Signings so far....
I can't help but think, despite many of us praying for the club to dip into the loan market, I can't help but think that we would be better off now with any two of Freeman, Thompson and Gape over Breckin and Phillips in particular.
Unless the decisions were financial or the players' choice, so far it would seem poor judgement on our part.
How do we rate our signings/loan signings so far?
-7
Comments
Don’t agree at all.
Far too early to make that call on Phillips.
Breckin is clearly not ready for men’s football at the moment, maybe in time he will be.
Signings more positive than negative for me so far...but each to his own.
We offered Nick Freeman a contract and he turned it down.
Curtis Thompson is in and out of a team that's bottom of L1 without a goal.
Dom Gape doesn't have a club.
They were all tremendous servants for us in their day, but it's too far to describe it as 'poor judgment'.
Definitely miss Nick's creativity, but we never trusted him enough to make him a regular starter. My theory is that he is so nice that it is easier to tell him he is dropped than some others.
Either way, happy with the signings, except perhaps too many loaners meaning another huge transition next summer...but cross that bridge when we come to it!
I would think that Gape & Thompson were released because of their injury record over the last few seasons & they prob didn't want to take too much of a wage cut.
I think our loan success have been Boyes so far except for his mistake today, he has been quite consistent. 8/10
Taylor has shown some real promise before his injury. Just hope he can bounce back into the team soon. 7/10
Potts has started well and looks to be learning from Scowen & those around him. 7/10
However, while Philips shows brief moments of good skill, he needs to improve. I commented on his 1st game and this have continued where, that at some points, he just points and pass marking players off to others without taking on the role himself. Proactive work rate and commitment to his team-mate need working on. 4/10
Breckin has been the major letdown. Came with the hype of a youth England player but so far, hasn't shown us anything yet. As Matt gave him the No.8 shirt, he's then gone missing and seems not to like the demands of 1st team football. 2/10
Potts has been a great success in my opinion. His class is starting to shine through more and more every game. His goal yesterday and last two overall performances shows what I feel we are going to get every week 9/10
Boyes and Taylor have shown glimpses of good and have potential. Although it looks like they have found their level. 7/10
Not convinced by Philips from what I’ve seen but may improve 3/10
Breckin looks young and slightly overwhelmed at the moment but has shown odd moments of brilliance. I think he will grow into it as the season progresses and currently have him ahead of Philips 4/10
Obviously Nick turned us down in favour of more regular football, but I believe we also offered Gapey a contract which he rejected.
Generally the loan players have done pretty well. I'd expect all of them to improve as the season progresses.
Breckin and Philips have probably been the only disappointments. I thought Philips showed some promising signs in his sub appearance yesterday and certainly should've had a penalty. He does need to try and keep a lid on his frustrations though. His body language isn't always that great.
Complete disagreement from me here. Loved Gape and Thompson but they barely played in recent times.
Nick Freeman was decent but he’d been at the club for years and never secured a regular spot. Plus, as mentioned, he turned us down.
Our loan strategy has been one dimensional: kids from the Prem youth system who clubs want toughening, probably costing us diddly squat. How about as a plan B, bring in a couple of seasoned pros out there who can’t get into their Championship side and want to play.
Really long ways of saying it's a silly comparison. Those that went left at the right time for them and us. The kids will take time.
Giving a kid who's played two games professionally in his career 2/10 a month into a season long loan is a low. If he was prime Foden ready to go do you think they would have sent him here?
Curtis Thompson missed Cheltenham Town’s 3-0 home defeat to Stevenage yesterday with a back injury.
Potts is a joy to watch. But he is still got to learn the ugly stuff. A brilliant goal, a defensive switch off.
Boyes early on was exceptional. Last few games mneh.
Taylor was on an upward curve when he got injured. Let’s see. I’m not convinced he’s a 20 goal striker.
Philips. First time I saw him he looked great. A desire to get forward and get a shot off. A real option in the middle. Now, let’s just say he’s got a lot to learn about what to contribute to a team. Football and personality wise.
Breckin looks a step too far. Exeter might have been a body blow for him. He looked lost and being taken off at half time in your senior debut must be brutal. Long way to go yet.
I imagine Matt Bloomfield, with hindsight, would accept that giving Breckin the 8 shirt before he'd played a second of adult competitive football was a mistake. It raised expectations too high among fans and it surely put too much pressure on Breckin. His failure to deliver - or even get picked to warm the bench in the league - does show a touch of naivety from Matt and must be heartbreaking for Breckin, especially as sees players like Potts kick on and cement their place in the team.
I actually thought he played well against Crystal Palace in the JPT - but that was back at U21 level. I don't know what he's working on in training but I hope it gets him ready to face grizzled League 1 pros before the end of the season. It's not just about putting on muscle - though he certainly needs to - but I hope the Man City $$$s will help provide him with a sports psychologist to help him through this period.
As for the others - I'm unimpressed and unconvinced by Phillips. Taylor could still be our new Stuart Beavon - but we'll have to start playing it through the midfield better for that to be the case. Leahy needs to return and build a strong relationship with Potts (who's excellent) and Scowen.
I really like Boyes and I won't let his poor performance at Charlton cloud that. Yet.
I'm still to be convinced that Scowen, Potts and Leahy is the answer in midfield as they all play in the same defensive positions. Two from three makes sense but Scowen is wasted in the more advanced role.
Could be down to money. Championship sides probably want a higher contribution to the wages of their players,
On paper Kian Breckin an absolutely brilliant signing - he still could be.
He had a stunning season for City Under 21s last term and many big teams were after him in the summer. We only got him as Richard Thomas personally knows him.
I don’t think Bloomfield has done anything wrong in signing him. But he was well off pace in pre-season and not impressed in competitive games either. It is a mystery why he has not performed. There may be other factors we are not aware of.
Potts has been the pick of the loan signings. Boyes has been hit and miss. Don’t think Phillips has had much time to impress yet. Taylor has been promising, no more than that. I’d say overall I’m slightly disappointed with our loan signings but still think they can all come good within a month or two.
Easily, the kids who are prospects will be very low cost if not free as they're effectively on work experience and their owners are the real winners if we return them match ready. The lack of experienced loanees will be partly due to the availability of these prospects and the business we've done permanently: mainly Leahy and Low, potentially Sadlier.
Up front we are really splitting hairs over wether Vokes and Brandon are doing as well as can be expected in this team or underperforming but they aren't setting the world on fire, it's pretty clear Taylor and Sadlier when fit make the options look better. People were frothing at the mouth over Uche but he's still doing shuttle runs on 5 a side pitches, could be another few weeks before he emerges anywhere.
Largely in agreement with those points, @aloysius. In particular, I think your positive comment about Harry Boyes is fully justified. It must be difficult for him to develop the defensive side of his game as a wingback when three of our experienced central defenders (Grimmer, Tafazolli and JJ) are injured and two of the three that did play (Low and Forino) are as young and inexperienced as he is and perhaps don’t feel it is their responsibility to offer him guidance or to step in during the game and criticise him for not chasing the overlapping opposition player.
It’s no criticism of Luke Leahy (who is only playing left centre back - extremely well, incidentally - because of the injuries) to say that the outcome yesterday might have been different had JJ or Tafazolli been playing there.
Harry Boyes, overall, is doing ok.
I have no concerns over Harry Boyes, one game, this early on, does not make or break our season.
Realistically, I think we knew that this season would be an inconsistent season. As they gain in more experience and their learning, we should have less hot & cold performances and will hit our stride.
Judging players at this point in the season is fair. It isn't their final score and if I was in their position, I'd much rather be a 3, 4 or 5 out of 10 now and then be a 7 or 8 at the end of the season to prove my development over time.
Thompson and Gape barely played the last couple of seasons and Freeman couldn't nail down a place in 6 or 7 years.
So it seems odd to think any of the three were the answer.
But obviously if you're comparing to the weakest performers of our loanees they'd be favourable. Albeit early days for both Breckin and Phillips.
We’ve only played eight league games this season. It’s too early to make a judgement, especially on the likes of Kian Breckin and Killian Phillips, who have had so little game time.
Yeah it’s a bit ludicrous to try and competently judge Breckin so prematurely
The EFL Trophy will be important for Breckin, hopefully a few good performances in that competition will help him stake a claim.
Phillips showed enough in his brief appearance yesterday to suggest he can make an impact. More to come from him I'm sure.
I don't think it is "ludicrous" as such. Most people on here touted him as starter before Leahy and Potts joined without ever seeing him play. We have given him the number 8 shirt, which would signify intentions of expecting him to play, when reality is he is not ready to even make the bench. So in my eyes, we have misjudged completely.
Sadlier looked slightly better than average when he came on v Charlton. Maybe he is the missing key? 🤷♂️
All signs point to Leahy and Low being brilliant signings, feels like they've both been Wycombe players for years. Very positive that of all the young players we signed this summer, the one performing best is on a permanent contract.
Agree broadly with the comments on the loan players, and you can see that Potts and Boyes are the two that have settled in the best so far. Low and Leahy have been brilliant examples of recruitment under the new structure, and saw a bit of promise with Sadlier when he came on against Charlton, although I felt him and Taylor could have been given a bit longer to impact the game.
Unsure on Phillips at this stage and unsure as to what position I'd class him as too (maybe a CAM, unsure of him as a CM or a CF). He's exhibited some nice touches and good movement at times and I feel that there's a player in there, but don't think we're seeing the same player that he seemed to be at Shrewsbury currently. Optimistic that he'll improve and needs to take the diving/falling over after light contact out of his game moving forwards.
Breckin has been underwhelming so far and admittedly I was expecting a lot, especially after we gave him the number 8 shirt. Again, optimistic that he'll have an impact at some point but maybe not as a starter like I initially thought he would. Has shown some flashes of talent (there was a touch, turn and cross against Sutton and that free kick against Ebbsfleet) and hope that he finds his feet soon, as an additional creative outlet would be a positive addition to Blooms' squad options.
Max Cavana on loan at the old foe Aylesbury I see.
https://www.aylesbury.football/news/ducks-sign-max-cavana-from-wycombe-wanderers-on-loan