After a couple of years of decay it is an improvement on who was here at the beginning of June. It was stupid to get rid of Hyam and McGoldrick but that was before Hurst came in. GK - the same Full backs - better Centre backs - the same Wingers - better Centre Mid - better Forwards - worse Yes Waghorn went but we got very good money for him and he was no Daryl Murphy. Net overall = better. We need to strengthen further in January and next summer, but that's academic when we're not even playing our best 'keeper and two of our best talents are out on loan.
I’m getting the feeling Hurst is the issue here rather than the players. A better game plan, plan b, formation and a bit of savvy and we would of probably won a few of those games. That said, if Chambers wanted out I’d happily get the door for him.
I don't think we've improved the squad that significantly from last season, in fact I'd argue they're quite similar in terms of on-paper quality. The lack of Championship experience is certainly an issue, so this squad could feasibly be better in a season's time (if we're still in this division). Based on performances and results this season, I'd argue: Goalkeepers - the same Full backs - better (only on the provision that Donacien is a better right-back than Iorfa) Centre backs - worse (Tommy Smith and Webster over Nsiala and Pennington) Wingers - worse (Celina looking better than Edwards through consistency, Waghorn often played out wide and is better than what we use) Centre mid - better (Edun / Chalobah over Connelly / Nydam / Hyam for now) Forwards - worse (much worse)
If they are better... then McCarthy is a better manager than Hurst achieving a lot more with worse players??
I'm with Yorkie on this one - our current squad has better potential then last seasons. They're younger, and play a better brand of football. You have to say that with a fully fit squad, we could, and should climb up the table. We've not had any luck with injuries and suspensions, which have totally screwed things up so early in the season ( when was the last time we had 3 players sent off after 10 league games?) Out of all that we sold, i think the one that i was genuinely disappointed to go, was Webster. Will be a quality player for years to come, and should be a regular in the Prem (albeit it with mid/lower prem club). The rest, meh....Waggers was good, but £8m good? Now, thats all well and good getting the £8m, but it needs to be invested into the team, and unfortunately, thats where we've fallen short. We should've got two experienced champ players (CB and CF), but unfortunately PH thought that all his signings would make the transition to championship much more easily. Fair play to MM, he was draining every possible bit of quality and energy from the team in the last two seasons - we were average at best, but he seemed to get more out of them. This is where PH needs to earn his crust - something needs to change, be it personnel or style of play. If we can somehow stay up this season, then i think we could see the start of something better from our club. We just need to stay in this division now and hope that there are three worse teams than us.
Nuggets, have to pull you up on this assessment. Since when did Paul Hurst inherit Tommy Smith, Bessant Celina or Luke Hyam? Take Celina out of the equation and Edwards is a definite step up (and he's our own player). Webster had moved less than a week after Hurst came in so that deal was probably also already close to being done, although technically he was still our player I will grant you. If you are going to compare to last season instead that's all well and good, but it was not under Hurst's control. He was left with all but the bare bones of a team with only really the goalkeeping situation in good shape and I was happy for Waghorn to go for that money at the time, so I'm not going to criticise the decision with hindsight.
McCarthy's achievements in 5 1/2 years at the club include maintaining our Championship status, getting us into the play offs once, zero East Anglian derby wins, going out in the third round of the FA Cup every year and winning three League Cup matches against Luton, Doncaster and Stevenage. I'm sure we'll be erecting a statue and naming a stand after him at Portman Road, just like the Republic of Ireland will for his one qualification out of three by virtue of beating Iran and at Wolves and Sunderland for his two promotions in 22 years of club management.
I think there are some crossed wires here Hampy, I am comparing our squad from the start of this season to the start of last season. I read through your post again and fair enough if you're comparing to the start of summer (after all the loanees and out-of-contract players had gone), but I personally find that comparison misleading and inaccurate. It's very hard for a manager to make a squad appear weaker on paper over the course of a summer transfer window, otherwise there are serious recruitment issues. Therefore, my opinion is that a comparison to what we had this time last season is a fairer comparison and my opinion is that we had a better squad, on paper, last season.
Whatever happened before that was completely out of his control, otherwise I’m sure Hyam and McGoldrick would have started most games this season. I dont understand the basis of it not being fair. If Mick had done any kind of squad building over his 5 1/2 years then Paul Hurst should have inherited a lot more than he did. Loans are a complete waste of time as far as I’m concerned and just a way to paper over the cracks.
I think a more effective and balanced approach to comparing squads is by taking this squad now, during the season, and comparing it to what our competitive squad looked like this time last year. Comparing this squad to the squad at the start of the summer transfer window, after the loanees from last season had gone, players had been released due to expired contracts, and no player signed is inaccurate because squads will naturally improve and increase over the course of a summer transfer window. Therefore, lower league squads at the start of the summer will always look a little light at the start of June. We had a discussion on this forum about the strength of the squad following the end of the season (before the freebies were released) and the consensus was it was a competitive, mid-table Championship squad that required a few key signings to push to the next level. My personal opinion was that the squad back then was not equipped to play the style of football we want to see, which I feel is reflected in the poor performances of Knudsen, Chambers, Skuse, and Ward this season. Your opinion on loanees is an opinion, and we all have our views on their worth, but you cannot disregard them from last season's squad just because you 'think they're a waste of time'. They are a cheap, sometimes convenient way of adding quality to a squad and many clubs in this division and lower use them. The three promoted sides last season had several loanees in their squads. At Ipswich, we have relied on loanees, rightly or wrongly, for many years even going back to Joe Royle's time at the club. And it hasn't changed this season. We currently have six loan players in the squad, this is more than what Mick had in his squads as he typically limited himself to three or four loanees. This is not praise for Mick, I'm simply stating fact. Mick's methodology was to live 'season-by-season', for all its positives and negatives. It's hardly unique at this level, many clubs with our budget do the same. Many clubs in this division have a few loanees in their squad. It's how business is conducted in the Championship and lower levels. The main issue with this club, in my opinion, is wider than the manager (whether that be Mick or Hurst). We have a recently drawn-up 'five point plan', which is effectively a list of nice footballing principles. These principles are not being robustly applied to this club, because we are currently struggling to abide to two of them this season already. What this club needs is leadership from the top and the appointment of a Director of Football who can coordinate our approach from the youth team to the senior team.
I remember the discussion well and my view was that there were a few players - a spine (and for some reason I included Luke Chambers in that) - and that was it. If every squad improves every summer transfer window then everybody by now would be playing like Barcelona. It's not the case at all. Separately our loan players are worse than last season, but our permanent signings are an improvement so as far as I'm concerned that's the most important thing. But whatever point you want to take from last season we have improved the midfield, wings and full backs, the defence is much the same as it was and only the strikers are weaker, so that should be an easy fix in January and then we will be way ahead. I agree with Stretchy, the problems we have are not with the playing staff.
Well Chambers had his use in a Mick-style team, but he's certainly struggled to pass out from the back. If he wasn't the captain, I'd like to think he'd be dropped by now. I know some might shout 'Championship experience', but Knudsen, Chambers, and Skuse are really struggling this season and I'm not just picking on them because they were Mick's favourites. They struggled with passing it out from the back and they have struggled working under a new manager. The squad generally improves 'on paper' from June to August because you clear the deadwood and start signing players. Of course, you can lose players and that has an effect, which it undoubtedly has this season, and players who look good signings 'on paper' sometimes don't work out (factor in players getting stale and ageing over the course of a season) and you'll naturally get decline. Obviously no squad improves continuously, things happen during the course of a season to change opinions. Two years ago, we saw Ward on his debut and thought he looked a good signing, improved the squad on paper, and offered an improvement in our wide areas. Fast forward to now, and most people would think he is deadwood now, let alone next summer. That's just how football works. Psychological issues can also affect performances if the results are not coming in. I think we're a good case in point here. I don't think the squad is significantly worse than last season and I don't think it's better, I just think compared to this time last season (regardless of whether you remove the loans or not), we've still got an above average Championship squad. This team is having confidence issues, whether that's purely down to results and performances, or whether it's due to the fact it's a young squad or the style of football seems to change week-by-week, is open to question.
I understand what you’re getting at nuggets and sure players will be released in May but for the most part they’re rarely in the XI by definition. Teams don’t perform worse in May than in August or in March worse than in October. We have not signed anybody Earth shatteringly better than what we had but it was a really poor squad with no half decent right back, one senior centre back, a midfield who couldn’t score any goals and an average Championship forward. So if I’m judging Hurst it doesn’t make any difference if we had Harry Maguire at the club a year ago or Tommy Smith or Roland Ray. We can only judge him on whether he is improving the squad that was with us at the end of May. So far overall yes and forwards a resounding no. That’s an achievement because despite what you say, not every squad improves and it’s even more stark when big money gets spent on players who don’t perform. But we are miles away from the playing staff we need to mount a promotion challenge, we need at least another four or five top Championship players in.
To clarify, I wasn’t intending to compare Hurst with McCarthy but look at the colossal squad building job he had and still has on his hands.
Yet you earlier stated that in the summer you thought we had a squad that only required a few signings, hardly screams a 'really poor squad' to me. I think we're on the same page that last season's squad was not a good one, but I look at the squad we have today and honestly I don't see much improvement at all. Our attack, which was strong last season, has been decimated. We have a strike-force with one league goal between them. One league goal! It's shocking. You can argue the coaching needs to be improved, but when it comes down to the matches, we lack goals and lack creativity. Players like Jackson, Nolan, Graham, and Ward need to take more responsibility. Agreed we need a few top Championship players. If I had to choose the positions - centre back, left-back, central midfielder, left winger, and arguably two strikers. Hurst must take some responsibility though for bringing in players to cover these problem areas which, so far, are not working.
Nuggets I stated that we had a squad with only a couple of good players. Now we have improved it somewhat and we only need 4 or 5 great players.
