Ah that was him He got steadily worse as the season went on Lot of potential whether it will ever get realised probably depends on a bit of luck
Jamie Vardy is another example of players who have gotten better as they’ve got older. In his mid twenties he was at Fleetwood. Now a Premier League champion and England player.
So, who've we been linked to so far? I count Scott Fraser, Jack Tucker, George Moncur, Andy Cannon, Dion Charles and the lads we had on loan. Any more?
So did Cameron Stewart and Adelakun. It's actually quite sad the way Stewart's career went. He works in a pharmacy now.
He's good at what he does. His game depends entirely on who the opposition is, against teams that sit in he's not going to be as effective whereas against teams that play a high press, somebody who can tackle and break up play is much better. Smallwood was brilliant against Portsmouth and he dictated the tempo perfectly, his injury wasn't ideal and we were lucky that Jones stepped in to fill the void. There'll be some games next season, your Millwalls and Stokes, where he will be instrumental. He won't start every game, but he's the kind of player you want in there protecting the back four. I remember Corry Evans having a similar role, he never won any fanfare among fans but he was a solid player instrumental in our promotion season.
It's Scott Fraser we were linked with (Ryan Fraser is at Newcastle - would be a hell of a signing though!) from MK Dons. We've been linked with Kyle Dempsey at Gillingham too.
I'd argue Evans is a better footballer than Smallwood. Incidentally, he's just been released by Blackburn Rovers.
So would I. My only concern would be he's injury-prone. If Smallwood does go, Corry would be an ideal replacement. Saying that, Blackburn fans seem to have a similar verdict of Evans as they did Smallwood i.e. a hard-working, solid defensive midfielder but too one-dimensional and always playing the lateral or backwards pass instead of moving forward. A lot more is asked of holding midfielders these days as teams press higher than they did years ago. A holding midfielder is expected to be able to carry the ball forward in addition to their defensive duties. I'd actually argue that the likes of Evans and Smallwood would be perfect against teams that play a counter-attacking style of football rather than high-pressing. Against teams that play a high press you'd want a defensive mid that's more technically-gifted and comfortable on the ball imo, maybe someone like Rathbone?
Based on how he was for us 8 years ago? 9 games played last season? Injured again or not good enough?
Eh? He played 18 times but he lost his place to Joe Rothwell (also released) and Tom Trybull. (don't use Wikipedia, they don't update it often enough!) He's just a decent midfield option available on a free who wouldn't want a lot of wages. To be fair, I'd take Rothwell over Evans but I don't think we could afford him either unless he's willing to get less that he was on at Blackburn.
Do you think Rathbone would be a decent signing for us? I know we were interested last summer but Rochdale rejected our bids. They'd be more likely to sell now he's only got one more year left and they're now in League Two. From what I can gather, he's a very energetic midfielder and can play box-to-box or deeper. Going back to my previous point, unlike Smallwood and Evans, he carries and passes the ball forward when he plays deeper whilst still breaking up play. I think he'd link up well with Doch and Honeyman.
Yes I still think he's a decent player, but he's similar to Doc in terms of how he plays. Would be good cover though and he's out of contract so the price wouldn't be mental. Dempsey at Gillingham would be another option. Charlie Kirk at Crewe would be a good option out wide, he's another that's out of contract next season. In fact, I'd try to get Will Jaaskelainen in from them as well, also out of contract in 2022 and from what I've seen is on a similar trajectory to Kasper Schmeichel.
Disagree, he has done his job. Well done, move on. Caught out far too often, didn't protect back four when up against pace.... He'll face pace more. Ipswich bound..... Hopefully
