I feel like people are sleeping on our midfield a little bit. I think that they will obviously improve once they get a few games under their belt and that 3 from Dobson, Clare, Morgan and Gilbey have enough mobility, pace and technique to be a good unit. They at least matched Wednesday's midfield who were all playing in the Champ last year and included Barry '27k' Bannan. I think our current midfielders have enough to come out on top against most midfields in the league. I would add in a more 'creative' CM/AM for sure, but I don't think they need to be a standout first-name-on-the-teamsheet kind of signing (though obviously I wouldn't turn it down.)
They're fine defensively but I don't think they scare any opponents going forward.
If you play a 4-3-3 though I'm not sure you need any of the 3 to scare anyone offensively. Yes you need forward passing range and runs into the box but the key attacking players are the two wingers. I think we are missing a trick in the CAM position currently occupied by Morgan but the last thing we want there is a real out and out playmaker because then you've got 4 attacking players and you're asking Kirk or DJ to increase their defensive workload which is not what we want from them.
So when we're attacking you've got the ball down the wing. Two players in the box marked by 3/4/5 people. Then the midfielders are going to be 25 yards from goal are they?
You need someone to be able to run in late unmarked, or hover around the edge of the box for any second balls.
If we're going to play 3 attacking players and 8 defensive ones, we're not going to create any chances.
Morgan and Clare are good at recycling the ball and finding the wingers, but beyond that they haven't offered anything going forward.
To my mind, Morgan is going to be the second furthest forward midfielder when the ball is in the box. He'll be the one trying to slip in wingers/fullbacks, or clipping in a shallow cross, or at most arriving late as he did on Sat. I think Clare/Gilbey will be the one that is asked to break the lines and commit, to support Stockley in the box.
I agree, despite the shirt number he’s not playing in the hole as a traditional number 10.
With Clare (or Gilbey) being more physical it makes sense for him to be getting in the box, with Morgan deeper as the one with a better range of passing.
Hopefully we’ll bring in a CM to add more quality and competition in that part of the pitch.
Morgan - 2 chances, 2 misses in 90mins in a new role.
Total dog shit then of course.
Anyone saying he can't finish is way of the mark, he can and will.
Based on what? I don't dislike Morgan (although I think he's overrated by many on here) but everything screams tidy midfielder who is good on the ball with little else. I have seen very little evidence he can finish although his goal against Ipswich was decent.
Morgan just needs to settle a bit in front of goal. I reckon once he gets one goal more will come. The two he missed, the first he had more time than he realised and could’ve taken a touch but without taking the touch it was a difficult finish on his weaker foot. The second one he gets the touch right but then tried to take the leather off the ball and ping it right in the top corner under pressure from a closing defender when there was room for more margin for error and he could’ve focussed more on just hitting the target. The thing is he has talent and I reckon in training he probably does ping that in top corner. Neither were the glaring sitter they’ve been made out to be - Stockley missed a much better chance by much more with that free header he put wise, but Albie seems to be under an unfair level of scrutiny at the moment.
Morgan is still improving. I know a lot don’t see it, but he’s clearly much fitter these days and able to get around the pitch much more. He’s much more involved in games as a result. We all know he can and does spot a pass and deliver a pass. He’s been given a lot of responsibility in this team and while he hasn’t ignited in the 2 game so far he’s hardly been terrible either.
Sometimes as fans we expect far too much of attacking players. Especially young talented ones. Millar got it a bit last year, being told he lacked end product when the numbers/facts actually say differently. We forget that assist and goals are the two hardest things to do, in football, and often involve taking a risk or trying a skill or difficult pass that probably won’t come off most of the time but might win the match when they do. How many attacking midfielders have we had that really consistently delivered goals and assists game after game? Hardly any in my memory. Even fewer outside the top flight.
Albie is filling something of a new role too. It looked his natural position 3 seasons ago but since then Bowyer had been trying to convert him into a box to box midfielder. He needs a run of games there and a bit of patience and support. He has the skills required, and I see a player who works hard and is trying to take control of games - he never hides. That alone should earn him more credit and patience Thani think some are willing to give. All that is missing now is a bit more confidence and better decision making. They will come with experience and once he has those the consistency will get better too.
Premature evaluation is taking place by everyone on here including me. What we can say is over the last 3 seasons Morgan has not improved on his attempts on goal. His work rate is off the scale now since his fitness improved and one goal from him could launch his career at Cafc this season. Gilbey, Washington Clare, Kirk, DJ etc good movement will give him better options without him going for the Hollywood pass or trying to score from the halfway line as if he is John Joe Shelvey who nearly managed it in his young career at Cafc. Only the 3k+ would have noticed from AFC Dons game.
Early doors in our season and Nigel Adkins may win me over as long as we have players around or in the box with crosses whether in the air or on the desk. If you go with one central striker then its mandatory that midfield or the other wide forward get in and around the box when crosses from flank comes in.
One shot on target in 190 minutes is poor in 2 home matches but the season is young and we must be working on upping this number on the training ground.
As an attacking threat Kirk is a very welcome and necessary addition. We need more. We don’t get enough shots away and at present we only have one player likely to hit fifteen plus goals. We need more. Our midfield might be younger and have more energy than in recent times but it’s not full of goals. Kirk and DJ will chip in and create plenty of chances but Stockley can’t be on the end of all of them. We need another attack minded playmaker who can dictate play and drive into the box with enough about them to get 10 plus goals. We are nowhere near having that player yet.
Jephcott and Charles would be excellent signings, alas Jephcott signed a new deal in June and Charles I can't believe won't have Champ interest this late in the window. Blackburn probably with the Armstrong money
I think Jephcott is more ‘gettable’ despite the new deal as he hadn’t scored in 21 competitive games before Tuesday (Camara scored too) and I think Plymouth and the player were just protecting themselves a bit with the new deal. Think Charles will end up in the champ but also a good player who would obviously strengthen us.
I think if Jephcott is available at a similar fee to Kirk and Stockley then we'd be daft not to give it a look.
Charles and Colby Bishop would both be good options , surprised neither have left Accy.
Andy Holt has been very quiet on that front. But he has spent a fortune on upgrading the stadium and is obviously struggling with the current financial constraints and Covid.
If he does have to sell by the end of the window and interest is limited outside League 1, then if we make an approach I hope we don't screw him over. He seems like a good guy.
Yeah I wouldn't want to get a reputation as a club that throws around derisory lowball bids for players . I think all clubs are feeling the pinch of the last 18 months or so , but I wouldn't want to take advantage of clubs.
Can't be many clubs that have been taken advantage of more than us. We lost Gomez, Konsa, Pope, Doughty, Gudmundsson and Grant for less than 15m for the lot. Throw in Aribo, Lockyer and Bauer going on frees and we've probably lost over 100m worth of players for a small fraction of their value.
Then lob in the kids who rejected contracts as we were so low in the pyramid/not Cat A, like Kasey Palmer, Sarmiento, Zemura and others I have never heard of I am sure.
Just watching the premier league debate show on YouTube and Gary Neville talks about how Salford are really struggling to bring players in due to the market being so slow, I assume it’s the same with us and all clubs
Just watching the premier league debate show on YouTube and Gary Neville talks about how Salford are really struggling to bring players in due to the market being so slow, I assume it’s the same with us and all clubs
Genuinely wonder what the likes of Ipswich and Wigan have been paying to players and clubs.
If the market goes crazy in the last week they could be a bit worried.
Just watching the premier league debate show on YouTube and Gary Neville talks about how Salford are really struggling to bring players in due to the market being so slow, I assume it’s the same with us and all clubs
didn't realise Salford had made it to the PL already
17 year old Bikash Yumnam plays For Punjab FC in India. When I first saw the team he plays for I thought it was Punjab United from Gravesend who are in Step 5 of the pyramid in the Southern Counties premier EFL. 90% of teams in premier are based in Kent.
Just watching the premier league debate show on YouTube and Gary Neville talks about how Salford are really struggling to bring players in due to the market being so slow, I assume it’s the same with us and all clubs
According to the BBC League One clubs have been busy with loans and perms for weeks now. The link below shows the last 5 x days however its been the same story every week for at least a month now.
I'd be very impressed if we got Jephcott simply because i can't believe he'd have no Championship interest.
Why, I thought there was Championship interest in Kirk and we got him.
A good piece by a Crewe analyst pointed out that while Kirk is proving to be consistent, he has a lower ceilling than Lowery/Dale so those are the two more likely to get Championship interest now. Kirk on the other hand could probably hold his own (or so they said) but isn't a standout star like the other two.
You'd have thought Crewe should have pissed this league last year the way their players are touted
True but realistically their success was down to 4-5 players, Dale, Lowery, Pickering, Kirk and Mandron. Doesn't mean the rest of the team held their weight and only finished 8 points below us.
If those players weren't young talents they probably wouldn't be getting scouted - it's more their age and potential getting them this interest.
Perry Ng and Ryan Wintle also made big money moves to Cardiff last season.
They had a golden generation of youth players all coming through at the same time.
Wintle only moved to Cardiff on a free transfer this summer
Was Ng (Cardiff) and Pickering (Blackburn) that moved in January - Wouldn't call it a golden generation either, Crewe are consistent bringing through youngsters that have moved on, e.g. Nick Powell to Man Utd, Luke Varney and Luke Murphy
David Platt and the unlucky Dean Ashton to name a couple more talents from the Crewe stable who were top players.
I forgot about Ashton. If he hadnt have suffered that ankle injury when he did he would have gone on to play for one of the big 4 and scored a load for England IMO.
“What I like about our recruitment policy is that we are not loading up the squad with loan players that don’t improve us. We only have Akin on loan and we have the agreement in place to sign him next year. I’m all for loan players but only if they fundamentally improve the team. Players like Levitt, Smith, Smyth, Davis and others just blocked the development of the academy players and added no value whatsoever. I much prefer this approach even if it means we end up with a smaller squad. “.
Somebody else posted this on Facebook , I thought it was a good opinion,
Comments
Think next in will be a defender on loan from the Prem.
I'm not judging him from one game.
Morgan is still improving. I know a lot don’t see it, but he’s clearly much fitter these days and able to get around the pitch much more. He’s much more involved in games as a result. We all know he can and does spot a pass and deliver a pass. He’s been given a lot of responsibility in this team and while he hasn’t ignited in the 2 game so far he’s hardly been terrible either.
Albie is filling something of a new role too. It looked his natural position 3 seasons ago but since then Bowyer had been trying to convert him into a box to box midfielder. He needs a run of games there and a bit of patience and support. He has the skills required, and I see a player who works hard and is trying to take control of games - he never hides. That alone should earn him more credit and patience Thani think some are willing to give. All that is missing now is a bit more confidence and better decision making. They will come with experience and once he has those the consistency will get better too.
What we can say is over the last 3 seasons Morgan has not improved on his attempts on goal. His work rate is off the scale now since his fitness improved and one goal from him could launch his career at Cafc this season. Gilbey, Washington Clare, Kirk, DJ etc good movement will give him better options without him going for the Hollywood pass or trying to score from the halfway line as if he is John Joe Shelvey who nearly managed it in his young career at Cafc. Only the 3k+ would have noticed from AFC Dons game.
Early doors in our season and Nigel Adkins may win me over as long as we have players around or in the box with crosses whether in the air or on the desk. If you go with one central striker then its mandatory that midfield or the other wide forward get in and around the box when crosses from flank comes in.
One shot on target in 190 minutes is poor in 2 home matches but the season is young and we must be working on upping this number on the training ground.
Sorry, are you saying we're interested?
however he has been named in the top 60 youngsters to watch etc
not THE Bikash Yumnam!?
When I first saw the team he plays for I thought it was Punjab United from Gravesend who are in Step 5 of the pyramid in the Southern Counties premier EFL. 90% of teams in premier are based in Kent.
League One | BBC Sport
he now works in a hospital as a physio