OK. Understood. Look I still say stuff that make my children cringe and say you can't say things like that these days, so who am I to judge.
It just a collection of shapes we call letters formed into things we call words to communicate. Anyway I feel I have derailed this thread enough now, apologies to all the top cvnts that have been afflicted by my words but not to those low level cvnts whose replies I will not see. Yes I know you dont care and I am unimportant to you.
Would there be any interest in a deep dive data + scouting post into the positions we need and a look at potential options for those positions?
my 2ps worth .... a Must for me and the profile of player we should be after is that they need pace.... we are too slow going forward, we need 2 fast wide men and centre forward who has pace .... plus we need a more mobile, strong, experienced CDM.... by that I mean someone around 27 / 28 years old not someone who is 35 who's legs are gone . If we are to play with a number 10 we need someone to replace Asprilla as he will be gone - someone with an eye for a pass, some creativity and movement. We then obviously need to replace Lewis at LB as well ideally someone around 25 / 26 with a bit of experience - I don't want him back. Nice to haves - another central defender and another RB so not reliant on Ngakia as Andrews backup. The cherry on the cake would be a new Goalkeeper ..... What our budget allows for is another matter, I think we will need to lean heavily on the loan market.
Is he on loan from Leicester or someone ? EDIT: Ah no he joined Rotherham permanently. In the Swedish squad so maybe Ken can put in a good word !
I just don’t like either keeper personally. In most pessimistic of situations, to have a team I’d be comfortable with: NEW NEW - Porteous - NEW - Hoedt - NEW TDB / NEW Kone Kayembe NEW - Dennis - NEW That’s 7 just to the starting XI and that’s making the big presumption Dennis & Hoedt stay. I need to add this is with the premise that promotion is the aim, obviously if the aims are lower then yes, we could get away with more.
All on a budget of close to zero. Promotion will be "the aim" for all 24 sides but in no way will we be building a team of the quality to make a serious attempt for the top 6. It will need to be a cheaper side to maintain than this year with zero parachute money and target of close to zero external borrowings. Scott made it clear we should be "proud to be a championship side" etc etc at the fan meeting.
He made some comment when the accounts came out about aiming for promotion next season but as you say they all say that and he had said a lot which hasn’t come to fruition!
I think whoever you are in this league you have to have promotion as your target otherwise what's the point ? I bet QPR will be "targeting promotion" next season if they stay up ! Doesn't mean they will/can invest in the squad to make it a real expectation.
Of course! And to get the ball rolling, here's a list of players I've noticed in recent months from either matches, highlights, news articles, or stats who could be suitable for what we need (I've not covered all roles and positions, just the most important ones for now). It'll be far from exhaustive given the limited tools I have to search for players and their stats (eg no Wyscout), but it's something. Some of the names will be pretty obvious. Some of them slightly less so. The feasibility of a number of them will depend on whether their respective teams get relegated or promoted. LBs (a likely essential position): - Rubens - 22 - Brazilian - Atletico Mineiro - a player I really think we should try to sign, especially if we might occasionally be using WBs as well as he's played there a fair bit for Atletico and enjoys getting forward. He's very quick and very tenacious and determined. He's also at an age and stage where he can both make an immediate impact and still improve. Main problem will be that he has 3 years left on his deal so they might ask for too high a fee for us. - Harrison Burrows - 22 - English - Peterborough - an obvious candidate considering we'll have likely watched Peterborough a lot for Kyprianou and he only has 1 year left on his deal. Still won't be cheap mind. His attacking play seems very good, but I have to say though that he's seemed unconvincing defensively whenever I've seen him with some deficits in alertness and positioning. He and Andrews as the two FBs could get caught out a fair bit. - Gaston Benedetti - 23 - Argentinian - Estudiantes - he might need to toughen up a bit, but a skilled player on the ball and his defensive stats still seem good. Only 6 months left on his contract it seems so could be inexpensive. - Francisco Moura - 24 - Portuguese - Famalicao - not so sure about him and can't find too many clips, but he seems to have an excellent cross on him and seems strong physically. His tackling stats are a bit low despite his other defensive numbers being good. not sure why? Another who is probably better going forwards than defending. RBs (would be good to have some proper competition for Andrews). Not delved in to this as much but there are a couple of obvious players who might be available: - Ki-Jana Hoever - 22 - Dutch - Stoke (on loan from Wolves) - Has impressed me whenever I've seen him. Is only currently on loan from Wolves and they'll surely be looking to offload him again. He might expect to start every week though and wouldn't be cheap if Wolves won't loan him again. - Ethan Laird - 22 - English - Birmingham - We should have signed him last summer really. Brum's best player and would surely have to be sold if they got relegated. DMs (a more defensive minded midfielder with Livermore seeming less reliable seems essential. Struggling to find too many good options here tbh, but a few names): - Hector Kyprianou - 22 - English - Peterborough - another very obvious one given we tried to sign him in January. Will only have 1 year left on his deal this summer. Might need a bit of time to adapt, but seems promising. - Alonso Coello - 24 - Spanish - Toronto FC - very much a cheap punt squad filler option with just 1 year left on contract. He's only been a pro at MLS level for 1 season so may be too raw and the jump may be too much for him, but he does seem to have something about him. Strong and composed on the ball and can pick a pass. Like a budget version of his namesake Xabi Alonso - Jordan Holsgrove - 24 - Scottish - Estoril - intriguing profile. English qualifying (which is useful) having been as yet uncapped for the Scotland senior team, but was a youth international while in Reading's academy. Has had time at La Liga Celta Vigo, and is now owned by Olympiacos but they loaned him to Estoril and would I guess send him out or sell him this summer. Hard to tell if he's good enough but his stats seem good. Maybe his main drawback could be lacking in physicality for the role. - Mory Gbane - 23 - Ivory Coast - Gil Vicente (on loan from Kimiki) - on loan from a Russian club where his contract seems to be expiring in the summer. Very much a traditional strong deep-lying ball-winner with strong defensive stats, but maybe not good enough on the ball. - James McConnell - 19 - English - Liverpool - he was impressive in their win vs Norwich in the 5th round of the FA Cup. You'd think Pool would loan him out next season. Could be too soon for him to be starting week in week out at this level, but could be a good option to have, especially as he develops. Wingers and Attacking Midfielders (the number of these we need and their combination will depend on our formation and outgoings, but some will be essential): - Cesar Huerta - 23 - Mexican - Pumas UNAM - really like the look of this guy. With his tricky and determined play, frizzy hair, and left foot he seems very much a budget Mo Salah. Is now a member of the Mexico national team squad and scored on his debut off the bench to equalise vs Australia. Predominantly a left-footed RW, but he's good with both feet and can play both flanks well. - Koki Saito - 22 - Japanese - Sparta Rotterdam (on loan from Lommel) - Another player I really like the look of. Currently on loan at Sparta from Lommel in the Belgian 2nd tier, plus only 1 year left on his deal. Seems a very fast and tricky attacking player, with creative passing and very strong finishing. Not dissimilar to a right-footed Asprilla. Mostly a right-footed LW, but I suspect would also play well as a no.10. - Liam Millar - 24 - Canadian - Preston (on loan from Basel) - he's looked absolute class for Preston this season, no doubt they'll want to make it a permanent deal but nothing seems to have progressed yet on that front and don't know of their means, so could be an opening there. He has a very similar profile to Sema in that he's strong as a left-footed LW and also strong as a LWB. As with Sema can also do alright as a RW (and even maybe as an emergency LB?). Maybe the lure of linking up with his Canada team-mate Kone could get him here? Chris Willock - 26 - English - QPR (free in summer - He was on fire last season. But this season there have been question marks about his fitness levels and application. Still, he clearly has the talent to be a very good player at this level and can play LW, RW and ACM and is available on a free. Will need a manager capable of whipping him in to shape. - Harvey Vale - 20 - English - Bristol Rovers (on loan from Chelsea) - another player who similar to Sema and Millar is left footed and can seemingly operate in most positions down that flank as well as at RW. Has filled in as emergency LB a number of times for Rovers this season though it's not his best position. Good quality on the ball but maybe lacking a bit of pace. Will have no shortage of Championship suitors though especially with only 1 year left on his Chelsea contract and his versatility. - Femi Azeez - 22 - English - Reading (free in summer) - there aren't many promising young English left-footed RWs about, especially ones available on a free. He probably won't be good enough to replace Asprilla as a starter mind, but is a good finisher and could be a useful option. Not sure if he'd be better than the similar Forde for that role; would be interested in a reids statsbomb comparison Azeez vs Forde vs Poku vs Asprilla as RWs. - Kwame Poku - 22 - English - Peterborough - similar to Azeez but with 1 year left on his contract. Not the most attractive of Peterborough's team of possible starlets, but as per above I'd be interested in his statsbomb comparison vs similar players. - Benicio Baker-Boaitey - 20 - English - Brighton - another left-footed wide player. Unsurprisingly haven't seen much of him play but he's a quick and tricky winger who is fairly highly regarded having been an England U16 youth international at West Ham before joining Porto. Has played 14 minutes for Brighton in the PL this season. With his opportunities limited and only 1 year left on his deal he'll surely go elsewhere and so could be a shrewd pick-up for someone. Also, great name! Strikers (Would be good to have more competition for Bayovic. Another one I've not been able to look a huge amount in to yet, but a few names): Andreas Hountondji - 21 - French/Benin - Rodez (on loan from Caen) - Really like the look of this guy. For some reason he's on loan at one mid-table Ligue 2 club from another. He's a bit of a unit and is tearing up the league with 12 goals in 1752 minutes. He seems to pretty much have it all for a CF really - strong, quick, powerful, good dribbler, good finisher and generally seems pretty remarkable for his age. Again one with only 1 year left on his contract. He surely can't spend another season in Ligue 2. - Ike Ugbo - 25 - English - Sheff Weds (on loan from Troyes) - Someone we've been linked with many times before. Has ignited Sheff Weds' season and been their best player. Lots of Champ clubs will be looking at him in the summer. - Delano Burgzorg - 25 - Dutch - Huddersfield (on loan from Mainz) - 7 goals in 1897 minutes for a poor Huddersfield side and I thought looked their best player against us recently. Not spectacular. Maybe not even an upgrade on Bayo. But a solid all-rounder of a striker who can also fill in at LW if needed. Another one with only 1 year left on his contract; Huddersfield have a £1mil option to buy in the summer but if they go down he'd surely go elsewhere. Sinclair Armstrong - 20 - Irish - QPR - Another with only 1 year left on his contract. Seems far from a prolific goalscorer at the moment, but is still young. Caused Hoedt all sorts of problems in our game against them with his excellent strength and hold-up play. I suspect he could also probably do a job on the wing, even though he's not played there much for QPR. With 1 year left on his deal could be a useful squad option and prospect we can develop and sell on for more money later. QPR getting relegated would reduce the fee but seems unlikely now sadly.
Famalicao's entire philosophy is to spam crosses onto their 6"3 strikers head (hence why Araujo doesn't really suit them up front, not sure why they went for him tbf) - 56% of their xG this season has come from crosses + set-pieces with Moura playing a big part in that, superb crosser of the ball (although doesn't dribble much and as you said, doesn't have great defensive numbers)
Thanks for that! Kwame Poku looking decent, albeit down in League One. Azeez probably doesn't seem better enough than Forde to make signing him a free worthwhile when we already have Forde, but Forde does seem very limited at this moment in time with seeming to offer little but pressing and shooting. Ideally to be used as a winger his creativity and dribbling would be showing more at the moment.
Needs a proper pre season in English football. And a bit more time to adjust to this level. I think he'll improve somewhat but not become first choice.
Scott is an idiot and changes what he says according to whatever predicament his incompetence has delivered the previous year. If we go down we will be proud about managing to be a community L1 club.
I hope you're correct. I saw a slight improvement against Albion but his touch worries me. Also I don't believe we play to his strengths because when we do deliver decent balls into his area of expertise he's shown he can score. Would like to see him lose some weight which would help with his mobility because he looks leggy all the time.
He doesn't look overweight, just as though no-one has taught him how to run properly. As though he'd been found abandoned and brought up by a family of chimps.
I hate every Rajovic performance I see From Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee You’ll never make a monkey out of me.
Yes I've had that discussion with someone on here already (who claimed he should rather be bulking up more lol). When you watch him try to run around his shoulders, chest and upper back seem incredibly stiff. It's as if he has the upper torso of a fridge. Even in that photo his stance suggests his top-heaviness with his shoulders hunched over. It's as if he spends half his day just on a shoulder pull machine. It gives him a poor turning circle, lack of agility and hinders his speed. His legs and core don't seem up to powering his upper body, and his lack of flexibility in his upper body means he seems to struggle a bit to pump his arms when running (his arms move a bit like a T-Rex). He needs to do more yoga and sprint training for his pace and agility, and lay off trying to bulk up for a bit.
I agree his running style is slightly odd. He kind of runs from the knees down but not sure weight loss will help with that. A sprinting coach would be a better idea
Again, I think a fair bit of that stems from his upper torso being too stiff and over-developed. His arms move a bit like little T-rex arms when running. His legs struggle to fully power his stiff top half. A sprinting coach alone will be only of limited use when he doesn't have a full and proper range of motion to begin with.
I would think a coach would look at all parts of running and not just the legs so maybe it would help. I'm clutching at straws a bit to be honest as if he can't run properly at 24 years old not sure if he ever will
Again, I don't think it's about him learning to "run properly", but more that he had been training previously with an incorrect focus. When Deeney started hanging out with Anthony Josua, it wasn't that he'd forgotten how to run properly, but rather that he'd puffed himself up to the point where it took away from his speed, agility and reaction times.
Hopefully we can offload Rajovic and bring in someone who doesn’t necessarily score (an over rated ability), but has good all round play
...on a free or on loan. Will be amusing to watch fellow champ club fans throw up their hands in anguish at the 15+ goals he scores for them alongside his really awkward link-up play.
I know (at least I presume) this is tongue in cheek but if somebody was actually what amount would we sell for? Get our money back or more than that
Tough to put a value isn't it. If we can get his fitness and alround play to improve whilst retaining his knack for a goal it could be that it was money well spent. Whatever we sold him for we won't replace him with a goalscoring all-round striker already at champ level.
Assuming he continued at his current goals to minutes rate and had played regularly for us, he would have racked up plus 20 goals. Probably more if we had wide men that could actually put in accurate crosses. How much is a 20 goal Championship player worth? Got to be +£2m.
