Clohessy wouldn't be a bad signing either if he also leaves Southend with Tomlin, as we are a bit light in the right back position if Lee finds himself another club. Maybe a bit optimistic as by some bizarre reasoning Clohessy beat Fish to RB of the year in League 2 which I find hard to believe meaning there may be interest from other clubs looking for a good RB. The stuff about Deon and Tommy not being offered deals in very intriguing as I recall at the end of last year Mad Dog was very keen to sort something out of both of them so for them to now only be invited back for Pre-season is strange. Tomlin may be the replacement for Burton as I'm sure we actually had a bid for Tomlin rejected in January so 6 months on the interest will more than likely still be there. If I had to choose between Deon and Tomlin I would have to go for Tomlin as he is younger and I would worry about offering a deal to a player who is in the twilight of his time as a pro and may not be able to make the jump, however looking at Kevin Phillips it would suggest that Deon might be worth another 4 year deal never mind 1! Tomlin however would be my personal choice as he adds a pace to the strike force that was lacking last year and can add another dimension that may be needed next year. In goal I do have to agree with Hoadie about forecast as from what I have seen of him he does not seem to have a very good all round game, I am confident in him as a shot stopper but I really do worry from crosses or when he receives a backpass that requires some communication. It is all well and good to then say we can use the loan market to get another keeper in if Nelson was to be injured, but surely that defeats the point of signing Forecast in the first place? Looking at the free agents list I can see many other goalkeepers who I feel could provide Nelson with a true challenge rather than just be the ball boy or Muggleton's assistant which Forecast seemed to excel in last year! 2 players who I feel we could look at instead are James Shea, recently released from Arsenal and could be a very Hungry alternative, or preferably Cameron Belford, recently released by financially crippled Bury who I feel would not only be a competitive number 2 but potential successor to Nelson (just to clear up Nelson was my player of the year last year and I'm not flippantly saying that he could be replaced easily). However as others have said we all have to trust Mad Dog as he has not put a foot wrong in my book and if he told me to jump of a cliff I would probably trust that he had sound reasoning so I cant be too upset about the Forecast situation! (Sorry for the essay I just got on a roll as the excitement of Pre-season starting tomorrow has gone to my head)
Bit unfair to make a personal judgement on a player without a validation of your comment. Why (as BSG asked), what, where, when.
I really don't think any of us have seen enough to pass judgement and, given the long list of recent players fans wanted ousting, I think I'll take the management's side on this one too. He's a backup...we'll worry about having to replace Forecast when it's actually an issue...which it isn't.
The German is back. I think he is good but the question is that is he a replacement for Birchall or is he our main striker? Lets hope we find out soon, I hope that we still have another striker to come and that Burton is retained.
I hope we get another striker in as well. German is a bit raw and won't be good enough for a sustained run in the first team,yet.I hope we will be able to get Cody, as the other teams that seemed to be interested (Rotherham and Colchester) seem to have cooled, although maybe we have too. Wages possibly?
I think we need to have either Cody or someone like him, also we need another centre back now that Frampton has gone as we don't have enough back ups there but this depends on whether we want to let the likes of Hare and McKain come through which is probably a good idea as that would mean that our main back up could be Davies and then we could use the loan market if we need more as Barrett, Legge and Davies is good enough with the younger players that we have. I think that midfield is probably probably good enough however this depends on whether Payne or Lee go. We currently have Linganzi, Gregory, Payne, Lee, Whelpdale, Allen, Dack and Weston as well as younger players like Haysman so midfield is good enough as we have Payne and Gregory who can play the holding position as well as Linganzi who can play there. Also we have Whelpdale, Lee, Allen and Weston who can play out wide and then we have Payne, Lee, Linganzi, Allen and Dack who can all play the attacking midfield position so we are covered in midfield as these 8 midfielders can all play in different types of positions which means that we are covered in each part of midfield and can mix it up a bit at times. I however think that we will see one or two that will leave which are likely to be Payne and Lee, I hope that Payne does stay but we do know that he will go eventually and if we goes he needs to be replaced as I think that 8 midfielders are important, also if Lee does go then a replacement needs to come in for him. I would not be surprised if Martin Allen had already brought in a new midfielder who will be announced soon. I think that in attack we do still need someone else as we are going to be a bit light if someone else don't come in as Birchall does not have a future which leaves us with Kedwell and German who are signed up as Burton has not been retained which I think is important to do. If we don't keep Burton then we need 2 more strikers however I am not going to talk about replacing him as I hope we do keep him. I think that it is important that Cody does come in or that someone like him with goals comes in so that we have Kedwell and Burton and also German and someone else who we can swap between because as well as them we can play Weston upfront as well as Dack as I believe he can play there as well as younger players like Nyafli. So what I think is that as long as we retain Burton and don't sell Payne and Lee then all we do actually need is another striker like Cody or Cody McDonald himself as the team is looking good and we do have younger players who can come through and can cover for anyone if needed.
I think we will see Cody come early in July, I think it will be a cancelled contract deal tbh so we cannot finalise till the end of June when contracts refresh for the year. If we bring in Cody our team next season would look like this to me - Nelson Fish Barrett Legge Martin Whelpdale Linganzi Weston Kedwell German McDonald If we could line up like that it would be a good formula, a proven back 4 and keeper with no less than 6 players in front who are known and proven scorers.
If we were to sign Cody then I think we would then line up like this; Nelson Fish Legge Barrett Martin Gregory Whelpdale Linganzi Dack Kedwell McDonald
I think next season is important for Dack, I think he should be in the team more, also Gregory is a good player and he will get better, I like him a lot and think he plays good long balls, however he needs to work on his confidence and short passes, once he does that he will be even better.
Dack will be loaned out I think, Weston is a proven force, I think the only way we can really mount a campaign in L1 is to attack, attack, attack. Our defence are good, solid players but will likely leak more goals against the higher quality opposition. I see very few clean sheets next season, a lot of 2-1, 3-2 etc etc.
Yeah it is that type of league where teams don't keep too many clean sheets so this is why we need to get a goal scorer like Cody. Dack is a good attacking player and that is why I think he should be played more.
Also, just a theory, this sudden need to unload players if we want to offer a deal to Deon that Sky and others have been reporting, anyone else thinking it is because the biggest chunk of our wage budget is already to one side for Mac?
I think it is being used for someone or some players that are coming in as I don't see that German will be using a massive amount.
Wouldn't think he is on the most however he won't be on a low wage, probably something around the 1.5k a week mark.