Has DC lost faith in the recruitment process?

[Wignall12]

4 hours ago, Mucker1884 said:

Is that the same as spotted dick?  

Only if its served with custard

[jono]

6 hours ago, May Contain Nuts said:

If we're shopping in the bargain basement then most of our competitors must be shopping at the landfill.

All true, and yes it does seem as if we haven’t “attracted” that many movers and shakers. There are 4 questions  I’d like an answer to.

1) how much money have other league 1 clubs actually spent up front - I bet not very much ! And how does that compare to our general activity and “budget” ? 

2) what is our clubs salary ceiling and how does it compare with our peers 

3) Assuming (2) is competitive, bar the shouting , I would think players would be hammering our door down but they don’t seem to be .. so why is that ? Warne’s style ? Their own inflated egos ? Legacy salaries from more prosperous times that agents think they can get ? (I reckon it’s this )

4) what is the substance of the EFL business plan, how does it effect our ability to deal and how long will it be in force ? 

[Ghost of Clough]

55 minutes ago, On the Ram Page said:

Can you provide any evidence at all for your comments regarding the research undertaken or his abilities? I doubt it and if not, it will be another of your posts which will go in the trash can.

Statistically, Fornah was similar to Smith. Fornah also played as the '8' when at Reading, similar to Smith's role at most clubs he's been at.

Warne commented that he expected Fornah to be more like what we've seen from Adams.

Adams and Smith are very different players, so signing a player with similar attributes to Smith and expecting someone like Adams could be considered "poorly researched".

[On the Ram Page]

27 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Statistically, Fornah was similar to Smith. Fornah also played as the '8' when at Reading, similar to Smith's role at most clubs he's been at.

Warne commented that he expected Fornah to be more like what we've seen from Adams.

Adams and Smith are very different players, so signing a player with similar attributes to Smith and expecting someone like Adams could be considered "poorly researched".

“Statistically Fornah was similar to Smith” - how? Where has the Smith comparison come from? I recollect when we signed Fornah he stated that he liked tackling and then driving forward with the ball. He obviously isn’t quite ready yet for the role we are asking him to play BUT given time….. There are far too many people write players off too early before they are given chance to settle in and learn what is required.

[Returning ram]

35 minutes ago, On the Ram Page said:

“Statistically Fornah was similar to Smith” - how? Where has the Smith comparison come from? I recollect when we signed Fornah he stated that he liked tackling and then driving forward with the ball. He obviously isn’t quite ready yet for the role we are asking him to play BUT given time….. There are far too many people write players off too early before they are given chance to settle in and learn what is required.

But he has been here all of 5 months now and stats.com say he is rubbish 🤣 

Personally not seen enough of him to make a judgement (either in a rams shirt or any other), plenty of players take time to settle, however based on this thread it seems 6 months is all you need now.

[Ghost of Clough]

3 hours ago, On the Ram Page said:

“Statistically Fornah was similar to Smith” - how? Where has the Smith comparison come from? I recollect when we signed Fornah he stated that he liked tackling and then driving forward with the ball. He obviously isn’t quite ready yet for the role we are asking him to play BUT given time….. There are far too many people write players off too early before they are given chance to settle in and learn what is required.

The comparison was one I drew when we first signed Fornah - both being defensive mids who don't actually play as defensive mids and both have non-existant end product. Fornah would play on the right of a midfield 2 with less defensive responsibility or the right of a 3, similar to how we would use Smith.
Fornah had 2 goals and 5 assists in his 94 games in English football prior to joining us. Smith had 3 goals and 10 assists in the 5 seasons before joining us (157 games).

Fornah has statistically improved across the board on last season by about 10% - as he should as a player dropping down a division and yet to reach his peak.

Last season, Fornah had made just 0.6 defensive actions and aerial wins per 90 more than Smith. Not much of an overall improvement, hence the "statisically similar" statement.

However, Adams (at Forest Green) made 2.5 times as many actions than Fornah. I understand there is a step up between L2 and L2, as well as a risk regarding a player missing a full season and only sporadic appearances so far this season, his defensive stats in his 1 game for us (small sample size) match his Forest Green outputs.