I'm a little bit troubled despite our lofty position. Others have touched on this in the Oldham match thread but I thought it was worth a separate airing. Something has not quite been right for the last few games despite the unbeaten run continuing. For me one of the real steps forward this season has been the fact that CP has signed a new team and we have broken the cycle of loan signings. No offence intended to Ephraim or Russell who have come in at a time of perceived need. But I would so much rather that we stand or fall on the strength of our permanent squad. Prichard and. Evina would be preferable for me to the two loaners although I can't for the life of me see what Hughes has done to get completely dropped. I know he is not universally regarded on here but we have played IMHO our best football this year when he has played and allowed Hollands to get forward. We have been lacking in the last two games and (I'll get hammered for this) I thought we got lucky against Huddersfield. I can see Russell could be a good permanent signing but Ephraim offers very little. Regardless of that we are back to having two loaneesin the team when I thought we had assembled a squad. Sorry to moan when we are top of the league but I don't feel as comfortable as I did a month ago. Discuss.
Return them both (with Cort if possible) as soon as we are able, we did the loan route over the past three seasons......for us it doesn't work! Harriott is better than Ephriam and Pritchard is far better than Russell, why are we getting these players fit for other clubs? With luck a new Preston manager will call Russell back..... please
I like Ephraim. I too appreciate all the kind sentiments he has voiced about the club - and the fact he proposed the move himself. As for his game time: Brentford - a little off pace as not match fit. Still a steady shift. 'Udders - Some good crosses in the box, and of course the goal. Walsall - Didn't attend, but his name was mentioned constantly on commentary, both for defending and attacking. CP said he was impressed. Oldham - Thought he was a little more disciplined, but covered Wiggins well. There is more to come from him IMO. I would be delighted if we secured him till the end of season. As for Cort.. it's a tough one. If we aren't contributing much to wages then keep him as he is a very good cover for this level. If we are paying a chunk of his wages then it might be best to review and see if there is something else out there that would be better financially and allow a play to sign full time.
I think Russel is not different and no better than Hughes, and is of a similar ability to Pritchard. Given the choice I'd rather we played one of our summer signings instead of a short term loan (even if it probably will become a permanent deal). I like Ephraim as a bloke and think he's a decent player, but I'm just not a fan of a right-footed Left Mid as it means play gets slowed down quite a bit. In order to receive the ball he tends to play with his back to the goal/get it on his left, stop, move it onto his right and move. Neither are ideal for a 'pacey' winger.
Russell is a better midfielder than Hughes, but I feel sorry for Hughes, who did nothing wrong when he filled in at centre midfield. I imagine we'll buy him in the window. I presume Powell doesn't feel Pritchard is solid enough to play as one of the 2 central midfielders? Cort is fine, a loan for the season (with the short time players spend at clubs these days) is virtually like a permanent signing anyway!
I don't have a problem with Cort - as you say K&F it is a season long loan and feels permanent-ish. In any case he is clearly only there for cover if we have a centre back problem. We should be looking for a permanent CB as cover in January or trying to sign Cort in my view. But Ephraim and Russell seem to have been parachuted into the midfield at the first hint of a problem which doesn't say much for CP's faith in Hughes, Evina, Pritchard or David McCallum, sorry Alonso (David McCallum played the invisible man for all those younger than 30 on here). I just feel very uncomfortable with this whole loan thing. For the first time in yonks we have a squad this season that, warts and all, are our own and we can begin to sense loyalty growing. The down side of permanents of course is that if they turn out to be shyte, injury prone or just, well, invisible then we are stuck with them, but the first three months of this season has felt sooooooooo much more cohesive than the last few years. I had been building myself up and up for the Udders game and there was just a tinge of anti-climax there when we played two loanees. If we'd played Hughes and Pritchard/Evina insteda of the two loaness and not won, I'd still have felt that it was "our boys" out there rather than a temporary fix (personally I also thought that chucking two loanees into a settled team for such a huge game was a pretty reckless decision and CP got lucky - gets hat/coat and retreats bashfully towards the door). Maybe I just need a holiday!
We have been scarred by the loan system in the past, but then there are examples (very good ones at that) of it benefiting sides too. 'udders took Danny Ward for 3months last season and it benefited both parties and he then made his move permanent. Brighton also got promoted last season largely to Chris Wood upfront. It just has to be the right players and to not rely on too many at once. We have 3(?) in the squad, two of which are starting and the other as back up. I'm personally not too fearful of that, I remember when we would have to drop Fry from the match day squad as we had 5 in the starting line up!
I don't like short-term loans but the Cort comment in your post doesn't make sense. Defenders (and especially centre-backs) are different. Midfielders and forwards often get subbed in games and different permutations get used, so if you have (say) ten players to cover those positions they will all get a chance over the course of the season and it can sometimes be hard to say which ones are "first choice". But if you have a good pair of centre-backs, as we have, it is best to leave them intact week after week. But then you need another good one on the bench in case of injury during a match. We are lucky to have a player as good as Cort willing to sit on the bench every week and rarely get a kick. Our youngsters are not ready to make more than cameo appearances and only then once the points are in the bag. If we got rid of Cort we would have to pay decent money (in transfer or signing-on fees) to get someone as good, and which good player would want to come here and rarely play? Or maybe you would be happy to rely on the Doc? I wouldn't. I think CP is only using short-term loans as "trials" for players he wants to sign permanently. In the case of Russell I think it was a "done deal" from Day One. And Ephraim he would like to sign if QPR decide they cannot use him. Finally, we cannot return Cort. He is on loan until the end of the season and would only leave if he, Burnley and Charlton all agree.
I completely agree with the original post. Evina and Pritchard have played well enough in the cup games to deserve their chance, and they must wonder where they stand now. I particularly like Pritchard, he seems like a throwback to the Alan Ball/Billy Bremner type of busy little midfielder that you used to get. And the wide left position could be covered by Harriott, Waggy or my choice Evina. I'm afraid it reminds me a bit too much of when Parky parachuted mediocre loanees in ahead of Randolph and Solly. All these players were signed by CP but now he doesn't seem top think they're good enough.
Sorry just can't see what Cort's role is? Isn't it a worry that somebody who is 32ish (?) is happy to sit on the bench for us rather than wanting to go to a club where he is likely to play in the last few years of his career? Same goes for the Doc except he's not even sitting on the bench!
I think Cort has been around long enough to understand that you can't break a partnership like Morro and Taylor. I'm sure he want's to be playing, but you have to then praise his professionalism for not kicking up a stink. I'm sure come the summer he will move on and find regular first team football, but as it stands, he is good back up for us.
The case of Cort is different because he has been brought in as cover and has stayed that way, although I understand Mambo's case as well. Ephraim and Russel on the other hand have leapfrogged over Charlton players who have made an excellent case for first-team places. CP's greatest achievement has been to instil team spirit and passion back into the side, but I'm not complacent about our position since our squad actually looks a bit weaker now that CP seems to have lost faith in certain squad members. And I'd love to know the story behind Alonso's no-show, because a lot was expected of him.
This may be kindred spirit between Kilmarnock supporters, but I agree with every word of this - pretty much what I was trying to say in my original post.
Cant really agree that Ephraim has leapfrogged anyone for a place in the first team as I do only see him as a Stand in for Jacko (and one who reminds me of Lee Cook when we had him) i.e. Waggy seems to be reserved for the Right hand side (in case Green gets injured) / Harriott couldnt get in the 18 man squad for Halifax so not surprised there / Evina seems to be kept in backup in case we lose Wiggins
Sometimes blaming the loan is easy. I don't think harriot (as much as I would like him to) could have replaced JJ. And it seems evina was bought as a LB, not for midfield.
Have to admit I liked the way Rhoys Wiggins came out today and said that Oldham's time wasting was no excuse for Charlton not to win on Saturday. I agree as Oldham came along with that game plan and they succeeded - Who I do blame is the ref for not being wise to their theatrics - I'd like to see SkySports stop the clock on some games whenever the ball goes out just to show how much time does get wasted. Anyway went off on a bit of a tangent but it is nice to see as well Charlton just saying how it is, none of this blame game culture where it was everyone's fault but mine!!
Evina played LM against Carlisle in the cup and played well, especially his covering for Wiggins. I liked the way they played together.
Evina was reasonable at LM in the Cup game, good enough to do a job, but not so good to make his place automatic...
I didn't think their timewasting was any worse than Tranmere and didn't Rob Elliott get warned on a good few occasions in his career for taking too much time before goal kicks. What was more annoying was the blatant obstruction of players like BWP and then nothing being done about it but the Morais goal was a stunning one and I didn't think the defence on the slow play were at fault for it.
I thought Hughes peformance against Preston was one of the best I've seen from a midfielder this season and then I've not seen him since.
