Andy Hughes - got him. This is off the BBC website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14360398.stm Exciting days - about time, too.
Opinions, as always seem divided on him. Scunny fans not too complimentary but Leeds more so. Apparently will work his nuts off every game and is a leader. 33, so brings plenty of experience with him.
Here we go again, bringing in players days before the first league match! Why do we need a 33 year old right back?
Why not All Hell...? The fella has bundles of experience and i personally couldn't give a monkeys that he's 33. Imo we are a little weak at RB. So the fact the gaffer is looking to bolster that area if the right player becomes available, is i think encouraging. Everything I've read on him points towards him being a big favourite with the Leeds faithful. Who Incidentally are notoriously hard to please... Could be a decent addition i reckon.
Franco, I can see him turning into this season's Doc! Popular with a previous club but basically past it.
He's completely different to Doc. I can see him being more along the lines of Graham Murty. Time will tell...
Hey new to the forum but I will put my 2 pence worth in anyway. Hughes would be great for his experience but I do not think he will be a starter. Probably being looked at for his versatility and being able to play anywhere along the back four and fill in as a defensive midfielder if need be. I do feel we need to continue to strengthen our back line but I agree with some of the other posts in regards to needing another Striker. I heard rumours from a Leicester site that we were looking at young striker Schlupp on loan, but do not know how reliable that source is. But I do think we need to go young, someone who is out to prove themselves.
I suppose it all comes down to budget now- the board and CP have worked brilliantly over the summer to bring us a team full of flair and commitment. When was the last time we had that? I'm not excited about this signing and the only thing I can assume is Francis is off for a nominal fee and Hughes will be signed for a free or nominal fee. Can't expect the board to put much more in after a reported 500k for Green, £350k for Stephens, £350k for Wiggins etc. Solly looks like he will be our first choice, with Hughes providing the experienced back up. There is also the element that with Evina seemingly struggling for fitness and Wiggins taking a knock that Hughes can be used for LB. Rather that than JJ dropping back there....
I`m with you I think some of the Elliot bashing is a bit imagined rather than fact in as much as listing his failings. Abit Francis like in a way though on a lesser scale,Elliott can make numerous saves brilliant at times and thats ignored the odd blooper and everyones on his back. He has won us way more points than hes lost in my view.
I can't remember a single game where Elliot has single-handedly cost us a game, yet there has been so many occasions in which he's put in a series of great saves throughout the game, and in the last few minutes to really keep us in it. Yet everyone gets on his back because he's a bit podgy and says we should play Sullivan instead, who's only played a handful of games, but who barks at his defence (which had no effect on them anyway).
Defence did look more solid with Sulivan in goal. Thats not necessarily a criticism of Elliot, but a bit of praise for Suli.
We still let in a fair amount of goals though, and Sullivans kicking is far poorer than Elliots. Bristol Rovers away sticks out in my mind when he nearly cost us a number of goals with his appauling goal kicks. I'll probably be labelled as 'sentimental', but with us having two goalkeepers of similar ability, I'd far rather we stick with one whose been brought up to support the club, and came through our youth academy (whilst incidentally being far more experienced) than somebody we snapped up a couple of months ago from Millwall.
Here here WWOCB,now Hamer has arrived...so thats 31st team keepers something has to give. As for Podgy Robbie Nev southall was hardly slim and he wer`nt bad
I think if Robbie was completely honest he would admit that he hasn't been consistent enough since March of our first season in League One. I agree that the defence hasn't helped- but there have been glaring errors in regards to positioning and ability to get across his goal for long range shots. I thought in our first season back in league One that he was a standout performer up until March/April. Plus, I don't care where the player comes from- if he is good enough and better than Rob (Which I think), then we don't have room to be sentimental. His record for us was 6 games played, 6 conceded and 2 clean sheets. Not a bad platform to build on, at all!
But with a decent defence it hardly matters who the goalkeeper is - we could Stevie Wonder in goal and still finish top of the league. As for this 'sentimental' tag, its not sentimentality - I simply want to share some sense of identity with the club, everyone complains when we have players who seemingly don't care about the club, yet with Rob Elliot we have a true Charlton fan playing in goal, who would run through a brick-wall for the club and is more than good enough for this league. Why swap all that for somebody (who is at most) slightly better than him, but doesn't give a crap about Charlton and will be right out the door as soon as someone bigger/with more money comes calling?
But your basing your argument on an assumption that Hamer or Suli ''don't give a crap''. And being honest- I think if any Premiership team came in for Elliot with a realistic chance of him getting first team football plus doubling wages etc, that he would take it. He loves the club, but no one would blame him for it, and Robbie wouldn't be able to resist something like that.
