I’m on the fence with Adarma. At Blackburn and now this season, he is playing in teams that play in a specific way and the result is that he can do a great job. Last season, under 3 different managers, playing different styles and being asked to play in different positions and perform different roles he was completely out of his comfort zone. Throw in an underperforming squad and a lack of confidence throughout, I can understand why he struggled. I would like to think that if we go up, he will be better prepared for a second chance, simply because he will be playing in a team packed with confidence, with everyone knowing their role.
Yep, you could call it a clean slate after his exploits this season, I can't see the club binning him off at the first opportunity if we go up.
Armstrong is far far too lightweight for the premier league but doesn’t have the extreme pace and/or skill to make up for it. I remember someone commenting on a video of the team on a plane at pre season. He looked notably small / lightweight in terms of frame compared to most of his teammates
I don’t personally think Adarma is good enough for the PL. But wouldn’t be against giving him another chance should we get promoted, because he would be a big part of the reason why. That would be with the proviso that we bring in a new striker anyway which we’d surely have to do. Anyway, I’ll worry about who is and isn’t good enough for the PL when we get there. Long way to go yet and despite our run we’re still currently 3rd.
I'm not saying Arma is 100% a premier league level player, but I don;t think you can really judge on the 14 starts he made in the league last season. We were shocking all round. Even settled players we know are top level like KWP & JWP looked crap at times, so its no surprise a player new to the club also struggled.
He stays on the value and sheer brilliance of the Plymouth goal alone. (And for his pronoucination of Plymouth in the interview) He's ****ing quality, I'd be beyond miffed if he went
Agree that Arma is a strange one. It’s not like he didn’t have chances in the PL. We gave him plenty of opportunities. Unfortunately it looks like he is in the bracket with Dwight Gayle, Adam Le Fondre and many others who I have forgotten who are too good for champ but not quite PL level. I think he deserves a chance to be played on the right wing and could easily see him doing a job there. But definitely not a 9
Who could we possibly sign on a permanent transfer, without gambling a large sum in case we don’t go up, that would join and also could potentially do a job if we go up? That list must be absolutely tiny. Signing strikers in January is nearly always a bad idea. Our position is too uncertain. Lots of people talk about the lad from Aberdeen. But is there anything really to suggest that he’d even hit the ground running here. Let alone be ready for at least a squad place in a premier league team? Surely you keep hold of the 5-8m? Which is probably why we are reluctant to let Mara go out on loan. We can’t realistically fill his squad spot Maxing out on loans (indeed going above the number for the squad) doesn’t help. The only option would be if we were converting Fraser to permanent. But I just don’t see why he’d do that. He’s probably on half wages from us to be here. He still gets the other half from Newcastle. So unless they will pay up the difference for the remainder of his contract (and I don’t see why they would) then that isn’t a go-er either Probably the reason we haven’t sent Holgate back. We can’t permanently sign someone as a 4th choice centre back as no one will join on those terms.
For me you could take probably the bottom 8 of the premier league and the top 5 of the championship and it would be very competitive Likewise from this season I’ve noted there is a huge gap in the championship, about half the league are pretty ordinary, so plenty of games for the players on the cusp to look great in.
