Morning All, First of all, I feel I must leap to the defence of Byram. Pre-injury, the lad had a great run in a 442 setup, with Green playing well in RM, and both covering for each other. Post injury, we had switched to 352, meaning Byram didn't have the Green insurance policy, and was exposed more because of what he was asked to do in that formation, than lack of skill or tactical nous. Basically, he did what was asked of him & did well in these circumstances IMHO. Add to that the fact that he never got a good, solid run in the team. I think he has been unfairly criticised, personally. Secondly, Poleon has never set the heather alight, but to be fair to him, has he ever had a good run in the team? Absolutely not! Most strikers are confidence players, and need to be part of the team. Until he gets that run, we'll never be able to truly evaluate him. I'm not saying he'll be brilliant - I honestly don't know what he's capable of. Thirdly, I am aware of what White is capable of. Do you really think he can cover 2 positions, Ristac? I've racked my brain & all I can come up with is carrying the kit hamper & handing out bottles of water! He can't tackle & he can't cross. Unless he's made HUGE strides in both of these departments, we should get rid - sharpish. Finally, I can't believe the defender we're after is Hanley. Why would the chicken murderers get rid of him. I think he's a really solid defender & would be delighted to see him in our team. Can't see it happening, though.
Evenin' My boss was in San Carlos Friday night on the next table to Cellino + friends. She was p*ssed up and was trying to tell them they should be investing in rugby or netball, not football. (Her husband wasn't right impressed) Anyway, apparently there were 5 or 6 of them, some were apparenlty football agents, all of which were Italian. Not every exciting, but there you go...
Fine post Jock. Agree with every word, although I've never heard of Hanley and therefore can't comment.
Few points from this thread. Firstly I don't actually think we should be scared to sign experienced players. I wanna see exciting young prospects in the team as much as the next bloke but they do have a place in the game as long as they have their heads in the right place. Some do just want a last pay day but some will also work hard for your team and truly want promotion also. Teams that lack experience tend to struggle anyway, Villa have had a lot of very good youngsters for a while but lacked experience and have struggled due to this imo. Also I think people are writing off poleon quite easily. In fairness to him he hasn't really had a run in the team, when he has started (from memory) he has scored a goal every couple games. He is still very young and appears naive to me but has that poachers threat, would've been good if he could learn off someone like Becchio who is always in the right position to round off moves but we don't have anyone in the squad like that currently. I think people are getting a bit carried away with McDaid. He was playing at U18 level against york and scored a hat trick, good for the lad but needs to do it consistently before he will be considered. I also find it funny how another lad scored a hat trick in that very game but he hasn't been mentioned at all yet McDaid has been. And please people, stop mentioning white. Not sure how much we actually have to see of this guy to realise he is useless. Think he has played more games for us than anyone else at the club
You got me thinking that you might be right about White's appearances, so I had to go find out. And yes since Ross leaving, he is the player with the most appearances on our books at present, at 98 marginally above Lees at 93. The shocking example of our player turnover comes when you realise the next highest still at the club is Byram on 53 (albeit scoring 4 goals to White's 2 )
Hold on, theres something not right with those figures. Byram has made more than 53 appearances for us Edit Seems like a mix of figures between last season and previous one, can't find a comprehensive list with all players total apps on. Ah well, back to work!
According to Soccerway Byram has made 69 league appearances , 59 starts and 10 as sub, together with a further 11 games in cups. White has made 84 league appearances , of which 23 has been as a sub, together with a further 21 in cup games. Lees has 123 league appearances, 4 as a sub together with 12 cup games Pearce has 78 league games, 7 as a sub, together with 12 cup games Next would be Kenny with 76 league games, followed by Austin with 71 league games So Lees is our most experienced player going from appearances, in fact he has only missed 11 league games in 3 seasons
98 appearances is a lot and I personally haven't seen a single moment to make me think he is good enough for Leeds United. We need to accept he isn't good enough and focus our efforts on other youngsters. Taylor is a better prospect at LB imo. and even Poleon is a better prospect at LM (although I do accept he should be played as a striker if he is played) imo.
Dont disagree with you there at all Josh, we just need to get Taylor some experience, I didn't realise he has only played 4 games for us (according the wikipedia, which let me down badly with that last lot of stats )
Good day all from sunny Spain. We've waited years for a busy transfer window. We're having one now for sure
Lol Wiki is correct with Taylor he played 2 league games, a whole 90 minutes together a sub appearance of 46 minutes in 2011/2012, and also 2 appearances from the bench in cup competitions of the same year http://uk.soccerway.com/teams/england/leeds-united-afc/681/ Better place to look than Wiki
Taylor did keep Zaha very quiet in that game and the ball for Mccormack was incredible Not holding much hope on the kid though
Don't see a lot of championship footy MTMB. But if he's that good, why would Blackburn sell him to a rival team?
