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Post by Terrier Ramone on Jul 14, 2024 10:19:51 GMT 1
I have to say I'm really pleased in what I've seen so far & yesterday was the most enjoyable Town game I've seen in a long while, despite it being only a friendly.
POSITIVES
* great recruitment from Cartwright & his team. They've had the discussions with MD about how he wants to play & they've recruited some promising WBs, with pace & strength & some midfielders who are comfortable on the ball to put round pegs in round holes.
* MD has turned the mentality in the club around already. The lads I have seen in the 3 games so far have turned from a miserable, terrified, disjointed bunch of strangers into a confident, fit, business-like squad of footballers.
* MD clearly has an identity for his team & this should be an exciting season for the fans. No more fannying about at the back watching Nicholls & the defence pass it sideways & backwards several times before inevitably hoofing it up the pitch. We will clearly go back to the GK but we are looking to pass through either wide or into the middle of the pitch. The passing is quick, we play the way we are facing & are always looking to change direction with 30/40 yard cross field passes. Players are actively looking for the ball, not hiding, & we look comfortable in possession of the football.
* Our squad is clearly better than last season. MD has the enviable choice of who he has to leave out, not what we had last season where the 1st 11 had no pressure on them cos they could look at the bench & immediately see that 4 or 5 of the lads were there to make up the numbers & they had virtually 0% chance of getting on the pitch. We have 6 legitimately viable midfielders to pick 3 from & choices all over the back 5. Striker now is the one concern, Healey is clearly the best option & if he stays fit will score 20+ goals. Who plays with him is the concern.
QUESTIONS STILL TO FIND A SOLUTION FOR
* What do you do with Balker? If fit, he would be the best CB in the division but he is either made of glass or he's been sat with Nakayama on the unluckiest seats on the bus. I think if we can get any money for him, we have to take it, & if he stays we will have to consider any games we get out of him a bonus. If we are thinking of selling Helik or Spencer, this needs to be considered.
* What to do with our midfield? If we are feeling really brave the 3 would be Evans, Kane & the seemingly much improved Wiles, however I'd worry about the athleticism of Kane & Wiles. We do, however, have Hogg or Kasumu to play behind 2 out of the aforementioned 3. Then there is the (lovely) problem of what to do with Iorpenda? The lad has been really good & looks very comfortable in the games he has played so far. The problem is, IMO at least, he needs game time to really kick on but in this division we only have 7 named subs, how does he fit even on the bench if he is 6th in the queue of mids? I would loan him out, not because he's not good enough, but because he would benefit from men's football now in order to fulfil the clear potential he has. I actually think Bradford would be a good fit for him as they have an older, less mobile midfield.
* What do we do with our forward line? Healey will be fine, though there are injury worries with him, & he could easily be a good shout to be the league's leading scorer. Radulovic just doesn't get involved enough, though again, there is clearly a player in there. Ward, if he wants to, would be ok too but after that we may struggle. I'd really like another decent striker in there, possibly 2 if we can offload Radulovic & Koroma, who flatters to deceive, IMO.
CONCLUSION
Overall, MD must be delighted with what he's seen so far & the positive differences he has made are clear to see already. This may be controversial, but I hope we have a couple of setbacks, results wise, on the Austrian trip, as I feel you learn more about your players from adversity, it's easy when things are going well but how do you cope with setbacks?
From what I've seen to date, we have a much better, more cohesive, confident squad than last season, with the added bonus that we are in the division below, so playing lesser opposition. I fully expect us to be challenging top 6 &, especially if we can get off to a good start, the automatics should be our aim.
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Post by durhamterrier on Jul 14, 2024 11:30:37 GMT 1
Three wins out of three - admittedly mostly weak opposition - and some solid signings in so far .
Couple of youngsters look to be impressing too and the squad looks healthy . However we’re obviously expecting outgoings in several of Helik , Nicholls, Thomas and maybe even Spencer, Koroma and Bojan . Balkers injury might lead to us keeping him.
Overall it’s hard not to be happy , however I’d love to see a bit more flair and end product brought in between now and 10th August . Be cracking to see a pacey striker (more afobe than Theo).
It’s hard to pick out strongest 11 as it feels as though we now have competition for places and that’s what we need in what will undoubtedly be a league of attrition !
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Post by blanquiazules on Jul 14, 2024 11:32:34 GMT 1
All sounds really positive and the club has done a good job getting signings in for pre-season.
There must be some outgoings to get sorted, there are too many pros on the books and the wage bill will be unsustainable for league one. I'm expecting a couple to leave who we would prefer to keep and plenty out (even if on loan) that we will be glad to see the back of.
After the last few seasons, first aim for me is to go to games thinking that we could/should win today and coming away from most having been entertained. It's been a tough watch for a while.
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Post by Big Ern on Jul 14, 2024 11:48:18 GMT 1
All good so far but if we sell Helik I will be gutted. Be far and away our best player and with Balker likely injured that leaves us with very few options at CB.
If we sell him I would fully expect us to go out and sign a top quality CB.
If we lose Helik, Spencer, Thomas then all of a sudden our squad looks much weaker in my opinion.
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Post by themanfromatlantis on Jul 14, 2024 11:48:54 GMT 1
I’ve not really followed much in the off season, but if we can actually see MD as a long term Project instead of the shambles of the last few months, then we should be OK.
Hoping that we can try and fly under the radar a bit, let Brum and Wrexham be the media focus next season.
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Post by 28901 on Jul 16, 2024 23:47:47 GMT 1
I’ve not really followed much in the off season, but if we can actually see MD as a long term Project instead of the shambles of the last few months, then we should be OK. Hoping that we can try and fly under the radar a bit, let Brum and Wrexham be the media focus next season. Don't know if there's a bandwagon big enough to bring all them Wrexham fans over |
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Post by Christ in Shades (art) on Jul 17, 2024 5:59:02 GMT 1
I'm quietly confident put it that way.
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