Vaughan did more in 5 minutes against Sunderland than Twine and Lokilo combined. He can beat a man, so what if he loses in the last 3rd at least he has ago. Just because he doesn’t suit Rosie’s way of turning round and passing it back. Obviously Benson is a step above, but in our current squad Vaughan deserves a bit more of a chance.
Benson or Zaroury would add some flair and drive to the wide areas. Somebody on the Sheff Wednesday thread mentioned having Robertson and Odubajo as full backs, to have four players down the wings that could beat a man with pace and cross with accuracy would be fantastic. Thats how we got promoted last time. A-Bob and Brady on one side, Odubajo and Elmo/Aluko on the other. Just sheer pace and guile.
I think like McCan Rosie has his undroppable players. seek in and week out we see the same mistakes from the same players but next game they are still in the team. Rosie at least is starting to admit he made mistakes rather than blaming any one else. Acun has shown faith in him but to be frank I would far sooner we are not in the play offs as we have so many players who are not premiership quality if we fluke a place in that division. Get another window in the summer. Get rid of players who are not top 6 championship at the very least and build a squad
Instead we try to use Twine, Doc, Traore, Slater, Coyle and Greaves like these players. It’s a bit like when Steve Bruce used to play Aluko up front on his own as a lone striker and have Elmo and Brady just smashing speculative punts for him to try to head against defenders twice his size.
The notion that players won't come because we sit 7th not 5th, or because we've lost 3 of the last 4 is quite ridiculous. As someone said, if anything it'd encourage them that they'll get plenty of game time at a side that only needs a small boost to hit the play offs.
There's no point signing any players in the January window, they've missed the pre season, will take ages to get up to speed with rosies ground breaking philosophy, take another age to get up to fitness and be injured anyway.
Depends where they come from and the individuals natural fitness tbh. If they've been in and around a first team like Bird and is already up to speed then it's less of a risk than someone who perhaps hasn't played or is coming in from a less competitive league with lower fitness requirements, or with no experience of British football.
You can't say "like bird" and then say about a player coming in from a less competitive league with lower fitness requirements being a risk..... That's exactly what bird would be doing. It's absolutely chalk and cheese the difference in both competitiveness and fitness from L1 to the Champ
We know Bird has played successfully at this level, and he's currently playing regularly and match fit. That's what I was getting at, as opposed to perhaps an Ebiowei who'd not really had a look in at any competitive level since leaving Derby - or indeed an untried or untested player with a dodgy injury record from a slower, less physical league - Traore, Allahyar, Tetteh spring to mind. Of course there will be caveats within that general point. And no signing is risk free but you can hedge your bets. Some potential January signings will be more likely to come in and make a more immediate contribution than others. Whether you agree with the Bird example or not, I'm sure you'd agree?
Surely you're not suggesting that recruiting players from Turkiye might not be a good idea?! That 'less physical league' is the league Kent is playing in.. or actually not even really playing in. So sounds like you're panning his potential signing. Benson hasn't been playing for Burnley either so would lack fitness.
A Kent or King type would at least have proven their robustness in British football. Either of those haven't played a lot so would probably take some time to get fully sharp, so that would potentially to be something to consider - could we wait until Feb/Mar to get someone fully cooking? And no I'm not referring specifically to Turkiye. A lot of international leagues are more technical and less physical, so there's likely to be an adjustment period at the very least. That's one thing in summer/pre season, but January needs to see a more immediate return, doesn't it?
And they haven't been the only sicknotes. Oscar came from Portugal, Christie came from the championship, Connolly was a significant time out but hadn't played much prior to signing having spent time in Italy. Most disappointing signings for me that summer (excluding Sinik) were Figs and Woods however, both from the Championship. And Ali had most recently played and trained in Ukraine. Signed for us directly upon his loan contract expiring so hadn't effectively been in Turkish football for a year prior. Wheras Lokilo signed straight from a Turkish club despite having a Belgian parent club.
They're not letting him leave despite him rejecting their contract offers though aren't they. Got injured playing for them in September which scuppered any summer move. Not sure I'd be going balls out in that situation either.
