I think we have to get to the top of the Championship,into the PL and into mid-table there,before we can fulfil the ultimate potential we all think we have. In order to achieve the first part of that goal,we need players who will get us there. Most of us felt that we lacked in a couple of positions last season....i.e. cdm and striker,first and foremost. With the signings of Browne and Mendy( if?) it seems as though we've attempted to have addressed those weaknesses. I don't see how that compromises our overall methodology of signing bright young things. If it takes us two or three years to get into PL mid table,Browne and Mendy aren't going to be the future anyway.
I’m of a very similar mindset to you. A team/squad full of academy products, great finds (a la Hume) and, as you call them ‘former wunderkinds’ playing class, innovative attacking footy would be my dream. My utopian vision though allows for a little more flex than yours I think - to fill gaps where there’s a temporary skill shortage so to speak. On that basis I’m all in favour of the Mendy signing. I think it/he can help bring on and develop other players at the club.
We have to give those younguns the best chance to improve and progress. As we seen the back end of last season just having them learn on the job and basically 'get on with it' isn't necessarily a good thing. They can learn more and improve more, imo, with a few experienced heads showing and leading the way.
I'd agree with that. I'm not opposed to signing the older players, I just see it as a necessary evil. I can't get on board with people being excited that the club have 'seen the need for more experienced players'. Apart from the fact that I don't think that those kind of players were ever excluded from the recruitment policy, it just doesn't get me going.
It was clear last season we needed more championship experience, especially during key moments in a lot of games where these kids were crying out for some leadership. I’m still excited about the young lads like Jobe, Aouchiche, Rigg etc but a smattering of experience through the spine of the team will do us no harm. We did have experienced players in Bath, Gooch and Pritchard but they weren’t good enough to command a place in the team
But what does doing well mean? Paying a load of players who don't necessarily have any meaningful connection to the club or region to get us success is a hollow victory in my eyes. If we can't have a team full of academy products, I want lads who have loyalty here because we've given them a chance. And not just the chance to have a big pot of cash.
But they were playing and developing fine in the first half of the season. Unless you think Pritchard had a huge influence in this regard then I'd suggest the issues in the latter half of the season were attributable to issues with the head coach rather than the squad make up and lack of experienced players.
It's all about the ceiling of the club. I'm more of your mindset tbh (with appropriate flex). SAFC if we do the same as everyone else tops out as a bottom half PL club. Most likely it'll be relegation battles more often than not. We have to offer something that other clubs don't if we want to be consistently more than that, and for me that is most certainly being more youth-oriented than everyone else. I'm sure we don't plan to, but giving all of Rigg's minutes over to Browne next season is not something that helps us long term IMO. There's balance to be found with everything but I'm surprised how few of our fans are willing to understand the consequences of what they cry out for. A load of senior midfielders in the mix last season would most certainly have meant that CR wouldn't have signed, for instance.
Having a read through the Sheff Weds forum transfer thread and it's class! I'm not saying we'd be any different but it starts off with everyone saying how amazing he is, that he's an fundamental to what they want to do going forward, that his injuries were just freak occurrences that were handled badly, that he's a great character etc etc etc. You then have the link to us and there's denial, reasoning, several of the other stages of grief... ....then realisation as it's nigh on confirmed he's coming here then suddenly he's an overrated, injury-prone, with crap stats and a bad attitude that they never really wanted in the first place!
I'm getting a bit confused. No-one is suggesting a load of senior midfielders. We had a senior midfielder in Evans,the idea being to let him anchor and give Neil,Ekwah,Adil,Riggy etc freedom to go forward and be creative. Evans got a nasty injury,we didn't have an adequate replacement....both Neil and to a larger extent Ekwah struggled with it and we signed Styles,who we thought would fill the role.For whatever reason,he didn't. We've now signed Browne....a good 3 years younger than Evans to fill that role. It still leaves us youth orientated and doesn't in any way take away any opportunities for other players.Why would anyone think Browne is somehow going to limit Riggy's minutes?
I think a lack of experience and naivety caught up with us. The poor form started long before Pritchard left. We got 14 points from Mowbrays last 12 games.
Wouldn’t be against that at all. Easily at the top end of the division in terms of ability. Imagine his wages are huge though.
There was a stat that we had, for the first two thirds of the season, won every game in which we took the lead (I think that was it) - it was extraordinary and something you associate with game management which, in turn, is something people associate with experience. I personally think we have pretty good leadership and experience in abundance in this group - it just so happens they're not particularly old with it.
