Out of curiosity what would you class as a reasonable return for Bayo this season? And do you see him getting it? That's as a £5m striker, mid-career in age and experience, brought into a side with plenty of creativity behind him and expected to be at the top end of the table.
Well, I'm judging it on the unimpressive performances I've witnessed so far when I don't feel that our defence and midfield have looked close to division leading.
Blackburn will be nowhere irrespective. Burnley and Sheff Utd are far better equipped to absorb a couple of injuries. Our backup players are awful. In my opinion,
WatfordTalk thinks we have the best squad in the history of the championship. This is an argument you can’t win .
If we beat Rotherham then it clearly will have been an excellent window. Lose and it’s the end of the world
Firstly, I'm not entirely sure what we should make of the fee for him - or any of Mogi's players for that matter. I do find it very strange how pretty much the only players we've been spending money on lately are his, but it makes me wonder if, as with stuff like the Kamara deal, there's more that's going on with it than meets the eye (back-handers, funneling money to Luxembourg, tax benefits etc.). Putting that aside, given their styles of play and that we've also brought in Davis and kept Sarr, I'm not expecting Bayo to start most games. As I said after his first appearance for us, he seems most suited to a Gray-esque poacher type role, likely as an impact sub. In light of all that, I reckon if he at least matches Gray's 5 goals, or Deeney's 7 goals, which they got in our last promotion season (relative to how many minutes he gets vs those two) then that will be reasonable. Gray got 1 goal every 255 minutes as a super-sub in our last promotion season, Bayo's first goal puts him at currently 1 goal every 196 minutes in the league. Of course it won't be great if we take his fee at face value, but it won't be dreadful either, and should be enough to help us to get promotion again given who else we have in the team and how many goals we can expect from them. That should underline that he has some uses and isn't a complete Perica type flop. Plus, unlike Deeney and Gray the last time we got promoted, he's still a good age for a striker and should have more seasons ahead of him at a similar, or perhaps even slightly improved, level.
You never used to be this disingenuous, you know? I said, when we still had Dennis and to a lesser extent Samir, that we have probably one of the strongest squads the league has seen. I even gave the caveat that: "Obviously that changes very quickly if either of Dennis/Sarr are sold" You can make an argument without making stuff up, if you want.
A small sample of unimpressive collective performances, doesn't necessarily mean that the individual players are 'a load of crap', though.
Burnley yes. They have a deep squad and have taken Maatsen’s suspension in their stride. Sheff U have only Ahmedhodzic and Berge as outstanding players in my opinion. They have a deep and well balanced squad but most of their players are just solid and nothing more. That said, I do think we have more PL starting XI quality players (Louza, Sarr, JP and Kamara) than any other side in the league.
Wow I didn't expect you to concede the attack so am impressed. Fair point the midfield haven't played together yet. But Louza was injured so that was always the case. I don't get why it is necessarily imbalanced and I think the back up of Apsprilla, TDB and Cleverley in short cameos is OK. I don't think it's the best midfield in the division but it feels like it might be one of the better ones and I can't think of 6 other clubs whose midfield I'd swap for ours. Serious injury crisises would screw us up yeah but this would be the same for any other Championship team. The defence is clearly the weak spot. But even that is not all bad.. Kamara is decent and I'd argue one of the better LBs. Early indications are bad on the Gaspar front I agree and this was a failure to address. Hause should be one of the better defenders in the division. Even the rest of our much maligned central defenders whilst totally inadequate for the prem are probably average for the Championship. I think the ingredients for an exciting attacking team are there. We've got c. £60m of top attacking talent in Sarr and Pedro which seems mind-blowing and unprecedented for the Championship and is a key differential. It really is down to Edwards to gel them together now. The team performances so far have been uninspiring but my hope is that that now the squad is confirmed we can get some stability which will translate into more cohesive performances and that unleashes our full potential on weak and pathetic opponents. I'm also encouraged by veering away from 352 which never felt the right shape for the players we have. I think we just need a convincing win again someone to get really going.
I’m following the new “Robert Fleck” method whereby I can attribute quotes to you with zero evidence.
I can see where people are coming from when they call our fans entitled. We have the best attack in the league, worth roughly £55m, a record breaking defence at this level, a midfield full of talented young players, and our squad is full of international players, with vast top flight experience. But our RWB with 500 apps in La Liga is slower than our last RWB 11 years ago our LB options were Carl D1ckinson and Craig Forsyth! Enjoy it!
Agree with this. The depth might not stack up too well to us, wishing for the perfect squad, but the majority of teams in the Championship have at least one position where they are far shorter than we are in any of them.
Still wildly excessive considering he’s the first player Pozzo has ever spent a penny on in the championship, under the circumstances you’d expect them to be amongst the first names on the team sheet, not a sub to bring on later on in a game. That said, I do appreciate you’ve acknowledged there is potentially more than meets the eye with regards to the fee and what is going on with Bayat.
We're set for an exciting season. Excellent attack. Obvious weaknesses to work on. Unpredictable division. Rollercoaster ride coming up. I don't think we need to be brilliant to go up. Just find an effective way of playing with what we have and be more consistent than the other contenders. Injuries are the wild card we might struggle with if Kamara, Hamza or Davis can't play it's hard to cover them.
But we have more evidence at our disposal, to decide just how crap these players are, don't we? And all evidence suggests that at this level, they range from average, to quite good.
That's a fair and reasonable point you make. You're a good lad Moog and I have a lot of time and respect for you. You've just got in with the wrong crowd of undesirables who've been a bad influence on you. Your heart is in the right place but you've been so hurt by WFC setbacks that it's difficult for you to see past the negative narrative that has become your gospel. You don't dare to hope and believe for fear of being let down. I understand.
I take your point but would argue Hause and Choudhury could be viewed as replacements for Cleverley and Cathcart, it’s not like we haven’t signed anyone. (Davis too). These feel like sensible signings for a team trying to get promoted. The Bayat players are a mystery to us all and I’m sure the truth will be out one day. The situation feels uncomfortable and I won’t defend it, but we have made good money on some of them.
You cannot for certain say he’s lying. The only statement we have is his saying he’s happy. You might not believe it but it is the only statement so there is nothing to base it against
Hopefully Hause will be replacing Kabasele tbh but as he , Cathcart and Cleverley seem to be the chosen captains makes you think they all will be in the team potentially when fit .
Genuinely think, in a scenario where everyone is fit in attack, and stays fit, he’s unlikely to play much at all. Joao Pedro and Sarr will start every game (if fit) and Edwards will rotate Sema with Davis I think. Manaj and Bayo will be fighting for bench minutes ultimately and will probably share those duties pretty equally.
I think pretty much everybody is concerned by Bayats involvement. It’s probably the only thing we agree on!
Sounds like Manaj is out for a while so gives him a chance to make a claim as he will probably play a part in most games
