Wouldn't be completely against Ekwah getting another pre-season under RLB. I do think there's a player there if he ups his work rate. He'd likely end up going next August though
Genuinely think that’s a strange view. We saw exactly what he was capable of in the first part of his safc career. He was genuinely very good in this league. He suffered last season from some misguided faffing with his role from Mowbray and then from the chaos that was the second half of the season. Even then, though, his performances were far better than online safc fans claimed. To listen to some both on here and on other places, he was one of the worst players weve ever seen in red and white. The reality was that he was mostly fine with a couple of absolute stinkers. If he came back to safc and was connected to the team he’d do well. Put it this way, we’ve seen better performances from Ekwah at safc than we have from Browne. I think he’s probably gone now, though. He’s doing well at a higher level and his fee will be considered affordable.
I don’t feel it’s a strange view at all. He was defensively weak and slow off the ball. Last season when he played consistently he couldn’t keep up with the pace of the championship. a player with talent that isn’t suited to the English leagues imo.
Samed being injured has meant we've probably missed Ekwah being around. I do hope we get another forward in as I have no confidence in Connolly from what I've seen. I would also like to see a RB and left footed RW brought in.
I don’t mind ekwah but think he be better suited where rigg or jobe are playing rather than holding, wouldn’t have him ahead of either though
Yeh the thing with him is from an attacking perspective I can see him doing the role Rigg does near Roberts. But from a defensive perspective I can't see him doing the role Rigg does off the ball as one of the "front two". So he can't cover Rigg's role. So you then think maybe he could cover Jobe's role, but he doesn't have the engine to do that role well. And he's definitely (for me at least) not the Dan Neil role. So I can see why RLB didn't think he'd fit. The closest is probably the Jobe role but he was never going to get past Jobe, especially in the form he's in this season, and then Alan Browne was probably signed as the Jobe back up.
Summed up perfectly mate, hope we get a good fee and he has a good career seems a really good lad who genuinely enjoyed being here
I thought the stick Ekwah got at times was really unfair, he was no worse than Neil most weeks but became a target because of a few errors that lead to goals. Also never understood the logic that every player on the pitch has to run around like a headless chicken for 90 minutes to be a decent footballer. Without making an unrealistic comparison to someone like a Busquets or Kroos who were obviously world class but both quite slow yet made the game look easy, Tom Huddleston was a very underrated midfielder and never broke a sweat on the pitch. I think with Ekwah nobody really knows where his best position is and he doesn’t really seem to be a natural 6 or 8 he’s somewhere in between. He’s still a decent player who’ll have a good career though.
Orban to hoffenheim suggests to me that maybe our interest was genuine but that a move to the championship isn’t as appealing a bundesliga move in hope we continue to target players of that calibre
No idea why we haven't got half a dozen players out on loan at Hartlepool/Gateshead/Darlo racking up games on their record.
I agree with Gateshead. They play good, attacking football and have a promotion chance (if they’re allowed this time)
There are upsides and downsides of loans. Sometimes it is better to keep a player close and let them develop in the known environment. As you would expect the quality of environment and coaching goes down the lower down the pyramid you go. Sometimes players are better off in the u18s or 21s and training with the first team for the odd session for their development. If we have a really good group at u21s let them play together for a season or two, maybe get some success together. It can be just as valuable as a season on loan in league 2. My opinion anyway.
City are good at this, gradual exposure to the first team without a loan, foden and Lewis off the top of my head in their current side
If I was going to ask for one signing in January, it would be a striker a level up from what we have. Someone for opposition defences to fear when the team sheets come out. It could be the physicality, elusiveness*, heading ability, or hold up play where they excel. Obviously, sticking the ball in the net is the main attribute. * instead of speed, I’m going to say elusiveness