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Post by Bera’s Beano on Jul 25, 2023 11:32:51 GMT
That side should be pushing top 10 if we don't pick up any long term injuries and they play the majority of games, adding in the new lad too.
Having said that, should we sign a monstrous centre back, and a probably another forward thinking midfielder (box to box type) then I'd be confident of us pushing for the play offs, with a bit of luck.
I really think we need to get rid of Tymon and get a proper useful left back in, I don't like this thing Neil seems to be doing in pre-season of using Tymon there, I would rather he was sold so he can't even be considered an option there because he is woeful.
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Post by PotterLog on Jul 25, 2023 12:40:57 GMT
There’s some garbage in the championship this year. We have to be aiming for top half. What? We have to be aiming higher than that. There’s absolutely no excuse for the playoffs not being our baseline expectation every season we’re in this bloody wretched division. |
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Post by TinkerT on Jul 25, 2023 12:43:04 GMT
Because we have enough midfielders in the squad who don't score goals, that's why. He does the usual things you'd expect a midfielder to do, he's a plodder. He's far more dynamic a player than Baker looked last season. What the hells dynamic supposed to mean? We need goals from midfield and people calling for a number 10 from a bloke who can barely score is laughable. |
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Jul 25, 2023 12:49:54 GMT
He's far more dynamic a player than Baker looked last season. What the hells dynamic supposed to mean? We need goals from midfield and people calling for a number 10 from a bloke who can barely score is laughable. Oh, sorry, have I made up a word that doesn't exist? What do you think it means, it's a pretty common one in football parlance? |
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Post by cvillestokie on Jul 25, 2023 12:57:07 GMT
I've said it time and time again, where are our goals coming from to reach the play offs? With signing Johnson our midfield will be lucky get over 5 goals a season, we won't sign a 20 goal striker either, then we've your asking wingers do something they've never done in career. All this talk of play offs is absolutely ridiculous. That's why I was banging the drum for Baker to play instead of Johnson, the Johnson signing was not needed and his wage could have been spend towards getting a better striker. We still have funds for striker though and there's a good chance Johnson fits how we play better than Baker does? I don't think we'll necessarily make the play-offs but I'm encouraged that our business this window seems markedly less scattershot than previous recent ones. Should have found a way to get the most out of Baker. We have a 10 goal a season player in midfield and we’ll end up swapping him out for Laurent, who offers little anywhere across the pitch barring as a strong runner in one particular spot near the wide edge of the area. |
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Jul 25, 2023 13:04:15 GMT
We still have funds for striker though and there's a good chance Johnson fits how we play better than Baker does? I don't think we'll necessarily make the play-offs but I'm encouraged that our business this window seems markedly less scattershot than previous recent ones. Should have found a way to get the most out of Baker. We have a 10 goal a season player in midfield and we’ll end up swapping him out for Laurent, who offers little anywhere across the pitch barring as a strong runner in one particular spot near the wide edge of the area. Does Baker not have any responsibility himself there though too? |
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Post by Roy Cropper on Jul 26, 2023 7:28:56 GMT
What the hells dynamic supposed to mean? We need goals from midfield and people calling for a number 10 from a bloke who can barely score is laughable. Oh, sorry, have I made up a word that doesn't exist? What do you think it means, it's a pretty common one in football parlance? The modern game has moved on from number 10s for the most part though hasn't it? Even players as good as João Felix are struggling to make an impact in today's set ups. Baker has been poor for 12 months now and fluffed it whenever he's had a chance to shine, can only assume he's struggling to cover the ground expected. |
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Post by boskampsflaps on Jul 26, 2023 7:38:16 GMT
The worry is, by & large, the players we are signing, haven't had a proper pre season, so won't be ready until possibly the end of August 😳. It depends who you're on about, some will have as their clubs aren't just going to let them rot incase they get a move. |
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Post by boskampsflaps on Jul 26, 2023 7:41:41 GMT
What? We have to be aiming higher than that. There’s absolutely no excuse for the playoffs not being our baseline expectation every season we’re in this bloody wretched division. Why should we be able the expect top six? We've been crap for a long time and are having to re build again, as an aim top six is fair enough but we don't have a right to be there. |
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Post by franklin on Jul 26, 2023 7:44:41 GMT
The worry is, by & large, the players we are signing, haven't had a proper pre season, so won't be ready until possibly the end of August 😳. It depends who you're on about, some will have as their clubs aren't just going to let them rot incase they get a move. But we hear it all the time it's in most of managers interviews "not match fit" " not had any game time" "not played in weeks" so it's definitely a concern. I actually it happens disagree with those comments because as professional athletes they should be 100% ready to go. 100% at some point AN will say players aren't ready and are "catching up" or similar. So it's a legitimate concern that we won't be ready come the first game of the season. I'll also predict AN will at some point then change tact and say they have had "too many games" it's always the same excuses from every manager ever interviewed. I can imagine workers bosses on the first day back after "Potters holidays" being told by the employee " I'm not ready for work yet boss I'll need a few weeks to get back into the swing" it's ridiculous but that's how football works. |
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Post by jascfc on Jul 26, 2023 7:48:54 GMT
Travers, Bonham, Fielding
Hoever, Junior
Wilmot, Bayram, Rose, Humphreys
Tymon, Stevens
Pearson, Thompson
Laurent, Baker
Johnson, Onomah
Chiquinho, Brown
Target man, Gayle, Tezgel
Campbell, Vidigal
Would be very happy with this as a squad come September, good depth and different options in terms of formation and opposition aswell as adding in some of the younger players who have impressed in pre season.
Would be perfect if we could get a new number 2 GK, a solid LB for a back 4 and a back up DM for Pearson but feel like that may be too many new faces for 1 transfer window.
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Post by Caddick988 on Jul 26, 2023 7:58:38 GMT
Travers, Bonham, Fielding Hoever, Junior Wilmot, Bayram, Rose, Humphreys Tymon, Stevens Pearson, Thompson Laurent, Baker Johnson, Onomah Chiquinho, Brown Target man, Gayle, Tezgel Campbell, Vidigal Would be very happy with this as a squad come September, good depth and different options in terms of formation and opposition aswell as adding in some of the younger players who have impressed in pre season. Would be perfect if we could get a new number 2 GK, a solid LB for a back 4 and a back up DM for Pearson but feel like that may be too many new faces for 1 transfer window. I think this just highlights how much we really need to bring in a ST, if not 2. But on the face of it I'd be OK with this squad going into the season, considering where we were at the start of the window! |
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Post by PotterLog on Jul 26, 2023 12:22:06 GMT
There’s absolutely no excuse for the playoffs not being our baseline expectation every season we’re in this bloody wretched division. Why should we be able the expect top six? We've been crap for a long time and are having to re build again, as an aim top six is fair enough but we don't have a right to be there. I didn’t say we have a right to be there, but being among the best 25% of clubs in this division is a very reasonable expectation. Anything lower than that isn’t really good enough (as you correctly say - we’ve been crap for a long time) |
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Post by cvillestokie on Jul 26, 2023 12:29:12 GMT
Should have found a way to get the most out of Baker. We have a 10 goal a season player in midfield and we’ll end up swapping him out for Laurent, who offers little anywhere across the pitch barring as a strong runner in one particular spot near the wide edge of the area. Does Baker not have any responsibility himself there though too? Managed 7 league goals last season despite playing through an injury that led to him needing injections and surgery. I’d say he gave as much as he probably could. Laurent doesn’t (really) score, neither do Pearson or Onomah. AN needs to find a way to get the most out of a player who would likely be up there amongst the top scorers if played properly. |
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Post by boskampsflaps on Jul 26, 2023 12:36:20 GMT
Why should we be able the expect top six? We've been crap for a long time and are having to re build again, as an aim top six is fair enough but we don't have a right to be there. I didn’t say we have a right to be there, but being among the best 25% of clubs in this division is a very reasonable expectation. Anything lower than that isn’t really good enough (as you correctly say - we’ve been crap for a long time) Top 10 would just about be good enough for me given the extent of the rebuild there's been, it would show a significant improvement and a good platform for top six/two the following season. Obviously I wouldn't complain if we ended up in the top six 😂 |
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Jul 26, 2023 12:43:29 GMT
Does Baker not have any responsibility himself there though too? Managed 7 league goals last season despite playing through an injury that led to him needing injections and surgery. I’d say he gave as much as he probably could. Laurent doesn’t (really) score, neither do Pearson or Onomah. AN needs to find a way to get the most out of a player who would likely be up there amongst the top scorers if played properly. Did he sustain that injury in August? His performances were sub-par imo from the start of last season and arguably before that. If he isn't scoring often you don't notice he's there. |
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Post by Miles Offside on Jul 26, 2023 15:30:07 GMT
........................ Travers........................ Hoever...........Wilmot........ Davies......... the Colchester kid............Pearson...............Laurent.............. ........................Johnson......................... Chicinho................. Moore...............Campbell Looks a lot better already than last season. Keeper and defence much improved, but I don't see enough goals in that side. Hopefully, players still to come in who would make a difference. |
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Post by cvillestokie on Jul 26, 2023 16:27:08 GMT
Managed 7 league goals last season despite playing through an injury that led to him needing injections and surgery. I’d say he gave as much as he probably could. Laurent doesn’t (really) score, neither do Pearson or Onomah. AN needs to find a way to get the most out of a player who would likely be up there amongst the top scorers if played properly. Did he sustain that injury in August? His performances were sub-par imo from the start of last season and arguably before that. If he isn't scoring often you don't notice he's there. First mentions of it were around January. Could have happened before but I don’t know. Stoke arent exactly known for releasing information. So, he played on for half a season to help the team out. I wouldn’t have risked my career to do that, so I’d say he was committed to the club. Again, poor season and what, second top scorer? More assists than any other midfielder in the squad as well. |
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Jul 26, 2023 16:32:00 GMT
Did he sustain that injury in August? His performances were sub-par imo from the start of last season and arguably before that. If he isn't scoring often you don't notice he's there. First mentions of it were around January. Could have happened before but I don’t know. Stoke arent exactly known for releasing information. So, he played on for half a season to help the team out. I wouldn’t have risked my career to do that, so I’d say he was committed to the club. Again, poor season and what, second top scorer? More assists than any other midfielder in the squad as well. Presumably we’ll be inundated with offers for him, top pro, goals, assists. Shall we start the bidding at £10m? He’s got a good shot on him but by and large doesn’t do a lot else. |
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Post by cvillestokie on Jul 26, 2023 17:07:08 GMT
First mentions of it were around January. Could have happened before but I don’t know. Stoke arent exactly known for releasing information. So, he played on for half a season to help the team out. I wouldn’t have risked my career to do that, so I’d say he was committed to the club. Again, poor season and what, second top scorer? More assists than any other midfielder in the squad as well. Presumably we’ll be inundated with offers for him, top pro, goals, assists. Shall we start the bidding at £10m? He’s got a good shot on him but by and large doesn’t do a lot else. Yes, must do. That’s how it works. Like Powell, the offers came flooding in for him for £10 million+ as well 😂 He scores and assists. That’s more than Laurent did. It’s more than Smallbone did. He doesn’t have to be some superstar to be better than what we have. He doesn’t have to be that all-rounded to make an effective contribution to the team either. Just play him in a way that gets the most out of him, I.e., feeding off of a target man outside of the box. First goal often wins in this league. We don’t have many goals in this team. It seems ridiculous to not utilize one of our best attacking threats, especially if we are going to bring in a target man, simply because he doesn’t run around a lot like Smallbone. Brown and Johnson are the only two players in our current squad to ever get above 10 league goals in a campaign. |
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Jul 26, 2023 17:43:36 GMT
Presumably we’ll be inundated with offers for him, top pro, goals, assists. Shall we start the bidding at £10m? He’s got a good shot on him but by and large doesn’t do a lot else. Yes, must do. That’s how it works. Like Powell, the offers came flooding in for him for £10 million+ as well 😂 He scores and assists. That’s more than Laurent did. It’s more than Smallbone did. He doesn’t have to be some superstar to be better than what we have. He doesn’t have to be that all-rounded to make an effective contribution to the team either. Just play him in a way that gets the most out of him, I.e., feeding off of a target man outside of the box. First goal often wins in this league. We don’t have many goals in this team. It seems ridiculous to not utilize one of our best attacking threats, especially if we are going to bring in a target man, simply because he doesn’t run around a lot like Smallbone. Brown and Johnson are the only two players in our current squad to ever get above 10 league goals in a campaign. Powell at least had Premier League interest pre-injury and Championship interest over the summer. It’s a pretty facile way of looking at football to just look at him having a few goals and assists and that making him ‘better than what we have’. It’s not that simple. I don’t think personally even at his best that he’s the type of midfielder that fits into an Alex Neil midfield but at his worst he’s an absolute passenger and the odd penalty and 20 yarder here and there doesn’t change that. |
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Post by cvillestokie on Jul 26, 2023 18:40:45 GMT
Yes, must do. That’s how it works. Like Powell, the offers came flooding in for him for £10 million+ as well 😂 He scores and assists. That’s more than Laurent did. It’s more than Smallbone did. He doesn’t have to be some superstar to be better than what we have. He doesn’t have to be that all-rounded to make an effective contribution to the team either. Just play him in a way that gets the most out of him, I.e., feeding off of a target man outside of the box. First goal often wins in this league. We don’t have many goals in this team. It seems ridiculous to not utilize one of our best attacking threats, especially if we are going to bring in a target man, simply because he doesn’t run around a lot like Smallbone. Brown and Johnson are the only two players in our current squad to ever get above 10 league goals in a campaign. Powell at least had Premier League interest pre-injury and Championship interest over the summer. It’s a pretty facile way of looking at football to just look at him having a few goals and assists and that making him ‘better than what we have’. It’s not that simple. I don’t think personally even at his best that he’s the type of midfielder that fits into an Alex Neil midfield but at his worst he’s an absolute passenger and the odd penalty and 20 yarder here and there doesn’t change that. It’s facile in a way that Smallbone, Laurent, Thompson and Baker are all very average across the park but only Baker actually provided some sort of attacking threat. Smallbone’s greatest asset was he could run about a lot, Laurent was only good at 1vs1 on the edge of the box, Thompson….Thompson remained average. Neil should have sorted a midfield to work around the only one that actually offered something going forwards. Instead, he’ll devalue Baker by playing a style that doesn’t work for him and we’ll end up selling for a fraction of what he could have been sold for. A year after that, we’ll sack AN and start the process again. |
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Jul 26, 2023 18:51:11 GMT
Powell at least had Premier League interest pre-injury and Championship interest over the summer. It’s a pretty facile way of looking at football to just look at him having a few goals and assists and that making him ‘better than what we have’. It’s not that simple. I don’t think personally even at his best that he’s the type of midfielder that fits into an Alex Neil midfield but at his worst he’s an absolute passenger and the odd penalty and 20 yarder here and there doesn’t change that. It’s facile in a way that Smallbone, Laurent, Thompson and Baker are all very average across the park but only Baker actually provided some sort of attacking threat. Smallbone’s greatest asset was he could run about a lot, Laurent was only good at 1vs1 on the edge of the box, Thompson….Thompson remained average. Neil should have sorted a midfield to work around the only one that actually offered something going forwards. Instead, he’ll devalue Baker by playing a style that doesn’t work for him and we’ll end up selling for a fraction of what he could have been sold for. A year after that, we’ll sack AN and start the process again. Rightly or wrongly though, managers rarely deviate from their style of play. I agree that the manager = god model hasn't done us any favours but we are where we are and Baker hasn't exactly given Neil a decision to make by playing in pretty much all three of the midfield roles available to him and not performing in any of them. He didn't make himself a viable option at DM, he didn't show the energy required for one of the other roles. Baker himself doesn't 'offer much going forward' beyond a decent shot. |
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Post by blackpoolred on Jul 26, 2023 20:08:51 GMT
........................ Travers........................ Hoever...........Wilmot........ Davies......... the Colchester kid............Pearson...............Laurent.............. ........................Johnson......................... Chicinho................. Moore...............Campbell Plenty of the window to go and sounds like we are trying to bring some quality in. That said: Hoever, Wilmot, Pearson, Laurent, Campbell were all part of a team that showed relegation form last year. Not sure who Colchester kid is but possibly won't be as good as Sterling - who was one of the few players who was quality for us. Still zero players signed who are good in the air at either end - cost us at both ends last year - we literally, still, don't have a player who can deal with a cross - see recent Derby friendly We need some quality central defenders(plural) and some tall ones, quality keeper and centre-forward(also good in the air) if we are going to push for mid table or break into the top half. Just over a week to go and the squad is looking very thin in numbers and quality - can't see where we have improved that much - to warrant us jumping from perennial strugglers to all of sudden being play-off contenders - in what looks like the toughest championship for a while. Davies, Moore and Travers could potentially be good signings for us and we have some wide players who are unknown entities that may hit the ground running, also always liked Johnson when he played against us I do like our manager and he is trying to surround himself with his type of player and players he can trust to deliver what he asks of them - and plenty of the window left yet. Personally, underwhelmed, at this moment in time - but does look like the club are trying to bring in some quality |
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Post by thehoof on Jul 26, 2023 20:22:13 GMT
Baker went missing every single time he was needed to stand up and lead the team. His form fell off a cliff the moment he was given a better contract.
The onus is on him as a player, to be the shining star so that the manager can’t leave him out- we were that bad last year, it shouldn’t have been beyond him.
I think Toxic is right- like Clucas if he doesn’t score, you really don’t notice him.
Perhaps he’ll take his chance when it next comes to him - at Stoke or elsewhere if that’s how he sees his future.
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Post by Staffsoatcake on Jul 27, 2023 12:34:39 GMT
I think we have more goals in this squad than we have had for quite a while, if we can stop conceding stupid goals, we just might have a very good season.
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