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After the past 5 performances I thought I'd breakdown how I see the current squad and plans for next season.
GK - We all know Lumley is error prone and cost us points at the start of the season. For me the jury is still out on Kelly, he's had some good performances but I cant help but feel like he has a mistake in him. I would probably look for a keeper in the next window. (Not Joe Hart. He left Man City because he couldnt play football with his feet and thats exactly what Warburton will expect from him. Disaster waiting to happen and wages will be too high).
LB - A priority. Manning has had some good performances this season but defensively he's been consistently poor. I dont think there's been a winger this season that hasnt turned him inside out at some stage of the game. He has a great left foot and puts in some great crosses on his day but defensively its a disaster. Havent seen too much of Wallace but its clear he's coming towards the end of his career and is prone to injury.
RB - A priority. Rangel been a great servant and somehow still puts in a shift at 37 years of age. My concern is that he gets in the team ahead of 26 year old Todd Kane who signed a 3 year deal with us at the start of the season. 3 years and he has looked nothing short of hopeless every time he has played. Maybe he needs a run of games to get some momentum going but my god it doesnt look promising. I hear lots of talk about Kakay but I think part of going down the academy route is recognising that not every player that comes through will make it, and not every player is good enough. We naturally look to him as the RB that has been been through our system and had loans etc but I personally dont think he's good enough. He's shown glimpses of promise, I'd give him 1 more season to prove he is championship level.
CB - A priority. I like Barbet when he's alongside someone that can do the dirty work. Classy player on his day and his left foot is great but I think he needs an experienced head by his side to compliment his ball playing style. When you put Masterson next to him it just looks a bit of a shambles, although I do think Masterson has a future at the club. Hall had his injury problems but was a good CB at this level when fit. He played 30 games this season and is a big loss for these last few games.
When the assessment is that Barbet is the only player I would start in our back 5 next season, its no suprise that we concede so many goals and look so poor at the back. Shambles.
CM - A priority. I cant make my mind up on Dom Ball or Luke Amos. Both have shown glimpses of what they're capable of but equally have had some #### poor performances this season. I think they both make good squad players but if I'm being perfectly honest I just dont think they're good enough to start if we want to push for top half and the top 6. I can understand Geoff signing a new deal, he's an experienced head and clearly has quality even though its fading. Another problem area for us.
CAM, LM, RM - I've grouped these positions together because its clear under Warburton that the 3 of them rotate and are expected to be competent in each of the 3 positions. Recruitment here is obviously dependent on what happens with Eze and Bright. Assuming that we lose them both (which is looking increasingly likely based on Les and Lee's recent interviews) then this becomes a priority area for us, but for now its definitely our strongest area. I like Chair and think he has a big future ahead of him, he has a part to play over the next few seasons and hopefully fulfills his potential.
ST - A priority. I actually think Hugill is a good striker at this level. He'll never make it in the premier league because he clearly lacks composure and loves to miss a sitter. That being said, he finds himself in the right places and always has a goal in him with the right players behind him. West Ham will want money for him that we definitely wont (and shouldnt) pay so I think we'll be parting ways at the end of the season. Yet again this leaves us light in this position (I sound like a broken record), with Oteh as the only recognised striker at the club. Oteh for me is similar to the Kakay situation, he's clearly not good enough. 1 goal in 13 appearances at Walsall and 3 goals in 18 appearances at Bradford just doesnt cut it. I'm all for promoting youth and looking to the academy but part of that is accepting that some players arent good enough.
So the conclusion is that I would buy a new GK, LB, RB, CB, CM and ST. The only positions I feel as though we're strong are the front 3 behind the striker, but thats including Eze and Bright who are inevitably leaving. What does this mean? Another rebuild...
I'm ok with rebuilding as long as this time its done with more quality. We signed 13 players this season for just £50,000 which on paper is fantastic business. When you assess the likes of Dom Ball, Marc Pugh, Liam Kelly, Geoff Cameron etc based on what they came in for then you can call it good business. But if we really want to push on to greater things now then the money we sell Eze and Bright for MUST be invested in the squad. I dont have faith that the club will get a lot of money for the pair of them, so hypothetically lets say we make £10m from their sales. Even if only half of that is invested in the squad its significantly more than the £50,000 spent this season. I dont want to hear excuses from the board next season if we lose our star players 'well it was always going to be harder after losing the likes of Eze and Bright'. The narrative we have been sold is that we make no revenue from ticket sales so our transfer business must be funded by player sales. Next season will be the first for a long time that we have made considerable money from player sales and the board should be judged accordingly. I understand FFP and I like that we are trying to be more sustainable, but there is no excuse for not investing in the squad next season. Here's hoping that we see some progress, although I have little faith.
GK - We all know Lumley is error prone and cost us points at the start of the season. For me the jury is still out on Kelly, he's had some good performances but I cant help but feel like he has a mistake in him. I would probably look for a keeper in the next window. (Not Joe Hart. He left Man City because he couldnt play football with his feet and thats exactly what Warburton will expect from him. Disaster waiting to happen and wages will be too high).
LB - A priority. Manning has had some good performances this season but defensively he's been consistently poor. I dont think there's been a winger this season that hasnt turned him inside out at some stage of the game. He has a great left foot and puts in some great crosses on his day but defensively its a disaster. Havent seen too much of Wallace but its clear he's coming towards the end of his career and is prone to injury.
RB - A priority. Rangel been a great servant and somehow still puts in a shift at 37 years of age. My concern is that he gets in the team ahead of 26 year old Todd Kane who signed a 3 year deal with us at the start of the season. 3 years and he has looked nothing short of hopeless every time he has played. Maybe he needs a run of games to get some momentum going but my god it doesnt look promising. I hear lots of talk about Kakay but I think part of going down the academy route is recognising that not every player that comes through will make it, and not every player is good enough. We naturally look to him as the RB that has been been through our system and had loans etc but I personally dont think he's good enough. He's shown glimpses of promise, I'd give him 1 more season to prove he is championship level.
CB - A priority. I like Barbet when he's alongside someone that can do the dirty work. Classy player on his day and his left foot is great but I think he needs an experienced head by his side to compliment his ball playing style. When you put Masterson next to him it just looks a bit of a shambles, although I do think Masterson has a future at the club. Hall had his injury problems but was a good CB at this level when fit. He played 30 games this season and is a big loss for these last few games.
When the assessment is that Barbet is the only player I would start in our back 5 next season, its no suprise that we concede so many goals and look so poor at the back. Shambles.
CM - A priority. I cant make my mind up on Dom Ball or Luke Amos. Both have shown glimpses of what they're capable of but equally have had some #### poor performances this season. I think they both make good squad players but if I'm being perfectly honest I just dont think they're good enough to start if we want to push for top half and the top 6. I can understand Geoff signing a new deal, he's an experienced head and clearly has quality even though its fading. Another problem area for us.
CAM, LM, RM - I've grouped these positions together because its clear under Warburton that the 3 of them rotate and are expected to be competent in each of the 3 positions. Recruitment here is obviously dependent on what happens with Eze and Bright. Assuming that we lose them both (which is looking increasingly likely based on Les and Lee's recent interviews) then this becomes a priority area for us, but for now its definitely our strongest area. I like Chair and think he has a big future ahead of him, he has a part to play over the next few seasons and hopefully fulfills his potential.
ST - A priority. I actually think Hugill is a good striker at this level. He'll never make it in the premier league because he clearly lacks composure and loves to miss a sitter. That being said, he finds himself in the right places and always has a goal in him with the right players behind him. West Ham will want money for him that we definitely wont (and shouldnt) pay so I think we'll be parting ways at the end of the season. Yet again this leaves us light in this position (I sound like a broken record), with Oteh as the only recognised striker at the club. Oteh for me is similar to the Kakay situation, he's clearly not good enough. 1 goal in 13 appearances at Walsall and 3 goals in 18 appearances at Bradford just doesnt cut it. I'm all for promoting youth and looking to the academy but part of that is accepting that some players arent good enough.
So the conclusion is that I would buy a new GK, LB, RB, CB, CM and ST. The only positions I feel as though we're strong are the front 3 behind the striker, but thats including Eze and Bright who are inevitably leaving. What does this mean? Another rebuild...
I'm ok with rebuilding as long as this time its done with more quality. We signed 13 players this season for just £50,000 which on paper is fantastic business. When you assess the likes of Dom Ball, Marc Pugh, Liam Kelly, Geoff Cameron etc based on what they came in for then you can call it good business. But if we really want to push on to greater things now then the money we sell Eze and Bright for MUST be invested in the squad. I dont have faith that the club will get a lot of money for the pair of them, so hypothetically lets say we make £10m from their sales. Even if only half of that is invested in the squad its significantly more than the £50,000 spent this season. I dont want to hear excuses from the board next season if we lose our star players 'well it was always going to be harder after losing the likes of Eze and Bright'. The narrative we have been sold is that we make no revenue from ticket sales so our transfer business must be funded by player sales. Next season will be the first for a long time that we have made considerable money from player sales and the board should be judged accordingly. I understand FFP and I like that we are trying to be more sustainable, but there is no excuse for not investing in the squad next season. Here's hoping that we see some progress, although I have little faith.
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