Post by johnknee on Jul 23, 2014 14:34:14 GMT 1
I predict Loft will be the key signing from the point of view of being a solid leader in the middle of the park, with the rest taking turns. I wouldn't be surprised to see us play with 3 in the middle at times.
For all the other signings, they are clearly all talented players who haven’t made it yet but have a fantastic opportunity to do so. I would predict one of them being an absolute steal, one will be a disaster while the rest will ultimately leave the club as “never let us down, but there are probably better players out there to replace them”.
I have a certain amount of optimism for next season. While it is true that none of the signings are “names” we can be excited about, I think what is encouraging is the fact for once a manager is building a squad where there is actually balance in it. This will be the first season for a while where we actually have a left footed left sided midfielder rather than different right footed midfielders being asked to play out of position out there. And yes I recall Myles Weston was technically left footed but he seemed to spend a lot of the time on the right or up front. Without a right footer on the left wing, maybe Joe Martin will actually have a team mate in front of him helping him out, rather than a huge space where whoever was supposed to be in front of him had wandered into the middle.
With Taylor signing a few players who can play in several positions, we seem to have a lot more flexibility in where players can play and will hopefully avoid a certain amount of “round pegs in square holes” of recent years.
Add to the fact that most of the signed youngsters came through academies who have a reputation for preferring to play the passing game rather than the direct game favourite by the likes of Hess and Allen, we maybe might start to see football were we look to retain possession etc. Some of our best football last season was when we made a point of passing it around.
Of course, there is still concerns over some aspects of the defence. If Egan (he was the defender?) replaces Barrett, Martin hopefully protected a bit better with a team mate in front of him, plus the team trying to kept possession, then hopefully some of the weaknesses of last season will be reduced.
And then it comes down to expectations. Close to 60 points would be a good season I feel, with the magic 52 points passed with half a dozen matches to go. Promotion and play offs? Not a chance and even though a few of the giant teams of last season are now no longer in the league, I still think it will be a tough league for us with us losing to struggling sides and then causing an upset against a few of the promotion chasers.
For all the other signings, they are clearly all talented players who haven’t made it yet but have a fantastic opportunity to do so. I would predict one of them being an absolute steal, one will be a disaster while the rest will ultimately leave the club as “never let us down, but there are probably better players out there to replace them”.
I have a certain amount of optimism for next season. While it is true that none of the signings are “names” we can be excited about, I think what is encouraging is the fact for once a manager is building a squad where there is actually balance in it. This will be the first season for a while where we actually have a left footed left sided midfielder rather than different right footed midfielders being asked to play out of position out there. And yes I recall Myles Weston was technically left footed but he seemed to spend a lot of the time on the right or up front. Without a right footer on the left wing, maybe Joe Martin will actually have a team mate in front of him helping him out, rather than a huge space where whoever was supposed to be in front of him had wandered into the middle.
With Taylor signing a few players who can play in several positions, we seem to have a lot more flexibility in where players can play and will hopefully avoid a certain amount of “round pegs in square holes” of recent years.
Add to the fact that most of the signed youngsters came through academies who have a reputation for preferring to play the passing game rather than the direct game favourite by the likes of Hess and Allen, we maybe might start to see football were we look to retain possession etc. Some of our best football last season was when we made a point of passing it around.
Of course, there is still concerns over some aspects of the defence. If Egan (he was the defender?) replaces Barrett, Martin hopefully protected a bit better with a team mate in front of him, plus the team trying to kept possession, then hopefully some of the weaknesses of last season will be reduced.
And then it comes down to expectations. Close to 60 points would be a good season I feel, with the magic 52 points passed with half a dozen matches to go. Promotion and play offs? Not a chance and even though a few of the giant teams of last season are now no longer in the league, I still think it will be a tough league for us with us losing to struggling sides and then causing an upset against a few of the promotion chasers.
