Time for Critch to be ruthless?

A

Atletico_Seasider

Well-known member
It will be interesting to see how the summer pans out, in terms of how many Critch decides to let go and who will be their replacements.

If I was doing his job, I'd be lettting the following go for the following reasons. Some big names but time for Critch to be ruthless I reckon...

* Maxwell - because I think Grimshaw is a much better keeper
* Hamilton - unfortunately one of the few players to have not really improved under Critch and I'm not sure his footballing brain will ever be totally tuned in to the championship bandwidth. If I was Dale I'd be struggling to see why CJ has been consistently selected ahead of me? Dale offers more composure and more quality where it matters in the final third than CJ in my view.
* Yates - I think with Madine, Beesley and Lavery ahead of him, it's time for Jerry to move on. He will always be a legend but I think him moving on would suit both parties.
* Ward - a great pro but too injury prone and we are too exposed with both him and Stewart in the squad.
* Robson - probably for his benefit more than ours but we should get a decent fee

I think we can replace all of these and by stay within budget with players that will improve the squad . What do you think? Who would you let go?
 
Atletico_Seasider said:
It will be interesting to see how the summer pans out, in terms of how many Critch decides to let go and who will be their replacements.

If I was doing his job, I'd be lettting the following go for the following reasons. Some big names but time for Critch to be ruthless I reckon...

* Maxwell - because I think Grimshaw is a much better keeper
* Hamilton - unfortunately one of the few players to have not really improved under Critch and I'm not sure his footballing brain will ever be totally tuned in to the championship bandwidth. If I was Dale I'd be struggling to see why CJ has been consistently selected ahead of me? Dale offers more composure and more quality where it matters in the final third than CJ in my view.
* Yates - I think with Madine, Beesley and Lavery ahead of him, it's time for Jerry to move on. He will always be a legend but I think him moving on would suit both parties.
* Ward - a great pro but too injury prone and we are too exposed with both him and Stewart in the squad.
* Robson - probably for his benefit more than ours but we should get a decent fee

I think we can replace all of these and by stay within budget with players that will improve the squad . What do you think? Who would you let go?
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Yates is a thousand times better than Lavery. Why he (Lavery) keeps getting picked in front of Jerry is baffling???
 
I think there’s a chance of a high turn over of players this summer.

In reality we’ve done an outstanding job to finish where we have given the budget and historical absence from this level of football.

I don’t get the impression that Sadler has employed people like Critch and Mansford to just stand still and accept what has gone before, whilst we have been great all things considered and no squad outside of City or Real Madrid are ever ‘perfect’, we have some major gaps in quality and the correct players for the style and formations we play in our squad.

Could be wrong but I think there’s going to be a couple of surprising moves this summer.

Gk - Moore out of contract decent number three but can’t see us offering him a contract - better to try and promote one of the young lads if needed to number three. He’ll most likely want to try and get a starting gig in Lg1 or 2. So he’ll be gone.

Maxwell still has a year left, can’t see anyone parting with cash for him so I think it’ll be him and Grimmy fighting it out for the No. 1 shirt. For me Grimmy now head and shoulders above Maxi and we’ll see the Welsh stopper leave in 12 months.

Defence - Thorniley’s contracts up and it’s no secret even when he’s played very well he’s not in Critch’s plans. So he’ll be gone.

Keogh I can see retiring.

Reece James really hasn’t cut it for me looks miles off being a regular starter in the championship could see him going out on loan to league 1.

All in all we ‘re not too bad here, centrally we have Eki and probably Casey to step in next year. Connolly as cover here and Tharme possibly to be an understudy. We likely need to sign cover for Gabs at RB and cover at LB as I personally have massive question marks over Garbutt - why had he walked over the touch line and watched Derby’s first goal go in. He should have bought a ticket if he wanted to do that.

Midfield - Wards gone. Contracts up and his body unfortunately just doesn’t seem like it can hold up.

Stewart’s still got a year I think so will likely stay with us for experience and cover for a year.

Bowler looks like it’s already signed that he’s going.

CJ bless him is not going to make it in this league. With one year left on his deal we’ll look to move him on or a bit of a fee.

Keshi. Might surprise people but I think Keshi’s on his way. We’re at the stage where we need to decide if we re activating his extra year personally I don’t think we should. Whilst he’s one of our more talented players he doesn’t fit into anything we’re trying to do. Struggles out wide to really get going, hasn’t got the pace or real trickery to turn full backs inside and out, can’t cross, so Kirk would be a better option there.
When played in the middle theres just something missing from his game. Today was a prime example, couldn’t get his attacking juices flowing largely due to the tactics the team employs, to dominate possession, to lose the ball in a high risk attack is a massive no no with us currently, something to me that really hampers Keshi, the odd time he did carve out a decent position or chance he fluffed his lines with a bad touch or took too long to get a pass off due to pressure. Thought he struggle in the Brum and Luton games to really impose himself in the middle of a 442. If this is the way we’re going for next season I can’t see a place for him at all and we’d be wiser freeing his wages up for a more creative player that can play in a central role next to a Dougall or a Connelly. Whilst as I say he’s rather talented our style of play just doesn’t suit him and honestly I think he’d stuggle to get in more than half the sides in this league.

I expect to see his extension activated to dispelled all this any day now thought.

Strikers - Think Yates is going. Two years left plus a years option, I think now is the optimum time to sell him, he’s really really struggled at this level but his figures with us are high, artificially so due to his penalty record but does chip in with a fair amount of assists. This is partly not his fault the way we move the ball through the thirds of the pitch does his and Lavery’s game no good at all. However Lavery and Madine have shown significantly more threat than Jerry this year. I think we’ll try and get our money back for him this summer. Someone in League one will pay 300/400k for him.

Again his wages need to go towards someone that can score goals in the championship. Easy for me to say but it’s a must if we’re not to go backwards next season.

That’s 9 players gone. 10 if you thrown in Sterling. I think we’ll buy Kirk his deliveries from both set pieces and open play are the best in the squad and that worth something.

All in all we need two full backs that are good enough to start in the championship, possibly an up and coming centre back, an attacking left winger preferably with pace to offer an alternative to Kirk and Dale’s trickery and lack of pace. A creative central midfielder that can move the ball in a controlled way to the forwards and a proven Championship striker. Probably 5-6 players with increased wage demands of the 9-10 we’d loose. The 4 squad spots taken up by some younger players or a loan at full back maybe.

Hey you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for reading my late night ramble.
 
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Thatseasider said:
I think there’s a chance of a high turn over of players this summer.

In reality we’ve done an outstanding job to finish where we have given the budget and historical absence from this level of football.

I don’t get the impression that Sadler has employed people like Critch and Mansford to just stand still and accept what has gone before, whilst we have been great all things considered and no squad outside of City or Real Madrid are ever ‘perfect’, we have some major gaps in quality and the correct players for the style and formations we play in our squad.

Could be wrong but I think there’s going to be a couple of surprising moves this summer.

Gk - Moore out of contract decent number three but can’t see us offering him a contract - better to try and promote one of the young lads if needed to number three. He’ll most likely want to try and get a starting gig in Lg1 or 2. So he’ll be gone.

Maxwell still has a year left, can’t see anyone parting with cash for him so I think it’ll be him and Grimmy fighting it out for the No. 1 shirt. For me Grimmy now head and shoulders above Maxi and we’ll see the Welsh stopper leave in 12 months.

Defence - Thorniley’s contracts up and it’s no secret even when he’s played very well he’s not in Critch’s plans. So he’ll be gone.

Keogh I can see retiring.

Reece James really hasn’t cut it for me looks miles off being a regular starter in the championship could see him going out on loan to league 1.

All in all we ‘re not too bad here, centrally we have Eki and probably Casey to step in next year. Connolly as cover here and Tharme possibly to be an understudy. We likely need to sign cover for Gabs at RB and cover at LB as I personally have massive question marks over Garbutt - why had he walked over the touch line and watched Derby’s second goal go in. He’s should have bought a ticket if he wanted to do that.

Midfield - Wards gone. Contracts up and his body unfortunately just doesn’t seem like it can hold up.

Stewart’s still got a year I think so will likely stay with us for experience and cover for a year.

Bowler looks like it’s already signed that he’s going.

CJ bless him is not going to make it in this league. With one year left on his deal we’ll look to move him on or a bit of a fee.

Keshi. Might surprise people but I think Keshi’s on his way. We’re at the stage where we need to decide if we re activating his extra rear personally I don’t think we should. Whilst he’s one of our more talented players he doesn’t fit into anything we re trying to do. Struggles out wide to really get going, hasn’t got the pace or real trickery to turn full backs inside and out, can’t cross, so Kirk would be a better option there.
When played in the middle theres just something missing from his game. Today was a prime example, couldn’t get his attacking juices flowing largely due to the tactics the team gets to dominate possession to loose the ball in a high risk attack is a massive no no with us currently something to me that really hampers Keshi, the odd time he did carve out a decent position or chance he fluffed his lines with a bad touch or took too long to get a pass off due to pressure. Thought he struggle in the Brum and Luton games to really impose himself in the middle of a 442. If this is the way we’re going for next season I can’t see a place for him at all and we’d be wiser freeing his wages up for a more creative player that can play in a central role next to a Dougall or a Connelly. Whilst as I say he’s rather talented our style of play just doesn’t suit him and honestly I think he’d stuggle to get in more than half the sides int his league.

I expect to see his extension activated to dispelled all this any day now thought.

Strikers - Think Yates is going. Two years left plus a years option, I think now is the optimum time to sell him, he’s really really struggled at this level but his figures with us are high, artificially so due to his penalty record but does chip in with a fair amount of assists. This is partly not his fault the way we move the ball through the thirds of the pitch does his and Lavery’s game no good at all. However Lavery and Madine have shown significantly more threat than Jerry this year. I think we’ll try and get our money back for him this summer. Someone in League one will pay 300/400k for him.

Again his wages need to go towards someone that can score goals in the championship. Easy for me to say but it’s a must if we’re not to go backwards next season.

That’s 9 players gone. 10 if you thrown in Sterling. I think we’ll buy Kirk his deliveries from both set pieces and open play are the best in the squad and that worth something.

All in all we need two full backs that are good enough to start in the championship, possibly an up and coming centre back, an attacking left winger preferably with pace to offer an alternative to Kirk and Dale’s trickery and lack of pace. A creative central midfielder that can move the ball in a controlled way to the forwards and a proven Championship striker. Probably 5-6 players with increased wage demands of the 9-10 we’d loose. The 4 squad spots taken up by some younger players or a loan at full back maybe.

Hey you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for reading my late night ramble.
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Decent enough report but re Keshi edit loose and replace it with lose.Makes more sense.
 
Philbfctrois said:
Pick his best team and to stop trying to be too clever swapping and changing things all the time
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I don’t get the squad rotation which benches players who’ve done well in their last game. Don’t think this has helped Yates, Lavery, Kirk, Gabriel and Dale who should have started yesterday after his class goal midweek. The above have all scored or assisted and then been benched & not even used in their next games.

As a player I can imagine that is very frustrating.

I’ve a feeling we’re going to get outgunned with Brannagan, though that will please a few on here who think it’s a lot of money for a player they wouldn’t know if he barged into them on the street.
 
I think they’ll be looking to offload quite a few, how many go will determine how many and what quality we bring in. Agree with most of what’s been said on here, and if you based your decisions purely on yesterday, you’d. be hard pushed to keep any.
 
I agree NC will really shake the squad up, and needs too if we want to challenge for a top 6 place. Too many players in the squad who are a lower championship standard at best. We cannot get away from the fact we haven’t scored enough goals and that needs addressing. I agree with most of the above posts as a minimum we lose Maxwell, Thornliy, Ward, Robson, CJ, Bowler, and Yates plus a surprise or 2. Great 1st season in the league but we need to push on or it will be a real struggle next year, this league is ruthless.
 
Philbfctrois said:
Critchley needs to stop believing the hype

Pick his best team and to stop trying to be too clever swapping and changing things all the time

Best 11, 2 strikers and balls into the box
Easy peasy

Oh and if he really wants Brannagan then the club needs to back him 100% and pay the fcuking price
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I agree to a degree!!
I don't think however these last few games we could argue with Critch's desire to rotate his squad.
 
Hertsseasider said:
Two minds here.
On the one hand, we need a squad, a group of players that will cope with the rigours of the Championship.
On the other, I do feel Critch tinkers too much, mainly based on who we are playing.
Would love a consistent team.
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A consistent team leaves us open to tactical analysis. ie: the opposition can plan for the way we play.
 
Thatseasider said:
I think there’s a chance of a high turn over of players this summer.

In reality we’ve done an outstanding job to finish where we have given the budget and historical absence from this level of football.

I don’t get the impression that Sadler has employed people like Critch and Mansford to just stand still and accept what has gone before, whilst we have been great all things considered and no squad outside of City or Real Madrid are ever ‘perfect’, we have some major gaps in quality and the correct players for the style and formations we play in our squad.

Could be wrong but I think there’s going to be a couple of surprising moves this summer.

Gk - Moore out of contract decent number three but can’t see us offering him a contract - better to try and promote one of the young lads if needed to number three. He’ll most likely want to try and get a starting gig in Lg1 or 2. So he’ll be gone.

Maxwell still has a year left, can’t see anyone parting with cash for him so I think it’ll be him and Grimmy fighting it out for the No. 1 shirt. For me Grimmy now head and shoulders above Maxi and we’ll see the Welsh stopper leave in 12 months.

Defence - Thorniley’s contracts up and it’s no secret even when he’s played very well he’s not in Critch’s plans. So he’ll be gone.

Keogh I can see retiring.

Reece James really hasn’t cut it for me looks miles off being a regular starter in the championship could see him going out on loan to league 1.

All in all we ‘re not too bad here, centrally we have Eki and probably Casey to step in next year. Connolly as cover here and Tharme possibly to be an understudy. We likely need to sign cover for Gabs at RB and cover at LB as I personally have massive question marks over Garbutt - why had he walked over the touch line and watched Derby’s second goal go in. He’s should have bought a ticket if he wanted to do that.

Midfield - Wards gone. Contracts up and his body unfortunately just doesn’t seem like it can hold up.

Stewart’s still got a year I think so will likely stay with us for experience and cover for a year.

Bowler looks like it’s already signed that he’s going.

CJ bless him is not going to make it in this league. With one year left on his deal we’ll look to move him on or a bit of a fee.

Keshi. Might surprise people but I think Keshi’s on his way. We’re at the stage where we need to decide if we re activating his extra rear personally I don’t think we should. Whilst he’s one of our more talented players he doesn’t fit into anything we re trying to do. Struggles out wide to really get going, hasn’t got the pace or real trickery to turn full backs inside and out, can’t cross, so Kirk would be a better option there.
When played in the middle theres just something missing from his game. Today was a prime example, couldn’t get his attacking juices flowing largely due to the tactics the team gets to dominate possession to loose the ball in a high risk attack is a massive no no with us currently something to me that really hampers Keshi, the odd time he did carve out a decent position or chance he fluffed his lines with a bad touch or took too long to get a pass off due to pressure. Thought he struggle in the Brum and Luton games to really impose himself in the middle of a 442. If this is the way we’re going for next season I can’t see a place for him at all and we’d be wiser freeing his wages up for a more creative player that can play in a central role next to a Dougall or a Connelly. Whilst as I say he’s rather talented our style of play just doesn’t suit him and honestly I think he’d stuggle to get in more than half the sides int his league.

I expect to see his extension activated to dispelled all this any day now thought.

Strikers - Think Yates is going. Two years left plus a years option, I think now is the optimum time to sell him, he’s really really struggled at this level but his figures with us are high, artificially so due to his penalty record but does chip in with a fair amount of assists. This is partly not his fault the way we move the ball through the thirds of the pitch does his and Lavery’s game no good at all. However Lavery and Madine have shown significantly more threat than Jerry this year. I think we’ll try and get our money back for him this summer. Someone in League one will pay 300/400k for him.

Again his wages need to go towards someone that can score goals in the championship. Easy for me to say but it’s a must if we’re not to go backwards next season.

That’s 9 players gone. 10 if you thrown in Sterling. I think we’ll buy Kirk his deliveries from both set pieces and open play are the best in the squad and that worth something.

All in all we need two full backs that are good enough to start in the championship, possibly an up and coming centre back, an attacking left winger preferably with pace to offer an alternative to Kirk and Dale’s trickery and lack of pace. A creative central midfielder that can move the ball in a controlled way to the forwards and a proven Championship striker. Probably 5-6 players with increased wage demands of the 9-10 we’d loose. The 4 squad spots taken up by some younger players or a loan at full back maybe.

Hey you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for reading my late night ramble.
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Some good points there but…..
you’ve done the easy bit. Who are the replacements?
 
Atletico_Seasider said:
It will be interesting to see how the summer pans out, in terms of how many Critch decides to let go and who will be their replacements.

If I was doing his job, I'd be lettting the following go for the following reasons. Some big names but time for Critch to be ruthless I reckon...

* Maxwell - because I think Grimshaw is a much better keeper
* Hamilton - unfortunately one of the few players to have not really improved under Critch and I'm not sure his footballing brain will ever be totally tuned in to the championship bandwidth. If I was Dale I'd be struggling to see why CJ has been consistently selected ahead of me? Dale offers more composure and more quality where it matters in the final third than CJ in my view.
* Yates - I think with Madine, Beesley and Lavery ahead of him, it's time for Jerry to move on. He will always be a legend but I think him moving on would suit both parties.
* Ward - a great pro but too injury prone and we are too exposed with both him and Stewart in the squad.
* Robson - probably for his benefit more than ours but we should get a decent fee

I think we can replace all of these and by stay within budget with players that will improve the squad . What do you think? Who would you let go?
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Add to your list Thorniley for a fee or part player exchange
Lubala, Antwi and Bange
 
Insider said:
I agree to a degree!!
I don't think however these last few games we could argue with Critch's desire to rotate his squad.
Click to expand...
True but there have been 40ish other games and sometimes you just wish he'd play to our own strengths a bit more rather than trying to out-chess the opposition. As Phil says it's a simple game at heart. We've spent a lot of time this season trying to work our way round the lack of a driving goalscoring midfield boss. Would love to sort this in the close season.
 
Some very good views on here, my view is very much the same in general, but I agree we also think we need a new keeper to compete
with Grimshaw. A comanding Centre Half of 30yrs will be needed along side Ekpiteta. Not sure Kirk is the answer I've yet
to see him get the better of a full back, could'nt do it yesterday. At £500.00 cant see that happening, Dale has more potential anyway.
I also think one of our strikers will leave could be Yates ?, another Beesley would be ideal. 8/9 players to leave approx 7 to come in.
 
I honestly think Critchley is about incremental changes not wholesale changes. If we have to sell a couple of big names (Marv, Anderson, Bowler and Yates) I just don’t see us jettisoning others who have had injuries or aren’t perceived a “good enough” this season. In fact Id be amazed if we didn’t still have CJ, Ward, Stewart Maxwell.,Thorniley etc around in the squad. Robson out at the first opportunity obviously.
 
Yates should be used more - he's better than Lavery and Madine.
Hamilton, Anderson, Garbutt, Virtue, Ward, and others should be disposed of. If we get a lot of money for Bowler then great. He was excellent one minute, and poor the next but I liked him. Stewart - great player but a crock - worth keeping but gotta question the value for money.
Major investment needed in midfield - ideally some lads who can actually play and pass. Make a change! We've massively over-achieved this season with a squad of mostly league oners at best.
 
My hope even when we were in with a small shout of the POs was that we end the season with a more settled style and personnel, just bringing fringe players in to get a feel and NC stopped his dartboard team selection.

Now we are left with more questions than answers and the pre-season isn't as settled as it could be.

There going to be loads of movement, problem is this will by and large be players who don't feature (or rarely) and not upgrading first teamers. Of course we'll sign probably 2/3 decent quality players with the Bowler money (see someone's post above), but will still be left with the Dale v Kirk v CJ, the Lavery v Yates v Beesley, team selections. You could argue they all all of each other's standard.

NC come Sept 1 needs to find a settled team, playing a settled way (give or take).

Going to be an interesting few months.
 
Some really good posts on this. I think that most agree that our biggest problem has been lack of quality in the final third. I'm not necessarily blaming the strikers here because I think the real problem is the supply routes. There is no point passing the ball around at the back if we give it away cheaply in the final third. On the few occasions they have been given the chance, I think Dale, Kirk and Carey all have more quality and composure on the ball and better decision making than Hamilton, Anderson and even Bowler. Reading away was a glimpse of how good we can be in the final third and both Carey and Dale played key roles in that comeback win. Perhaps the most important new signing though will be that elusive playmaker in centre midfield...
 
Atletico_Seasider said:
Some really good posts on this. I think that most agree that our biggest problem has been lack of quality in the final third. I'm not necessarily blaming the strikers here because I think the real problem is the supply routes. There is no point passing the ball around at the back if we give it away cheaply in the final third. On the few occasions they have been given the chance, I think Dale, Kirk and Carey all have more quality and composure on the ball and better decision making than Hamilton, Anderson and even Bowler. Reading away was a glimpse of how good we can be in the final third and both Carey and Dale played key roles in that comeback win. Perhaps the most important new signing though will be that elusive playmaker in centre midfield...
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Maybe Critch still rates Virtue we ought o be the driving midfielder we’ve missed all season? They have history.
 
FLATBACKFOR said:
Some very good views on here, my view is very much the same in general, but I agree we also think we need a new keeper to compete
with Grimshaw. A comanding Centre Half of 30yrs will be needed along side Ekpiteta. Not sure Kirk is the answer I've yet
to see him get the better of a full back, could'nt do it yesterday. At £500.00 cant see that happening, Dale has more potential anyway.
I also think one of our strikers will leave could be Yates ?, another Beesley would be ideal. 8/9 players to leave approx 7 to come in.
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Not for £500 quid no🤣
 
Trammo said:
Decent enough report but re Keshi edit loose and replace it with lose.Makes more sense.
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😂. Tbh it was littered with errors 3 beers in and midnight me’lord.

Some good points there but…..
Stony Hill said:
you’ve done the easy bit. Who are the replacements?
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Yeh that’s the tough part isn’t it.

Twine at MK Dons has been in the radar for a while and put on a show yesterday. Would cost a fair price to get him out of MK and don’t think we’d risk it on someone not proven at this level.

The EboAdams one is interesting, as if that’s a go’er I don’t know why. I think I’m correct in thinking he’s a midfield battler. We’ve a few of them already in Dougall, Stewart, Virtue and Connolly. We’re crying out for flair there. Could be completely wrong though. Never seen the lad play.

Always thought Szomdics at Peterborough was a player that looked good but he’s not done much this year and seems similar to Carey in style and build.

Could go in for someone like Joe Lolley at Forest. Comfortable in the attacking mind role as well as out wide. Last year of his Forest deal and seems to have fallen out of favour somewhat with Cooper. Proven championship ability for a couple of years wouldn’t go a miss now.

Never get the obsession with former players but I would be interested to see Simms in this team. He bridges the gap between Yates/Lavery and Madine/Beesley.

Cauley Woodrow at Barnsley has 3 solid years behind him in League 1 and the Champ. Even has past premier league experience with Fulham. Last year of his contract, will want to get out of Barnsley and will be affordable. We’ve got some good youth players but people like Lolley and Woodrow would add a bit of know how at the top of the pitch without breaking the bank.

Course there’s hundreds of players I’ve never heard of that will likely be on the radar. Interesting time.
 
I have no problem at all with rotation and I never call it tinkering, cos it isn't.

We don't have the quality those teams above us possess cos we don't have their money. But we have an interchangeable squad and we maximise our effectiveness by keeping the whole squad involved and keeping them fresh. A huge amount of energy goes into each game, two games a week for much of the season.

People who think Kirk is a much better player than Anderson have precious little to base that opinion upon. It's not much more than one game against a team that didn't bother to mark him. Anderson was creating and scoring goals prior to his injury, against some strong sides. Kirk has disappeared in those circumstances. Kirk and Dale have great technique but have yet to impose themselves on games in any meaningful way.

Critch won't throw the baby out because of a bad last home game. It should focus minds, of course, but Critch already has a focused mind.

Lavery has not rediscovered his pre injury form but hopefully a break and pre season and a new attacking set up will revitalise him. Possibly the same for Jerry. Jerry may leave but I'm not yet convinced he will. His value has plummeted so much, surely.

It's all about the front 4 positions. The back 6 needs a bit of tweaking but the front 4 needs an overhaul. Which actually might only need one new player. But probably more. 442/424 has done a job for us but I think it probably limits us and needs rethinking. What's really obvious is that we get very little good delivery to the forwards from midfield or from out wide. None of the full backs do it, the wingers don't do it, and the midfield doesn't do it. Yates and Lavery have taken a lot of the flack.

That said, we are not far behind most of the teams above us. They aren't much better.
 
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Critch has been using the last few games to determine what he will be doing with transfers, which has been frustrating for
fans as they want to finish above Preston. He has already shown with the transfers of Mitchell and the Viking that he will move people on
if they are not happy or he doesn't think that they are good enough to progress the team.

If the target is to improve the team and steady progress. Then I expect Robson, Thorniley, and Bowler to be sold. I also expect Keogh to retire, and one of either Garbutt or James to be sold.

The two players on loan will return, so we will be in a position to sign 7 players to strengthen the team, 3 loans, and 4 permanent ones.
Kirk will return as one of the permanent players. So I expect 6 new players in total.

If the target is having a push for promotion, then I suspect Critch will have to be more ruthless, and move on both Ward and Stewart due to their injury record. He also will need to move on Yates, and possibly Anderson if he doesn't sign a contract extension. CJ will also be sold.

That will allow another 4 players, so in total, we will get 11 players signed in the summer.
 
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Blimey, some Watergate insight in the posts above, thanks for the updates.
Gives some confidence that maybe there is a plan after all.
Hope Keogh can be persuaded into one more campaign.
 
Thatseasider said:
The EboAdams one is interesting, as if that’s a go’er I don’t know why. I think I’m correct in thinking he’s a midfield battler. We’ve a few of them already in Dougall, Stewart, Virtue and Connolly. We’re crying out for flair there. Could be completely wrong though. Never seen the lad play.
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I suspect that's just a case of rumours getting recirculated from January without anyone thinking about them, Adams was in the picture when we had an injury crisis, I don't think he offers what the team needs and I doubt that'll come to anything.

Thatseasider said:
Could go in for someone like Joe Lolley at Forest. Comfortable in the attacking mind role as well as out wide. Last year of his Forest deal and seems to have fallen out of favour somewhat with Cooper. Proven championship ability for a couple of years wouldn’t go a miss now.
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He's contracted until 2023, wages are probably somewhere near £20,000 p/w, and he's 30 in August, can't see that happening either.
 
voyeur said:
People who think Kirk is a much better player than Anderson have precious little to base that opinion upon. It's not much more than one game against a team that didn't bother to mark him. Anderson was creating and scoring goals prior to his injury, against some strong sides. Kirk has disappeared in those circumstances. Kirk and Dale have great technique but have yet to impose themselves on games in any meaningful way.
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This may have been aimed at my post not sure,

But for me, it’s not that Kirk is a better player than Anderson, they’re about par in their differing skill sets. It’s about who's going to bring what to us next year.

Kirk’s deliveries into the box are currently the best (only) we have in the squad. I can just see Critch wanting to buy him at a fairly reasonable price and have him in the squad at a similar wages as Anderson.

I just don’t see where we go with Anderson, offer him a new 3 year deal, not for me like I say he’d struggle to get in over half the sides in the championship, he’s just turned 27 and will be looking for his last big contract. if we want to improve on this year I’m not sure he’s the man to do it.

Activate the one year option, yeh I wouldn’t be against that he’d probably be part of a squad that would get us a lower mid place finish again next season. All in all given the size and stature of the squad and club that’s about right. But I think our management want incremental progression every year.

I’d go as far as to say Virtue can offer us everything Anderson does and at three years his junior offers us more longevity either in playing ability or sell on value.
 
Lost Seasider said:
I suspect that's just a case of rumours getting recirculated from January without anyone thinking about them, Adams was in the picture when we had an injury crisis, I don't think he offers what the team needs and I doubt that'll come to anything.



He's contracted until 2023, wages are probably somewhere near £20,000 p/w, and he's 30 in August, can't see that happening either.
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Sorry meant he’s going Into his last year of his Forest deal so could be let go on a relatively small fee. Especially if they get promoted.

I’d be amazed if he’s on anything like 20k pw. For regular game time he must know his big contracts are now behind him. We need someone around his experience, age and ability in the attacking role. Not specifically him but it was a ‘type’.

I mean it’s really easy to just bat ideas away who do you think we should be realistically in for?
 
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You can’t just get rid of the 1st team/ squad and start again with unknowns who have no affinity for the club or manager .

That’s ridiculous surely
 
Thatseasider said:
I mean it’s really easy to just bath ideas away who do you think we should be realistically in for?
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No idea on names, but with Anderson, Dale, Kirk and CJ on the wings another RW isn't a priority, obviously we need another RB and some creativity in CM.

I think the big question is can the club find another batch of Bowler, Connolly, Grimshaw's quality, released by PL clubs, and do they fill the gaps?
 
Lost Seasider said:
No idea on names, but with Anderson, Dale, Kirk and CJ on the wings another RW isn't a priority, obviously we need another RB and some creativity in CM.

I think the big question is can the club find another batch of Bowler, Connolly, Grimshaw's quality, released by PL clubs, and do they fill the gaps?
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In my scenario, CJ is going and I've never really got Keshi as a winger or deep in Central Mid, he needed to be playing further up the pitch more just behind the front two, but I've never seen him there and don't think Critch will ever employ him there so we'd be best moving on, which again is why I think someone 'like' Lolly might be perfect.

You're second point is the correct and the most pertinent to our success in the medium to long term, who knows who those players are....probably Critch and co :D
 
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Based on the above it's amazing that an average (or maybe a little better) Championship midfielder earns 20K a week - equating to an annual salary of 1 million.
 
I was very impressed with Roos yesterday, a keeper of his size and stature needed. Talking of other players available I see Daniel Ayala 31, Tim Klose
32 and Aden Flint 33 all experienced giants at centre half, should be considered available with Keogh player/coach. The creative midfielder we all crave for, has anybody considered Honeyman at Hull played well against us, 12 months left on his contract age 27. Finding this type of player that makes a difference will not be easy. The lad at forest mentioned does fit the mould for a winger who can inflence play on the halfway line as well upfront.
 
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