After sitting through the last 2 home games I find myself wondering just what sort of team we are. Preston was a poor performance and QPR pretty good for 50 minutes. No one can argue that we are a hell of a lot better than we were 18 months ago but are we an ordinary team that is overachieving or a good team that has off days ?. The league table shows that we have won just 9 out of 25 played which considering we have played 13 at home dosen't sound very good, also we don't seem able to put in a full 90 minute shift, so are we as good as we think we are ?. I really hope that we can strengthen a bit in January and that the second half of the season dosen't turn out to be a disappointment after finally getting all our hopes up.
I personally think we're like all Mick McCarthy teams, we're not that good a team but we do the basics well and our performances don't fluctuate a great deal and we have a great team ethic. And given the nature of the Championship that means we are likely IMO to be about where we are now for most of the season. We're just plodding along nicely, some of our teams over the previous few years you think once they click we could be a really good team despite poor performance but it never clicked, this team is just reliable but yes lacks a bit of quality and dynamism. I still think a more creative CM and a RW wouldn't go amiss but don't want to see us bring in any loans really. I understand Mick wants to bring in cover for defence, I can see why because we currently only have 5 players there but then I would've given Hewitt more of a chance, surely Mings at RB isn't any better than Hewitt?? Like I said rather than getting too many more players I'd like to see some youngsters being used or our fringe players. Then in the summer we can sort the squad out and add a bit more quality but although I don't think we have a great squad slowly building rather than bringing in loads of players is the way forwards!!!
I echo your thoughts Anglian...i posted a very similar post not long ago, and i feel the same. We was in sixth at the time, and i thought that was a false postion, based on the quality of our team/squad. We will not get in the play offs, and we will not get relegated - just boring mid table security - which a lot of fans are happy about, as it is a complete improvement to last season. I woonder how fans would then feel if we ended up in mid table (lets say 12th) and ten points off the play offs? Would it be seen as an improvement on last season where we finished 14th, but 8 points off the the play offs? As i said, a lot of fans are saying this is an improvement, but i don't think it will be. Last season we started poor, but finished with a flourish, whereas this season i think it will be the oppososite - we've started well, but we will slowly fall away and i think we will finish where we do every year - between 14th and 16th.
Top half will still make me happy. Regardless of how many points it is to sixth we would've still finished higher than last season, with more points than those below us. I don't think we will fall away too much but the play offs is a big ask from our currently small squad.
Would a 12th place finish and 10 points off play offs be seen as progress and a better season than last (14th and 8 points off of a play off)??
Now is the time for Evans to back Mick with some serious cash for players in this window! Alas though according to the EADT all we can expect is a couple of loanees if we're lucky! Here we are with the best chance of doing something for years and Evans is keeping his wallet firmly closed! Just goes to show how little ambition Evans has left for our football club! We spent next to nothing in the summer and nothing again to strengthen our threadbare squad in January! Getting totally fecked off with Evans!
You are having a laugh aren't you? Owner says to the Manager... Listen Mick I want to help you financially with some money to further strengthen the playing squad. How much do you want to spend? Mick says... Nah, your alright Marcus I've got enough players already but thanks for asking!
It's not always that black and white - It could be that there is no one out there that is available, and also, MM might think that getting someone in now would either not make any difference or could upset the applecart, hence why he may not want anyone. Its all well and good saying that we need to spend some money, but who in their right mind will sell their best players now, mid-season - and probably to a rival club? The only players that will probably be available, are premiership players that won't make the 25 man squad, and will probably only be loaned out and average league 1 players that are looking for a fat pay cheque. I'd be flabbergasted if any championship teams do any serious trading this month.
Its a tough one in regards to what we get, do we splash the cash on a transfer fee on a player then also have to splash the cash in the wages for the player. Or get a better class of player on a bosman, and use the money we would have spent on the transfer fee on bigger wages they will ask for. I would go for option B.
The big problem is that Evans SHOULD have got his chequebook out in the Summer! To only spend 20k on a player and the rest being loans and frees is simply disgusting for a football club of our size! At the end of the day desire, hard work and "a good bunch of lads" will only get you so far! Just look at Huddersfield who have splashed 1.3 Million on Nakhi Wells FFS! That is showing some ambition!
They did also have the Jordan Rhodes sale to fund that.... Which is an avenue I won't be elaborating on.. I do agree with you JWM, to an extent atleast. However the strengths of this side come from the fact they were 'cobbled together' rather than anything else and that has build a good team spirit and ethic within the squad. One thing I do agree on is that a little bit of money, spent wisely on this squad would go a long way, however January is very rarely a time when money goes very far! I also wouldn't discount us being interested in bringing in players.. Mick is very astute and knows what money can get him in this league so will be keeping his good ear to the ground and if someone does crop up I wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly had a few bob to bring someone in.. Smokescreens and all that, as Mick will only bring in someone who will genuinely improve what we have.. I must say though, given the money spent by Keane and Jewell I am still more optimistic in Mick finding some decent additions for nothing compared to the money wasted on distinctly average players by his predecessors (Keane especially)
Yes, because we would have still got more points over the course of a season than twelve other clubs.
RB is the spot that needs sorting, we are leaking chances/goals from that side, Chambers does well enough over there but at the end of the day he is not a RB. Get in a RB and we have cover & competition across our back four. Would not spend money on the rest of the positions; 1. clearly no money is being made available 2. Jan is the worst of the two windows (I wish they would scrap it) 3. Lets see where this lot can finish, then build with a handful of changes/additions during the summer, next year for me is the season we will properly see what ME is made of & where MM can take us. Half term report; A-
Do we really accept all this FFP bollox as a genuine reason or is it just a convenient excuse not to invest in players? It certainly has not stopped the likes of Forest or Huddersfield from spending a few quid has it! I am not expecting to spend Millions but what I am expecting is that we bring in some much needed cover and indeed a proper RB in this window! Is this too much to ask? Well according to Evans it probably is!
We have a proper right back, his name is Elliott and he is busy getting experience ready for next season. I don't see the need to invest in another just to get us to May. We have Freddie too, who is doing the same.
I agree I didn't see much wrong with Hewitt tbh, I mean he's certainly no worse than Mings. For me we need to add real quality now in the form of a good CM, although I do sometimes wish Skuse would step up a bit more. The guy has got ability but plays it too safe to much he needs to show a little more purpose in his play sometimes. And certainly the RW is an area which needs improvement. I'd be fairly happy as I said if we waited to invest in the summer, money doesn't neccessarily bring success as we've seen and actually laterly at Wolves Mick overpaid for alot of players, so lets continue to be frugal and build our team slowly over a few seasons.
If that is the case I don't understand why he can't get experience in our own first team.? Afterall he is playing 1 division down that on the face of it is almost as competitive as the Championship (See PNE) Also he has not been in the match day squad since the resumption of his loan.!
To be honest Hoppers I don't think Hewitt is quite ready for a run in the team and his time at Gillingham will bring him up to the standard required. He has spent most of his time with us injured and so he needs some valuable game time elsewhere.
