Did Marshall play RB v QPR? Even if he can cover there it just means we lack depth out wide in midfield.
Marshall yes. Wide? KAG, Fosu, MM, Mag, and eventually Clarke and Reeves. Also Ajose did well there as our front three rotated.
MM & Dijikstel at RB & Reeves & Magennis out wide......all square pegs in round holes. Yes, they can cover there for a game or two, but over a 46 league campaign......you're having a laugh.
We need a proper RB, a ball winning, tough tackling, chance making midfielder & either back-up for Phillips or a No1 like Amos......and thats just for starters. Our squad is thinner than Kate Moss & we are already without Clarke & Reeves for 6 weeks when the season starts. We currently have just 3 centre halves & 2 of our back up strikers are threatened with legal action & may not be around at all by August.
Never put forward Djiksteel as RB cover.MM ideal as cover as he always tracks back and is usually 1st line of defence. Always thought Waggy missed a trick not converting. Mag has played much of his NI career wide and is possibly the best crosser in the club.
"a ball winning, tough tackling, chance making midfielder" yeah but Paul Pogba is about £100m.
Agree with keeper, see QPR thread. Also I have highlighted need for RCB. KAG will not be hampered by events in Spain and can play wide or through middle.
Did Marshall play RB v QPR? Even if he can cover there it just means we lack depth out wide in midfield.
Marshall yes. Wide? KAG, Fosu, MM, Mag, and eventually Clarke and Reeves. Also Ajose did well there as our front three rotated.
KAG has just been on loan in League 2 and scored plenty of goals. He’s not a winger or creative wide player. Magennis again is someone that could do a job there for a few games. Ajose is a poacher, he’s never going to be effective stuck out wide. Doing well there in pre-season means nothing.
A few injuries and suspensions and we could have Marshall at RB and Magennis RM for half a season. That might be ok for a few games but it’s not going to have us challenging for promotion.
Having several versatile players isn’t the same as having good depth to the squad.
Did Marshall play RB v QPR? Even if he can cover there it just means we lack depth out wide in midfield.
Marshall yes. Wide? KAG, Fosu, MM, Mag, and eventually Clarke and Reeves. Also Ajose did well there as our front three rotated.
KAG has just been on loan in League 2 and scored plenty of goals. He’s not a winger or creative wide player. Magennis again is someone that could do a job there for a few games. Ajose is a poacher, he’s never going to be effective stuck out wide. Doing well there in pre-season means nothing.
A few injuries and suspensions and we could have Marshall at RB and Magennis RM for half a season. That might be ok for a few games but it’s not going to have us challenging for promotion.
Having several versatile players isn’t the same as having good depth to the squad.
LB says it IS ok & he is happy with a more compact squad. Problem is he wants quality over quantity & quality costs money......something we dont have. We are only going backwards this season.
I’m sure we’re not hearing what LB really thinks. For now he needs to get the best out of what we have, being negative (even if it’s honest and realistic) probably won’t do that. Hopefully the takeover goes through soon and he’ll be able to put a proper squad together.
Did Marshall play RB v QPR? Even if he can cover there it just means we lack depth out wide in midfield.
Marshall yes. Wide? KAG, Fosu, MM, Mag, and eventually Clarke and Reeves. Also Ajose did well there as our front three rotated.
KAG has just been on loan in League 2 and scored plenty of goals. He’s not a winger or creative wide player. Magennis again is someone that could do a job there for a few games. Ajose is a poacher, he’s never going to be effective stuck out wide. Doing well there in pre-season means nothing.
A few injuries and suspensions and we could have Marshall at RB and Magennis RM for half a season. That might be ok for a few games but it’s not going to have us challenging for promotion.
Having several versatile players isn’t the same as having good depth to the squad.
KAG terrorised the Championship QPR defence everytime he got the ball, wide and centrally. MM/Mag will not be 1st choice but cover. Even in their own positions. I see that as a positive. Keeper RCB and keep everyone and we will be a force. Only problem, if KAG and Fosu play wide, tracking back is not their fortè. May need full backs pushing up.
Not at all sure about cover for Chris Solly. On the evidence of 45 minutes yesterday he has some way to go before claiming the right back spot. KAG suffers from the same problem at Wagstaff. Poor finishing or crossing after a good run.
Do we still refer to him as KAG, as he has asked to drop the Ahearne from his name
Has he?
The reason he was called Karlan Grant on the team list yesterday
From Keets on Dr Kish: Eight minutes from time, Karlan Grant - he dropped the "Ahearne" part of his name during the summer - floated a corner in from the left.
Do we still refer to him as KAG, as he has asked to drop the Ahearne from his name
Has he?
The reason he was called Karlan Grant on the team list yesterday
From Keets on Dr Kish: Eight minutes from time, Karlan Grant - he dropped the "Ahearne" part of his name during the summer - floated a corner in from the left.
Our Academy seems to pump out more good players than some PL teams. We have a bunch of good young players age 19-22. Why not start playing them? The Academy is our best asset so I don't know why we keep trying to solve all our problems in the transfer market. If we don't start playing them by age 21, then we are wasting their time and ours. I believe we need to start committing to bringing up our youth or close the Academy and spend those millions per year on transfers instead.
Our Academy seems to pump out more good players than some PL teams. We have a bunch of good young players age 19-22. Why not start playing them? The Academy is our best asset so I don't know why we keep trying to solve all our problems in the transfer market. If we don't start playing them by age 21, then we are wasting their time and ours. I believe we need to start committing to bringing up our youth or close the Academy and spend those millions per year on transfers instead.
Premier league players of the future. Keep up. God I hate everything about Roland and his ownership of our club.
Isn’t that what we’ve tried to do in recent seasons under Roland? Throwing in KAG too early didn’t do him much good. Hanlan wasn’t good enough to be Slade’s 4th choice striker. You can’t turn a youth player into a solid first team player just by giving them more games.
Our Academy seems to pump out more good players than some PL teams. We have a bunch of good young players age 19-22. Why not start playing them? The Academy is our best asset so I don't know why we keep trying to solve all our problems in the transfer market. If we don't start playing them by age 21, then we are wasting their time and ours. I believe we need to start committing to bringing up our youth or close the Academy and spend those millions per year on transfers instead.
From what I have seen we have pretty much exhausted our U23 feeders. Blumberg, Lapslie and Doughty only on fringes IMHO although vids of the newish striker looked promising. Forget his name. Thought Edwards, Beeney and Barnes would make it but released too early I'd say. Need to fast track some 16yo's.
Our Academy seems to pump out more good players than some PL teams. We have a bunch of good young players age 19-22. Why not start playing them? The Academy is our best asset so I don't know why we keep trying to solve all our problems in the transfer market. If we don't start playing them by age 21, then we are wasting their time and ours. I believe we need to start committing to bringing up our youth or close the Academy and spend those millions per year on transfers instead.
From what I have seen we have pretty much exhausted our U23 feeders. Blumberg, Lapslie and Doughty only on fringes IMHO although vids of the newish striker looked promising. Forget his name. Thought Edwards, Beeney and Barnes would make it but released too early I'd say. Need to fast track some 16yo's.
Our Academy seems to pump out more good players than some PL teams. We have a bunch of good young players age 19-22. Why not start playing them? The Academy is our best asset so I don't know why we keep trying to solve all our problems in the transfer market. If we don't start playing them by age 21, then we are wasting their time and ours. I believe we need to start committing to bringing up our youth or close the Academy and spend those millions per year on transfers instead.
From what I have seen we have pretty much exhausted our U23 feeders. Blumberg, Lapslie and Doughty only on fringes IMHO although vids of the newish striker looked promising. Forget his name. Thought Edwards, Beeney and Barnes would make it but released too early I'd say. Need to fast track some 16yo's.
Wow - 2 things emphasise to me where we are as a club.
Cov offered him more money - of all the clubs.
Lyle Taylor is our main signing.
Shows we are no more than a mid table league one club until new owners show up
It's the Lyle Taylor being our best signing that concerns me most. You never know how much a player is asking for so that tough to read. But with the greatest respect to Taylor, we need a lot more than him, a lot more quality. I think he's a very strong signing, but he's never played above this level or even for a team chasing promotion at this level. It's going to be a big step up for him.
Meanwhile, we desperately need to add quality and depth in midfield, in attacking midfield/out wide, at right back, and in goal.
I think in terms of tactics and approach Bowyer right now looks to be a sort of middle table League One manager. I think he got us over the line with some gritty determined performances last season but he had a vastly superior squad at his disposal than what we have this year. And even with that he was out thought at times, particularly in the playoffs. When you have Reeves and JFC and Aribo and Kashi and Fosu as midfielders and your main fork of attack is to lump it to Josh to win flick on for Ajose. .. Yeah.
Unless there are big changes I think things are going to get much, much worse.
I shouldn't be too despondent at the moment. Very few teams in League One have a finalised squad yet. And that includes Charlton.
We're not going to start the season with only the players that played at QPR. The one certainty is that there will be changes and additions to the squad still to come in the next few weeks.
Even in the current circumstances, from what Bowyer has said, it's clear that he already has some budget to bring in players - even if 1 or 2 players are traded to bring in further funds.
And then there will be loan signings. Most of these don't happen until after Premier League clubs have published their squads. The World Cup may also delay movement of players.
Bowyer and Jacko will know themselves where there are holes in the squad. It's not about having world class players. It's about building a balanced team for the coming season, to get results in League One.
Did Marshall play RB v QPR? Even if he can cover there it just means we lack depth out wide in midfield.
Marshall yes. Wide? KAG, Fosu, MM, Mag, and eventually Clarke and Reeves. Also Ajose did well there as our front three rotated.
KAG has just been on loan in League 2 and scored plenty of goals. He’s not a winger or creative wide player. Magennis again is someone that could do a job there for a few games. Ajose is a poacher, he’s never going to be effective stuck out wide. Doing well there in pre-season means nothing.
A few injuries and suspensions and we could have Marshall at RB and Magennis RM for half a season. That might be ok for a few games but it’s not going to have us challenging for promotion.
Having several versatile players isn’t the same as having good depth to the squad.
Did Marshall play RB v QPR? Even if he can cover there it just means we lack depth out wide in midfield.
Marshall yes. Wide? KAG, Fosu, MM, Mag, and eventually Clarke and Reeves. Also Ajose did well there as our front three rotated.
KAG has just been on loan in League 2 and scored plenty of goals. He’s not a winger or creative wide player. Magennis again is someone that could do a job there for a few games. Ajose is a poacher, he’s never going to be effective stuck out wide. Doing well there in pre-season means nothing.
A few injuries and suspensions and we could have Marshall at RB and Magennis RM for half a season. That might be ok for a few games but it’s not going to have us challenging for promotion.
Having several versatile players isn’t the same as having good depth to the squad.
Comments
"a ball winning, tough tackling, chance making midfielder" yeah but Paul Pogba is about £100m.
Agree with keeper, see QPR thread. Also I have highlighted need for RCB. KAG will not be hampered by events in Spain and can play wide or through middle.
A few injuries and suspensions and we could have Marshall at RB and Magennis RM for half a season. That might be ok for a few games but it’s not going to have us challenging for promotion.
Having several versatile players isn’t the same as having good depth to the squad.
Even if Marshall and Magennis are here as cover overall we still lack depth.
From Keets on Dr Kish:
Eight minutes from time, Karlan Grant - he dropped the "Ahearne" part of his name during the summer - floated a corner in from the left.
Keep up.
God I hate everything about Roland and his ownership of our club.
Perhaps a checkatrade appearance to see how he gets on, but surely we can't think of throwing him into league football yet.