Bit quiet on here, so who do you think should be our general starting XI for our returning season to the Championship? Feel free to either leave AN OTHER or a specific player for the spots which needs improving For me: Hamer Solly-Cort-Morrison-Wiggins ANOTHER-Stephens-ANOTHER-Lee Cook Kermorgant-BWP If Lee Cook can stay fit I think he'd be great as our first choice LM, we need a consistent defensive-minded CM to replace Hollands in my opinion, and someone who can combine pace and crossing as our RM (I do think Green will make the step-up though).
Hamer Solly St Ledger Morrison Wiggins Antonio Gleeson Jackson Puncheon Kermorgant Rhodes Subs Lewis Cort Stephens Green/Haynes BWP (If 2 more) Evina Green/Haynes
Undecided Solly - cort - morro - wiggins ANOTHER - Gleeson - Stephens - Jackson Kermo - BWP Subs: GK Osborne Puncheon Haynes New striker If 2 more: Pritchard Hollands/Taylor
Looking at all the teams above it seems none of you seem to think Hollands will be able to make the step up for us? Anyway I'd like our team to look like this Hamer Solly - Moro - Cort - Wiggins Antonio - Hollands - Gleeson - Wordsworth Kermogant - Rhodes/Beavon Rhodes is likely to be too expensive so I wouldnt mind either him or Beavon from wycombe and seeing as they went down this year he would be easier to get and probably a lot cheaper.
Thank you Belvedere. I was wondering when this thread would come to its senses. Hollands will be one of the first names CP writes on his team-sheet every week, as he has been this season. And he will be an even better player next year (unless his wife produces another set of triplets). Hamer - He will start, but he may not stay the course as first choice. Good, experienced keepers are relatively cheap to pick up. We will sign one to replace Sullivan as cover and he might then find himself first choice if Hamer starts flapping again. Solly - Moro - Cort - Wiggins Mark Pugh - Hollands - A N OTHER - Wordsworth. I would like to think we can afford Pugh and/or Wordsworth. I like Cook but he is made of glass. We cannot carry two crocks at LM. A N OTHER could be a former top player on his way down the ladder (like Jackson was, but hopefully fitter). This would give Stephens and/or Pritchard another season to develop to Championship standard, as neither are quite there yet. Kermogant - BWP - he will start but may soon be replaced for form or fitness. We need another striker besides Haynes in reserve. Who, depends on how much money we have to spend. Beavon may be worth a try if cheap, but is already 28 and has had only one decent season at Div One level. Most of his career has been in non-league, so might not be able to step up to the Championship, like Izale McLeod. I would like to see someone taller, more physical and with more experience of the top tiers. Another Todorov would be great, but a fit one this time, please. If we can afford Beavon too as a gamble, then fine. Could turn out as well as Pritchard or might be another Stuart Fleetwood or Dean Sinclair (anyone remember him?) I am assuming Sullivan, Hughes, Hayes and Wagstaff will all go on permanents or on long loans. I like them all, but we cannot keep everyone and it is in their own interests to make fresh starts. Green will be given up to Christmas to get his act together or he might be on his way too.
I disagree about Stephens not being Championship standard yet. He's far more suited to the Championship than League One in my opinion - his game relies upon his vision and ability to pick out perfect passes, whether that be to switch the ball to the opposite flank, or to slide a through ball down the heart of the opposition defense. He was often criticised this season for his 'hospital-passes' which came about as a result of him panicking when opposition midfielders come charging at him - this is something which will probably happen a lot less in The Championship, where players generally opt to lay-off players more as opposed to just charging into them. As great as Hollands was in the first half of the season (and he was brilliant), his form dipped far too much in the second half and he was pretty much anonymous all game every game (take a look at a handful of the match reports we made on here). This, in my opinion, has very little to do with the triplets as they were born months before his form dipped. It was also the general consensus amongst Bournemouth fans when we signed him that he was always great at the start of the season then his form plummeted half way through every season. We need a reliable defensive-minded CM (preferably not afraid to cross the halfway line and left-footed) if we're serious about our assault on The Championship.
I think Hollands has his work cut out. He really needs to replicate his early season form and on a more consistent basis as I think he went missing far too much and actually contributed to the defence being overloaded too many times. But I too think CP has it wrong in wanting Stephens to play the deep role. Hollands is more effective in the anchor man role.
Hamer Solly - ANOTHER - Morrison - Wiggins ANOTHER - ANOTHER - Hollands - ANOTHER Kermorgant - Baldock I think that we need almost a complete overhaul of the midfield. None of our wide players (Jackson, Green, Wagstaff) are good enough at the moment to command a starting spot in the Championship if we have ambitions of challenging in the top half, although Green has the most potential out of the three in my opinion. N'Guessan and Cook don't look good enough to me and I don't like that Ephraim is a right-footed player on the left. Also, I think Haynes' best position is alongside the striker. In terms of targets, Wordsworth may be a good addition but as a central midfielder not on the wing (I might be wrong about this but I think that's where Colchester fans think he is most effective). Marc Pugh might be good enough, I don't know enough about him. We've been linked to Northampton's left-winger Michael Jacobs (20 years old) but I suspect he's one for the future for whichever Championship team signs him (Ipswich, Derby, Bristol City, Watford and Peterborough all also linked). For the central midfield position, I think Hollands has been the better of the pair between him and Stephens throughout the season, although it depends on who we sign to play there. Stephens is still young and could improve but someone like Coutts (Preston) or Wordsworth (Colchester) might be better attacking players, and if we sign the likes of them then Hollands would be a better partner. He also links up well with Wiggins. I wouldn't like to see Jackson in the middle, because I don't think that he is dominant enough on the game to play there, although he would obviously be useful for set-pieces. Up front, I would like to see a clinical striker with pace. Haynes is quick but has a pretty poor goalscoring record (although he has played on the wing quite a lot), and Wright-Phillips isn't that quick and has been out of form for about half a year now, aside from a couple of games. Baldock could be unwanted at West Ham next season - especially if they go up - as he has the likes of Carlton Cole, Ricardo Vaz Te, Nicky Maynard plus any other new strikers to compete with. He would be expensive, but we could reach the play-offs with him and Kermorgant up front. Our defence is solid, just back-ups for Hamer and Solly needed. I would also like to see a makeshift left-back brought in (perhaps Jackson or Hughes at a push could fill that) so that Evina can go out on loan to a League One side, otherwise he won't improve much. A new centre back would be nice - although it isn't vital - to replace Cort/Taylor in the starting XI. I think that Okuonghae (Colchester) or Osborne (Brentford) would not be much of an improvement and Taylor and Cort would be good enough to be the cheap 3rd and 4th choice centre backs. Not sure on who would be better though, I'll leave that to the scouts.
Agree pretty much with Waddick's assesment of strengths and weaknesses. I'd start with Green on the right as I do think he's got something. I'm (just about) ready to concede that Stephens might come good in the higher league but I spent the last five or six games this year getting progressively more annoyed with him. The one area where I think we will need to take a decision is left back as I fear Wiggins will be off for a pile of dosh. A couple of decent signings will happen and I suspect it may not be names that we have been bandying about so far. There may be a surprise or three in store.
If CP is in Vegas, then my assumption is that there will be no new signings til next week at earliest ?
I'd go further and suggest there won't be any legit rumours until they're back either. Osbourne has been rubbished by SLP. Jacobs and Bell seem to be filling in column spaces. Wordsworth etc seems to be recycled old news which may or may not be true.
Actually, watching Quinn tonight has re-kindled my wish for us to go get him - didnt someone on here say we were going for 2 SheffU players if they dont go up ?? Quinn and Puncheon in the same midfield would do me nicely-along with Antonio thank you very much.!
Yeah. May have been dickplum (whose rumours I generally believe). Other than Quinn, I'm not too sure which other Sheffield United player we'd be interested in? Possibly Harry Maguire?
