Seems his injury is worse than we thought See lnk http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7652290/
Ever think to look down your screen about 4 inches? Thread titled "Hobbs injury confirmed, he's out for six to eight months"
Well maybe my screen doesn't go down 6 inches!!!! Apologies everyone for commiting the crime of the century!!!!!
I think you may have taken me slightly too seriously... I actually meant scroll to check if there's already a thread on it but never mind.
Sad news, i bloody love Hobbsie... when everyone was raving about Chester earlier on the season he was steadily getting stronger, better and smarter and is now a player I want us to keep for 3/4 years if possible.
Get well soon Jack, one of our best performers this season and fingers crossed he'll back to his best when he returns.
I guess assuming we hang on to Chester we've got 2 options: 1) sign another experianced CB to partner Chester for the first half of the season (Cooper and Townsend backing them up). Once Hobbs is back we have 3 solid CBs going forwards with Townsend covering them (Cooper and Dudgeon becoming our two left back options when Dawson leaves). 2) we can use McShane as that other CB. Instead of him getting a free transfer this summer we hang on to him until either January or the end of his contract next summer. Again Cooper and Townsend are cover, but in this case when McShane's deal is up Cooper needs to be the 3rd CB, and we need to sign another left back to replace Dawson (so that we've two options and not just Dudgeon).
I don't think Nick has any intention of involving McShane, he'll be praying that Palace want to keep him and he'll be looking to bring in someone new(unless Cooper and Bradley really shine in the last few games). Townsend has had a brilliant season at Grimsby, obviously it's not at this level, but I think he's likely to be considered as left back cover for us next season(possibly with East going over to Grimsby to see how he gets on, he needs some regular experience at a lower level).
Sounds a bit pointless to me, get the lad back out on loan and gain some more experience rather than being 3rd choice left back. I mean, look how many games Dudgeon has had this season, and then think how many Townsend would get..
don't think cooper will hang around city's bench for much longer. the lad needs a number 6 shirt and will probably soon go in search for one.
It's a tough one. I rate LC a lot, far more than Cairney and he shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Cullen. Let's hope he shows what he can do for the remainder of this season and possibly nail a first team place going into the next one. Of all our young players I have always singled LC out as one that could go all the way. Sometimes you need someone else's misfortune to give you your chance. I really do hope he takes his, he's got another 6 games to show what he can do. That'll be by far his longest run in the team.
Completely agree. That's the kind of player Hobbs is, a top pro and it's unsurprising that when he does finally miss a game through injury it's because he knackered his knee making an amazing, brave, last-ditch tackle. This is terrible news for the player and the club. I think Chester is absolutely ready for the PL. His quality is exactly what they will be after. There are an abundance of big hard defenders but ones with tackling and footballing ability like Chester are a rarity that belong in the PL. I really hope we can keep hold of him but there's no doubt that he's ready if you ask me. Townsend is a fullback. Just hope he makes a full and speedy recovery. Cooper and Bradley will have to make the most of this opportunity.
Yes he is. For some reason I keep referring to Bradley as Townsend, and I don't realise I'm doing it. I was even reading OLM's post wondering why he brought Townsend into it. So to try to be clearer (by using the right names and incorporating McShane going): Start of the season: LB: Dawson, Dudgeon CB: Chester (assuming unsold), A.Signing, Cooper, Bradley RB: Rosenior, A.Signing (the same one as in the middle) Wingers: Stewart plus 2 (and none of those 3 are the cover for Koren, assuming we sign a good lone striker probably Fryatt doubles as Koren's cover anyway) Once Hobbs is back: LB: Dawson, Cooper CB: Chester, Hobbs, A.Signing, Bradley RB: Rosenior, A.Signing Wingers: Stewart, Dudgeon plus 2 Once Dawson goes (if it's next summer): LB: Dudgeon, Cooper CB: Chester, Hobbs, A.Signing, Bradley RB: Rosenior, A.Signing Obviously with that last one it means next summer we need to sign a winger, and possibly another CB or RB depending on how well Cooper and Bradley do between now and then.
I don't think we can plan for the season after next just year Ricardo. Any number of players could become **** overnight, get injured or get too good for us and leave in that time.
I disagree, that's like saying people shouldn't plan for their retirement because they might be made redundant tomorrow. Yes you should be aware of the potential threats to it and have some idea of what you're going to do if things gor wrong, but you should still be palnning for retirement if you're able to. We should have a Plan A that in the next year: 1) sees Dudgeon getting more game time next season with a view to taking over from Dawson when he leaves without it compromising the side. We should assume that it'll be next summer just in case. 2) sees Cooper progressing as far as being an established sub (ie we're comfortable with him playing 2 or 3 games if needs be, and Townsend as far as being a fringe player (ie we're comfortable with him being on the bench to get 20 minutes at the end of games or in the event of injuries a one off game here and there) 3) sees an experianced CB brought in to cover Hobbs' injury. It should be a permanent deal for a player that can also play RB so that if Hobbs returns we have a suitable squad depth right across the backline without the need for further signings (we'd still need a RB if it were a loanee who then left), and if Hobbs doesn't come back means we only need to make one signing instead of two (which we would if it were a loanee as we'd be needing a replacement for Hobbs and the sub RB). Clearly Cooper or Townsend might not develop as we hope they will, or Chester might leave for a PL side, or someone can get injured, but that's additinal signings to be made as and when. By all means identify the targets and have a list for if something goes wrong, but until then we should be building a squad for this season that it's reasonable to expect to be up to the task for this season, whilst also looking to establish it for the future. It'll surely help us keep our best players (and recruit youth players) if they can see that they're part of a nucleus of a squad that we want to develop into a good team that can be together for the next 4 or 5 years at least. Rather than them looking at things and going "well the manager isn't even planning beyond next summer because he's either got no faith in us developing as he needs us to, or he's no faith in the club being able to match our development, it's all short term here".
