January Changes
With January around the corner and the current issues we are having, I wonder if some big decisions are needed. Should MB not change formation, then the current players we have outside of our best XI don't really fit in the system.
If I was in MBs shoes, I would consider doing the following (assuming loaness can be returned):
Richard Keogh - mutual release from his contract. Sign a central midfielder instead.
Dale Taylor - return to Forest. Sign another striker.
Kian Breckin - Not a consistent starter yet, as he's not in the 22 due to age, I think we can keep him as a good back up though.
Boyes/Potts - keep. Assuming Potts will be back.
Do we need Grimmer, McCarthy, Vincent-Young and Pattenden if all fit. Is Pattenden in the 22? McCarthy perhaps to be moved on.
If we persist with back three, we need 5 players who can play centre back. Do we need Tafa, JJ and Woodhouse to play left centre back. Could we afford to allow one of Tafa or JJ to go to bring in another left wing back or pacy winger/striker to replace Hanlan.
Big January coming up, with some difficult decisions. I'm not sure if our injury record this season continues that we can persist with this squad until May next year and guarantee staying up.
Comments
Sorry, but this post just screams panic. We’ve been very poor for six weeks. The prior ten weeks, however, were much better. I am not worried about relegation. This run of form has coincided with approximately 10 outfield player injuries, many of which have been absent simultaneously. With our playing budget and our individual player quality, we should be finishing broadly mid table at the very least. Bloomfield has only had one window to operate and the general consensus is that it was a good window. I would have liked to bring in another target striker in the mould of Vokes, letting Hanlan go to Wrexham in the other direction, but that’s life. My biggest gripe is that we haven’t got a crop of wide centre backs that are capable of progressing the ball up the pitch. That is, in mind, our biggest issue.
It's nice to see Gasroom traditions never die.
Perhaps if I put the last paragraph first it would have made more sense. I did caveat as well that if MB sticks with this system.
Hanlan out for the season.
Potts/Vokes out and not any news on a return.
The back ups are not good enough if continue with this system.
When everyone is fit we will be fine, which I thought was fairly obvious.
If these injuries continue to blight us, then we need some better back up.
We’ve picked up 10 points in our last 10 games Or 3 from our last 7.
you can only sign people in January, that’s not far away.
Some wild moves there that if taken would make you pretty darn nervous about Bloomfield's capability to manage!
The finish to the game yesterday was ridiculous. Until then it was a solid away display where we could have nicked it. Yes we didn't create that much, but after such a woeful Reading performance, it was a decent response.
However, the manner of defeat almost feels worse than if we were comfortably outplayed.
We're probably a mid-table side, but I don't think we can be confident of that at the moment. I think if the Couhigs weren't selling up, Blooms would already be gone - which makes you worry if they'll scry decisively if things get really desperate. MB doesn't strike me as the kind to rally a team in a relegation dogfight (I could be wrong).
And yes, injuries have screwed us big time, but that's been exacerbated by tactical stubbornness.
"to be fair", he already turned round Col U's fortunes in exactly that.
I know it's a different scenario, coming into a team and trying to change the strategy with new ideas, vs moving away from your own ideas if they haven't worked so well, and trying to galvanise a team that you've put together when they're on a bit of a downer.
Had a glance at the table and Exeter hovering above relegation who dismantled us on the opening day, now calling for their manager's head. I'd also expect Reading to move away from danger. It's a competitive league this year with no real easy games and we can't have any complacency about the challenge the season holds.
I think we still have 4 spaces left in the 22 man squad - Sadlier and Taylor have been added.
Maybe we will just sign additional players in January with no need to release/move anyone on.
Forgot that we have 10 players exempt from the 22.
Can you have a maximum of 5 loanees or just 5 loanees in a match day squad?
5 in a matchday squad, not sure if there's an overall limit
A lot of knee jerk points, understandably after recent performances.
But getting rid of Taylor and getting a goalscoring striker in, 91 other clubs looking to do the same (not the Taylor part). We are not missing chances, we are not creating chances, so I would suggest Harry Kane might struggle in our line up. If Taylor was missing chance after chance I would agree, he's not, nor was Hanlan, Vokes, Gmac, TJ etc.
Keogh was not supposed to play as much I assume. He provides a role to younger players and is important for Low and Forino to have around.
Brekin showed a glimpse of what he might be capable of last night. I have hope.
As for the others who knows what the injuries might allow for. Vokes, Jmac, Potts, VKY, Hanlan, Leahy are all first team players. Having them back would be changing but with the exception of Hanlan we have no idea when.
Can someone explain to me why some are crying out for KVY to return. From what I saw of him, he really isn't better than anyone else we have, if not worse, unless I am missing the "elephant in the room"? KVY has offered absolutely bigger all that has got me off my big derriere during any game that I have seen, in fact if I remember correctly he has lost possession of the ball in very dangerous areas that I believe has led to at least one goal conceded if not more. 🤷♂️
Sweeping statement. Surely they’ll get more money if the club is successful. So I would have thought the Couhigs would act if they thought Bloomfield wasn’t the right man to turn things around. Clearly looking at the comments on here, the jury is undecided.
I believe that the team can have a max of 6 long-term loan deals in a season and 5 short-term but I might be wrong. However, only 5 loan players can be named in a matchday squad (which is a reason why Breckin could have been missed out quite often). Midfield looks fine, we have Leahy, Potts, Scowen & Wheeler while sometimes calling on Philips who can do a job there and Breckin (mainly after last night) looks like he might be able to slot in there too.
However, I think it would be a mistake to cut Taylor and send him back to Forest. He is def a striker that needs to play alongside another striker and he has shown signs of promise. If Vokes stays fit and in the team, I think he'll start scoring more.
In the market, we will need to look at replacing Hanlan, either short or long term but he was a player that could cope with the minutes but has created a whole that needs filling. Can L Taylor do that? I'm not sure just yet, time will tell.
I think we can all accept that JJ will prob retire at the end of the season. It's prob too knee-jerky to see if that time-frame could be moved earlier and keep him on as a coach? Could that be offered to Keogh? His experience has prob helped the loanee players however is he taking up a space that could be filled with more quality?
I think we need another option in the last third, maybe a winger to do what McCleary does for us?
I wasn't at all convinced by him defensively, but he was starting to show some very nice footwork in attack. A bit like Obita inasmuch as I would keep him for the attacking threat.
I suppose missing players are always the balm for what ails us, to a degree. McCarthy has been somewhat derided for quite a while, and yet the though of him galloping down the right wing at pace is quite soothing right now!
Not all injuries are created equally, and we have had injuries to such major key players that it is really unfair to put too much at MB's door, to my mind. Vokes is not always "on it", but he is still our #1 striker and major aerial threat. Leahy and Potts have the best passing range, and were vying for player of the season with Scowen. Hanlan could really put defences on their heels, too.
Apart from Man City, almost any club in the land would have a down turn if three or four of their very best players were out for an extended period. This is like Arsenal losing Gabriel Jesus (Vokes), Rice (Potts), Zinchenko (Leahy), and Trossard (Hanlan) for an extended period, along with some other knocks. At our level it is even more pronounced owing to the smaller squads and lower replacement quality.
Fair enough, will hold my hands up. I had written the post thinking the 22 places in the squad were full. Having gone back to the Squad List post from September, we appear to have 4 spaces available in the 22. We have room for 4 others, dependent on wages so could keep Keogh from a pure numbers perspective.
D. Taylor being exempt from the 22 could also be kept - dependent on wages.
If MB has no wage budget left, without moving others on, then my preference would be to see D. Taylor and Keogh replaced. I'd love to see Dale succeed, and wrote as much a couple of weeks ago, saying I had a feeling he'd go on a scoring spree.
If he has budget and we have 4 spaces left, then lots of the original post is now moot.
Not sure anyone is "crying out" for him to return? More just wondering how long he's out for and wanting everyone fully fit to generate competition.
Yeah, I've not seen much clamouring. I have spoken to Ipswich fan friends who speak highly of him though - apparently super quick, endless energy and can whip in a great cross. The last of those we have seen, the first two though we never really got to see as he was still trying to get his fitness back after his last long term injury when he joined.
Until last night's comms I had totally forgotten about him. Probably says enough.
In fairness, our underlying defensive numbers are good enough that we shouldn't be getting sucked right in, but we do seem to be giving up steadily more chances - while stagnating in our own creativity. Both can be put down to injuries but more so tactical weakness imo. We're not in side straits yet, though...
following on from @Shevs comment about McCarthy I was actually thinking last night that he would have been perfect* yesterday.
He rarely seemed to get stuck too much into back 5 mode and was always happy to scurry down the wing in an attacking role.
From memory (it’s been a while) he was also pretty good at finding the space in the opposition half to take a pass from our midfield and move it forwards.
(I’ll gloss over the lack of a final product once he got to cross, but at least there was always that hope that he might actually get one in the right place. We (as supporters) would really have benefitted from that slither of hope yesterday)
*Probably over-stretching the parameters of the word ‘perfect’ there
*dire straits
If we are destined for mid table, as it might appear in the coming months, then we need to adopt a playing style that endears less enthusiastic fans of the club to return. At the moment, there’s not a chance I’d encourage a neutral to attend with me. There isn’t the fight of an Ainsworth side, the smooth passing of a Manning side or the personality of a side with Akinfenwa. There isn’t a cheap ticket option for first-timers or for families. There isn’t the charm of a non-league club. We lack reason for neutrals to become affectionate toward the club, which is not only upsetting in the short term, but will dent the club’s attendances (and therefore finances) in the medium-long term. Uninspiring all round. One very effective way of improving the outlook would be prioritising a cup run this season, so I really hope we can progress against Morecambe on Saturday.
As a separate point, the club should really be looking at ways of engaging with the Muslim community. It’s a huge (and growing) proportion of Wycombe’s population. Some targeted marketing in that direction feels like an absolute no-brainer.
If ever there's a new topic for an Andy warbs thread, it's this one.
We need pace!!!!
I think from memory, this has been tried in the past. I have seen many from the "ethnic" groups attend in the past, ie:, when free tickets have been handed round to schools, sadly though I have seen very few return, if any?
https://wycombewanderersfoundation.co.uk/news/eid-mubarak-eid-ul-adha/
Only four days to go until the transfer window opens and given the last month, I'd be looking to move Keogh on. I get a feeling he has too much influence on Blooms match day squad and teams. I could be absolutely wrong but how did he re-appear and formation changed back to a three against Exeter.
We need some pace and if we needed to move people on to get others in, then I think Dale might need to return to Forest and send De Barr out on loan.
Breckin maybe worth going back to City as he's not progressed as desired. I understand Potts will be making an apperance either tomorrow at Orient or Monday againt Rovers.
I think we're missing players in the 27 to 32 year old bracket, who have enough experience to help us turn this around.
I think Lyle Taylor could be a good move, he's started to look a lot better over last couple of games. Appreciate, he has not done a lot yet but he hasn't played for 18 months. Fingers crossed on that front.