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Pecking Order

Beast
CMS
Tyson
Kashket ( when fit )
PCH
Southwell
Hayes

Formidable line up - no doubt in my mind that we are more than capable of sustaining a challenge for promotion this season.
COYB! !

Comments

  • Don't want to be a huge downer here, but CMS only got 6 goals last year, Hayes scored more than that.

    I don't think we should write him off, but to put Hayes so radically at the bottom of the back is a strong shout.

  • He broke a leg last season at Luton. Luton released him in May and he went on loan back to Peterborough and scored 5 goals in 10 games.
    Don't underestimate his ability, as at the moment Bayo is our only goalscoring forward.

  • If he can rediscover form from few years ago, would be great signing. On other hand 10 goals in 90 games since 2013 serious injury less encouraging.

    He could be great. He could be dreadful. Most likely he'll be somewhere in between.

  • edited August 2017

    All our strikers are injury prone except the Beast who is an automatic starter and Southwell who doesn't know where the goal is. At least we should now be able to get two other recognised strikers on the pitch to partner Bayo.

  • edited August 2017

    Very happy that GA signed him - exactly the position where we needed another option and a potential upgrade (especially if Kashket is going to be out for a long time).

    I'm hopeful, because of his pedigree and obvious quality, but I'm not expecting the goal-every-other-game player he was a few years ago. There's a reason Luton let him go and that we had a chance to get him, did get him and can afford him!

    Well done to the club for a proactive signing. Hard to think of a better player we could have got hold of in our position. Fingers crossed.

  • 100% agree with your sentiments @HCblue

  • @DevC said:
    If he can rediscover form from few years ago, would be great signing. On other hand 10 goals in 90 games since 2013 serious injury less encouraging.

    He could be great. He could be dreadful. Most likely he'll be somewhere in between.

    Well, 5 goals in 10 games for Peterborough in March and April suggests that he is well capable of rediscovering his form of a few years ago.

    I'm still recovering from the profundity of your last sentence, Dev.

  • CMS had a better scoring record than Hayes at his peak, and went for some colossal fees. He's certainly more of an out and out goalscorer.

    We also know for certain that Hayes is very near the end of his league days, whereas we don't know that with CMS.

  • I'm trying to imagine how CMS and Akinfenwa play alongside each other and I'm struggling a little. In an ideal world I'd play either of them at the tip of a 4321 with two of PCH, Tyson and Kashket behind them. Or, if they do work together, a 442 with CMS and Bayo up front and PCH and Tyson / Freeman on the wing (but then Gape or Saunders has to make way, which is far from ideal).

    I just can't see how playing CMS out wide in a 433 will work. Maybe Saturday will show me how.

  • From what I've seen of him I don't think it'll be a problem.

    I'm pretty sure it was playing on one side of a front three with Aaron McClean (playing through the middle) and George Boyd at Peterborough that saw him make his name.

    My doubt would be whether he's still got it given his recent record. I wasn't impressed with him at all given his credentials when he played against us for Luton a couple of seasons back. Hopefully it was just an off day.

  • I can't picture him as a wide player in a 433 either. Upfront with Bayo in a 442 with Paris and Tyson on the wings and Saunders and O'Nien in the middle though, that's Gormania territory.

    I look forward to being hugely disappointed on Saturday.

  • @drcongo has a vision that would be pretty damm exciting. But clearly no chance, as for one thing, that'd exclude Gape.
    Up front in a 2 with Bayo could work, but then where would Tyson fit, and why hadn't we tried Tyson and Bayo as a 2, would CMS alone be judged such quality that we'd change our style for him?

    Therefore, Tyson and CMS wide, both having the knack to come in side when the time allows it seems the smart money.
    Makes Paris a backup though, unless he's 1)already injured, or 2) CMS and Tyson will rotate a bit, with maybe even Bayo rested a bit more than before.

    Plenty of options to keep it fresh in the cup for sure. Southwell can be guaranteed a minimum of 3 games there. Long term though he's struggling, as we've chosen to bring in Tyson and CMS over him, already knowing Bayo, Hayes, Paris and Kashket are around.

  • I'm not sure we have to try and fit everyone into one team together.

    Of Tyson, Bayo, CMS and Paris, one of them is likely to be injured, tired or unfit almost every game.

  • I'm not sure we're allowed to try and fit everyone into one team together.

  • A far more insightful comment than you give it credit for, Micra.

    Not quite sure why every signing has to be instantly judged as a conquering hero or a terrible signing - few of those instant kneejerks turn out to be correct.

    If we had signed CMS 8 years ago, then yes he clearly would have been a great signing, but then at the time he was no more likely to sign for us than Alexis Sanchez is today. Now frankly we simply don't know. I am just going to be cautiously optimistic and hope that at least one of Tyson and CMS can capture something like his old form in which case we might have a decent season.

    One person no doubt disappointed will be whoever it was posting recently about players being referred t by their initials. Just as PCH is PCH, CMS will shortly be CMS.

  • Bypass the midfield entirely, and just lump 5 or 6 strikers up front?

  • It is fantastic for us to actually have real options up front. For some time we haven't really had the luxury of genuine selection dilemmas.

    A few weeks ago I was quite concerned about our attacking options but with two new strikers in we look much stronger.

    It also means that we should have at least one or two good attacking options on the bench most games as well. If and when Kashkett returns, for example, the prospect of having him come on fresh for the last half an hr of a game would be terrific.

    As others have said, between cup games, fixture congestion, injury etc. I imagine all the attackers will get decent game time. I can't foresee a situation where at least 1-2 of them are not injured at any given time. Hopefully having some strength in depth will help us maintain form even when we do pick up injuries.

    It is also pleasing they each offer something different. Among those players we have pace, physical strength, trickery, experience and work rate. So I'd expect us to take a 'horses for courses' approach and make selection decisions based on the opposition and our own strategy in each game.

  • For sure we now have options and I agree with others that it's unlikely they will all be fit for every game so changes to personnels are inevitable during the season.
    Hopefully GA will be more flexible during a match with the system and personnel and less prone to a plan A, and no plan B, approach if it isn't working.

  • I think it's obvious after today where Hayes should be in that pecking order.

  • Yep. Just behind Southwell, who I think is totally redundant in the way we play!

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