@mooneyman@Theatre_of_Chairs Probably be castigated for this but for me we need a challenger for Grimmer’s place. Yes he is ‘a leader’ ‘a warrior’ ‘vocal’ ‘senior pro’ etc etc but witness yesterdays performance - he had a shocker: was sat down for their first goal, most passes into touch, run ragged by a decent winger. We need better if we are to compete at the top of the league.
Isn't McCarthy the challenge for Grimmer's place? Also, once fit again, KVY can play there, especially if we get a decent true LB (though I think we all prefer KVY going forward, and he was probably part of the 5ATB vision).
As you say, the Taylor signing was entirely a marriage of (in)convenience - him trying to get match fit again, us desperately short of strikers.
I think there’s still a player there but he was very much a square peg in a round hole for us, we were basically expecting him to be Vokes, and lo and behold, he wasn’t.
He looked a lot better to me when he was given ball-to-feet service, and I thought he would have been better either partnering someone else upfront, or slotting in just behind the lone striker.
Was I arsed when he left? No. But the fact that he could even get goals in a poor Cambridge side implies that he can still cut it, although of course we did them the favour of getting him match fit…
The bottom of the league can’t possibly be as weak as it is this season, but hopefully that means it’ll take fewer points to get into the top six.
Rotherham will obviously go up, but it’ll be fascinating to see who the other two teams are that come down and how they adapt. The two you mentioned seem to be in a right state.
I’ll happily castigate you, Mr Albion. If we are to get to the top end of the league, Jack is exactly the type of player who will help us get there. He’s already got two League 1 promotions on his CV, as I’m sure you know. He is the very epitome of GA’s old vision of players ‘running through brick walls’ for the club. I’ll permit him the odd mistake, even if you don’t.
It would be great if we could sign Nigel Longwijk on a permanent basis. Nigel is an excellent defender and provides pace at the back. The pairing of Forino and Longwijk in yesterday’s final was an excellent choice. Having said that I love Joe Low so good times if we could retain all three of these lads.
I was on record early, as (not entirely tongue-in-cheek) saying that Nige had become my new favourite player/cult hero after some of his recent performances. What I liked about him was the character to come back from being precautionarily subbed after only half an hour at Stevenage, due to the early booking and the generally awkward nature of the opposition and conditions that day, to putting in top performances with abundant skill and flare, in different positions. Not to mention ‘that’ goal... He just gets better and better as his fitness and confidence has returned and if he does have to go back, it will be very sad. Dare I say if he stays I’ll be in xtc?
Ok, i won’t. I’ll just say if he stays I’m getting a Lonwijk named shirt next season. Come on Blooms, make it happen...!!
I agree with you about him being Championship quality but a pal of mine who is in the know at Wolves said they had high hopes for him but he didn’t progress as they would have liked. Mind you, a PL club is bound to set a higher bar than we doz
100% he’s championship quality. And you’re probably right, Mr Club. But never say never, stranger things...’n’ all that. There’s a sprinkling of magic in that there “building” Blooms keeps talking about. Players like it here...
I know we had some misfires, but I still think Blooms' recruitment has been very good overall. I am sure some of you would move some of the below between tiers, but for me Blooms is scoring roughly a 2.2 on a 1-3 scale if you assign a 3 to excellent, 2 to good and 1 to not working out. Lubala is borderline excellent too, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Kone is excellent owing to the level he was plucked from, and his potential.
I am genuinely excited to see what a more stable summer brings, with a more settled core and Blooms having developed his ideas further and perhaps having a more accurate idea of the type of player he needs.
For me, I still think Max is better than Rav, and should be in the team. So if Matt doesn't now fancy Max, then we need a new keeper. We definitely need a proper left back, JJ obviously isn't playing anymore, I'm not as convinced by KVY as others, and Leahy should be in midfield. Obviously Center back is a bit of a worry, depending on who stays. Think I'm pretty ok with our midfield and wingers tbh. Up front we have a lot of potential, plus I also have a feeling Vokes will stay on reduced wages.
Agree with the other posters. I’m very optimistic about next season. We’ve started to replace some of the characters that we had at the end of Ainsworth’s tenure. The team dynamic is a world away from earlier in the season where there was a LOT of toxic arm waving. Blooms had an excellent January.
I had forgotten about Boyes. Went from starter to end of loan pretty quickly. And considering that meant our creative midfielder and top scorer went to left back it was a strange one.
Comments
@mooneyman @Theatre_of_Chairs Probably be castigated for this but for me we need a challenger for Grimmer’s place. Yes he is ‘a leader’ ‘a warrior’ ‘vocal’ ‘senior pro’ etc etc but witness yesterdays performance - he had a shocker: was sat down for their first goal, most passes into touch, run ragged by a decent winger. We need better if we are to compete at the top of the league.
Football is about opinion and I disagree about his performance yesterday against probably the best winger in league.
Isn't McCarthy the challenge for Grimmer's place? Also, once fit again, KVY can play there, especially if we get a decent true LB (though I think we all prefer KVY going forward, and he was probably part of the 5ATB vision).
As you say, the Taylor signing was entirely a marriage of (in)convenience - him trying to get match fit again, us desperately short of strikers.
I think there’s still a player there but he was very much a square peg in a round hole for us, we were basically expecting him to be Vokes, and lo and behold, he wasn’t.
He looked a lot better to me when he was given ball-to-feet service, and I thought he would have been better either partnering someone else upfront, or slotting in just behind the lone striker.
Was I arsed when he left? No. But the fact that he could even get goals in a poor Cambridge side implies that he can still cut it, although of course we did them the favour of getting him match fit…
Me too, couldn’t disagree more both about his performance yesterday and about his place in our future plans. Still each to their own.
The bottom of the league can’t possibly be as weak as it is this season, but hopefully that means it’ll take fewer points to get into the top six.
Rotherham will obviously go up, but it’ll be fascinating to see who the other two teams are that come down and how they adapt. The two you mentioned seem to be in a right state.
Had assumed he had signed for at least next season, but could be wrong then.
Is he only signed up until the end of the season then?
I’ll happily castigate you, Mr Albion. If we are to get to the top end of the league, Jack is exactly the type of player who will help us get there. He’s already got two League 1 promotions on his CV, as I’m sure you know. He is the very epitome of GA’s old vision of players ‘running through brick walls’ for the club. I’ll permit him the odd mistake, even if you don’t.
100% agree with @LeedsBlue - he's also a fantastic captain.
It would be great if we could sign Nigel Longwijk on a permanent basis. Nigel is an excellent defender and provides pace at the back. The pairing of Forino and Longwijk in yesterday’s final was an excellent choice. Having said that I love Joe Low so good times if we could retain all three of these lads.
The fact that Nige can play fullback too is a big benefit.
Let's hope we're making plans for Nigel to extcend his stay.
I’ve heard Matt is busy doing that.
We only want what’s best for him😉
I was on record early, as (not entirely tongue-in-cheek) saying that Nige had become my new favourite player/cult hero after some of his recent performances. What I liked about him was the character to come back from being precautionarily subbed after only half an hour at Stevenage, due to the early booking and the generally awkward nature of the opposition and conditions that day, to putting in top performances with abundant skill and flare, in different positions. Not to mention ‘that’ goal... He just gets better and better as his fitness and confidence has returned and if he does have to go back, it will be very sad. Dare I say if he stays I’ll be in xtc?
Ok, i won’t. I’ll just say if he stays I’m getting a Lonwijk named shirt next season. Come on Blooms, make it happen...!!
He won’t be back. He’s championship quality.
I agree with you about him being Championship quality but a pal of mine who is in the know at Wolves said they had high hopes for him but he didn’t progress as they would have liked. Mind you, a PL club is bound to set a higher bar than we doz
100% he’s championship quality. And you’re probably right, Mr Club. But never say never, stranger things...’n’ all that. There’s a sprinkling of magic in that there “building” Blooms keeps talking about. Players like it here...
Also, @micra will be after me for my shocking misspelling of “flair” earlier...
Flaming Norah! Missed that.
Hope we are able to keep Dail Taylor.
I know we had some misfires, but I still think Blooms' recruitment has been very good overall. I am sure some of you would move some of the below between tiers, but for me Blooms is scoring roughly a 2.2 on a 1-3 scale if you assign a 3 to excellent, 2 to good and 1 to not working out. Lubala is borderline excellent too, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Kone is excellent owing to the level he was plucked from, and his potential.
I am genuinely excited to see what a more stable summer brings, with a more settled core and Blooms having developed his ideas further and perhaps having a more accurate idea of the type of player he needs.
Excellent:
Potts
Low
Kone
Sadlier
Leahy
Lonwijk
Good:
Taylor
Lubala
KVY
Boyes
Ravizzoli
Kodua
Didn't work out:
Keogh
Campbell
Earley
Max good ? 😊
For me, I still think Max is better than Rav, and should be in the team. So if Matt doesn't now fancy Max, then we need a new keeper. We definitely need a proper left back, JJ obviously isn't playing anymore, I'm not as convinced by KVY as others, and Leahy should be in midfield. Obviously Center back is a bit of a worry, depending on who stays. Think I'm pretty ok with our midfield and wingers tbh. Up front we have a lot of potential, plus I also have a feeling Vokes will stay on reduced wages.
Agree with the other posters. I’m very optimistic about next season. We’ve started to replace some of the characters that we had at the end of Ainsworth’s tenure. The team dynamic is a world away from earlier in the season where there was a LOT of toxic arm waving. Blooms had an excellent January.
I had forgotten about Boyes. Went from starter to end of loan pretty quickly. And considering that meant our creative midfielder and top scorer went to left back it was a strange one.
I’m hoping that friend is Gary O’Neil.
It’s obviously the training ground…
I'm not sure we can make a judgement on Saxon Earley since he got injured and never played in a match.