Dean Holden said: “It’s a good loan for Conor who, through no fault of his own, has had some freak injuries this season. He's had to come back from them and he's had limited game time. He’s told me that when he's played he’s not performed at the level he would like to.
"This move allows him to get game time and hopefully by the end of the season he will have 15-20 League One games under his belt. We'll keep tabs on him and we'll reassess things in the summer."
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/conor-mcgrandles-joins-cambridge-loanAlbie didn't play at their place, I'm not fussed about the fake cup game and don't remember if he played either way, and there is no such thing as bossing it Vs a team that's a man down..
Apologies if that's gone over my head
Good that Conor saw it similar to me , he was poor for us in the limited time he played due to injuries and whatever but he knows he can do better .
Hopefully he can turn in to the player I'd hoped he'd be but that's a promotion winning one for me , no ifs no buts or we can stick him with the rest of the 'will be a good squad player' pot
Dobson, Fraser, McGrandles and 3 new, better than the aforementioned will be good enough.
If 2 of the other 3 are Morgan and Payne, we'll have issues
Albie, and Connor in some repects in the past, are proved to be good enough as first choice for a top half team. Evidence? The league table.
Does that mean they are good enough to be first choice in a promotion chasing team? No of course it doesn't.
Would Plymouth reserves have finished 10th? I highly doubt it. MK Dons lost 4 or 5 five of their best players and went from 3rd to relegation.
There are plenty of players on our books no where near our first 11 that need "jogging on" to make room for better players. Our current first team, by and large, would all make great over/back ups/squad players. The problem is they play ever week because the alternatives are worse.
I get that people want change but there is enough scope to get enough change without necessarily throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Does that mean he will be again, I don’t know - football is not that simple, and lots of external as well as internal factors will affect performances.
We need two that are better than what we have got, Dobson and Fraser then 2 more. Morgan would fit quite comfortably in the two more.
If we don't get the first two, it doesn't matter if we release Morgan or not, but I would like to know what type of player we should be recruiting to fit that gap?
I think McGrandles could be in your “two more” bucket, I know Morgan shouldn’t.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Plymouth don’t have 6 top end L1 CMs in their squad. Powell and Bowyer didn’t either.
11 MF England ENG Scott Wagstaff
If you take out Green, Wagstaff and Cook as they would be "wingers" now. The 4 in bold would probably be the level we need in the 2+Dobson and Fraser spots. Pritchard only played towards the end of the season.
I am sure Albie could contribute more than the combined efforts of Bover and Alonso.
We also used Andy Hughes in midfield but again he was closer to L1 standard than truly being Championship quality.
I remember Stephens missing a few games that Hughes stepped in for, but not many other players missing much.
I feel its an under-rated reason why we're barely moving forward.
How can we do that, with so much noise as a distraction in the background? - Only a year ago, we had Martin Sandgaard talking to the likes of Washington too much, meaning they basically knew shit before they should have done.