Hope we go for a bit more experience when signing a CB. We have a few really good prospects in that position (Ness, Deji, Mitchell) but right now we need someone to come in and play alongside Jones as Hector has been really off so far this season. Strange isn't it that Hector was so good last season and we were all disappointed he only signed a one year deal in the summer, could be a lucky escape based on his performances so far.
Hope we go for a bit more experience when signing a CB. We have a few really good prospects in that position (Ness, Deji, Mitchell) but right now we need someone to come in and play alongside Jones as Hector has been really off so far this season. Strange isn't it that Hector was so good last season and we were all disappointed he only signed a one year deal in the summer, could be a lucky escape based on his performances so far.
One of the first players I'd have out the door mate. For all his experience he's way too shaky, I think Jones, with the right player alongside him could build quite a good centre back partnership, at least at this level.
Been very pleasantly surprised at Jones improvement and very glad to be wrong that I thought he wouldn't be much of an improvement on Innis. Put a proper no nonsense centre back alongside him who can play a bit and I think we will finally have a pair that aren't soft, something we have lacked since Bauer & Pearce.
Short term cb punt would be Piergianni from Stevenage.Seen him a few times and although 31 looks pretty decent.
Please don't scout for us!!
I keep seeing people bring up Piergianni. He’s a great centre back for Stevenage but that doesn’t mean he would be great for us (in my opinion he wouldn’t).
Piergianni is great when all he has to do is defend, head everything, blocks, clearances, backs to the wall etc. To be a CB for us we need more than that, he’d be exposed on the ball or in a high line. Stevenage have one of the lowest possession in the league 1, he doesn’t need to be able to play, when he has the ball he just gets rid or hits long balls for strikers to chase. They sit deep and he just has to defend his box. It’s why Maguire looked great at Leicester but at United is exposed. That is not what Appleton wants at CB so Piergianni is definitely not the answer
We need a centre back that fits our style but is a more reliable defender than Hector is at the moment. Abbey and Edwards would be great fits but they are way out of our price range so I’d think it’s more likely to be a loan or an unwanted championship centre back rather than buying one from L1 or L2
Hope we go for a bit more experience when signing a CB. We have a few really good prospects in that position (Ness, Deji, Mitchell) but right now we need someone to come in and play alongside Jones as Hector has been really off so far this season. Strange isn't it that Hector was so good last season and we were all disappointed he only signed a one year deal in the summer, could be a lucky escape based on his performances so far.
One of the first players I'd have out the door mate. For all his experience he's way too shaky, I think Jones, with the right player alongside him could build quite a good centre back partnership, at least at this level.
Been very pleasantly surprised at Jones improvement and very glad to be wrong that I thought he wouldn't be much of an improvement on Innis. Put a proper no nonsense centre back alongside him who can play a bit and I think we will finally have a pair that aren't soft, something we have lacked since Bauer & Pearce.
Completely agree, Jones has been excellent. Him alongside the Lucas Ness of last year would have been a good partnership, sadly Ness seems to be struggling to play himself back into form after his bad knee injury.
The CB that has stood out for me this season was Nelson Abbey, surprisingly playing for Reading who we battered but he looked a real prospect. Would imagine he will go to a Championship team but certainly worth the question as Reading are in financial trouble.
For me it was Ronnie Edwards, who ironically is Nelson Abbeys centre back partner pairing at u20 England level. Both great talents who I expect will end up with premier league contracts or championship. Either way imagine both will be playing championship football next season. No way we could secure Abbey.
Worth saying that I was told we were looking for a left sided centre half "like" Nelson Abbey. Very much doubt he's in our reach.
And that’s the problem we face . Unable to afford the players that could improve the chances of us getting out of this division. Can only see an exchange of loan players and maybe cash in on one or more of our better players.
The CB that has stood out for me this season was Nelson Abbey, surprisingly playing for Reading who we battered but he looked a real prospect. Would imagine he will go to a Championship team but certainly worth the question as Reading are in financial trouble.
For me it was Ronnie Edwards, who ironically is Nelson Abbeys centre back partner pairing at u20 England level. Both great talents who I expect will end up with premier league contracts or championship. Either way imagine both will be playing championship football next season. No way we could secure Abbey.
Worth saying that I was told we were looking for a left sided centre half "like" Nelson Abbey. Very much doubt he's in our reach.
And that’s the problem we face . Unable to afford the players that could improve the chances of us getting out of this division. Can only see an exchange of loan players and maybe cash in on one or more of our better players.
We can definitely afford players that will improve our chances. Just that we probably can’t afford England Under 20 regulars that are likely to have Premier league or at least championship suitors, there’s a big difference between the 2.
We spent fees on the right players in the summers and I’m sure we will do again if they are the right players. I don’t think budget is much of an issue at all, we probably have one of the highest in the division.
January is usually not a month where smart teams spend money though. The key for me in January is whether having Appleton means we will be able to get better players on loan. So far Scott’s track record has been very poor so if we send Abankwah, Campbell and Tedic back will we actually bring in any better?
The CB that has stood out for me this season was Nelson Abbey, surprisingly playing for Reading who we battered but he looked a real prospect. Would imagine he will go to a Championship team but certainly worth the question as Reading are in financial trouble.
For me it was Ronnie Edwards, who ironically is Nelson Abbeys centre back partner pairing at u20 England level. Both great talents who I expect will end up with premier league contracts or championship. Either way imagine both will be playing championship football next season. No way we could secure Abbey.
Worth saying that I was told we were looking for a left sided centre half "like" Nelson Abbey. Very much doubt he's in our reach.
And that’s the problem we face . Unable to afford the players that could improve the chances of us getting out of this division. Can only see an exchange of loan players and maybe cash in on one or more of our better players.
It's the same for the majority of clubs in the division so for me that's not an excuse. We pay better wages in L1 than most and in the summer we paid out more in fees than most did too.
'My job is to write the cheques and pay the bills'
Interesting choice of words for who was allegedly meant to be a background character
Also was referred to as the owner of charlton athletic and did not correct the interviewer
Ownership stuff aside (just because this is the rumours thread!) I don’t mind the idea of having a little link up. Allows us to see some players we wouldn’t normally and with Anderson and Hector playing for us it might build a connection and some new fans too
'My job is to write the cheques and pay the bills'
Interesting choice of words for who was allegedly meant to be a background character
Also was referred to as the owner of charlton athletic and did not correct the interviewer
Ownership stuff aside (just because this is the rumours thread!) I don’t mind the idea of having a little link up. Allows us to see some players we wouldn’t normally and with Anderson and Hector playing for us it might build a connection and some new fans too
Na I am with you, I don't mind the partnership at all, could be a lot of potential in Jamaica.
'My job is to write the cheques and pay the bills'
Interesting choice of words for who was allegedly meant to be a background character
Also was referred to as the owner of charlton athletic and did not correct the interviewer
Ownership stuff aside (just because this is the rumours thread!) I don’t mind the idea of having a little link up. Allows us to see some players we wouldn’t normally and with Anderson and Hector playing for us it might build a connection and some new fans too
Na I am with you, I don't mind the partnership at all, could be a lot of potential in Jamaica.
Just not sure on him and his wording is all..
I do think he was partly being polite to the person who was clearly very excited to interview him but would like some more clarity too
Who's the head of recruitment mentioned in the video? It's not Andy Scott, as he was described as having been with us for many years, and with parents from Jamaica.
Who's the head of recruitment mentioned in the video? It's not Andy Scott, as he was described as having been with us for many years, and with parents from Jamaica.
A photo on Instagram mentions "Senior Academy Scout" Bert Dawkins
Ive heard we have been scouting a young Irish Right footed centre back called Connor O'Riordan who plays for Crewe Alexendra, seems quite a prospect
This is the sort of signing I would expect. Young so relatively affordable and with expectation of re-sale value/profit. I would imagine it is the dream sold to our investors to allow us to become sustainable.
It's not bad but difficult to pull off as every club is trying to do it and the recruitment needs to be spot on. TS tried it with the likes of DJ and Kirk for example. You do need older more experienced heads alongside too.
'My job is to write the cheques and pay the bills'
Interesting choice of words for who was allegedly meant to be a background character
Also was referred to as the owner of charlton athletic and did not correct the interviewer
Ownership stuff aside (just because this is the rumours thread!) I don’t mind the idea of having a little link up. Allows us to see some players we wouldn’t normally and with Anderson and Hector playing for us it might build a connection and some new fans too
Na I am with you, I don't mind the partnership at all, could be a lot of potential in Jamaica.
Just not sure on him and his wording is all..
Not picking you out particularly, but isn't it funny now we've been winning more games and everything's settled down, CM and co. aren't spoke about nearly as much as before.
No doubt when we fail to sign Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Zaire-Emery in January, and lose a couple of games, suddenly people will be all over them again
Ive heard we have been scouting a young Irish Right footed centre back called Connor O'Riordan who plays for Crewe Alexendra, seems quite a prospect
He might be very good, but the experience of Kirk does make me shudder at the thought of signing another Crewe player! Especially one born in Crewe who's always played there...
I think the best we can hope for in January is to retain Dobbo and CBT (contract extensions would be great but probably unrealistic), to return a few of the less successful loanees (if we contractually can) and to get a couple of better ones in who the manager really wants.
There will be a few good players whose contracts are running down who could be picked up for heavily discounted fees but, given the performance in the last couple of windows, I'm afraid that I haven't got much faith in our recruitment team to identify them.
On the basis of what we've seen this season, I think that left back, central defence and striker are the positions where the squad is anaemic - subject, of course to retaining our better players and not incurring any more serious injuries.
Short term cb punt would be Piergianni from Stevenage.Seen him a few times and although 31 looks pretty decent.
Please don't scout for us!!
Wins on average 5 more aerial duals a game than Hector and is generally more useful from set pieces in both areas. He's the second highest rated player in this league currently statistically.
He's probably one of the best centre backs in this league and has a playstyle where his age won't be a major factor for at least 3 or so more years. Would certainly start for us if he was here, as he is the captain of a side who sit 10 points clear of us and has made easy work of our strikers the last two times we have played them.
It's the complete opposite where I wish our recruitment team would actually look at players like that who could help us get out of this league a bit quicker.
2nd highest rated player and highest ranked defender in the league or Michael Hector who sits 186th in the charts. I know who I'd rather have at Charlton, especially seeing as they're both short term options.
Short term cb punt would be Piergianni from Stevenage.Seen him a few times and although 31 looks pretty decent.
Please don't scout for us!!
I keep seeing people bring up Piergianni. He’s a great centre back for Stevenage but that doesn’t mean he would be great for us (in my opinion he wouldn’t).
Piergianni is great when all he has to do is defend, head everything, blocks, clearances, backs to the wall etc. To be a CB for us we need more than that, he’d be exposed on the ball or in a high line. Stevenage have one of the lowest possession in the league 1, he doesn’t need to be able to play, when he has the ball he just gets rid or hits long balls for strikers to chase. They sit deep and he just has to defend his box. It’s why Maguire looked great at Leicester but at United is exposed. That is not what Appleton wants at CB so Piergianni is definitely not the answer
We need a centre back that fits our style but is a more reliable defender than Hector is at the moment. Abbey and Edwards would be great fits but they are way out of our price range so I’d think it’s more likely to be a loan or an unwanted championship centre back rather than buying one from L1 or L2
'My job is to write the cheques and pay the bills'
Interesting choice of words for who was allegedly meant to be a background character
Also was referred to as the owner of charlton athletic and did not correct the interviewer
Ownership stuff aside (just because this is the rumours thread!) I don’t mind the idea of having a little link up. Allows us to see some players we wouldn’t normally and with Anderson and Hector playing for us it might build a connection and some new fans too
Na I am with you, I don't mind the partnership at all, could be a lot of potential in Jamaica.
Just not sure on him and his wording is all..
Not picking you out particularly, but isn't it funny now we've been winning more games and everything's settled down, CM and co. aren't spoke about nearly as much as before.
No doubt when we fail to sign Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Zaire-Emery in January, and lose a couple of games, suddenly people will be all over them again
That is the nature of football I suppose, had Appleton been getting bad results and then people saw that clip, there would be suggestions of boycott I imagine. Happens at every club. As long as the team wins, nothing else matters.
I am still very much on the fence with these lot, think Appleton seems like a solid appointment so far, but I am also waiting till the 30 game mark to make a bit more of a decision.
I want to see what they do in January, business can be done there and you could even argue it's the prime time to do it. You can pick up the players who are in form, as the market is more expensive you have less competitors for players and you can take the momentum from other teams around you if you're ambitious enough to go for their players.
Obviously the summer window is best value but January can be extremely effective and I find it frustrating that every season we essentially dismiss that window. Hopefully these owners are a bit more ambitious
Short term cb punt would be Piergianni from Stevenage.Seen him a few times and although 31 looks pretty decent.
Please don't scout for us!!
Wins on average 5 more aerial duals a game than Hector and is generally more useful from set pieces in both areas. He's the second highest rated player in this league currently statistically.
He's probably one of the best centre backs in this league and has a playstyle where his age won't be a major factor for at least 3 or so more years. Would certainly start for us if he was here, as he is the captain of a side who sit 10 points clear of us and has made easy work of our strikers the last two times we have played them.
It's the complete opposite where I wish our recruitment team would actually look at players like that who could help us get out of this league a bit quicker.
2nd highest rated player and highest ranked defender in the league or Michael Hector who sits 186th in the charts. I know who I'd rather have at Charlton, especially seeing as they're both short term options.
Short term cb punt would be Piergianni from Stevenage.Seen him a few times and although 31 looks pretty decent.
If we signing players like him, it is a backwards step trust me.. Yes he is having a good season, but he isn't that great!!
I don't think long term he is the answer but I want us out of this league and he's one of the best pure defenders in this league, where it's the defensive side of our game letting us down, I'd say it's more important having a centre back who can consistently stop attacking opportunities over a flashy player.
We aren't going to find a ball playing centre back who wins headers and has physical prowess, so you have to compensate. I'd rather a centre back who we know is going to defend our net every game than a player with just potential.
It is similar to a goalkeeper to me, worry less about their distribution and more if they can keep the ball out of the back and command their area. The more dynamic players are a luxury you can afford in the championship and the premier league. This is a sh*thouse league where mostly, grit and cohesion gets you promoted, not a team full of potential.
Ive heard we have been scouting a young Irish Right footed centre back called Connor O'Riordan who plays for Crewe Alexendra, seems quite a prospect
He might be very good, but the experience of Kirk does make me shudder at the thought of signing another Crewe player! Especially one born in Crewe who's always played there...
If he turns out half as good as Kirk or Luke Varney then we've got ourselves a player!
Short term cb punt would be Piergianni from Stevenage.Seen him a few times and although 31 looks pretty decent.
Please don't scout for us!!
Wins on average 5 more aerial duals a game than Hector and is generally more useful from set pieces in both areas. He's the second highest rated player in this league currently statistically.
He's probably one of the best centre backs in this league and has a playstyle where his age won't be a major factor for at least 3 or so more years. Would certainly start for us if he was here, as he is the captain of a side who sit 10 points clear of us and has made easy work of our strikers the last two times we have played them.
It's the complete opposite where I wish our recruitment team would actually look at players like that who could help us get out of this league a bit quicker.
2nd highest rated player and highest ranked defender in the league or Michael Hector who sits 186th in the charts. I know who I'd rather have at Charlton, especially seeing as they're both short term options.
Short term cb punt would be Piergianni from Stevenage.Seen him a few times and although 31 looks pretty decent.
If we signing players like him, it is a backwards step trust me.. Yes he is having a good season, but he isn't that great!!
I don't think long term he is the answer but I want us out of this league and he's one of the best pure defenders in this league, where it's the defensive side of our game letting us down, I'd say it's more important having a centre back who can consistently stop attacking opportunities over a flashy player.
We aren't going to find a ball playing centre back who wins headers and has physical prowess, so you have to compensate. I'd rather a centre back who we know is going to defend our net every game than a player with just potential.
It is similar to a goalkeeper to me, worry less about their distribution and more if they can keep the ball out of the back and command their area. The more dynamic players are a luxury you can afford in the championship and the premier league. This is a sh*thouse league where mostly, grit and cohesion gets you promoted, not a team full of potential.
It doesn’t have to be one extreme or the other. It could be a mistake to bring in an experienced CB from a club like Stevenage who’s used to their style of play and could be exposed more if he’s expected to play higher up the pitch, spending more time on the ball and playing shorter passes.
I don’t know anything about him so that might not be the case, but there’s a lot more to finding the right player than signing a stand out CB in a team in the top 6. They’ve got to be right for our squad, expectations and style.
Agree. We spoke a lot about why we signed Innis & Lavelle when we wanted to play out from the back and they both looked clumsy and awkward. Jones receives and distributes the ball so effortlessly that there's not even a flicker of anxiety when the ball goes across the back line these days (minus a Hector hiccup). We don't want to put another donkey back there.
Someone like Piergianni just feels like the type of signing to avoid. Spent most of his career in non League and League 2 and probably fits a Steve Evans side down to the ground.
Comments
Been very pleasantly surprised at Jones improvement and very glad to be wrong that I thought he wouldn't be much of an improvement on Innis. Put a proper no nonsense centre back alongside him who can play a bit and I think we will finally have a pair that aren't soft, something we have lacked since Bauer & Pearce.
Piergianni is great when all he has to do is defend, head everything, blocks, clearances, backs to the wall etc. To be a CB for us we need more than that, he’d be exposed on the ball or in a high line. Stevenage have one of the lowest possession in the league 1, he doesn’t need to be able to play, when he has the ball he just gets rid or hits long balls for strikers to chase. They sit deep and he just has to defend his box. It’s why Maguire looked great at Leicester but at United is exposed. That is not what Appleton wants at CB so Piergianni is definitely not the answer
Can only see an exchange of loan players and maybe cash in on one or more of our better players.
Some interesting dialogue there..
'My job is to write the cheques and pay the bills'
Interesting choice of words for who was allegedly meant to be a background character
Also was referred to as the owner of charlton athletic and did not correct the interviewer
Just not sure on him and his wording is all..
This is the sort of signing I would expect. Young so relatively affordable and with expectation of re-sale value/profit. I would imagine it is the dream sold to our investors to allow us to become sustainable.
It's not bad but difficult to pull off as every club is trying to do it and the recruitment needs to be spot on. TS tried it with the likes of DJ and Kirk for example. You do need older more experienced heads alongside too.
No doubt when we fail to sign Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Zaire-Emery in January, and lose a couple of games, suddenly people will be all over them again
There will be a few good players whose contracts are running down who could be picked up for heavily discounted fees but, given the performance in the last couple of windows, I'm afraid that I haven't got much faith in our recruitment team to identify them.
On the basis of what we've seen this season, I think that left back, central defence and striker are the positions where the squad is anaemic - subject, of course to retaining our better players and not incurring any more serious injuries.
I am still very much on the fence with these lot, think Appleton seems like a solid appointment so far, but I am also waiting till the 30 game mark to make a bit more of a decision.
I want to see what they do in January, business can be done there and you could even argue it's the prime time to do it. You can pick up the players who are in form, as the market is more expensive you have less competitors for players and you can take the momentum from other teams around you if you're ambitious enough to go for their players.
Obviously the summer window is best value but January can be extremely effective and I find it frustrating that every season we essentially dismiss that window. Hopefully these owners are a bit more ambitious
We aren't going to find a ball playing centre back who wins headers and has physical prowess, so you have to compensate. I'd rather a centre back who we know is going to defend our net every game than a player with just potential.
It is similar to a goalkeeper to me, worry less about their distribution and more if they can keep the ball out of the back and command their area. The more dynamic players are a luxury you can afford in the championship and the premier league. This is a sh*thouse league where mostly, grit and cohesion gets you promoted, not a team full of potential.
I don’t know anything about him so that might not be the case, but there’s a lot more to finding the right player than signing a stand out CB in a team in the top 6. They’ve got to be right for our squad, expectations and style.