Snowball In order to make the finals of the Championship PO's
We will need a striker who can get 25 goals or two 15-20 goal strikers.
We need, power, strength, aggression, speed, hardness, the sort you get
from a non-stop, take the knocks forward line, my personal favourite(s)
being the Long-Hunt partnership.
I like Bodvarrson, but for us to be challenging the top two and making the top
six (not merely challenging), Bod would be 3rd or 4th striker, not a regular starter.
We need that same toughness, hardness, experience, ball-WINNING ability in
midfield. My favourite example of that would be Elwood (Leigertwood) and (IMO)
we need a "buzzer", like Karacan at his best or Steve Quinn.
We are so easily outplayed in midfield. We are soft, lightweight. Kelly is OK if he has
two players do the speed-work, the kicking, the HARD tackling. He does win ball when
on form, but just not enough, not regularly enough. He also has this peculiar "lack of urgency"
about him (most obvious when he walks towards the corner flag at about one mile an hour.
That is AWFUL body-language and he genuinely wastes a few minutes per game.
Kelly AT HIS BEST is decent, but he has played most of this year as if he's carrying an injury
or is seriously unfit or has a medical problem (I'm serious). He hasn't buzzed (to the best of
my memory) all season. Yes he's made a few passes, scored a few goals, got a toe in, but
nothing like enough to be an automatic choice.
Swift looked to be a player that was going to improve and improve, but whether it be between the ears
or fitness, health, injuries, he has rarely looked worthy of a place in midfield. Phrase it differently. If this season's
form was all you knew of these players (sat at Norwich or Forest or QPR) would you want to sign them for
a serious push at the play-offs? No way.
Maybe it's just fitness and they are fundamentally knackered. MAYBE a summer regime and an extra week's
fitness training, a harder, much harder pre-season, and many of the players might look 100% better.
I don't know.
BACUNA, if he can be taught positional discipline, could be our Williams replacement. When I first saw
him I thought he was a BIG step up from Williams (who I always thought flattered to deceive). I think,
well-coached, he could be an excellent player, and with his ball control, relative hardness, hard running
he OUGHT TO BE one of the first names on the team-sheet.
The worry with him is whether he can be consistent enough for Stam-Clement types who seem
to want safety, discipline and consistency over flair.
All three can ON THEIR DAY be very good indeed, but they have to have "on their day" days at
least 30 times a season (and be OK for the other 16 games) if we are to have a good season.
IMO we need a classy, aggressive, experienced midfielder/captain/leader, a Mr Reliable, a bit scary
for opponents AND team-mates... a Roy Keane type. And I guess that wouldn't be cheap.
So we already are saying three expensive buys unless we can find another Elwood.
Personally, although I'm Welsh and I like Gunter the bloke, I DON'T like him as a full-back.
I think he's negative, un-brave and always looks for the safest option. I don't mean safe for the team,
I mean safe for him. He hardly ever takes a player on, doesn't get anything like enough tackles in
on wingers, lets too many crosses come over. I would rather see a hard man in that position.
I think if we stay up and are top-half, Ilori, if he's a regular, will get better and better. He has a pedigree,
has the ball skills to break out, and just needs coaching to minimise errors. Being a regular will help
him mentally. I also wonder if he might make a very, very good deep midfielder.
Moore is the CB equivalent of a shot-stopper goalkeeper. He can get his head in, get a tackle or a block in,
but doesn't seem to organise a defence, doesn't seem to me to make the tackle unnecessary very often.
The back four hasn't played as a unit for quite a while, and he's is the one regular player.
I'd be happier if we had a big aggressive CB (like Morrison). Moore would look great alongside one,]\as would Ilori.
But I think both Ilori and Moore (and A N OTHER) should be fine once the manager gets a pre-season to work on them.
McShane may go. There were signs earlier in the season that suggested he was over the hill. I like the bloke
and he might come back and do a job, but I can't believe he'd be good enough as first choice CB in a side
aiming for the top six.
Mannone is "OK" but I feel he's a very good back-up keeper, again not someone I'd imagine
as clear regular first choice in a top six team. I very much doubt, though, that we'd be looking
to buy a keeper clearly better than Mannone, but Al-Habsi, Feds, McCarthy, and before that Hahnemann (sp?)
inspired more confidence. "OK" isn't enough for top six.
Left back? Hmmm. Obita at his best is better than OK, but we have no idea how he will be when he comes back.
Omar Richards has promise, but there's no way (IMO) he could be first-choice for a top-six season in 2018-19,
so I just don't know at LB, another reason why we will keep Gunter.
But 2019-20 we could have Watson and Richards as the fullbacks. That could be very good!
I think, this squad is better than 19th, but has played way below par this season. Whether they can write this season off and get their heads right for next year, I dunno. If they could I would expect a top-half finish from THIS SQUAD.
But more likely we need to at least partly break things up to bring back belief and lose the losing habit.
BUT, if I'm right and we had two decent strikers (or one great one), a really good hard ball-winning midfielder, a mentally-strong right back (and Obita is OK for LB), a big nasty CB who scores from corners, and a talismanic shot-stopper, yes, then we'd have a side that could be aiming for top six.
Or we go down and bounce back and re-learn that winning feeling
Snowy, excellent post. There are some darn good points in there.
Hopeful on Kelly. Think there's a player in there. Still young. Clements' arrival has been an adjustment. He looked better under Stam, imo, more technical, short passes. He's passing less now, and longer, and they aren't coming off. Could improve next season with full pre-season under Clement, get his timing back, etc. With short frame, fitness is important. And yes, needs to play alongside Roy Keane rather than John Swift.
Bod, there's things to like. Certainly a trier. Good team player and team mate, who cares. Almost too nice, really. Didn't get the best service. Has tailed off a bit, which I expected. Long season, never had this workload. Assume he'll get another season, which he deserves. Needs to improve in the air, which his height should facilitate. Major strides needed next season as starting lone striker vs big CB lumps in Champ twice a week. Almost 26, but a young 26, presumably has scope and improvement in him.
Mannone, I'm not as high as some others, but if he's the man again, so be it. Watching opposing GK's this season, not sure there are many he is better than? He's ok, but rarely felt we had clear advantage at GK going in to games. For example, I'd take the Ipswich keeper in a heartbeat.
