Maybe we just need a physical workhorse up there to compliment everybody else, particularly May - ideally we’d sign a Kermorgant but sometimes a Steve Jones will do the job
Never pleasing people… we sign a someone who is decent, highly rated.
Played in the premier league, had a decent loan at the end of the season in League One, but it isn’t enough..
Holden has already proven this year we are not going to stick to the same formation, it is a signing that gives us options, from the start or from the bench to change the game.
I expect 1 free in (Dabo) 2 or 3 loans and maybe one more fee being paid if the right deal can be agreed.
For me, our biggest issue is, we don’t really have an identity of the style of play, and that falls on the manager!
Let’s see where we are at the end of October, before we start to turn!
Not sure it does. He’s not been given the tools yet so it’s hard to show an identity/style of play when you haven’t got the players you want yet. I think he’s got a clear idea of how he wants us to play but we can only see small bits of it at the moment because we don’t have enough players
Can you tell me how he wants to play? From what I have seen, it is to lump it then try and win the 2nd ball?? If that’s the case, then we have been recruiting the wrong players
That’s a very simplistic way of looking at it, and a team playing that way probably wouldn’t have had more of the ball in every game we’ve played so far. Pressing and winning the ball high up is definitely a huge part of it, and players we’ve recruited like Camara and May fit that perfectly. We’ve been the best team in the league so far at winning the ball and creating chances from pressing and winning the ball high up. A striker might have helped us convert more of these chances
We have seen a lot more longer passes over the top to May, which is another strength of his. When we have Leaburn we might see more direct passes going into him too, which will help free up May as defenders will be attracted to Leaburn’s presence. May has had to lead the line and stay central, but if you look at a lot of his Cheltenham goals he is running the channels, picking the ball up in pockets of space, cutting inside and shooting. A new striker can be that central focal point and allow May to find the spaces either side of him.
But that’s not the only way we’ve attacked, in fact Holden seems to prefer quite a varied/practical approach rather than sticking with one way of building attacks like a Ben Garner would for example. We’re high in the league numbers for slower build up attacks (would probably be higher if we hadnt lost Fraser) and also longer passes. Holden wants attacking football which we are seeing but it’s difficult when we don’t have the striker we can all see we need.
Losing Fraser’s ball-playing abilities and Leaburn’s presence up top have definitely not helped and probably made it look more like we are just looking for long balls for May to chase and trying to win the ball high up the pitch, along with trying to isolate CBT into a 1v1 situation. But isn’t that Holden just trying to get the best out of what he has been left with?
It is interesting to see the voices of the new regime start trying to shift the blame towards Holden when to the rest of us it’s obvious he hasn’t been given the tools yet
Not totally shifting blame on Holden, but we have still had enough quality on the pitch to have got better results that’s for sure. What’s the saying, bad workman blame the tools.
And no blame from the ownership, Holden is their man.
I don’t think tactically we have been right last few games, and to many errors!
For clarity I am not saying for 1 minute get rid of Holden, but can’t put all the blame on recruitment and the ownership, he has to take some responsibility. As we have had enough on the pitch to get results
He has and we have shown enough. The reason we aren’t on at least 7 points is individual errors. Which I think in this short term, you can’t really put on him. Hector’s mistake in that last game was so poor for someone of his experience.
I think individual errors are a mindset thing though and that is on Holden, especially given that’s something he talks about a lot. The Asiimwe one I can forgive because he must have mentally and physically exhausted by that point but there aren’t really any excuses for the others
A player mis-controlling the ball CANNOT be blamed on the manager, that's absolutely ridiculous! May as well start blaming the manager for the weather or if the train to the game is delayed ffs
I also agree with this, I would be far more worried if we were struggling to create chances and playing poorly. Overall we are playing far better this season than last season and creating a lot more. We have been downed but some individual errors that can't be blamed on the manager. Law of averages should mean we are fine. We should not have lost to Peterborough or Port Vale and arguably should have won both games on chances created. The Bristol Rovers game actually was probably the worst we have played but only lost to a 98th goal when we were trying to win the game.
All is not lost yet, couple of wins in our next 3 games and it all looks a lot rosier.
That couple of wins has to come from Fleetwood at home plus one of Oxford or Wigan away?
or do you include Crawley in the cup. You will get some long odds with Oxford and Wigan. Best of luck with that.
I can’t see JCH going to another L1 club unless they’re offering silly wages. Why would JCH sign another L1 contract with roughly the same L1 wages he’s on now when he can play out this season and move to a Championship club next year on a free and treble his income. MacAnthony gives all this transfer bluster but JCH is holding the cards. He’ll go to a Championship club either this year or next.
I think Cosgrove would do a job, which could be all we need as we do have Leaburn and May which if they stay fit is easily enough goals if Cosgrove can contribute like he did for Plymouth.
If it is a striker from Birmingham I would much rather it be Jutkiewicz. Even at 34 he’d do well at this level and help us in both boxes
There was talk albeit from Nixon that Birmingham wanted to get Jutkewicz off their wage bill because he was a high earner. I still fully expect it to be Cosgrove barring any last minute surprises.
There is no need to worry about whether Cosgrove is any good, or JCH is a dickhead or if Nombe is worth £750k. If we sign a striker, it will be a loan and nobody we have heard of.
There is no need to worry about whether Cosgrove is any good, or JCH is a dickhead or if Nombe is worth £750k. If we sign a striker, it will be a loan and nobody we have heard of.
There is no need to worry about whether Cosgrove is any good, or JCH is a dickhead or if Nombe is worth £750k. If we sign a striker, it will be a loan and nobody we have heard of.
I think Cosgrove would do a job, which could be all we need as we do have Leaburn and May which if they stay fit is easily enough goals if Cosgrove can contribute like he did for Plymouth.
If it is a striker from Birmingham I would much rather it be Jutkiewicz. Even at 34 he’d do well at this level and help us in both boxes
Fed up of players who might "do a job", it leads to mid table mediocrity every time.
I want players who are quality for us.
Not convinced on Cosgrove, scoring record in England is poor.
Had a look through forums of previous clubs - Plymouth one suggested he was good when he came on v tired defences for 20 mins, bad when he started.
Aberdeen, where he actually scored a few, weren't impressed. Two quotes:
'Regardless of how many goals he scored for us he was honestly fucking shite'
'Jayden Stockley was a better player and he was shite.'
Shrewsbury after his time there had people calling him second rate.
Birmingham comments weren't great (admittedly a league up), and they suggest he's been injured most of the summer.
Hopefully proven wrong and it works for him here if he arrives, but it's not a signing that I'm excited about at all, feels like the cheap option again rather than the good option.
We haven't signed him yet and I'd imagine if we do he will come on for miles (when fit) in the last 20 mins, where he has been effective in the past. I genuinely think we just need someone to win the ball upfront and to occupy a CB to make space for may. Do that and chip in with the odd goal and he's done his job in my eyes.
There was talk albeit from Nixon that Birmingham wanted to get Jutkewicz off their wage bill because he was a high earner. I still fully expect it to be Cosgrove barring any last minute surprises.
There were no rumours about Campbell so I’m not ruling out it being someone unexpected.
Cosgrove sounds similar to Stockley so I’m not convinced he’s our current first choice target.
There was talk albeit from Nixon that Birmingham wanted to get Jutkewicz off their wage bill because he was a high earner. I still fully expect it to be Cosgrove barring any last minute surprises.
There were no rumours about Campbell so I’m not ruling out it being someone unexpected.
Cosgrove sounds similar to Stockley so I’m not convinced he’s our current first choice target.
Honestly I'd like it to be that way. Campbell was completely out of nowhere in a good way!
Personally Cosgrove feels more like a deadline day squad player signing you make at 9pm as opposed someone you sign now.
We haven't signed him yet and I'd imagine if we do he will come on for miles (when fit) in the last 20 mins, where he has been effective in the past. I genuinely think we just need someone to win the ball upfront and to occupy a CB to make space for may. Do that and chip in with the odd goal and he's done his job in my eyes.
Agree but as @North Lower Neil says, some of the comments on the Birmingham forums are scathing. And they reckon he’s been injured.
I think Cosgrove would do a job, which could be all we need as we do have Leaburn and May which if they stay fit is easily enough goals if Cosgrove can contribute like he did for Plymouth.
If it is a striker from Birmingham I would much rather it be Jutkiewicz. Even at 34 he’d do well at this level and help us in both boxes
Fed up of players who might "do a job", it leads to mid table mediocrity every time.
I want players who are quality for us.
Not convinced on Cosgrove, scoring record in England is poor.
Had a look through forums of previous clubs - Plymouth one suggested he was good when he came on v tired defences for 20 mins, bad when he started.
Aberdeen, where he actually scored a few, weren't impressed. Two quotes:
'Regardless of how many goals he scored for us he was honestly fucking shite'
'Jayden Stockley was a better player and he was shite.'
Shrewsbury after his time there had people calling him second rate.
Birmingham comments weren't great (admittedly a league up), and they suggest he's been injured most of the summer.
Hopefully proven wrong and it works for him here if he arrives, but it's not a signing that I'm excited about at all, feels like the cheap option again rather than the good option.
I understand your point, but we won the play off final with Josh Parker up front who did little more than "a job".
That said by all means Cosgrove doesn't sound like the answer at the minute.
I'm actually not too bothered if a new striker doesn't score many, provided he enables the rest of the team. I think we'll look a completely different team with a proper striker alongside may - 1) the long balls might actually be effective 2) it won't come back so quickly and hopefully concede fewer!
There is no need to worry about whether Cosgrove is any good, or JCH is a dickhead or if Nombe is worth £750k. If we sign a striker, it will be a loan and nobody we have heard of.
People are very harsh on Cosgrove but I don't know if people have looked into his contributions beyond his goal record. I think there's a general negativity towards big lump type strikers even when they're effective, people want mobile goalscorers. What we need is players who can work together though and May needs a player who can help the ball stick up top before it gets to him. We've got a 20 goal striker in the line-up, we need someone to chip in with a few himself and provide for May. Leaburn will do that when he's fit but we need an alternative too as we've seen. Cosgrove had a really good season for Plymouth. 8 goals and 2 assists in 1,307 minutes, which is a goal every 163 minutes. A goal every 1.8 full games, that's pretty good for a player primarily used for impact or as a rotation option. Plymouth brought him on a lot, he started 13 games of 33, scoring in 3 of those starts and getting both assists in 2 of them. His contributions when he came on were generally game-changing, including getting 2 goals against Derby despite only being on for 15 minutes. His goals were the odd goal in 4 games, 5 if you count the one where he got a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win. For a player who was mostly used to come on and change games he actually had a very effective season and contributed to a team that ran away with the L1 title. He might look like a galoot and not get pulses racing but we need a rotation option for Leaburn who seems to be quite injury prone and I think bringing in the bloke who did that job effectively for the league champions wouldn't be the daftest move going to be honest.
I’m wondering how bad Cosgrove can be if there’s competition in this league for his signature? Then again, if the clubs he played for don’t rate him, even Plymouth who he helped to promotion, then that doesn’t bode well.
On a side note, if Leaburn is to be our number 1 partner for May then I can see why Cosgrove might do as backup.
I'd say central midfield, on paper (I know I know) is where we stand up to every other team in the league. Dobson, Taylor, Camara, Fraser is a quartet any team would love to have, and to top it off we have the emergence of Anderson.
On paper maybe but three of them aren’t fully fit . Fraser I believe is good against weaker sides and goes missing against anyone competitive , Taylor seemingly is one of the modern players who takes an age to get fit . Camara is evidently quality but can’t play every game . At this stage , I can’t commit to whether this midfield takes you up. Dobson is the only banker .
Not convinced either. Fraser looked very good in the pre seasons, but that just backs up what you’re saying. I think most of us, including me, tend to underestimate opposition players a little bit.
Hopefully Camara will end up being able to play every game, and let’s hope Taylor progresses well as he finds his fitness. Anderson will hopefully go from strength to strength over the next two or three years as well.
I think Cosgrove would do a job, which could be all we need as we do have Leaburn and May which if they stay fit is easily enough goals if Cosgrove can contribute like he did for Plymouth.
If it is a striker from Birmingham I would much rather it be Jutkiewicz. Even at 34 he’d do well at this level and help us in both boxes
Fed up of players who might "do a job", it leads to mid table mediocrity every time.
I want players who are quality for us.
Not convinced on Cosgrove, scoring record in England is poor.
Had a look through forums of previous clubs - Plymouth one suggested he was good when he came on v tired defences for 20 mins, bad when he started.
Aberdeen, where he actually scored a few, weren't impressed. Two quotes:
'Regardless of how many goals he scored for us he was honestly fucking shite'
'Jayden Stockley was a better player and he was shite.'
Shrewsbury after his time there had people calling him second rate.
Birmingham comments weren't great (admittedly a league up), and they suggest he's been injured most of the summer.
Hopefully proven wrong and it works for him here if he arrives, but it's not a signing that I'm excited about at all, feels like the cheap option again rather than the good option.
I understand your point, but we won the play off final with Josh Parker up front who did little more than "a job".
That said by all means Cosgrove doesn't sound like the answer at the minute.
Think we could get away with Josh Parker because we had Lyle Taylor.
And arguably, if we had somebody better than Parker, we might not have had to go through the lottery of the play-offs.
People are very harsh on Cosgrove but I don't know if people have looked into his contributions beyond his goal record. I think there's a general negativity towards big lump type strikers even when they're effective, people want mobile goalscorers. What we need is players who can work together though and May needs a player who can help the ball stick up top before it gets to him. We've got a 20 goal striker in the line-up, we need someone to chip in with a few himself and provide for May. Leaburn will do that when he's fit but we need an alternative too as we've seen. Cosgrove had a really good season for Plymouth. 8 goals and 2 assists in 1,307 minutes, which is a goal every 163 minutes. A goal every 1.8 full games, that's pretty good for a player primarily used for impact or as a rotation option. Plymouth brought him on a lot, he started 13 games of 33, scoring in 3 of those starts and getting both assists in 2 of them. His contributions when he came on were generally game-changing, including getting 2 goals against Derby despite only being on for 15 minutes. His goals were the odd goal in 4 games, 5 if you count the one where he got a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win. For a player who was mostly used to come on and change games he actually had a very effective season and contributed to a team that ran away with the L1 title. He might look like a galoot and not get pulses racing but we need a rotation option for Leaburn who seems to be quite injury prone and I think bringing in the bloke who did that job effectively for the league champions wouldn't be the daftest move going to be honest.
I get that, just concerned he’s one of those average players lifted by playing in a very good Plymouth team. I think we can potentially find better with a young Prem loanee - it’s more of a gamble but if it works you can end up with a player who by the end of the season is too good for L1. With this squad I don’t think we’ll get promoted if our last few signings are players who “can do a job”.
'We need another striker to rotate with Leaburn. Someone to hold up the ball, show a bit of strength in the final third and make an impact coming off the bench while supporting our main goalscoring striker'
'Oh, should we sign the bloke who did exactly that for the L1 title winners last season playing in a three at the back formation like we're trying to do?'
'Nope sorry, he's tall so legally he's now Jayden Stockley. Got any others?'
People are very harsh on Cosgrove but I don't know if people have looked into his contributions beyond his goal record. I think there's a general negativity towards big lump type strikers even when they're effective, people want mobile goalscorers. What we need is players who can work together though and May needs a player who can help the ball stick up top before it gets to him. We've got a 20 goal striker in the line-up, we need someone to chip in with a few himself and provide for May. Leaburn will do that when he's fit but we need an alternative too as we've seen. Cosgrove had a really good season for Plymouth. 8 goals and 2 assists in 1,307 minutes, which is a goal every 163 minutes. A goal every 1.8 full games, that's pretty good for a player primarily used for impact or as a rotation option. Plymouth brought him on a lot, he started 13 games of 33, scoring in 3 of those starts and getting both assists in 2 of them. His contributions when he came on were generally game-changing, including getting 2 goals against Derby despite only being on for 15 minutes. His goals were the odd goal in 4 games, 5 if you count the one where he got a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win. For a player who was mostly used to come on and change games he actually had a very effective season and contributed to a team that ran away with the L1 title. He might look like a galoot and not get pulses racing but we need a rotation option for Leaburn who seems to be quite injury prone and I think bringing in the bloke who did that job effectively for the league champions wouldn't be the daftest move going to be honest.
I get that, just concerned he’s one of those average players lifted by playing in a very good Plymouth team. I think we can potentially find better with a young Prem loanee - it’s more of a gamble but if it works you can end up with a player who by the end of the season is too good for L1. With this squad I don’t think we’ll get promoted if our last few signings are players who “can do a job”.
It is difficult to find a quality prem loanee with the physical attributes we are probably looking for from this striker signing
Comments
Fleetwood at home plus one of Oxford or Wigan away?
or do you include Crawley in the cup.
You will get some long odds with Oxford and Wigan. Best of luck with that.
If it is a striker from Birmingham I would much rather it be Jutkiewicz. Even at 34 he’d do well at this level and help us in both boxes
I want players who are quality for us.
Not convinced on Cosgrove, scoring record in England is poor.
Had a look through forums of previous clubs - Plymouth one suggested he was good when he came on v tired defences for 20 mins, bad when he started.
Aberdeen, where he actually scored a few, weren't impressed. Two quotes:
'Regardless of how many goals he scored for us he was honestly fucking shite'
'Jayden Stockley was a better player and he was shite.'
Shrewsbury after his time there had people calling him second rate.
Birmingham comments weren't great (admittedly a league up), and they suggest he's been injured most of the summer.
Hopefully proven wrong and it works for him here if he arrives, but it's not a signing that I'm excited about at all, feels like the cheap option again rather than the good option.
Cosgrove sounds similar to Stockley so I’m not convinced he’s our current first choice target.
Honestly I'd like it to be that way. Campbell was completely out of nowhere in a good way!
Personally Cosgrove feels more like a deadline day squad player signing you make at 9pm as opposed someone you sign now.
That said by all means Cosgrove doesn't sound like the answer at the minute.
I think most of us, including me, tend to underestimate opposition players a little bit.
And arguably, if we had somebody better than Parker, we might not have had to go through the lottery of the play-offs.
In comparison that's only 6 more than Albie Morgan from the same number of games.
They may even loan Burstow out to a lower prem club?