Edwards has explicitly told Andrew French once again he’s happy with the squad, happy with Gaspar and the club haven’t even thought about bringing in another RWB since Gaspar’s arrival. Can we finally put this to bed or are people still convinced he’s lying?
You do at least caveat your comment, but your mention of Wilson reminds me: I think a fair few of those bemoaning our RWB situation were also clamouring for us to sign Wilson as the supposed answer to that position. However, he's currently for sure worse than even Gaspar is now, and would probably even offer less than a fit Ngakia. I wonder how many of these same posters would still be moaning that we hadn't properly addressed the RWB position if we had in fact signed Wilson, but then once they'd have seen that he's a dud, or long-term project who won't come good for this season when we'd actually need him to be?! Would they have been willing to acknowledge their own errors in judgement in their rush to criticise to the club's transfer window? I very much doubt it. (as a PS to walthamstowhornet above, we have integrated Asprilla, and Davis and Choudhury are both at good ages. We've also signed another South American prospect in Hurtado. McNally has also only played 1 minute off the bench for Burnley this season!)
Fair point re Asprilla. We have been talking about him for so long I sometimes forget he did only join this summer. Our South American scouting sometimes feels like the only reliable element of our recruitment.
Yes, if only we'd have done the "obvious" thing as per your infinite wisdom and signed a player currently rotting on the bench at Bristol City to solve our RWB issue. We'd be in the playoff positions at least!
Scott Parker was sacked a few days ago for saying his squad is s*** (even though it’s true). A manager will not tell the press he wanted X, Y, Z. But if us plebs can see that neither Kamara or Gaspar are a good fit at RWB, then you know Edwards will be well aware himself. Sick of everyone swallowing these little bits of PR.
Nope, he only missed one week towards the end of pre-season, and still came off the bench in their first game vs Hull. This interview with him in the Bristol Post last week is telling (and I find it funny how he considers Bristol City a significantly different culture from Forest Green Rovers considering they're about 20 miles apart and Bristol City are hardly the most cosmopolitan of squads): "To be honest it probably has taken a little bit of time to get settled and you're right - it's new surroundings, meeting new players and different cultures. "Everyone's been really good with me and I'm still settling in now. I don't know how long it will take to see the full Kane but I hope that it will come soon and then we can take off." Wilson was perhaps guilty of trying too hard in the first-half on Wednesday. He admitted Pearson had a word in his ear at the interval and told him to simplify his game and focus on what he does best. He's aware the pace of the game is more intense, opponents are both more physical and smarter on and off the ball. It's a challenge Wilson relishes because he knows there's little room for error. He added: "People know how to use their bodies more and are a bit smarter but it's something I hope I can adapt to quickly and I can implement my game. I want to get some more goals and assists and put my stamp on the team. "At Forest Green we were in a different situation because we were top of the league for so long and we dominated games. I was standing on the last line for basically the whole game so there's more emphasis on defending, there's no bones about it." https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-city-kane-wilson-patience-7511718
He also explicitly praised Ngakia (almost recovered from the back problem that has kept him out) as someone who can play on the right of the defence. He's young and coachable, and it may be that RE sees him as the long-term occupant of the role, with Gaspar as back-up/RCB. The main thing is, as Burnsy says, that Edwards was explicit that he was happy with what he had in that position: "I asked head coach Rob Edwards if he had wanted to sign a right wing-back, and if he felt the club should have done so. “It’s not something that we’ve thought about,” he said. “Being honest, I’m happy with where we’re at and the options that we have."".
The fact the 'Kamara Shuffle' was implemented within 2 days of Sarr's move to AV falling through strongly supports this view.
Personally I don’t want to live life doubting everything that everybody says and looking for signs of trouble. If Edwards says he didn’t want another right-back, then what good can it do to immediately think he’s lying or towing the party line? I don’t want to be a person who thinks that I must know best about my team simply by watching from the stands and posting on here. I may differ from Rob’s opinion that we will be fine with our current options but that’s a difference of opinion between the person who actually coaches the team versus a fan who posts on a forum. It’s a no brainer whose opinion is the more valid. I’m not totally happy with the club or the make-up of the team but I realise there’s a long hard winter ahead with darkness and bad weather and the huge stresses of paying ever increasing fuel bills etc so I’m going to try hard to stay positive and let the football bring some light into the winter darkness. The squad is set. The coaching staff are in their third month of work. The team isn’t doing too badly. To me it’s purely a distraction now to try to find fault and anyway if I did, I’d be doing so from a position of not knowing all the facts behind the scenes. The outraged of Twitterland have every right to howl with anger about this or that, but I worry what could potentially be quite an enjoyable season will then pass them by.
But conversely Rodgers and Wilder have repeatedly highlighted that they feel like more reinforcements are needed in key areas. And kept their job. Ivic and Silva when they were here were more open with their transfer frustrations and weren’t fired for that. Clearly that isn’t Edwards’ way. He appears to like to keep things quiet and in house which is his prerogative. But there are options between Edwards’ and Parker’s approach that would have revealed frustration, and he hasn’t used those to express frustration. But simply saying managers get fired if they express any frustrations with incoming business and therefore we must discount what he says is not accurate.
Add to that the fact that Pearson contracting covid seemed to hit him particularly hard meaning he was unable to put as much into his job once the season restarted.
It was an extreme example, but my point was that he may not necessarily be telling the truth. It’s not a dig at him. If he is censoring himself, then it’s being diplomatic rather than trying to pull the wool over fans’ eyes. I don’t have a problem with him saying he’s delighted with every single player we have. Just wish there weren’t quite so many people who fail to acknowledge that he may have ulterior motives for making such a statement. Some people will believe him and think he’s right. Fine. I think there’s a reasonable split on here. It’s Twitter that’s annoyed me. Hundreds of “Haha everyone who wanted a new RWB is an idiot”s.
No, though I think it adds more weight to the idea he's going to have us 4-3-3 more often now to accommodate Sarr. It's also slightly concerning he judges the Kamara on the right experiment to be a success. I'm pretty sure Ngakia and Gaspar can do a job there at this level (as long as both are up to the physical rigors of the 39 games to come) but I really don't like Kamara out there, both because he's far far less influential than when he's on the left and because he just looks a bit forlorn.
Honestly I think he’s giving the party line. He’s setting himself up to be a patsy and take the blame in October if it’s not going to plan. It is simply impossible for him to be happy when on the pitch he negates our LWB by playing him on the right. I long for the managers who see our poisonous owners for who they are, but that is only Ivic and Silva. The rest including Edwards just toe the line. In short, yes, he’s lying. That said, now he’s done it he can have no complaints if he is sacked during the World Cup if we are outside the playoffs.
That's missing the point by some margin. We have gone out and spent significant sums on players who do not benefit the team, whilst ignoring areas of the team which need improvement. Nobody expected us to sell Sarr and sign someone better, but we could/should be bringing in younger players to displace the likes of Cathcart and Cleverley as well as to fill the gaping holes in our team. To expect that on the budget we have frittered on Bayo, Manaj and Okoye for a starter is reasonable, but again, the priority is purely buying in players for Pozzo Player Trading Inc who can just be based at Watford for a bit. We could easily have built a side capable of walking the league. Instead we have one where we are hoping that two players can carry the other load of crap behind them by blasting enough goals to cover for the lack of quality in every other area. It's not good enough.
If we're not still at least on course for top 6 come mid-October then he can likely have no excuses, top-class RWB or not.
I'm convinced he's lying, yes. Unfortunately I think Rob is naive and believes that he's doing the right thing by showing public loyalty to his bosses. If he is being honest, then he's a simpleton and needs to be fired for his own good.
Scoring a match-winning goal doesn't benefit the team?! I think someone should spread the word that strikers the world over have been playing the game wrong!
Yes agree squad should be top 6 irrespective. I personally think the unbalanced nature of the squad means we could be on the fringes though if a couple of injuries strike (5th to 10th).
Not not in the slightest. They are obviously ludicrous valuations. But there was more than enough substance in the rest of my original post to utterly and irrevocably justify my point beyond any reasonable doubt. QED
Best attack in the division I'll accept (on paper), but that midfield lacks balance and it's not even been played yet. That's before you look at the options from the bench or in the case of injury, which are horrific.
We only have maximum one, perhaps two of our first choice XI, who are lacking in a bit of quality, but even then they're not players who are out of our depth at this level. We've gotten promoted in the past with more dross on the pitch.
That'll likely be the same for literally every promotion chasing team this season. Where will Blackburn be if Brereton gets injured? Sheffield Utd if they sell Berge and Ahmedhozic is out? Burnley without Maatsen or Brownhill? etc. etc. etc. Plus we're still 4th even though we've already had more than a couple of key players unavailable in Louza, Davis and Hause.
It’s not clear to me that Ivic and Silva did have a clearer eyed view on the owners. Just that Ivic was sour enough and Silva egotistical enough to criticise squad members publicly in a way that Edwards’ philosophy would not. If he is lying, which only he could know, it’s is surely to protect and boost Ngakia and Gaspar and not Pozzo, Duxbury and Giaretta.
Fair enough. I believe he’s telling the truth and is happy with the options as his disposal. (And you know my wider thoughts so you know I don’t say this as any kind of apologist!)
But is it a load of crap, comparative to the teams we're playing against, or just comparative to the star quality of JP/Sarr. Compare our best back 5 of Bachmann Gaspar Sierralta Hause Kamara to the other strongest options of the rest of the league. Then compare Louza Choudhury Kayembe/Asprilla to the rest of the league. We stack up quite well. You can say we don't have the depth, but have a look at some of the dross that pops up every week on Championship benches.
