Bowyers done well so far.... But the decision to keep playing Page has backfired. Hearing six weeks out.
A back four of Solly, Pearce, Sarr, Dijksteel with minimal cover won't cut it. Bielik, Bauer and Page all missing shows up our squad fragility, it's only 1 or 2 players short of a proper squad, but the one position we have no cover in is the very same position our most injury prone player operates
How long can Solly continue to play every game and Pearce is pretty injury prone too.
We always seem to end up with unbalanced squads, and not all of that can be blamed on Roland. Partially it's down to recruitment, and partially down to having injuries in the wrong places.
Last season we had too many CBs, and as a result Sarr and Lennon hardly played, while KR spent all summer trying to get Reeves in and the laughable pursuit of Grigg, so we were left light up front with the panic signing of Dodoo instead.
This season we don't seem to have enough defenders or defensive players, but have ample resources up front and in attacking midfield. Igor, Ajose and Reeves on the bench, Marshall not even in the squad, with Ward due back soon and Clarke a month away, and that doesn't include any youngsters like Lapslie or Morgan.
Yeah I'd go with this. It's not that we have a small squad, it's that it lacks balance. And it's been clear since preseason that we lacked natural cover in the FB positions.
We always seem to end up with unbalanced squads, and not all of that can be blamed on Roland. Partially it's down to recruitment, and partially down to having injuries in the wrong places.
Last season we had too many CBs, and as a result Sarr and Lennon hardly played, while KR spent all summer trying to get Reeves in and the laughable pursuit of Grigg, so we were left light up front with the panic signing of Dodoo instead.
This season we don't seem to have enough defenders or defensive players, but have ample resources up front and in attacking midfield. Igor, Ajose and Reeves on the bench, Marshall not even in the squad, with Ward due back soon and Clarke a month away, and that doesn't include any youngsters like Lapslie or Morgan.
Yeah I'd go with this. It's not that we have a small squad, it's that it lacks balance. And it's been clear since preseason that we lacked natural cover in the FB positions.
I'd say we're 2 or 3 players short. Swap Ward for a left back and we'd lack wide midfield options. A versatile player to cover centre back/right back would be useful. Should have the option of a target man type as well. Bowyer didn't want one, but maybe that's more about budget.
Bowyers didn't need to sign 3 Cms. With Aribo, Lapslie plus Dijksteel and Reeves, 2 would have been sufficient on our budget. The signings of a keeper winger and striker were musts, in hindsight swapping Pratley for full back cover would have left our squad much better balanced.
Bowyers didn't need to sign 3 Cms. With Aribo, Lapslie plus Dijksteel and Reeves, 2 would have been sufficient on our budget. The signings of a keeper winger and striker were musts, in hindsight swapping Pratley for full back cover would have left our squad much better balanced.
I guess in hindsight none of us knew if Lapslie and Morgan would rise to the level needed of them like they have done... Not to mention the fact that had Pratley not played against Sunderland we'd have looked even worse in terms of squad depth
Not to mention we're only just into October; Pratley might not be needed now but I bet he will be come December
Remember going to City Addicks last year and KR intimated that Page was basically not up to this level, he was very wrong as has proved to be the norm
Trust Bowyer on Mascoll, seen a lot of players thrown in too early
Such a shame we didn’t have the funds or ambition for JDS
We had the ambition, fact is we would’ve had to pull off a miracle to sign him, and even then it wouldn’t have been down to us, but down to a Championship club not taking him.
Bowyers didn't need to sign 3 Cms. With Aribo, Lapslie plus Dijksteel and Reeves, 2 would have been sufficient on our budget. The signings of a keeper winger and striker were musts, in hindsight swapping Pratley for full back cover would have left our squad much better balanced.
I guess in hindsight none of us knew if Lapslie and Morgan would rise to the level needed of them like they have done... Not to mention the fact that had Pratley not played against Sunderland we'd have looked even worse in terms of squad depth
Not to mention we're only just into October; Pratley might not be needed now but I bet he will be come December
That's true but I stand by the fact but after signing Pratley, signing 2 more CM's in Cullen and Bielik and not a defender was a mistake.
Remember going to City Addicks last year and KR intimated that Page was basically not up to this level, he was very wrong as has proved to be the norm
Trust Bowyer on Mascoll, seen a lot of players thrown in too early
Such a shame we didn’t have the funds or ambition for JDS
We had the ambition, fact is we would’ve had to pull off a miracle to sign him, and even then it wouldn’t have been down to us, but down to a Championship club not taking him.
No chance would JDS sign for a L1 club, ditto Amos. If we had gone up, both would have been playing for us I'm sure
Bowyers didn't need to sign 3 Cms. With Aribo, Lapslie plus Dijksteel and Reeves, 2 would have been sufficient on our budget. The signings of a keeper winger and striker were musts, in hindsight swapping Pratley for full back cover would have left our squad much better balanced.
I guess in hindsight none of us knew if Lapslie and Morgan would rise to the level needed of them like they have done... Not to mention the fact that had Pratley not played against Sunderland we'd have looked even worse in terms of squad depth
Not to mention we're only just into October; Pratley might not be needed now but I bet he will be come December
That's true but I stand by the fact but after signing Pratley, signing 2 more CM's in Cullen and Bielik and not a defender was a mistake.
Bielik can play as a fourth centre back though so Bowyer has effectively signed two position in one.
I read Bowyers comments about Mascoll as he isn't ready to return after his injury. Not that he isn't ready for first team football. May be just me though.
I read Bowyers comments about Mascoll as he isn't ready to return after his injury. Not that he isn't ready for first team football. May be just me though.
Could also be very much the case as he's not been involved in any U23 games of late
Bowyers didn't need to sign 3 Cms. With Aribo, Lapslie plus Dijksteel and Reeves, 2 would have been sufficient on our budget. The signings of a keeper winger and striker were musts, in hindsight swapping Pratley for full back cover would have left our squad much better balanced.
I guess in hindsight none of us knew if Lapslie and Morgan would rise to the level needed of them like they have done... Not to mention the fact that had Pratley not played against Sunderland we'd have looked even worse in terms of squad depth
Not to mention we're only just into October; Pratley might not be needed now but I bet he will be come December
That's true but I stand by the fact but after signing Pratley, signing 2 more CM's in Cullen and Bielik and not a defender was a mistake.
He did sign a defender - Bielik’s a CB that can cover CM.
Bowyers didn't need to sign 3 Cms. With Aribo, Lapslie plus Dijksteel and Reeves, 2 would have been sufficient on our budget. The signings of a keeper winger and striker were musts, in hindsight swapping Pratley for full back cover would have left our squad much better balanced.
I guess in hindsight none of us knew if Lapslie and Morgan would rise to the level needed of them like they have done... Not to mention the fact that had Pratley not played against Sunderland we'd have looked even worse in terms of squad depth
Not to mention we're only just into October; Pratley might not be needed now but I bet he will be come December
That's true but I stand by the fact but after signing Pratley, signing 2 more CM's in Cullen and Bielik and not a defender was a mistake.
He did sign a defender - Bielik’s a CB that can cover CM.
Bielik has been a CM for the majority of his career (albeit it's still early days). I believe he has only played CB as part of a 3. So yes he did sign a player that could cover 2 positions, but it still left us unbalanced.
In the summer we lost: Amos Konsa, Lennon, Dasilva Kashi, JFC, Jackson Mavididi, Kaikai, Zyro Magennis
We then had Grant and Igor back. So if someone said to me you can have 6 players to replace those, I would undoubtedly gone for: GK Def 2 CMs Winger Striker
Bielik was a good signing and can play CB. But the squad is still unbalanced, we are a defender short even with Bielik (at FB). It's clear to see we have always been a full back short, especially seeing as we have yet another CM in Dijksteel as our RB cover.
Bowyers didn't need to sign 3 Cms. With Aribo, Lapslie plus Dijksteel and Reeves, 2 would have been sufficient on our budget. The signings of a keeper winger and striker were musts, in hindsight swapping Pratley for full back cover would have left our squad much better balanced.
I guess in hindsight none of us knew if Lapslie and Morgan would rise to the level needed of them like they have done... Not to mention the fact that had Pratley not played against Sunderland we'd have looked even worse in terms of squad depth
Not to mention we're only just into October; Pratley might not be needed now but I bet he will be come December
That's true but I stand by the fact but after signing Pratley, signing 2 more CM's in Cullen and Bielik and not a defender was a mistake.
He did sign a defender - Bielik’s a CB that can cover CM.
Bielik has been a CM for the majority of his career (albeit it's still early days). I believe he has only played CB as part of a 3. So yes he did sign a player that could cover 2 positions, but it still left us unbalanced.
In the summer we lost: Amos Konsa, Lennon, Dasilva Kashi, JFC, Jackson Mavididi, Kaikai, Zyro Magennis
We then had Grant and Igor back. So if someone said to me you can have 6 players to replace those, I would undoubtedly gone for: GK Def 2 CMs Winger Striker
Bielik was a good signing and can play CB. But the squad is still unbalanced, we are a defender short even with Bielik (at FB). It's clear to see we have always been a full back short, especially seeing as we have yet another CM in Dijksteel as our RB cover.
I'm sure Marshall can play FB - does Bowyer just not rate him?
Bowyers didn't need to sign 3 Cms. With Aribo, Lapslie plus Dijksteel and Reeves, 2 would have been sufficient on our budget. The signings of a keeper winger and striker were musts, in hindsight swapping Pratley for full back cover would have left our squad much better balanced.
I guess in hindsight none of us knew if Lapslie and Morgan would rise to the level needed of them like they have done... Not to mention the fact that had Pratley not played against Sunderland we'd have looked even worse in terms of squad depth
Not to mention we're only just into October; Pratley might not be needed now but I bet he will be come December
That's true but I stand by the fact but after signing Pratley, signing 2 more CM's in Cullen and Bielik and not a defender was a mistake.
He did sign a defender - Bielik’s a CB that can cover CM.
Bielik has been a CM for the majority of his career (albeit it's still early days). I believe he has only played CB as part of a 3. So yes he did sign a player that could cover 2 positions, but it still left us unbalanced.
In the summer we lost: Amos Konsa, Lennon, Dasilva Kashi, JFC, Jackson Mavididi, Kaikai, Zyro Magennis
We then had Grant and Igor back. So if someone said to me you can have 6 players to replace those, I would undoubtedly gone for: GK Def 2 CMs Winger Striker
Bielik was a good signing and can play CB. But the squad is still unbalanced, we are a defender short even with Bielik (at FB). It's clear to see we have always been a full back short, especially seeing as we have yet another CM in Dijksteel as our RB cover.
I wasn’t disagreeing with the squad being unbalanced, we need another left back and a fifth CB wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Saying that swapping Ward for a left back would leave us short of wide midfield options, meaning we’d have to stick to a 4-4-2 diamond or 5-3-2.
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Not to mention we're only just into October; Pratley might not be needed now but I bet he will be come December
Trust Bowyer on Mascoll, seen a lot of players thrown in too early
Such a shame we didn’t have the funds or ambition for JDS
Just doesnt help we've lost Bauer too
Some can rise to the challenge at a young age whilst others do struggle
In the summer we lost:
Amos
Konsa, Lennon, Dasilva
Kashi, JFC, Jackson
Mavididi, Kaikai, Zyro
Magennis
We then had Grant and Igor back. So if someone said to me you can have 6 players to replace those, I would undoubtedly gone for:
GK
Def
2 CMs
Winger
Striker
Bielik was a good signing and can play CB. But the squad is still unbalanced, we are a defender short even with Bielik (at FB). It's clear to see we have always been a full back short, especially seeing as we have yet another CM in Dijksteel as our RB cover.
Saying that swapping Ward for a left back would leave us short of wide midfield options, meaning we’d have to stick to a 4-4-2 diamond or 5-3-2.
Good News!