Next Season's Squad.

[URZZZZ]

I think you are masking pessimism as realism there buddy.

In reality a first team of
---------------------GK
Yiadom--Moore--Blackett--Obita
------Rinomhota---CM
Meite-----------Swift----------Barrow
---------------------ST

Walker/Boyce-Clarke
Watson/Howe
Osho/McIntyre
Richards
East/Holsgrove
Olise/Barrett
Loader/Novakovich

is not nearly as dire as it first appears to be. 4 strong additions in GK, CB, CM and ST and we have a full team. A full team with several quality players already in it. Yiadom, Moore, Rinomhota, Meite, Barrow and Swift are all good standard for this league. Obita too if he makes a good recovery.

Olise looked bright and capable and Loader is one of the most sought after young talents in the league.

Now we might not get someone good enough for each position we are currently lacking numbers in but we could be a lot worse off.

think its easy to underestimate how much difference a fit obita and a confident nova could make to this squad

Novakovich is in the unfortunate position being the only* striker we have right now. That's why I include that position as a troubling area.

*obviously we have Meite, Loader and Baldock able to play there currently but one is our Right winger, one played all his games for us (I think) as an attacking midfielder/side forward and one is unwanted.


Agree on Obita. He was a fairly decent LB before his injury. Could add a lot to the team.

Obita is a good squad player but I don’t think he adds too much to the team. He’s just fairly average. Will be a good option to rotate with him and Blackett though, as was used in the playoff season, they both got around 1 every 2 games at LB

[Nameless]

Obita is certainly better than just a squad player. Better defensively than our other options, good going forward and rather more disciplined than Blackett. By no means perfect but to dismiss him as a 'squad' player suggests a attention span of less than 2 years !!
Why would you 'rotate' full backs ? You just pick the best player, it's the position that traditionally you had players playing lots of games. You also absolutely need to develop an understanding between your full back and your wide attacker which we have been lacking for several seasons.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

think its easy to underestimate how much difference a fit obita and a confident nova could make to this squad

Novakovich is in the unfortunate position being the only* striker we have right now. That's why I include that position as a troubling area.

*obviously we have Meite, Loader and Baldock able to play there currently but one is our Right winger, one played all his games for us (I think) as an attacking midfielder/side forward and one is unwanted.


Agree on Obita. He was a fairly decent LB before his injury. Could add a lot to the team.

Obita is a good squad player but I don’t think he adds too much to the team. He’s just fairly average. Will be a good option to rotate with him and Blackett though, as was used in the playoff season, they both got around 1 every 2 games at LB

Sometimes I do wonder about you.

Obita when fit is the best Left back we have in the squad by a mile.

[URZZZZ]

If one fullback is considerably better than the other, then of course you’ll choose the better one. And you’re correct, it’s always good to have a relationship between the full back and winger (Gunter and McCleary’s was a joy to watch for a few years). And this can be applied to Yiadom because he’s the best right back we’ve got by quite a bit

My point is that on the left side, they’re about equal quality. Blackett is stronger in the air, has a better cross on him, and is better at keeping the ball. Obita is more disciplined as you say with better concentration and is able to create a crossing opportunity by himself unlike Blackett. He also chips in with more goals. The point being one isn’t considerably better than the other. When we finished 3rd, you’ll notice Stam often rotated Obita and Blackett to suit certain teams and their certain style

So back to the original point, that’s why I don’t think Obita is a “big miss”. We’d be able to cope with his absence (average league positions with/without Obita is similar). Whereas I’d say Moore, Rino, Yiadom, Meite to a lesser extent would be a big miss

[URZZZZ]

Novakovich is in the unfortunate position being the only* striker we have right now. That's why I include that position as a troubling area.

*obviously we have Meite, Loader and Baldock able to play there currently but one is our Right winger, one played all his games for us (I think) as an attacking midfielder/side forward and one is unwanted.


Agree on Obita. He was a fairly decent LB before his injury. Could add a lot to the team.

Obita is a good squad player but I don’t think he adds too much to the team. He’s just fairly average. Will be a good option to rotate with him and Blackett though, as was used in the playoff season, they both got around 1 every 2 games at LB

Sometimes I do wonder about you.

Obita when fit is the best Left back we have in the squad by a mile.

He really isn’t

[Notts Royal]

Novakovich is in the unfortunate position being the only* striker we have right now. That's why I include that position as a troubling area.

*obviously we have Meite, Loader and Baldock able to play there currently but one is our Right winger, one played all his games for us (I think) as an attacking midfielder/side forward and one is unwanted.


Agree on Obita. He was a fairly decent LB before his injury. Could add a lot to the team.

Obita is a good squad player but I don’t think he adds too much to the team. He’s just fairly average. Will be a good option to rotate with him and Blackett though, as was used in the playoff season, they both got around 1 every 2 games at LB

Sometimes I do wonder about you.

Obita when fit is the best Left back we have in the squad by a mile.

Agreed - it would also free up Blackett to provide Cb cover. Ideally get Miazga back and our cb would look strong:

Moore
Miazga
Blackett
McIntyre/Osho

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

Obita is a good squad player but I don’t think he adds too much to the team. He’s just fairly average. Will be a good option to rotate with him and Blackett though, as was used in the playoff season, they both got around 1 every 2 games at LB

Sometimes I do wonder about you.

Obita when fit is the best Left back we have in the squad by a mile.

He really isn’t

Selective memory? Do you not remember how good he was before his initial injury? You are a serious contender for the DD crown.

[URZZZZ]

Sometimes I do wonder about you.

Obita when fit is the best Left back we have in the squad by a mile.

He really isn’t

Selective memory? Do you not remember how good he was before his initial injury? You are a serious contender for the DD crown.

The arrogance from some people on this forum is quite frankly astounding and is why I often only choose to converse with a select amount of people who can actually have a discussion (funnily enough on a “discussion forum”) and not up themselves like you

Looking forward to you answering why Blackett was chosen ahead of Obita on a number of occasions when both were fully fit when we came 2 kicks away from the Premier League when Obita is “the best left back in the squad by a mile”. Maybe it’s you with the “selective memory”

[Maneki Neko]

blackett was frequently awful that season, and stam repeatedly picking him says more about him than it does obita

[Hound]

He really isn’t

Selective memory? Do you not remember how good he was before his initial injury? You are a serious contender for the DD crown.

The arrogance from some people on this forum is quite frankly astounding and is why I often only choose to converse with a select amount of people who can actually have a discussion (funnily enough on a “discussion forum”) and not up themselves like you

Looking forward to you answering why Blackett was chosen ahead of Obita on a number of occasions when both were fully fit when we came 2 kicks away from the Premier League when Obita is “the best left back in the squad by a mile”. Maybe it’s you with the “selective memory”

I think that was true at the start of the season. Obita nailed down the position in the second half of the year when he was excellent, and was up there with the best LBs in the division, which was why it was such as shame he got injured when he did. His performance at Fulham in the semi was absolutely top notch

Difficult to judge him at all now after 2 years. He clearly won't come back in at that level

[URZZZZ]

He was excellent at Fulham but that was as a LWB. Him and Blackett forged a good partnership with our five at the back formation

Don’t necessarily agree with your first point, Blackett was still chosen ahead of Obita on a number of occasions even in the second half of the season, including crunch games like Brighton away and Newcastle home. Many of Obita’s appearances came about because Blackett had to cover CB for the injured McShane

Two fairly good options but not good enough to make it their own IMO. I think Obita is slightly better but to say he’s a “mile” better is over the top

[SCIAG]

think its easy to underestimate how much difference a fit obita and a confident nova could make to this squad

Novakovich is in the unfortunate position being the only* striker we have right now. That's why I include that position as a troubling area.

*obviously we have Meite, Loader and Baldock able to play there currently but one is our Right winger, one played all his games for us (I think) as an attacking midfielder/side forward and one is unwanted.


Agree on Obita. He was a fairly decent LB before his injury. Could add a lot to the team.

Obita is a good squad player but I don’t think he adds too much to the team. He’s just fairly average. Will be a good option to rotate with him and Blackett though, as was used in the playoff season, they both got around 1 every 2 games at LB

Was surprised to learn recently that Obita played 37 games that season. Blackett made a large portion of his appearances at centre back.

[URZZZZ]

Novakovich is in the unfortunate position being the only* striker we have right now. That's why I include that position as a troubling area.

*obviously we have Meite, Loader and Baldock able to play there currently but one is our Right winger, one played all his games for us (I think) as an attacking midfielder/side forward and one is unwanted.



Agree on Obita. He was a fairly decent LB before his injury. Could add a lot to the team.

Obita is a good squad player but I don’t think he adds too much to the team. He’s just fairly average. Will be a good option to rotate with him and Blackett though, as was used in the playoff season, they both got around 1 every 2 games at LB

Was surprised to learn recently that Obita played 37 games that season. Blackett made a large portion of his appearances at centre back.

A good 9 or 10 of them were off the bench though

[Hound]

He was excellent at Fulham but that was as a LWB. Him and Blackett forged a good partnership with our five at the back formation

Don’t necessarily agree with your first point, Blackett was still chosen ahead of Obita on a number of occasions even in the second half of the season, including crunch games like Brighton away and Newcastle home. Many of Obita’s appearances came about because Blackett had to cover CB for the injured McShane

Two fairly good options but not good enough to make it their own IMO. I think Obita is slightly better but to say he’s a “mile” better is over the top

had a very quick scan through and I think Obita started every game from end of Jan onwards bar 2. He was 100% first choice LB at the end of the season

agree I liked him and Blackett at LCB/LWB

[Ascotexgunner]

Blimey, GetReading reporting Baldock, Gunter, McCleary, Bodvasson, Popa, Meyler, and McNulty all told by Gomes their services are no longer required......Have we got any players left?
Cant believe Swift survives the cull.

[NewCorkSeth]

Obita is a good squad player but I don’t think he adds too much to the team. He’s just fairly average. Will be a good option to rotate with him and Blackett though, as was used in the playoff season, they both got around 1 every 2 games at LB

Was surprised to learn recently that Obita played 37 games that season. Blackett made a large portion of his appearances at centre back.

A good 9 or 10 of them were off the bench though

Blackett made 10 or so apps at CB and all of them were starts. He made 21 total apps at LB with only 1 being a sub app.

Obita played 8 or so games at LW with the rest being played at LB.

[URZZZZ]

Was surprised to learn recently that Obita played 37 games that season. Blackett made a large portion of his appearances at centre back.

A good 9 or 10 of them were off the bench though

Blackett made 10 or so apps at CB and all of them were starts. He made 21 total apps at LB with only 1 being a sub app.

Obita played 8 or so games at LW with the rest being played at LB.

So if you take out the first month of the season where Blackett hadn’t signed for us yet, you can conclude that they both played half the games each at LB which is what my the original point was...

The question is really how long will it take for him to recover from his injury, he must be rusty from having such a long time out. There are players who never really recover after such a long time out, so let’s hope that doesn’t apply to Obita

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

He really isn’t

Selective memory? Do you not remember how good he was before his initial injury? You are a serious contender for the DD crown.

The arrogance from some people on this forum is quite frankly astounding and is why I often only choose to converse with a select amount of people who can actually have a discussion (funnily enough on a “discussion forum”) and not up themselves like you

Looking forward to you answering why Blackett was chosen ahead of Obita on a number of occasions when both were fully fit when we came 2 kicks away from the Premier League when Obita is “the best left back in the squad by a mile”. Maybe it’s you with the “selective memory”

Blackett is adequate cover at LB at best. He doesn't have the concentration or the agility to compete there constantly. Obita may not be the best LB in the division, but at LB he is miles better than Tyler. We obviously disagree on this point, but to infer Obita isn't our best option at LB is madness IMO.

[NewCorkSeth]

A good 9 or 10 of them were off the bench though

Blackett made 10 or so apps at CB and all of them were starts. He made 21 total apps at LB with only 1 being a sub app.

Obita played 8 or so games at LW with the rest being played at LB.

So if you take out the first month of the season where Blackett hadn’t signed for us yet, you can conclude that they both played half the games each at LB which is what my the original point was...

The question is really how long will it take for him to recover from his injury, he must be rusty from having such a long time out. There are players who never really recover after such a long time out, so let’s hope that doesn’t apply to Obita

I was just adding some colour to the conversation. I admit I didnt recall Blackett playing (and starting) so many games on the left that season but the proof was in the pudding.

I still think Obita is a better player in almost every category. Maybe not by much, but it adds up. The fact that he isnt prone to turning his brain off halfway through a game is a major plus too.

[NewCorkSeth]

Blimey, GetReading reporting Baldock, Gunter, McCleary, Bodvasson, Popa, Meyler, and McNulty all told by Gomes their services are no longer required......Have we got any players left?
Cant believe Swift survives the cull.

I shouldnt bite but I will. Why the oxf*rd would Swift be on that list? Gomes clearly likes him.