Ghost of Clough

Washington is offside roughly 1.4 per 90, Collins 1.1

A problem caused by being limited to offering players a maximum of 2 year deals last season, and only 1 year deals the season before. I'm hopeful that most youngsters have 1 year extension options on their deals though.

You also forgot about John-Jules' loan expiring and cashing in on Sibley

I believe it would be lots of little niggly fouls, which is what I would think is typical for a side which wants to press. Offsides aren't counted towards the foul count, where we rank 2nd. Offsides committed by: 1. Collins - 10 2. Washington - 8 3. Mendez-Laing - 6 =4. Bird, Barkhuizen - 3 6. Sibley - 2 =7. Elder, Hourihane, Forsyth, Nelson, Wilson - 1

Ours was still lower - £22.191m vs £30.872m

Set pieces Set piece goals: 5 (=7th) Set piece xG: 5.41 (4th) Set piece shots: 61 (5th) Key passes from set pieces: 25 (4th) Aggression Fouls: 166 (17th worst) Cards: 31 (7th best)

Not according to club accounts. Our wage bill for 02/03 (13 months) was £18.986m, Aston Villa's was £32.310m (12 months)

Played on trial, then we went into admin a few days later. I'd be surprised if we decided not to keep an eye on him, and even more surprised if he wasn't on our current watch list. I would be surprised if he goes for anything close to £1m+ though

Did you rate him based on his warmup? 😉

Williams went to Chelsea in the January we were in administration, but he was a regular part of the matchday squad at that point. The players who went to Man Utd were Scanlon, Sharpe and Kaba, but they all moved on months before we entered admin.

Collins to be rewarded for his hattrick. Elder to drop to the bench after completing the full 90, but to come on in the 2nd half. Wildsmith Nyambe Nelson Cashin Forsyth Bird Hourihane Wilson Sibley Mendez=Laing Collins Subs: Bradley, Ward, Elder, Smith, Fornah, Barkhuizen, Waghington

Both left before admin. Delap was summer 2019 (2 years before admin), whilst Kaide Gordon was just after the Jan transfer window closed in 2021 (still several months before admin). To be fair, Scanlon, Sharpe and Kaba weren't lost during admin either - they left around the same time as Gordon.

Playing Elder, Wilson, Sibley and Collins ensured we met the qualifying criteria. The rest of the team could have been made up from a bunch of toddlers and we would have been fine.

I've always had a view that the administration card was played too easily. Weston was an U21 singing, so I won't include him in the academy discussion. Based on year of being a 1st year scholar: 2021 Played last night: Fapetu (CM) and DRobinson (CM, but played CB last night) Lost during admin: Ryan (CB) to Brighton) and Eze (AM/W) 2022 Played last night: Cox (CB), DBrown (CF), Wheeldon (CF) Lost during admin: Kellyman (AM/W), Sharpe (RW), Scanlon (AM) 2023 Played last night: Osayande (CB), Allen (CM) Lost during admin: Kaba (CF) Out of all of those who have left, only Kellyman would be closer to the first team than DRobinson. In defence, Ryan would have been about on par with Cox (despite being a year older) and with no change to Osayande's game time in the U18s. On the wings, there isn't much between Richards, Davidson, and Sharpe. In midfield, there isn't much between Fapetu is further ahead in his development than Eze, Scanlon, and Allen, with him being the only one playing regularly at U21 level. I would also pick Allen as the one with the most potential. Upfront, DBrown is the pick of the bunch, with neither Wheeldon nor Kaba playing U21 football on a regular basis. We also lost Williams (2020 intake), who was on the fringes of the first team , as well as Buchanan (2017), Ebosele (2018), and Ebiowei (2021) who all left when their contracts expired. However, none would have been part of the U18/U21 squad at this point in time. The goal aside, Collins was poor in that first half too as the balance wasn't there. It was no surprise Collins looked better in the 2nd half when paired with someone who naturally plays a bit deeper. It's a sham Brown hasn't had the opportunity in the first team to play with someone other than Collins.

Marriott is underperforming vs his non-pen xG (0.45 per 90 vs 0.52), whilst Collins is marginally overperforming (0.33 per 90 vs 0.30)

Elder played very well on the left and was my pick for best player in the first half. Moved to CB for the final 20 mins when Bradley came off.

We didn't even name any U18/U21 full backs or wingers in the squad tonight, presumablydue to a lack of depth available for thr upcomign FA Youth Cup fixture. Robinson (CM), Osayande (CB) and Cox (CB) all playing at full back. Our first team players occupied the other wide positions during the game. Games like tonight are extremely valuable to the youngsters and management, as it's only in these situations when you can see how close a player is to being ready for mens football. For example, I would say Cox, DRobinson, Fapetu and Weston all showed a level of composure to show they're ready. Whilst DBrown reminds me of Whittaker when he was introduced in to the first team 1 year too soon.

Weston is also more of a 10 with Brown being a 9. The change at HT gave the side better balance. For some reason, Brown has to play with Collins, rather than with someone who will play a bit deeper and get involved with play more.

This season, in league games only: Marriott: 8.2 shots per goal - 5 goals from 41 shots Collins: 6 shots per goal (9.3 in open play) - 5 goals from 30 shots (2 goals from 2 penalties) Waghorn: 4.3 shots per goal - 6 goals from 26 shots Washington: 2.7 shots per goal - 3 goals from 8 shots

I'm expecting Sibley and Fapetu on the wings

Needs to take 10 shots per goal and is an injury risk. No thanks.

It'll be a starting 11 made up of players who haven't been in the side much recently (except for either Nelson or Bradley at CB alongside Cashin). That means the likes of Forsyth, Nyambe, and Mendez-Laing will be rested. Elder and Waghorn only returned to training on Monday, so I can't see them being risked from the start, and will likely come on for the last 20 mins. That leaves only Ward, Wilson, Sibley and Barkhuizen and viable fullback and winger options. An U21 player could be used on the wing to move Sibley into the middle, but that would mean one of Collins and DBrown won't start - one of which needs to top up his match fitness, the other needs to be given first team game time.

Vickers Ward Nelson Cashin Wilson Barkhuizen DRobinson Fornah Sibley Collins DBrown Subs: Wildsmith, Bradley, Elder, Hourihane, Bird, Washington, Waghorn

@S8TY

Warne thought Elder would be a good player at LWB, with Wilson providing cover. He also thought Waghorn, Washington, Collins and John-Jules would be enough at CF. The CF position puzzled me, as he wants to play a high pressing game, but also wanted Sharp or Rhodes.