Loyalty
Am I alone in thinking Gareth has gone too far in re-signing almost all of his players? It seems to me there is a gap in the capability of players in league 1 as opposed to league 2 and while these players may have perormed well in the latter they may struggle next season. As a result of these decisions he has left himself with little room for manouvre in additional signings and I believe we need at least 4 quality players togive us a chance of survival. Am I being unduly pessimistic ? I hope I am proved wrong
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Comments
You are being unduly pessimistic.
Spot on @StrongestTeam.
I was thinking the same as OP. I expected us to release Saunders, CMS, and Bean instantly, especially the latter (who is barely even League 2 level despite his likability).
We have got room to sign at least 4 quality players to supplement those already under contract without increasing the squad size. Brown, WDH, Muller, McGinley, Moore, Williams, Scarr Thompson and probably Bean have all left the club. Additionally JJ hasn't committed yet.
I would say we need 6 more players, probably 4 permanents and 2 loans. 1 keeper, 1 or 2 full backs, 2 centre backs and a midfielder.
Spot on @mooneyman.
3 strong loanees and two or three first team signings and we will be able to compete.
I’d rather we did what we’ve done, than released half the squad and signed a whole raft of league one journeymen from other clubs.
Those inadequates only truly happy when they are criticising first need to create their stick with which to berate the manager if/when we don't win for a few games. I suspect that over-loyalty will be this seasons pretext. La plus ca change.....
@DevC Bit unnecessary that - people are allowed to post an opinion without being called an "inadequate". The original post didn't seem that harsh at all to me...
I don't disagree with much of what GA has done so far, but I do agree with the Bean comment above. I think he's been a revelation at times this season and given some unforgettable moments, but tends to struggle against the better teams and I'm personally not sure he won't be a passenger in League One. That said, if he does sign on, I'll be supporting him and GA as much as the next bloke!
@DevC - At least us "inadequates" actually attend games and put money in the club's coffers.
I should get back in your ivory tower before you get locked out!
Sir Alex Ferguson said something along the lines of "You need talent to win, but you won't win anything without squad togetherness". Wycombe's current unity is an actual attribute that can make up for a certain amount of talent deficit compared to other teams. I think it is a good foundation to build upon. There are "big" teams in every division that fall short because they have the opposite - a bunch of talented prima donnas. Of course we need to augment the squad for the step up, but growing into the next step with a core group that already know the manager and each other, makes me feel more confident than starting much more from scratch.
Which is a longwinded way of saying I agree with @StrongestTeam, @mooneyman and @OxfordBlue.
Is there ever a team in any league at any level that doesn’t have fans saying “we just need to bring in 3 or 4 quality players to give us a realistic chance to challenge/compete/survive” (delete as applicable).
Man City maybe?
Of course we need a bit of strengthening but I would agree with the club's work so far. I think most of our players would compete in league one so I'm pleased with the (re) signings so far. And of course where would we be if we lost 'Ainsworth playing his mates again.' And 'ainsworth has no idea what he needs to stay up in this league.'? I bet if JJ goes many (except possibly richie) will be complaining that we lost our best left-back! Sign him up and he's too old and not league one standard. That's football. Thank the Lord!
Good post @Hughie, I somewhat share your scepticism however if the target is to stay in the league which I presume it is, then I think keeping the majority of the squad for the next season is a good idea.
I'll mention Sir Alex like @Shev, he never committed wholesale changes to his squads, just added quality in the right places. The trouble with making big changes at a club the size of Wycombe is that it simply requires man hours above our station. IMHO you are far better on impressing and consentrating on the signings you really want to make rather then having to settle for your third/fourth choice the majority of the time. Clearly player recruitment is Ainsworth's greatest strength.
We have enough going forward to stay in the division purely on the amount of goals we scored last season, however we clearly were lacking a talented goalkeeper, centre half (as we had terrible injuries/Muller and WDH) which can and will be addressed in the summer. If we sorted that out I'd see us as mid table.
Clearly LO'N suffers from injuries and we really need a centre midfielder with the quality of him or Gape. With Thompson leaving, we certainly have space even if Bean signs, although I certainly hope he doesn't as he consistently fails to pass ten yards.
I can see it both ways. Pleased we’ve kept the majority of the side together as that unity will be even more important if and when we have a difficult spell of results next season. I think there is also a lot to be said for having some maturity in the team as well. The likes of O’Nien, Freeman, Kashkett, Gape will surely benefit from the experience of players around them that have played lg1 and Championship.
Having said that, I’m a little surprised at the length of contract we’ve offered to some players and that we’ve kept some of the injury prone ones too.
I’m hoping to see four core players (another centre forward as an alternative to Bayo, more physical midfielder, new centre half and goalkeeper) plus some loanees and ‘one for the future’ types.
That’s very harsh on Bean who has played at a higher level than League One, represented former Premier League clubs Swansea, Blackpool, QPR and Portsmouth and has also been capped by Jamaica. He is underrated by some fans but fortunately not by the manager.
Beano epitomizes the current spirit in the squad and will be badly missed next season.
I’m still hoping that he’ll stay but glad you recognise his value even if others don’t. His job is to protect the back four and win the ball back and he’s very good at doing that. Just don’t let him take throw ins!
Sorry @Glenactico but I’ve just had a look at the Chairboys On The Net Quick Guide to players’ contract status and only six have more than a year. Who in particular do you think have been over-generously rewarded?
2 years for Sido and Bloomers seemed generous.
I thought Bloomers contract included a coaching role?
2 years for Sido is a good decision considering he can play anywhere in defence and is only 30 years old.
Continuity, fitness (now as good as Danny Bulman, 39, in that respect), coaching and, who knows, potential manager. Wycombe through and through.
Sido: only 30. Playing as well as ever, better even as a central defender. Cult hero.
Next please.
Incredible that Bulman has now played 868 first team games, albeit some at Conference level. There can't be many outfielders that have played more.
I remember when Bulman was released from here, he said something about how he'd enjoyed playing league football, as if that was him done.
To see what he's done over a decade since is incredible.
I thought Sido has done well to get a 2 year deal, although i'm pleased with it
I'm perplexed by @wanderingdays comment on how he thought CMS would be released though! He's quality, had a really good season, and was clearly above league 2 standard.
I think I've missed out on CMS playing at his best (such as the Crawley game), but he has looked pretty ineffective whenever I've watched him over the last few months since that goal at Crewe away. I would prefer to play all of our other attacking options over him right now (and we have a lot of them), so I don't think we should have re-signed him to play in the league above. Simple.
Blimey. CMS has been consistently great whenever I’ve seen him, and the fact he isn’t the first name on the team sheet is a demonstration of quite how good our attacking players are at the moment.
CMS is a genuinely class footballer well above league 2 level. I do think his latter season performances dipped a bit but that was true of a few players as the tension racked up a bit.
Have a vague recollection of GA saying that CMS had been carrying a knock for a while which restricted his playing time? Could be wrong on that though.
CMS is brilliant. Just hope his legs don’t start going.
he's pure class. Love watching him play