Ghost of Clough

The table looks beautiful at the moment. 6 points clear of Bolton and 10 points clear of Peterborough/Barnsley

The table looks beautiful at the moment. 6 points clear of Bolton and 10 points clear of Peterborough/Barnsley

A brilliant half of football. Can't ask for much more than that

The table looks beautiful at the moment. 6 points clear of Bolton and 10 points clear of Peterborough/Barnsley

The table looks beautiful at the moment. 6 points clear of Bolton and 10 points clear of Peterborough/Barnsley

The table looks beautiful at the moment. 6 points clear of Bolton and 10 points clear of Peterborough/Barnsley

It looks like they didn't even name a CF on their bench at the weekend. Their 3rd top CF scorer this season joined York in January. 
Up until Brown got into the side, they had almost entirely played with 1 upfront. With Brown in there, they've started playing with 2 upfront, so probably see the need for an extra forward as backup.

Most of it is Harry Arter.

Warne set the team up wrong, but I don't think it was engineered. I just think Warne is a poor tactician.
In the first half, we had two forwards who want to occupy the same same space in the box. In the second half we took one off and put Weston on who is a #10. Weston was able to play his natural game, and there was an extra player helping to create chances - hence Collins scoring two more goals for his hattrick.
I firmly believe Brown would have performed better if playing with Weston instead of Collins. Either way, he needed game time in men's football and wasn't going to get the chances he needed in the first team.
I remember Ebiowei starting the 21/22 season on fire, averaging a goal a game for the U18s. His youth performances earned his a few sub appearances in the first team, but cost us a valuable point away at Cardiff (?). If Warne was manager, he would have been dropped back intot he U21s, if given a go in the first place. However, Rooney opted to give him a start the following game. He started the restvof the games that season, and was viewed as one of our best players by the end of the season, all because he was given time in the first team.

Warne set the team up wrong, but I don't think it was engineered. I just think Warne is a poor tactician.
In the first half, we had two forwards who want to occupy the same same space in the box. In the second half we took one off and put Weston on who is a #10. Weston was able to play his natural game, and there was an extra player helping to create chances - hence Collins scoring two more goals for his hattrick.
I firmly believe Brown would have performed better if playing with Weston instead of Collins. Either way, he needed game time in men's football and wasn't going to get the chances he needed in the first team.
I remember Ebiowei starting the 21/22 season on fire, averaging a goal a game for the U18s. His youth performances earned his a few sub appearances in the first team, but cost us a valuable point away at Cardiff (?). If Warne was manager, he would have been dropped back intot he U21s, if given a go in the first place. However, Rooney opted to give him a start the following game. He started the restvof the games that season, and was viewed as one of our best players by the end of the season, all because he was given time in the first team.

He wasn't 'mentally' ready for first team football prior to this loan to be fair. It was obvious he had the physicality to cope, and his goal record at youth level showed he had that killer instinct. However, when given his brief chances in the first team, he looked lost.
The only way for him to overcome it was from game time, and I think it was reasonable to give him starts in Cup competitions. Unfortunately, he never got those chances. 
It still took him a few sub apps to get over that mental block when at Gateshead. His first goal was just what he needed to get going. Is it 8 goals and 2 or 3 assists in his last 7 games?

I always said he just needed a run of games to adjust to men's football by gaining that sense of "belonging" in men's football. The minimum he should be playing next season is L1, and depending on his pre-season, could even be with our first team in the Championship. Is it 9 goals and 2 assists in 14 games now (half of the games were 10 mins off the bench)? He would be exactly the type of signing we should be looking at signing if we fail to go up, so has to be in with a serious shout next season.

His first international goal
 

He wasn't 'mentally' ready for first team football prior to this loan to be fair. It was obvious he had the physicality to cope, and his goal record at youth level showed he had that killer instinct. However, when given his brief chances in the first team, he looked lost.
The only way for him to overcome it was from game time, and I think it was reasonable to give him starts in Cup competitions. Unfortunately, he never got those chances. 
It still took him a few sub apps to get over that mental block when at Gateshead. His first goal was just what he needed to get going. Is it 8 goals and 2 or 3 assists in his last 7 games?

He wasn't 'mentally' ready for first team football prior to this loan to be fair. It was obvious he had the physicality to cope, and his goal record at youth level showed he had that killer instinct. However, when given his brief chances in the first team, he looked lost.
The only way for him to overcome it was from game time, and I think it was reasonable to give him starts in Cup competitions. Unfortunately, he never got those chances. 
It still took him a few sub apps to get over that mental block when at Gateshead. His first goal was just what he needed to get going. Is it 8 goals and 2 or 3 assists in his last 7 games?

Viceroy cheap?! money bags over here

I always said he just needed a run of games to adjust to men's football by gaining that sense of "belonging" in men's football. The minimum he should be playing next season is L1, and depending on his pre-season, could even be with our first team in the Championship. Is it 9 goals and 2 assists in 14 games now (half of the games were 10 mins off the bench)? He would be exactly the type of signing we should be looking at signing if we fail to go up, so has to be in with a serious shout next season.

Any one know of any players north of the border, untapped resource I’ve heard…

Mainoo is actually a really good piece to balance the midfield of Rice and Bellingham. He offers the qualities of Southgate stalwarts Henderson and Phillips, but at this stage, he's better and can do more going forward.
Depth behind Kane is a little bit of an issue, as is defence. Watching Lewis Dunk whilst Fikayo Tomori is sat at home is kinda laughable.

Bob Hoskins, the deceased actor? Or Sam Hoskins, the 31 year old attacker who has scored more than 3 goals in a League 1 season only twice in his career?

I'm going to assume promotion for this and we'll go with a 3412/3421...
Loans for: Evans, Rooney, Fornah, Radcliffe, Weston
Extensions for: Forsyth (backup and in-game coaching for U21s), Sibley, Thompson and DRobinson
Meaning we retain the following squad:
GK: Vickers
RCB: Nelson, Nyambe
CB: Bradley, Forsyth
LCB: Cashin
RWB: Ward, Wilson
LWB: Sibley, Elder
DM: -
CM: LThompson, DRobinson
RW: -
LW: Mendez-Laing, Blackett-Taylor
CF: Washington, DBrown
In my squad, that would leave gaps at GK(x2), CB, LWB, DM(x2), CM, RW(x2), CF(x2) - 11 signings
GK, 1st choice - Chris Walton (free, Ipswich)
GK, 3rd choice - John Ruddy (free, Birmingham) May want to go somewhere he will get game time which would rule us out. He's at the age where he should be stepping back, and he wouldn't have to move too far if he were to join us.
CB, 1st choice - Sam Stubbs (free, Bradford). A risky option, but he's still only 25, dominant in the air, and a good defender. He is slow so could struggle with stepping up a couple of divisions. Saying that, I thought he played very well in his game against us in the EFL Trophy.

LWB, rotation - Sam McCallum (free, Norwich)

DM, 1st choice - Ebou Adams (£?). Makes our team click without doing anything fancy. Difficult to say what Cardiff would want for him.

DM, 2nd choice - Nohan Kenneh (£?, Hibs). He would often train with the first team at Leeds under Bielsa, so you know the type of player he is. A 21 year old version of Adams.

CM, 1st choice - Herbie Kane (free, Barnsley). Would take over from Hourihane as the main set-piece taker.

RW, rotation - Tyrhys Dolan (compensation, Blackburn). Versitile, coming through as a winger at Blackburn before moving more central this season. The type of player you need in a squad to give the flexibility between formations depending on opposition and injuries within the squad.

RW, rotation - Femi Azeez (compensation, Reading). One of the best wingers in the league, with a high goal contribution output. Will be in high demand, so an unlikely signing.

CF, 1st choice - Harry Leonard (loan, Blackburn). A good all-round forward who creates as well as scores. We were apparently close to signing him in January, so I can see us going back in for him in the summer.

CF, 2nd choice - John McAtee (loan, Luton). More of a #10, but is another hard worker and one of the more creative CFs in L1.

 
A final squad of:
GK: Walton, Vickers, Ruddy
RCB: Nelson, Nyambe
CB: Stubbs, Bradley, Forsyth
LCB: Cashin
RWB: Ward, Wilson
LWB: McCallum, Sibley, Elder
DM: Adams, Kenneh
CM: Kane, LThompson, DRobinson
RW: Dolan, Azeez
LW: Mendez-Laing, Blackett-Taylor
CF: Leonard, McAtee, Washington, DBrown

I'm going to assume promotion for this and we'll go with a 3412/3421...
Loans for: Evans, Rooney, Fornah, Radcliffe, Weston
Extensions for: Forsyth (backup and in-game coaching for U21s), Sibley, Thompson and DRobinson
Meaning we retain the following squad:
GK: Vickers
RCB: Nelson, Nyambe
CB: Bradley, Forsyth
LCB: Cashin
RWB: Ward, Wilson
LWB: Sibley, Elder
DM: -
CM: LThompson, DRobinson
RW: -
LW: Mendez-Laing, Blackett-Taylor
CF: Washington, DBrown
In my squad, that would leave gaps at GK(x2), CB, LWB, DM(x2), CM, RW(x2), CF(x2) - 11 signings
GK, 1st choice - Chris Walton (free, Ipswich)
GK, 3rd choice - John Ruddy (free, Birmingham) May want to go somewhere he will get game time which would rule us out. He's at the age where he should be stepping back, and he wouldn't have to move too far if he were to join us.
CB, 1st choice - Sam Stubbs (free, Bradford). A risky option, but he's still only 25, dominant in the air, and a good defender. He is slow so could struggle with stepping up a couple of divisions. Saying that, I thought he played very well in his game against us in the EFL Trophy.

LWB, rotation - Sam McCallum (free, Norwich)

DM, 1st choice - Ebou Adams (£?). Makes our team click without doing anything fancy. Difficult to say what Cardiff would want for him.

DM, 2nd choice - Nohan Kenneh (£?, Hibs). He would often train with the first team at Leeds under Bielsa, so you know the type of player he is. A 21 year old version of Adams.

CM, 1st choice - Herbie Kane (free, Barnsley). Would take over from Hourihane as the main set-piece taker.

RW, rotation - Tyrhys Dolan (compensation, Blackburn). Versitile, coming through as a winger at Blackburn before moving more central this season. The type of player you need in a squad to give the flexibility between formations depending on opposition and injuries within the squad.

RW, rotation - Femi Azeez (compensation, Reading). One of the best wingers in the league, with a high goal contribution output. Will be in high demand, so an unlikely signing.

CF, 1st choice - Harry Leonard (loan, Blackburn). A good all-round forward who creates as well as scores. We were apparently close to signing him in January, so I can see us going back in for him in the summer.

CF, 2nd choice - John McAtee (loan, Luton). More of a #10, but is another hard worker and one of the more creative CFs in L1.

 
A final squad of:
GK: Walton, Vickers, Ruddy
RCB: Nelson, Nyambe
CB: Stubbs, Bradley, Forsyth
LCB: Cashin
RWB: Ward, Wilson
LWB: McCallum, Sibley, Elder
DM: Adams, Kenneh
CM: Kane, LThompson, DRobinson
RW: Dolan, Azeez
LW: Mendez-Laing, Blackett-Taylor
CF: Leonard, McAtee, Washington, DBrown

Bob Hoskins, the deceased actor? Or Sam Hoskins, the 31 year old attacker who has scored more than 3 goals in a League 1 season only twice in his career?