Tweet
I don't think there is anyone out there realistically we could get in who would make much of a difference.
With the limited budget we had I think our summer recruitment has been very good. We badly needed to inject some character and make the team more solid without spending more than about 10p and a bag of crisps. We did that. Not GA's fault we couldn't sell Chair or Field to free up some budget.
Away from home we look competitive. At home we aren't but we haven't been for much for the last two seasons. This is not a new problem, incredibly frustrating though it is. We don't seem to be able to impose ourselves and create enough chances. Away from home it works on a more counter attacking basis. At home we are the side expected to be doing the attacking and we just don't seem to know how to play on the front foot.
My own view is that going forwards we lack balance as we have done for at least two seasons now. We desperately need one other Championship level striker so we can pick two of Dykes, Armstrong and mystery make believe new guy. For me Armstrong can make further progress this season but playing week in and out not quite there. That means we are stuck with one up top some of the time. We have had to try and accommodate Chair and Willock. When on fire that works, when it doesn't we are listless and lost. Willock hasn't shown any form in literally nearly a year. Chair is good but as someone said on another thread is not direct enough which stalls things. He isn't Adel. Far more often he just needs to keep it simple, pass the ball quickly and keep us in possession. Always available for selection and good attitude, just needs to stop trying to do overdo things all the time. To be blunt Adel was amazing at this level and you could afford to carry him as a luxury player. Chair is not at that standard and having to base system on accommodating him doesn't work. People criticised GA for playing him out wide but you either have him less effective out wide or the team less effective by having to work around him.
I am sure GA would love to have been able to sign a decent striker and in my view a left winger but he couldn't. Was always going to be a tough season regardless of who is in the dugout. Getting rid to me achieves nothing. Maybe we can tweak the squad in the winter window but for now team needs to dig in and grind out points when they can.
With the limited budget we had I think our summer recruitment has been very good. We badly needed to inject some character and make the team more solid without spending more than about 10p and a bag of crisps. We did that. Not GA's fault we couldn't sell Chair or Field to free up some budget.
Away from home we look competitive. At home we aren't but we haven't been for much for the last two seasons. This is not a new problem, incredibly frustrating though it is. We don't seem to be able to impose ourselves and create enough chances. Away from home it works on a more counter attacking basis. At home we are the side expected to be doing the attacking and we just don't seem to know how to play on the front foot.
My own view is that going forwards we lack balance as we have done for at least two seasons now. We desperately need one other Championship level striker so we can pick two of Dykes, Armstrong and mystery make believe new guy. For me Armstrong can make further progress this season but playing week in and out not quite there. That means we are stuck with one up top some of the time. We have had to try and accommodate Chair and Willock. When on fire that works, when it doesn't we are listless and lost. Willock hasn't shown any form in literally nearly a year. Chair is good but as someone said on another thread is not direct enough which stalls things. He isn't Adel. Far more often he just needs to keep it simple, pass the ball quickly and keep us in possession. Always available for selection and good attitude, just needs to stop trying to do overdo things all the time. To be blunt Adel was amazing at this level and you could afford to carry him as a luxury player. Chair is not at that standard and having to base system on accommodating him doesn't work. People criticised GA for playing him out wide but you either have him less effective out wide or the team less effective by having to work around him.
I am sure GA would love to have been able to sign a decent striker and in my view a left winger but he couldn't. Was always going to be a tough season regardless of who is in the dugout. Getting rid to me achieves nothing. Maybe we can tweak the squad in the winter window but for now team needs to dig in and grind out points when they can.
Comment