How many of the squad would you keep?

[IslandExile]

Lots of discussion on how we have a weaker squad than last year. I agree with that though, unlike some, I'm patient enough to wait for the academy players to develop.

I do think we were spoilt by the three loanees last year; they partly masked the poor quality in other areas.

So, considering the squad as a whole and the first team in particular (versus WBA, not that against Forest), how many would you retain in the side if you could bring in other players from the teams at championship level?

Bielik, Marriott, Bogle.

Keogh? Waghorn? Lawrence?

[Andicis]

Roos, Lowe, Keogh, Bielik, Knight, Bogle, Marriott, Waghorn, Lawrence, Rooney. I think we should try to move on Forsyth and Malone due to age, and we have Lowe and Buchanan that can play at left back. 

Not convinced defense is a huge issue for us, but would like a better CB partner for Keogh so we can play Bielik at CDM. 

I really rate Knight in the middle, who seems a great prospect, the strike force have goals in them if we create chances.

Lawrence is a talented player, but typical championship winger in how he frustrates, but isn't the main issue in this team. Centre mid and wide areas are key for additions. 

[RamNut]

 

                     Roos

bogle    Keogh    Bielik    Lowe

                         ?

  ?        knight      ?           ?         

                  Marriott

 

                         ?

?         Evans.        ?     Buchanan

.                       Sibley 

MLawson.     ?         ?          ?

                          ?                         

I'd keep 50% ish 

ultimately we need a new defensive centre mid, 2 wingers, and a playmaker for the first tem

and a keeper, right back and centre half for the reserves....

plus left wing, two centre mids and a striker for the reserves

 

 

 

 

[IslandExile]

5 minutes ago, Andicis said:

Lawrence is a talented player, but typical championship winger in how he frustrates,

Almost as far back as I can remember, wingers have been the most inconsistent of players... Leighton James, Paul Emson and others I'd rather not think about (Curran, Greenwood, Teale...)

[Jourdan]

For 2020-21?

First team core (9): Roos, Bogle, Keogh, Bielik, Lowe, Holmes, Lawrence, Marriott, Waghorn

Squad players (5): Evans, Shinnie, Bennett, Jozefzoon, Rooney

Young prospects (7): Ravas, Buchanan, Knight, Sibley, Bird, Mitchell-Lawson, Whittaker

Loanees to keep (if possible) (1): Clarke

Additions required for the first team: two central midfielders, a winger

Additions required for the overall squad: a right back

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To go (11): Hamer, Wisdom, Davies, Malone, Forsyth, Dowell, Huddlestone, Thorne, Anya, Paterson, Martin.

 

[BathRam72]

15 hours ago, IslandExile said:

Almost as far back as I can remember, wingers have been the most inconsistent of players... Leighton James, Paul Emson and others I'd rather not think about (Curran, Greenwood, Teale...)

You thought about them

[Coneheadjohn]

George Thorne,Chris Martin And Kechi Anya then loans and youth.

[Ghost of Clough]

Easier to say who we won't keep: Hamer, Wisdom, Davies, Clarke, Forsyth, Huddlestone Thorne, Dowell, Paterson, Anya, Martin.

Wisdom being the only one we're likely to receive a fee for!

[Steve Buckley’s Dog]

15 hours ago, IslandExile said:

Almost as far back as I can remember, wingers have been the most inconsistent of players... Leighton James, Paul Emson and others I'd rather not think about (Curran, Greenwood, Teale...)

To be fair, Terry Curran and Roy Greenwood were very consistent. Consistently poor. I used a different word to poor initially. 

[oldtimeram]

They were consistently brown and squishy? 

[Marriot Ram99]

Keogh, Bogle ,Bielik and Marriott are the only players I would be bothered about keeping, other than that I'm neither here nor there on quite a few.  Waghorn, Roos, and Lawrence could be a key part of the team obviously, but at the same time I am not seen enough from them on a consistent basis to warrant me being too assed if they left, as savage as that sounds they could be replaced with similar players without spending more than about £4 or 5mill. Players like Shinnie, Paterson ,Dowell we can't judge yet even though Dowell has been poor he might come good. Obviously we have young players like Knight and Sibley coming through but it's too early to judge if they will be good enough to start week in week out. Rooney again how the hell can you judge him yet? To put him down as a squad player and Lawrence and Lowe who is unproven as core players seems questionable, people seem to assume he will be coming here unfit and unable to start many , when Eustace at a similar age with much less talent was a key player for us.

[NottsRam77]

18 hours ago, Jourdan said:

For 2020-21?

First team core (9): Roos, Bogle, Keogh, Bielik, Lowe, Holmes, Lawrence, Marriott, Waghorn

Squad players (5): Evans, Shinnie, Bennett, Jozefzoon, Rooney

Young prospects (7): Ravas, Buchanan, Knight, Sibley, Bird, Mitchell-Lawson, Whittaker

Loanees to keep (if possible) (1): Clarke

Additions required for the first team: two central midfielders, a winger

Additions required for the overall squad: a right back

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To go (11): Hamer, Wisdom, Davies, Malone, Forsyth, Dowell, Huddlestone, Thorne, Anya, Paterson, Martin.

 

I agree completely bar Lawrence, not my type of player, just cheap with the ball cant stand it but that’s just me 

Is it slightly concerning that albeit it only on loan two of cocu’s signings are part of the to go pile ?

it’s a question I found myself asking myself, not aimed at anyone in particular 

[BondJovi]

17 minutes ago, NottsRam77 said:

I agree completely bar Lawrence, not my type of player, just cheap with the ball cant stand it but that’s just me 

Is it slightly concerning that albeit it only on loan two of cocu’s signings are part of the to go pile ?

it’s a question I found myself asking myself, not aimed at anyone in particular 

I don't really think you can look too much into Cocu's signings. With how little time he had, I suspect a lot was take what you can. Plus I actually like that he wants to truly assess the squad and young players. 

I think a lot of these summaries show exactly why we shouldn't be having expectations of top 2, maybe even top 6.

[Tyler Durden]

As long as we could get better players in then I would get rid of the whole lot.

Don't understand the point of the thread?

[Jourdan]

1 hour ago, NottsRam77 said:

I agree completely bar Lawrence, not my type of player, just cheap with the ball cant stand it but that’s just me 

Is it slightly concerning that albeit it only on loan two of cocu’s signings are part of the to go pile ?

it’s a question I found myself asking myself, not aimed at anyone in particular 

I don’t know how much input Cocu had into the signings, but it is concerning at the half baked nature of our recruitment. For me, Hamer, Dowell and Paterson don’t really improve us or really suggest that they are going to make much of a mark here.

Of course, they could yet prove me wrong. At the same time last year, I didn’t see the value in of half of Lampard’s signings either.

As for the rest? Not bad players, just probably in need of a fresh start for both us and them.

[Ambitious]

Not many players in the squad that I would want rid of at the moment, not many at all. We can definitely improve on a few, but there's definitely players in our team that could improve on us. Anya is possibly the only one who doesn't fit. Martin, possibly, but he could still play a role IMO. I don't mean start, but I'd happily see him when we're protecting a win to get free-kicks, hold the ball up and relieve stress on the midfield. He can hold the ball up better than Marriott, Bennett or Waghorn. Forsyth, depending on ability after his injuries, would be another potential one to go. 

Huddlestone and Davies will inevitably go once their contract runs out due to their age, although both are offering competition for places at the moment. The former has played every league game so far, the latter every cup game. 

[IslandExile]

24 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

As long as we could get better players in then I would get rid of the whole lot.

Don't understand the point of the thread?

Fair enough. Perhaps I phrased it badly.

As I quoted in another thread, Clough used to say: "if I can sign a better centre half than Roy McFarland then I would."

Anyhow.... What I mean is that to get automatic promotion, I think you need enough players of a certain quality. I don't think we currently have enough of those. It took three great loanees last season to get us into the playoffs.

What players do we see in the current squad that are of sufficiently high quality that they could be part of a team that gets us promoted automatically?

[Tyler Durden]

10 minutes ago, IslandExile said:

Fair enough. Perhaps I phrased it badly.

As I quoted in another thread, Clough used to say: "if I can sign a better centre half than Roy McFarland then I would."

Anyhow.... What I mean is that to get automatic promotion, I think you need enough players of a certain quality. I don't think we currently have enough of those. It took three great loanees last season to get us into the playoffs.

What players do we see in the current squad that are of sufficiently high quality that they could be part of a team that gets us promoted automatically?

Sorry was being objectionable apologies.

Am still of the same opinion as I think you concur with that anyone is expendable as long as we get someone better in to replace them. 

[IslandExile]

2 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

Sorry was being objectionable apologies.

Am still of the same opinion as I think you concur with that anyone is expendable as long as we get someone better in to replace them. 

No need to apologise.

Everyone is expendable. Agreed.

Maybe I should have phrased it in terms of priorities.... Who can we keep while replacing the others?

For example, I think most will agree we don't need to replace Bogle urgently. I'd argue it's easy to imagine that Bielik and Marriott are good enough to play in a promotion winning side. Who else?

[Tyler Durden]

11 minutes ago, IslandExile said:

No need to apologise.

Everyone is expendable. Agreed.

Maybe I should have phrased it in terms of priorities.... Who can we keep while replacing the others?

For example, I think most will agree we don't need to replace Bogle urgently. I'd argue it's easy to imagine that Bielik and Marriott are good enough to play in a promotion winning side. Who else?

I'm slightly disappointed with this summer's recruitment, I think the addition of Rooney has moved the attention away from the fact that our summer business was mediocre at the best. Some of the late additions such as Hamer and Paterson just seem to be making up the numbers rather then replacing existing with better quality 

To answer your question I would really only keep Keogh, Bogle, Bielak and Marriott, I haven't included players like Knight in this until they consistently get a run in the first team.