If you think about Al-Hamadi too, he’s won the FA Trophy (!) and won 5 international caps at the age of 20, and is by all accounts a very smart lad. I am optimistic he can have a breakthrough season at league one level!
I think there’s a lot to be excited about. All positions (bar GK at the moment) is strong. And we have players available now that were not available for much of last season (Gape, Thompson, Freeman). Horgan finished last season like the player we hoped he would be. Hanlan will be like a fresh signing. The new youngsters will add a little bit of unknown factor that we possibly missed last year.
It's great to be optimistic and talk about these players coming back from injury being like new players is all very enticing. But we'll also get injuries this season. If Tafazolli and Vokes suffer long term injuries and the GK we sign ends up more top-end League Two standard than Premier League-bound, do we have the strength in depth to compete at the top end of the table?
It's early days, the window doesn't close for a long time. I just don't think anyone should get carried away quite yet.
Judging our recruitment policy before the end of the transfer window seems daft to me.
And if Mr Couhig wasn’t optimistic about our prospects before the season starts then he’d get slagged for that, I accept that I am currently drunk in Bermuda, however as soon as the bill arrives, I quickly sober up.
Judge Mr Ainsworth and Mr Dobson by what they have done rather than what they say.
Gasroomers, this is the golden era - be silly not to enjoy the ride.
Not convinced how “ sustainable” it is but there we are, “ sustainable” seems the most overused and abused word in the English language..
Come a long way from scrappy results against Slough Town.
I think Huddersfield have signed him largely because of the novelty of his height - a punt which might come off, but he's far from proven even at NL level. Doubt they paid much.
We get injuries every season and players also lose their form. I'm not sure when the EFL are going to stamp that out. I hear Luck will also be playing some part...yet again! If there are not 22 first teamers of suitable skill and experience who score at least five goals each, do not get injured and can step seamlessly into the first team when required I think we will struggle this season.
No need to panic yet...but let's be realistic, and keep some healthy pessimism in our optimism.
Gosh, I'm off to Specsavers; I can't for the life of me see anything that Horgan offers. He gives the ball away often and offers as much threat in front of goal as Matt Bloomfield. He could be so easily upgraded, particularly given his wages. To predict that Thompson and Gape will both play full seasons is unrealistic. It pains me to say it, but given both of their records, I would have let Gape leave.
Had we not gotten into the playoffs last season, some serious questions would have been asked about us not having enough depth at centre back, particularly given the reasonably simple recruitment of that position compared to others. Tafazolli has not been very reliable with his injuries over the last couple of years. I hope this is addressed with at least one proven signing.
Let's face it, if Vokes gets any length of injury, we aren't likely to even make the playoffs. Same for the majority of clubs.
Glad you had the statistical evidence to hand, I refrained from responding similarly based purely on anecdotal evidence! I'm also wondering which clubs won't suffer a downturn in form if Vokes gets injured next season...
He comes out just below average across the league as a whole in terms of possession losses, and he doesn't give it away dangerously even when he does. There's quite a big difference between losing possession and giving the ball away anyway, is there not?
A wide player should be losing the ball sometimes, if he isn't losing the ball he is either caning his opposing full-back every time and delivering pin-point crosses or he isn't engaging in the contest and simply laying a safe option off. I'll go with Horgan putting the ball into challenging positions and sometimes it coming off and sometimes the opposition clearing and/or retaining possession, it happens.
I'm one of the few on here who loves Horgan, and find it absolutely incredible that others can't see what I do... then again I don't get why everyone else always go on about Thompson.. funny old game, be boring if we all thought the same !
Love Horgan too. I do think the killer for us last season was losing Mehmeti before the playoffs, though. We did so well to get in there, but losing that X-factor really hurt in the long run.
I just think that we play better as a team when Horgan is playing.
it isn’t his crossing and it definitely isn’t his shooting but it’s some of the runs he makes when he doesn’t have the ball that I think make such a difference.
At this level I think it unnerves defenders and that, more than anything, opens the door to the
I was definitely in the no-Horgan camp for a large part of his time so far with us. But something clicked around the turn of the year and suddenly he seemed to play with more freedom and therefore make more impact. Maybe my prejudice was that I thought we were signing the winger that ripped us apart for Preston - I don't think he has played that role once for us. If I have a concern about Horgan it is about the wider balance of the squad. If we have Horgan can we have Mehmeti? If we have Horgan and Mehmeti then surely we lose GMac. If we have Horgan and Mehmeti or Horgan and GMac or Mehmeti and GMac does that mean we need Scowen and Gape and Thompson? Which then starts to leave our bench pretty full.
GMac will also be interesting to assess. He was easily the player of the first half of the season for me, but aside from a couple of games here and there he went through a period of being rather quiet by his lofty standards in the second half.
I'm amazed you've not been peppered with abuse for suggesting Horgan could produce more!
It's your lack of footballing knowledge, like it was with Wheeler.
And I can't believe you're suggesting two specialist centre backs might not be enough having seen what happened when we had 6 weeks without them last year.
Comments
If you think about Al-Hamadi too, he’s won the FA Trophy (!) and won 5 international caps at the age of 20, and is by all accounts a very smart lad. I am optimistic he can have a breakthrough season at league one level!
I think there’s a lot to be excited about. All positions (bar GK at the moment) is strong. And we have players available now that were not available for much of last season (Gape, Thompson, Freeman). Horgan finished last season like the player we hoped he would be. Hanlan will be like a fresh signing. The new youngsters will add a little bit of unknown factor that we possibly missed last year.
Yep. Counting down the days now.
It's great to be optimistic and talk about these players coming back from injury being like new players is all very enticing. But we'll also get injuries this season. If Tafazolli and Vokes suffer long term injuries and the GK we sign ends up more top-end League Two standard than Premier League-bound, do we have the strength in depth to compete at the top end of the table?
It's early days, the window doesn't close for a long time. I just don't think anyone should get carried away quite yet.
Freeman is going to be like a new signing too, and something tells me he is going to be very motivated and improved.
Judging our recruitment policy before the end of the transfer window seems daft to me.
And if Mr Couhig wasn’t optimistic about our prospects before the season starts then he’d get slagged for that, I accept that I am currently drunk in Bermuda, however as soon as the bill arrives, I quickly sober up.
Judge Mr Ainsworth and Mr Dobson by what they have done rather than what they say.
Gasroomers, this is the golden era - be silly not to enjoy the ride.
Not convinced how “ sustainable” it is but there we are, “ sustainable” seems the most overused and abused word in the English language..
Come a long way from scrappy results against Slough Town.
Goodnight All.
he did indeed sign for Hudds (albeit their B team)...but he's been shipped straight out on loan to AFC Wimbledon.
https://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/news/2022/july/dons-clinch-deal-for-towering-frontman/
Scenes when he lines up alongside 5'7 Ayoub Assal
I think Huddersfield have signed him largely because of the novelty of his height - a punt which might come off, but he's far from proven even at NL level. Doubt they paid much.
I love a bit of hype but to say that Man City were looking at him might be a stretch (no pun intended).
Wimbledon were poor last season. Getting promoted from League Two is going to be a tall order.
We get injuries every season and players also lose their form. I'm not sure when the EFL are going to stamp that out. I hear Luck will also be playing some part...yet again! If there are not 22 first teamers of suitable skill and experience who score at least five goals each, do not get injured and can step seamlessly into the first team when required I think we will struggle this season.
No need to panic yet...but let's be realistic, and keep some healthy pessimism in our optimism.
Gosh, I'm off to Specsavers; I can't for the life of me see anything that Horgan offers. He gives the ball away often and offers as much threat in front of goal as Matt Bloomfield. He could be so easily upgraded, particularly given his wages. To predict that Thompson and Gape will both play full seasons is unrealistic. It pains me to say it, but given both of their records, I would have let Gape leave.
Had we not gotten into the playoffs last season, some serious questions would have been asked about us not having enough depth at centre back, particularly given the reasonably simple recruitment of that position compared to others. Tafazolli has not been very reliable with his injuries over the last couple of years. I hope this is addressed with at least one proven signing.
Let's face it, if Vokes gets any length of injury, we aren't likely to even make the playoffs. Same for the majority of clubs.
Specsavers must do a roaring trade off our fans
They have it covered both ways with the rose tinted option too.
Shame they never managed a deal to supply the officials, 🤓
Btw, out of the 17 Wycombe players who played 900+ mins last season, Horgan lost possession less than any other attacker...
Glad you had the statistical evidence to hand, I refrained from responding similarly based purely on anecdotal evidence! I'm also wondering which clubs won't suffer a downturn in form if Vokes gets injured next season...
I think it’s nob as a knob is a fitting
He comes out just below average across the league as a whole in terms of possession losses, and he doesn't give it away dangerously even when he does. There's quite a big difference between losing possession and giving the ball away anyway, is there not?
A wide player should be losing the ball sometimes, if he isn't losing the ball he is either caning his opposing full-back every time and delivering pin-point crosses or he isn't engaging in the contest and simply laying a safe option off. I'll go with Horgan putting the ball into challenging positions and sometimes it coming off and sometimes the opposition clearing and/or retaining possession, it happens.
I'm one of the few on here who loves Horgan, and find it absolutely incredible that others can't see what I do... then again I don't get why everyone else always go on about Thompson.. funny old game, be boring if we all thought the same !
Love Horgan too. I do think the killer for us last season was losing Mehmeti before the playoffs, though. We did so well to get in there, but losing that X-factor really hurt in the long run.
I just think that we play better as a team when Horgan is playing.
it isn’t his crossing and it definitely isn’t his shooting but it’s some of the runs he makes when he doesn’t have the ball that I think make such a difference.
At this level I think it unnerves defenders and that, more than anything, opens the door to the
MK Dons now signed Bradley Johnson, wish we were as ambitious as them ....
I was definitely in the no-Horgan camp for a large part of his time so far with us. But something clicked around the turn of the year and suddenly he seemed to play with more freedom and therefore make more impact. Maybe my prejudice was that I thought we were signing the winger that ripped us apart for Preston - I don't think he has played that role once for us. If I have a concern about Horgan it is about the wider balance of the squad. If we have Horgan can we have Mehmeti? If we have Horgan and Mehmeti then surely we lose GMac. If we have Horgan and Mehmeti or Horgan and GMac or Mehmeti and GMac does that mean we need Scowen and Gape and Thompson? Which then starts to leave our bench pretty full.
GMac will also be interesting to assess. He was easily the player of the first half of the season for me, but aside from a couple of games here and there he went through a period of being rather quiet by his lofty standards in the second half.
That's decent trolling, I'll give you that (and yes, I will quote when it's this good)!
The guy from the Hangover films?
I'm amazed you've not been peppered with abuse for suggesting Horgan could produce more!
It's your lack of footballing knowledge, like it was with Wheeler.
And I can't believe you're suggesting two specialist centre backs might not be enough having seen what happened when we had 6 weeks without them last year.
Naughty corner for you sir.
you can stick MK dons up ye jacksey how’s that for an ambition