Who do we think the key players for the coming season will be? Leaving aside any potential new recruits. To kick off, I think Ruddy is going to be crucial. He is already one of the top keepers around, but I think he is going to really grow in confidence this season and will be vital in marshalling would could be a relatively young and inexperienced defence. In midfield, I think Howson is going be the player that could really drive us forwards. He seems to have the leadership qualities we've maybe been missing in the middle of the pitch, and I think will be strong enough and ambitious enough to take other players performance up a level. Holt? Yes, hopefully, though I do have a niggling fear that now he has his new contract and the security he has craved, it might have an adverse affect on his performance.
I think your fears about Holty are way off the mark! Just watch any match that he's played in for us, you can see the determination etched on his face, that man will run until he drops and then he'll get up and run again, there are no half measures with him!
I really think wes is going to be a game changer more than once this year, think he will be used mainly off the bench or behind a lone striker away so i think come the end of the year we could be heralding his impact!
Pilkington, who I have decided to refer to as PiPi due to a freeze-related typo, must play more next year! I am now going to look for odds on him getting into double figures. Our best player, for me (maybe alongside Howson).
OK Beef - I disagree re Wes and feel he won't always start games, but will be used as an 'impact sub' My midfield would be Howson, Fox, E Bennett and Pilkington with Holt and a n other up front!!!! if things aren't going our way, take Fox off and bring Wes on!!!! I'm sure I'll get a mixed response to this!!!
Nope i totally agree that'd be my first choice midfield and i love wes! Think it might change the more we see butterfield play and how johnson plays
I notice with all your midfielders, that crofts wont be getting much of a look in. Always rated him quite highly. Do you think he'd do a good job for leeds? obviously not saying we're after him or anything
yeah I think he'd be a solid player for you! did well for us in the championship and you cant fault his work ethic!
Billy - Don't know if you've seen many games in the last few seasons - I've been a season ticket holder for the last 5 seasons. Last year, I only missed one home game and watched at least 12 away games down a local pub and for me, Wes often tried to beat one man too many, but if CH can get him to stop doing that then by all means have him in the 'starting 11'
key player for me will again be holt - if he suddenly starts misfiring, which i don't think he will, then we will struggle - scoring goals is always vital if you are at the wrong end of the table and i suspect we will be competing in the bottom half this year, probably the bottom third. as pointed out above, the real key areas will be the spine of the team, from ruddy through to holt. we need a solid spine and hopefully i slightly more settled team, although i believe lambert's 'mix it match it' style won us a few points during the season, so its all about balance
Key Ruddy R Bennett Howson/Pilks/E Bennett Holt I think if those five stay fit and play most matches we'll do OK. I don't think Wes is going to play too much with Butterfield's signing unless he impresses CH pre-season. I think key to our success next season will be having a settled back four. If we can just keep the same CB pairing for most of the season I am sure that we will leak a lot less goals through poor positioning.
If we continue to extol the virtues of a squad and not stars then as we know from last season, anybody can have a key moment in a game when they score or save and that gains us points. They may well be a bit harder to come by next season. I remember Ward having a mare against Liverpool but remember, was it Swansea? where he pulled the ball back over his head when it looked like it was going out (it probably had) and we scored and won the game. Over 38 league games, mistakes happen but as a generality, games are won/lost in midfield. So taking the optimistic view of a successful attacking midfield, I think Howson could be the game winner/changer. He came close to scoring more than he did last season and if he finds his range, I think he could bang in a few.
I think that depends on what Hughton wants. Some players perform well for one manager and don't perform well for another manager. A player who was key for one manager could be replaced by a reserve player under the new manager. Although I don't think this will happen as wholesale changes are not necessarily needed as they would if a manager was sacked from an under performing club. Also Hughton appears to like to play in a similar way to Lambert and do there shouldn't be too many changes as the team was successful last season.
Bennett (both of them) as well as the spine mentioned several times above - this is becoming virtually the team now.
The way things stand at the moment, I think the team will look something like this. I have not included Whitaker, due to the circumstances! Defence is a bit young, but i can not see Ward being the main central role. Ruddy Martin, Bennett, Ayala, Tierny Bennett, Howson, Pilks Butterfield Holt, Moro on the bench, we then have Wes, Johnson, Fox, Surman, to change things. Jackson, and Ward not awe-inspiring and obviously Rudd or Steer. The importance runs through the middle, Ruddy, Howson, Holt. Ruddy will control the defenders, Howson will control the midfielders and Holt will control them all!!! Looking at that team, it does give me encouragement for the coming season, although the defense does lack experience. I would hope that we get some one in like Curtis Davies, but we shall wait and see. 2 experienced defenders, and a striker or 2 would really benefit the team.
I would agree with that and I can't imagine we'll see the same 'squad rotation' that PL used so much last season. If we concede fewer goals and continue to score almost as many as last season, w shouls finish around mid-table I guess.
not having a go at you swindon, just wondering why people are obsessed with age? you mention that the defence looks young but the midfield is even younger! why is it a problem at the heart of defence but not in the heart of midfield? ok, experience comes into it and our midfielders have played far more games but if they are good enough, they are old enough. saying that, i wouldn't mid seeing an older head in the team somewhere! none of this point makes sense!
I think the issue with age in defence, as proved with De Laet last season is that when a mistake is made it can prove very costly. I know Whitbread, Barnett and Ward (hell thats all our central defenders!) all made mistakes as well, but the younger ones do tend to make more. If a young midfielder makes a mistake, there is usually someone else to cover. I guess making a mistake in midfield is more forgiving than in defense, which in turn is more forgiving than a goalkeeping error. Lets all be strikers then!!
