What would be your realistic starting 11 for the new campaign. Heres Mine: Loach Doyley Taylor Marriappa Wiggins Cowie Eustace Conway Sordell Phillips Weinman Manager : Derek Mcinnes Let me know what ya think
Welcome to the forum Badge. Err an interesting and challenging lineup. There is an established bidding war for Wiggins (Charlton have already had £300k turned down) and many clubs are whispering about Conway. I'm not sure about Phillips (fitness over a 2 year contract) and I'm not sure about Weimann (not hungry enough - not enough guile). I don't like to be unsure about 2 strikers who I've seen plenty of. Overall I think I want a bit more "physicality". But otherwise I can see what you're trying to do.
I know its only a bit of fun, but i will not give up hope untill deals are announced. Therefore my ideal team would be this. Manager; Chris Hughton Loach Doyley Maps Taylor ATaylor Cowie Eustace Deeney Conway Sordell (unknown) We are very short on strikers atm with only 3 on the books; Massey, Deeney, Sordell. I know my putting deeney in midfield may seem odd, but i think we did better when we played with him there instead of jenkins and it means we can be more attacking which is the only way we will win anything. Our defence is not good enough to withstand constant pressure, and when we go 1 down the opponents need only shut up shop and grind out the game. I know Mowbray wants to sign Taylor, but i think if he does not then we have a fantastic chance to get him back and i think 350k for wiggins to play at left back and play AT in his new found left mid role to replace Buckley and wiggins at lb, surely we are a better prospect than charlton and could match his wages. I think the biggest issue is the striker, i would love to see Kevin Phillips join us, but with the shake up we never know who the manager might poach and this is not counting on loan players, but i would be gutted to see Weiman go to cardiff next year
fair shout bhd although with MM gone I dont think AT will join us! Good idea with Troy though! He has to pay back his fee this season a lot will rest on Deeneys shoulders Lets hope cometh the hour cometh the man!
This season is cometh the hour cometh the men. we will really see who is cut out for the job and who is not. 1 person not pulling their weight could sink the whole team, which is why i dont want to see jenkins on the bench and (dont shoot me for this) i want to see someone kick Sordell up the arse!! he can be very lazy with tracking back and getting onside. We need to play fast flowing 1/2/3 touch football, and be able to break away quickly like we did against cardiff and qpr last year, we need to play the watford way by scoreing more goals than them!!!
I think a more realistic team is: -----------Loach---------- --Hodson-Maps-Taylor-Doyley-- Cowie-Jenkins-Eustace-Whichelow --------Sordell-Deeney------- Possible Subs (pick 7 *): Connor Smith Sean Murray* Piero Mingoia* Michael Bryan Josh Walker* Dale Bennett* Eddie Oshodi* Adam Thompson* Rene Gilmartin* New signings?: Craig Forsyth (approx £100k compensation) Dean Bowditch (free) Rhoys Wiggins (too much for us? :/ ) Manager: Dyche Assistant: Gibbs or Ardley. ----------------------------------------- Towards the end of the season we saw Deeney mature a bit more and start to build a relationship with sordell, as both are fairly good in the air, sordell has the pace and deeney has the strength (and determination to run after every ball). I only hope we can get some more depth upfront, most likely from the loan market. Sean Murray is one to watch out for in midfield, and Whichelow made a few fantastic sub appearances last season and I would back him to push on in the next campaign, this also allows don cowie to move back onto the right wing, from which he is deadly. In defence, I can't see us recruiting a first-choice left back, as good ones are hard to come by and are most likely out of our price range. That is unless Ross Wilson has his eye on someone north of the border. Otherwise, I am a big fan of Lloydinho's forward runs, cutting inside and taking a lot of teams (and us!) by suprise with his newfound attacking prowess. On the other hand, Eddie Oshodi can play CB and LB and we may see him in the early Cup fixture in that position. Hodson recovered from a lack of match fitness to end the season playing quite well. Thompson has bags of potential, and you could easily see Hodson and Thompson alternating as they drop in and out of form. And hopefully we wont see too many goals go in off Dale Bennett's arse this year! (p.s- realise I have written rather too much, oh well!)
Thank you guys, those comments made me smile. Its nice to know i am speaking some sense now and then. As for wages i am happy to start on £200 a week and all the pies i can eat!
Kingy I think if gibbs was to join it would be as manager ! with SD(if he doesnt follow MM)as no 2 ,forget conway ,and whiggins prices rising for them! The rest of what you say makes a lot of sense!
I can still hope for wiggins, he's very highly rated and bournemouth's finances are about as good as ours! :$ As for Gibbs, Mooney has said: *ahem* "Nigel Gibbs is a coach, he's got an excellent pedigree in coaching," "If there was a manager to come in I could see Nigel working with him but I don't see Nigel Gibbs as a manager." Cardiff fans seem to think that we have a good chance of landing Ardley in some role or another... Saying this, we've been linked with John Hughes because of the Ross Wilson/falkirk connection, and I wouldn't mind more scots signings, they've been good so far! (get well soon Stevie McG!)
fair call Kingy ,my thoughts though based on the fact gibbs has more time as a no 2 than SD! Therefore would probably be more inclined to go for the no 1 slot! personally I think we need someone with more experience in operating under difficult circumstance,however if this is not possible I want someone that knows the way we work ! previous 2 unknowns have done a runner , so if we could find someone loyal to the club that wouldnt be swayed by money or ambition, I have come up with a novel solution!!! Lloyd Doyley for player manager!!
I agree with a fair bit of what you are saying kingy, but the one main point i have to disagree with and will do until he proves me wrong is Jenkins in the center. Often the team is overwhelmed in the center of the park and we arent winning 50/50s like we should, and i think he is still young and often gets out muscled and out paced.
I would have put McGinn, but he's out until at least christmas, and I think Ross does a good job when he puts his mind to it. I think he suffers from being touted and a future star when he first broke into the team, he's then had injuries and never got back to his best.
I think everyone will agree that McGinn is the favourite to play alongside Eustace and im one of them, but i think you have hit the nail on the head there about RJ, "when he puts his mind to it" often he doesnt get his head in the game and often goes astray. We need a first team who we know will work, we cant afford to take risks on too many 50/50 players (i know we will have to use some from the acadamy, but they will be subs mainly as Whichelow and the others were last year)
I'm hoping to see the rise of Sean Murray next season, though I don't know about his defensive game, his attacking prowess is easily seen and I think a partnership with Eusty could do wonders for him.