Can't understand those that would drop Barton - our best central midfielder this season, by far - if we went to a 4-4-2. With the extra scoring power up top the necessity for having a goal-scoring central midfielder becomes less acute than it does in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. Indeed, as the second half against Donny illustrated Barton is far more effective in a 2 man central midfield and if we added a defensive minded player to that mix then, in my opinion, Barton's contribution would become even more significant.
I think your missing the prefix ‘in’ before the word effective when talking about Barton in 2nd half v Doncaster
silly and pointless maybe but true none the less how did things go the last time we were promoted and made wholesale changes
First and foremost, a great thread Matt. A lot of good points made by the posters as well, interesting debate. The view of promotion at all costs seems a bit too much for me. I wouldn't want us to be in a position of getting to the Premiership and then wondering again how to stay there, spend more unnecessary money and inevitably go back to square 1. We need to look at the core of our team and see who's worth persevering with in the long term. You can narrow that list down to; Onouha, Simpson, Phillips, Austin, Barton. You would back those 5 to make the step up into the Prem without too much difficulty. I agree with those who suggest our problems are in the final third. Too often we get there and look clueless. The need for an attacking midfielder who carries the ball and takes players on is a necessity. I've previously mentioned Thomas Eisfield at Arsenal who can comfortably play this way. He is formally of Dortmund so he understands the need to work hard off the ball as well. Nakhi Wells is without a doubt the type of forward we need. Very quick, young, and has a desire to improve and play up the leagues. He'd create a fantastic partnership with Austin. We need this type of player, not another Prem player on his way down.
In my naivety, I thought that we would do business at the start of the window when there are some winnable games looming. I really hope it is not a mad scramble at the end.
This is an excellent thread. What the board should be about. I agree with much of what has already been written, that we miss Faurlin, that McClaren gave us something extra (I know some above think this is a myth, but beyond the stats, I think he did give players more confidence), and that we don't want to rock the boat with too many signings. For me, I think we need a striker as a priority, someone young, and someone who won't get injured! I like AJ, and I like Austin (obviously), and one more will do for me. Not a short-term option like Cole, but a footballer who is good at this level and has the ability to make a good fist of it in the PL. One small issue - I don't really like blanket rules of "we will only sign players under age X" generally, as you can miss out on gems if this is too rigorously applied, the obvious examples often given being that of Derry/Hill. It would be nice to have a general rule/aim of signing younger players, but with a little bit of wiggle room for leaders. One other final point, in all this discussion about DCM's, we are all forgetting Diakete. I have no doubt that he has the ability to play very well at this level, and could solve our problems. I know he was suffering from depression, and I hope the club are supporting him fully through his illness, but if they can find a way to coax him back to full health, then he might be just like a new singing. Might being the key word!
Excellent thread Matt and some great responses from many of you. We should look to build a team around a core 5 or 6 players (Simpson, Phillips, Austin, Faurlin, Hoilett, Traore) all of whom are capable of playing in the Premier League to a decent standard. Supplement the core with a few seasoned/experienced individuals and encourage some younger ones to see if they can turn their hunger in to performances. If this means that we don't get promoted this season, then so be it. We should have a strong nucleus in the team with good on field Leadership (Hill, Dunne & Barton) to bring on the new talent. That way, when we do finally get promoted, we won't need wholesale changes and have an interim period of "gelling" new players. If anyone had offered a top three end to 2013 at the beginning of the season, I would have been more than happy. The outlook to enable us to push on doesn't seem to be too bright. Had we achieved our current position using the above methodology, I am convinced that we would be a whole lot more optimistic about promotion and our on the field play would have been more entertaining. We are where we are and should use the remainder of the season as a stepping block to the Premiership, by developing a team for the long term future and accept that whilst we may desire to push for promotion, the reality is that we are simply not ready for the big league yet. How I wish that TF, PB, Harry and others read this kind of thread as most of us here have the heart of Rangers in mind which is evident from some of the posts.
Highly dubious in the tackle but his ability to run at the opposition would be a welcome change to our crab like tactics. It's not difficult to forget about a player that hasn't appeared for a year or more. While there has been plenty of speculation I don't think there has ever been a real explanation from the club about what happened to him.
It would be great to see him back. At his best he was very good to watch. Him and Barton would be an explosive 2 in CM, probably too explosive to keep 11 men on the pitch.
It seems you're on the same page as me. Just curious, would you include Onouha in your list of core players? Who would you target signings wise to improve our team?
DCM is the position Diakite played for his country in the Africa Nations Cup when we signed him. Good there too.
I think you are thinking the holding only type of DCM only which Derry was so effective as. I'm thinking also of a player who doesn't just hold like Derry did so well, and Henry not so, but an Ale who has it in him to do more than break up opposition play and lay off the simple short pass to an available teammate, as Derry did so well, but it was fairly limited. I think we have a few players who can do this, Barton, Jenas, Carroll, and the half forgotten Diakite, who can play the Derry role, but also can run at the opposition and / or send longer passes. All have their weaknesses and strengths but 2 of them in tandem in CM (Barton and Carroll for example) ought to be able to protect the back 4 and also launch attack, as Derry and Ale did when we came up last time.
I don't agree that any of those you've named are DCMs apart obviously from Faurlin. Diakite is an attacking midfielder if ever I saw one.
