I wouldn’t look at Dan Neil on FbRef if that’s the marker we’re using.. but aye, Clarke done nout to set the league alight last year in that team.
I’m not saying stats are the be all and end all but you can see some key parameters for a full back and he didn’t hit them also Dan neil on FBREF is compared against everyone classed as a midfielder. 6/8/10 even wingers Clarke is ONLY against full backs
Aye but it’s swings and roundabout, you’d expect him to excel on some parameters and be lower on others when against someone playing as a 10 for arguments sake.. he just looks dire across the board on all of the data they’ve used to be fair
I haven't mentioned player development. Also I haven't moaned about lack of depth either. I've consistently said that lack of subs and rotation is a choice from RLB - and I think we're still seeing that now. Also it's very easy to point to transfers as the reason why we don't go up. It's the one thing that fans think you can never have too much of. The truth, though, is likely to be far more complicated than that.
You must be the only person on this board who hasn’t then it’s been rife I wouldn’t say it’s all been down to stubbornness from RLB, to some extent it has but he’s had players on the bench to waste time and kill off games but who do we have that can change a game? Connolly, Rusyn. Hjelde, Johnson etc none of them are going to do owt other than weaken us. I don’t think transfers alone are why a club ultimately fails there could be a magnitude of things but a transfer window can certainly help you achieve your goal come the end of the season. If we loan a player for 3-4 months with no or a relatively modest upfront fee the impact of that on our books is minimal in the grand scheme of it, so why would people not rather have the likes of Rigg and Mundle on the bench with better players on the pitch or available for rotation with better players and give it a good go? People want to see us get promoted with the Xl that started the season because it’s full of young, talented lads but we need to be realistic. If we reach the play offs again do we want another repeat of Luton because we chose not to sign that versatile forward man for example? We need to have all bases covered because 6th place should be the very worst we finish this season.
Agree here, there's clear spots where we need depth for me and the current 2nd and 3rd options wouldn't fill me with confidence if the 1st choice got an injury. You have to prepare for that. Even RLB agrees which is why he has specifically stated we are trying to sign a versatile forward. It wouldn't be fair on the likes of Mayenda to be forced to step up imo when he's not fully ready to shoulder that.
To be more accurate, I bore on about development all the time. Just not in this case when it comes to January On the subject of Luton, we lost that because of defenders, not strikers. It probably illustrates your earlier point, in that any failure (or success) will be attributed to January business or lack of it. The truth is often different. On the other board I've seen people regularly say that the lack of striker signing was the difference between autos and playoff failure that year. Unfortunately that misses the fact that we only dropped 21 points that season from the Stewart injury - and missed out on autos by 22! I'm only being a little provocative when I say it, but there's a part of me that genuinely believes that the best thing for the fanbase would be for us to get absolutely no more signings, and STILL having a good season. Transfer windows seem to be primarily a fume generator - particularly January.
We could just sign what the manager has stated he wants haha, why do we have to fail or not get it done? We deserve nice things we don't always have to miss out haha. We only need 1 or 2 at most imo, I think we will manage it
I may be wrong but, when I've seen him, he seems to absolutely love stepping up ... Watson and Mundle were the same. I hope RLB gets what he wants but I just feel he won't bring a player in he doesn't feel 100% about. We could've had Simms, Kieffer Moore, Ugbo, etc, by now, all of whom were wanted by various supporters ... ... personally I'd rather have Mayenda.
Agree but tbf i'm not asking for a big name or anything, just some extra support from a CF who has shown in his career he can score chances and fits the system we play. That would help Mayenda too. He's mint and has a **** ton of potential but his weakest point is the most important ability we need for the rest of the season. Composure in front of goal.
I agree about the jan window being a fume generator mind I’d love for us to sign nobody else and get promoted automatically I think we all would because these lads are a far cry from the shyte we’ve seen for years beforehand. Lads who actually make us proud when they go out there and leave it all on the pitch and they deserve to be celebrated at the end of the season. As I said previously we’d love it to be the Xl from the start of the season who play every game and get us promoted but it’s just not realistic imo, injuries will no doubt play a part and obviously we aren’t in the top 2 as it stands so nothing to say we can improve to an automatic spot without reinforcements. We’re stacked in the middle of the pitch but for me I think if we did get Akpom that’s a real improvement for the squad. If Isidor picks up a knock, Akpom will go in there. He can play on the right, behind the striker etc so it covers us in a few key area but also brings a quality signing in. Then if we got a full back with a similar profile to Huggins who can play both sides but good going forward as well as defensively I think we’d be solid to push on this season. I wouldn’t even mind bringing an older full back in who’s happy to play off the bench tbh because that’s all we need.
Still hope we go for Emil Riis. Think it makes squad building and financial sense. Adds a player who is good at the level with scope to improve into a PL player while not costing much so if he does not cut it in the PL we would probably make a profit. The wide player doesn't have to be anything particular flash either. I just don't know how much longer we can get away with an inconsistent Roberts being our only wide player.
Some rumours going round about Chaplin leaving Ipswich on loan before the window closes. Be a solid signing for someone at this level
Riis, and Clarke in on loan would be a perfect end to the window. Very much doubt we get Clarke back though.
9GA for Mayenda, joint top in the team despite less minutes than wilson and the best GA per 90 in the whole squad.I think another striker would be a luxury but deifnitely not a necessity. Think we have forward cover with Abdullahi and Poveda coming back in as well so any addition would be more of a luxury as I say. Mayenda may not be as good as Wilson but I'm not sure we attract someone who is as good as him who would be happy to share playing time or that wouldn't stunt Mayendas playing time. I think its rare you have a seoncd choice who is as good as the first choice, that's why they are the second choice
They in for him? Would be a very good signing for them like. I think he could still do a job for a team up the top end of the table tbh but nobody can really fit him in - we have ELF, Boro Azaz, then Leeds with Aaronson and Brownhill having a good season in that advanced role.
Poveda back and Mundle expected back in the next couple of weeks tbf, Poveda looked sharp against Benfica as well
