Rumors getting stronger that Grant Leadbitter is coming back to SAFC. With John Obi Mikel expected to sign for Boro he falls further down the pecking order. A leader and a bit of an all rounded MF I still think he'll do a good job for us.
So where does that leave Robson, ONien , Mumba, Mcgouch and Honeyman.? Its a big no from me. I wont let my heart rule my head.
The missing ingredient from our promotion campaign is goals. We are well covered across other areas of the pitch especially with the likes of O'Nien having an outstanding run of games and acquiring the lad Dunne. My fear is that we do not get another goalscorer in and Maja, Wyke or Whatmore do not have a decent second half of the season, and, even if they did, is it not worth bringing that other striking option in to almost guarantee promotion? So in terms of Grant Leadbitter, as much as I liked him as a player, I think we are well covered in that position and need to make that frontman the absolute priority and use every penny possible to get someone who could make that step up to the Championship.
In truth I would rather have Ayala from Boro, and am inclined to side with Tees on this one, six months too late for Grant imo, but would be delighted if he came and proved me wrong. However we have a lot of very good midfield options already, not forgetting Embleton, I would love to see him, and/or any of the above that Tees mentioned alongside Power in our midfield, its just finding that balance, and moving on the over-rated, over paid and rapidly fading "stars" standing in their way.
Yes id assume Catts, Power and Honeyman are gurarnteed starters so players like Robson, Mumba and ONiel would be affected. He would be a pointless addition to our wage bill in my opinion.
Arguable that Robson and Mumba aren't ready yet and could actually learn form Grant. Mcgeoch hasn't really hit the ground running. I think we're missing a dimension in midfield. Honeyman plays further forward than Grant.
Loan till end of the season would be great. Will he improve our midfield? Definitely! It's awful at the moment. Only O'Nien deserves to be anywhere near the midfield. Robson has had a bad injury and Mumba is only young so neither can expect prominent roles just yet. Get him in. Don't care about his roots, he's simply much better than what we have and we're dying a slow painful death in the middle of the park. Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk
I think it's the reason we're going a bit stale. We need to freshen it up, a CM and a Striker should get us over the line IMO.
I think Leadbitter would be a great signing but we need someone who can win a header in midfield we do lack that. Looks Maja is off to France for 3.5m I would love us to sign Kieffer Moore as his replacement and go for Marcus Maddison
All we do is switch play as we have no attacking mentality in the middle of the park. Teams have wised up to this and have one of their Cms cover their fullbacks. At least Honeyman keeps CMs busy by working hard between their midfield and defensive lines but without him they can spare the cover. Honeyman back and a player like Grant next to O'Nien should see us winning games again with our without Maja imo. Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk
Me too, i dont believe in resigning ex players especially ones that are 33 in an area where we are well covered. Leadbitter is small in stature aswell. We already have litte lads in the middle in Catts, Honeyman, Mcgeouch and Mumba. This is a physical league as is the Championship.
We're not well covered in that area though mate, we've got a bunch of fannies who get a nose bleed if they cross the halfway line. Grant has always been a forward thinking cm, who actually joins attacks, has a decent shot and tries to influence the game in the middle of the park. We've got none of that. He's also as capable defensively as anyone of our cm. Long term wouldn't boad well and I'm usually against signing old players but we're League one now and for the rest of the season he'll be head and shoulder above anything we've got apart from maybe O'Nien, but there's the pairing right there imo. Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk
I still dont see how we can justify having 8 CM in our squad mate. Id like to see Robson get a run of games now he's fit and ONein to get a chance in his favoured role. We havent had that yet this season. Leadbitter would also push Mumba furthur down the pecking order. Imagine a midfield trio of Catts/Mcgeouch, Leadbitter and Honeyman. We'd be completely outmuscled in this league.
The last time I saw Leadbitter play was about 2 years ago and all he did was take pot shots at goal everytime he got the ball. Even from a ridiculous distance. I dont think he has the legs anymore to compete for a place in our squad.
I disagree. Grant is combative as ****. He gets stuck in and not easily beaten on the ball. He'd add something different to our midfield IMO.