| In the future when all's well....... 19:51 - Apr 22 with 1812 views | Mullet |
The season over in April and a short taste of summer on a cool, sunny day. Nine changes for Mick as he looked over those we’d seen less of this term. Gerken came back between the sticks. The familiar pairing of Smith and Chambers the only one. Kenlock and Emmanuel back inside the side-lines at full back. Diagouraga sitting with Dozzell and Bishop, out wide Samuel and Rowe. Pitman the lone striker.
An opening minute of head tennis saw neither side take control of anything. The lack of fluency showed as Ward lead the line for the Millers and showed why Town might be looking at him as much as anyone in Blue. After ten or so minutes Chambers struggled with him and the ball in the box, the ricochet falling between Gerken and the onrushing red. Emmanuel clumsily flew in from behind to give the hosts a chance to draw first blood.
A well struck spot-kick, a dive to his left and Gerken palmed away. The palpable belief from the few home fans that had bothered with the spectacle clearly evaporated as Town scrambled away. The stopper in lime green will never escape comparisons with the Pole but his first half showing between the posts was reasonable enough.
One good punch and little else, he was off his line smartly and his choice of kicking allowed Town to play out of the back. The rigidity of the 433 gave way on around the 20 minute mark to complete amorphousness beyond the defence. Town were never free-flowing, at our finest perhaps gelatinous.
Rowe swapping sides whilst Samuel went up top on his own, Pitman filled a sort of neither/or role between strike partner and wide outlet. Winning cross-field long kicks in the air admirably, but losing the battle with himself all game.
There had been neat triangles of football deep in midfield allowing the full backs to get involved, and Rotherham’s strict structure and punt to Ward policy meant that Dozzell and Bishop both alternated behind the striker and at LCM. Whoever took the latter role drawn out wide to meet the oncoming attacker as needed.
It was in this period that Town carved out the better chances off the half. Rowe was clearly designated set-piece taker, his delivery consistently deep and troublesome. All of his corners found the last man, but not the first touch goalward. It was a freekick from just inside the touchline and just outside the box that saw him swing his left foot through the ball and whip across goal for the first time. When Samuel won one on the opposite side of the box, Pitman worked a baffling chipped effort from Diagouraga’s layoff that did nothing but alarm fans instead of foes.
Bishop and Dozzell had perhaps had the focus of the most hope, if not all the eyes of Town fans on them with every touch. The lack of understanding amongst the lineup saw both miss runners and momentum and restricted us to safer five yard passes around their men. The youngster who would turn one, then nutmeg another was nowhere to be seen; as the older version of the Blue #7 meticulously tried to get Town playing but couldn’t. He had the ball, he had the brain, but not the belief it seems.
It was about 28 minutes before Bishop found Kenlock and not just empty space ahead of him with throughball. The assured left back on the overlap and Ted sent him flying down the line. His cut in, cut out and Town won another corner. Rotherham meanwhile were using the hold up play of their bigger striker Morris to unleash Ward. Emmanuel not long after the penalty was more comfortable shepherding the smaller striker away from goal having stayed the right side every other time. Had the hosts’ #10 had hold up play any better than his attitude we might have been in trouble all afternoon.
Rowe was the really moving into centre-stage as most of Town’s better moves seemed to involve him. A shot towards goal as he ran diagonally in from Dozzell’s visionary pass. The low rifle caused all sorts of problems from the man stepping up from the National League. Just behind him in terms of movement and effort was Samuel, he made that literal as his rebound also failed to find the net. The keeper and then the woodwork conspiring to deny Town who had hoped to ride the limited pressure of a team already sunk.
Half time came just as Ward again tried to run clear. Clutching a clearly pulled hamstring he hobbled towards the throw in he’d won, sat down and the referee seemed to sense his anguish as much as ours and blew up. The image of the striker sitting forlorn and broken encapsulated a half of football with all the feel of a friendly and warmth of an afternoon in Yorkshire.
An unsettled and unnerving half saw only Rotherham make the obvious change. Ward unable to continue was replaced by someone else you’ve probably not heard much from before. If Burton had a side that looked like a Championship calibre swapsies pile of players which few others needed let alone wanted, Town played along with the theme of fielding strangers.
It didn’t take long before the unimpressive Ajeyi went off injured or sick and tired. His distribution had stopped both teams playing often enough and caused Rotherham to shuffle around a bit. Their midfielder dropping back before firing wide at the post in another unlikely effort.
The lumpy afternoon from Diagouraga saw the big man slow down again. His movement dropping in contrast to those ahead of him. Rowe dipped the ball forward perfectly and Pitman seized on the bounce. Further out than his effort a week ago, he again failed to find the target despite the much better build up but none of the breaks.
Mick’s lack of shape saw Town move to a strange 4-2-2-2 with the deflated Bishop removed for Moore. The lofty striker seemed steely and determined, his first chance to score saw even his long legs too short to stud home on the slide. A good move down the right saw Pitman ass the ball across the goal thanks to the legs of Emmanuel and then thrust forward of Rowe.
It was the two recently non-league men than combined to allow Rowe to have beautiful effort clipped wide. Moore stood between two defenders and blocked the view of the keeper long enough to shield the ball down to the diminutive strawberry-blonde winger. No peach, and little sweet about the continued struggle against such low-hanging fruit.
The waspish frustration only increased when it was the second of such attempts to beat a keeper with little natural ability.
If Ipswich were to take a lead they needed to remove the shackles that seemed to slow down so many moves across the pitch. The unorthodox nature of the gigantic striker meant he so often looked like a crane when we needed a wrecking ball. Neither Rowe or Samuel seemed to find their mark. However, the Reading striker showed great technique and comprehension of Blues’ attacking intent. I’d like to see more of him.
Emmanuel beat his man then turned back on himself to cross nicely with his weaker foot. The godfearing Samuel had no divine right to score, but he deserved better than the save off the legs of O’Donnell.
With little left of the contest and Bru coming into central midfield, marked a shift in approach. If Diagouraga has hopes of staying in Mick’s plans he needs to complete 90 minutes and do so to a much higher standard. The same might be said for many of those out there. Dozzell shifted into a deeper role that allowed him to become more of a playmaker. That left foot of his could level an entire city in the right contest.
However, it was Ipswich who would give way in a fashion that summed up so much that is wrong with this season. A reasonably well defended corner saw the ball pushed back to half way. It was the half measures all day that meant it wasn’t too surprising to see a mortar round drop in the area and no one scramble. The solid centre backs afforded one momentary lapse and the hosts fired themselves ahead and into a brief moment of escapism. A rocketing lead taken well enough, but as the whole game had shown.
Questions were far more prevalent than answers.
Sears emerged to play out the last few minutes as Town threw everything forward. Rowe making an impressive debut in uncertain circumstances. If Oar was not the answer, it’s impossible to know if Rowe is. More aggressive and industrious, he is more like Anderson or Roberts which must be why Mick likes him.
Moore on the other hand put in arguably his best shift for Town, again off the bench. Not everything went his way, and his shove on Mattock at the corner flag either non-league experience being shown up, or revenge for the left back’s earlier diving misdemeanours in a game littered with bad tackling, bad passing, bad shooting and a bad taste in the mouth. The Forest Green import was clearly having his shirt tugged but not his attention as he headed back a corner past the keeper, only to see it booted off the line and away.
There was little noise all game. A few strained lines again telling Mick McCarthy what a dozen or so thought of his football and an inflatable dinosaur upturned on the concourse said as much about today and this year as the few hundred who spent most of the game silent. There might have been little on the pitch to shout about, but you hope that today might settle the arguments about who we need next year in and around the squad.
It’s fair to say that Rotherham are possibly the worst side I’ve seen in the decade and a half we’ve been a Championship club. What such an experimental side told Mick exactly we might not see for a few weeks. To say it blew up in his face today would be too much, we simply didn’t get much of a reaction at all let alone a meaningful result.
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| In the future when all's well....... on 22:35 - Apr 22 with 1584 views | LankHenners |
Certainly a bit of a 'meh' feeling today as far as I'm concerned - never nice to lose, especially to a team as hopeless as Rotherham - but with everything done and dusted with a team full of changes it's not the end of the world.
Mick sounded like he might have made his mind up about some players in his post-match interview. A shame Dozzell and Bishop couldn't step up and be the driving force but it shows what we need to be seeing from them if they're going to be regular first team players.
Bam Bam on the commentary was less than complimentary about Diagouraga, describing him as moving as if he was towing a caravan behind him all game. He's been good-to-woeful in the few games I've seen him in and barely younger than Skuse so doesn't seem to me to be worth pursuing as a permanent option.
In his 45 minute spell did Ward show anything that might be worth bidding for him again in the summer? Seems to be a physical handful type player which we could do with but would he be worth a couple of million as our main forward signing? |  |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 08:19 - Apr 23 with 1458 views | Mullet |
| In the future when all's well....... on 22:35 - Apr 22 by LankHenners |
Certainly a bit of a 'meh' feeling today as far as I'm concerned - never nice to lose, especially to a team as hopeless as Rotherham - but with everything done and dusted with a team full of changes it's not the end of the world.
Mick sounded like he might have made his mind up about some players in his post-match interview. A shame Dozzell and Bishop couldn't step up and be the driving force but it shows what we need to be seeing from them if they're going to be regular first team players.
Bam Bam on the commentary was less than complimentary about Diagouraga, describing him as moving as if he was towing a caravan behind him all game. He's been good-to-woeful in the few games I've seen him in and barely younger than Skuse so doesn't seem to me to be worth pursuing as a permanent option.
In his 45 minute spell did Ward show anything that might be worth bidding for him again in the summer? Seems to be a physical handful type player which we could do with but would he be worth a couple of million as our main forward signing? |
I saw some mates before and after the game and their feelings were as mixed as ours. It was annoying to lose, but Rotherham did have enough chances to punish us. We also had some decent ones that on another day might have got a goal or two. The result really wasn't important it was the performances and those were very hard to judge.
My assumption was that Mick must be looking for specific things such as positional discipline, attitude etc.
After Barnsley I might be biased towards to Diagouraga he was Paul Jewell bad that day. The idea he was Skuse with bell on was laughable at the time, but unless Mick thinks he can get him fit this summer I'd say he was done here. I wonder if he's carrying a more long term or deeper injury given he seems to hobble off towards the tunnel at full time from the subs bench. He had the prison walk again yesterday.
Ward was interesting as he was literally the only Rotherham player worth looking at anyway, and clearly will be coming to the Championship with a new club this summer. He and Samuel were very different prospects.
I actually liked the look of Samuel when I saw him off the bench and yesterday he was sort of quietly impressive. His movement is deceptive and he's probably as quick as Sears at least. He won a free kick expertly after drawing two or three men and showed some decent technique. If we went for him he'd be similar to Sears in that he can play out wide and up top and we've not seen enough of him to know much else yet. That injury looks frustrating in hindsight.
Ward meanwhile is a handful. I'd rather him than Hugill even if he's half a foot taller than Ward. Of all the likely targets Watkins seems the strongest choice. Pitman meanwhile, I'm done defending. He's got some classy attributes but he's just not the right fit for Ipswich. We either build a team around him or not.
Yesterday he was as guilty as anyone of passing to the invisible man. At one point he tried a one-two with Emmanuel on half way and seemed to expect Josh to teleport past two men. Then later he plays in Moore nicely. Looking at his delivery for Huws at Portman Road on Monday he was as contrasting as the whole team performance between the two games.
I'd say Bishop is being "handled". TC put an arm around him as he came off and the lad's head was almost through the floor. He clearly sensed he was not good enough yesterday and he probably wasn't. Those injuries have utterly destroyed what he had.
He's got the vision, and if he had a settled team around him he might have unlocked the defence frequently. He's just lost that desire to run at a man. Once Rotherham started flying in on players I knew that was it for Teddy. I think he has a lot of soul searching to do this summer. Does he want to hide away and graft on the practice pitch or end up being a lower league showpony?
As for Andre - most impressive of the kids bar Kenlock who for me cemented himself as first team capable all season next year. He should be battling Knudsen all the way for starts. The contrast between him and Josh was huge and Emmanuel was no disgrace once he settled after the penalty.
We bumped into Jason before the game and I got unusually a little starstruck. I hadn't seen him that close since the early 90's and I was a nipper. It made me think actually Andre is unfortunate to have the weight of that surname. His age and position means he might not even be ready next season. If Bishop is a lot like Will Hughes at Derby who did cut it at 17 or so, only to see a year of injuries drop his stock, maybe Andre is more like Dyer than his Dad?
He isn't as standout as Keiron was but I think he's in the kind of side that isn't capable of carrying him as Wigan and Hudds showed at either end of the table. For me AD is man to finish games. He was excellent at finding room and making play move. When he shifted to a deep lying playmaker role he had so much room he really shone but the players weren't always on his wavelength and the game was drifting. A bit like Webster he picked the inventive option too often when the simple one was needed.
What he does have, maybe to a greater extent than Teddy is an eye for keeping and giving the ball over and over again. I actually think if we could keep Skuse and have someone more capable of backing him up. Huws, Ward, Bishop and AD as a rotating line up ahead of him would vastly improve us. Bru might as well go. He's a neat player but never going to do more than make up the numbers. Another year of that is fine but I get the feeling he just can't put any kind of form together. | |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 08:35 - Apr 23 with 1436 views | NormEmerges |
Thanks Mullet, I always enjoy your reports - keep it up! |  |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 08:45 - Apr 23 with 1415 views | Dubtractor |
| In the future when all's well....... on 08:19 - Apr 23 by Mullet |
I saw some mates before and after the game and their feelings were as mixed as ours. It was annoying to lose, but Rotherham did have enough chances to punish us. We also had some decent ones that on another day might have got a goal or two. The result really wasn't important it was the performances and those were very hard to judge.
My assumption was that Mick must be looking for specific things such as positional discipline, attitude etc.
After Barnsley I might be biased towards to Diagouraga he was Paul Jewell bad that day. The idea he was Skuse with bell on was laughable at the time, but unless Mick thinks he can get him fit this summer I'd say he was done here. I wonder if he's carrying a more long term or deeper injury given he seems to hobble off towards the tunnel at full time from the subs bench. He had the prison walk again yesterday.
Ward was interesting as he was literally the only Rotherham player worth looking at anyway, and clearly will be coming to the Championship with a new club this summer. He and Samuel were very different prospects.
I actually liked the look of Samuel when I saw him off the bench and yesterday he was sort of quietly impressive. His movement is deceptive and he's probably as quick as Sears at least. He won a free kick expertly after drawing two or three men and showed some decent technique. If we went for him he'd be similar to Sears in that he can play out wide and up top and we've not seen enough of him to know much else yet. That injury looks frustrating in hindsight.
Ward meanwhile is a handful. I'd rather him than Hugill even if he's half a foot taller than Ward. Of all the likely targets Watkins seems the strongest choice. Pitman meanwhile, I'm done defending. He's got some classy attributes but he's just not the right fit for Ipswich. We either build a team around him or not.
Yesterday he was as guilty as anyone of passing to the invisible man. At one point he tried a one-two with Emmanuel on half way and seemed to expect Josh to teleport past two men. Then later he plays in Moore nicely. Looking at his delivery for Huws at Portman Road on Monday he was as contrasting as the whole team performance between the two games.
I'd say Bishop is being "handled". TC put an arm around him as he came off and the lad's head was almost through the floor. He clearly sensed he was not good enough yesterday and he probably wasn't. Those injuries have utterly destroyed what he had.
He's got the vision, and if he had a settled team around him he might have unlocked the defence frequently. He's just lost that desire to run at a man. Once Rotherham started flying in on players I knew that was it for Teddy. I think he has a lot of soul searching to do this summer. Does he want to hide away and graft on the practice pitch or end up being a lower league showpony?
As for Andre - most impressive of the kids bar Kenlock who for me cemented himself as first team capable all season next year. He should be battling Knudsen all the way for starts. The contrast between him and Josh was huge and Emmanuel was no disgrace once he settled after the penalty.
We bumped into Jason before the game and I got unusually a little starstruck. I hadn't seen him that close since the early 90's and I was a nipper. It made me think actually Andre is unfortunate to have the weight of that surname. His age and position means he might not even be ready next season. If Bishop is a lot like Will Hughes at Derby who did cut it at 17 or so, only to see a year of injuries drop his stock, maybe Andre is more like Dyer than his Dad?
He isn't as standout as Keiron was but I think he's in the kind of side that isn't capable of carrying him as Wigan and Hudds showed at either end of the table. For me AD is man to finish games. He was excellent at finding room and making play move. When he shifted to a deep lying playmaker role he had so much room he really shone but the players weren't always on his wavelength and the game was drifting. A bit like Webster he picked the inventive option too often when the simple one was needed.
What he does have, maybe to a greater extent than Teddy is an eye for keeping and giving the ball over and over again. I actually think if we could keep Skuse and have someone more capable of backing him up. Huws, Ward, Bishop and AD as a rotating line up ahead of him would vastly improve us. Bru might as well go. He's a neat player but never going to do more than make up the numbers. Another year of that is fine but I get the feeling he just can't put any kind of form together. |
" Pitman meanwhile, I'm done defending. He's got some classy attributes but he's just not the right fit for Ipswich."
I've made the point before, but I just don't think that Pitman is actually that good. He's a good finisher and not really much else, certainly not one for putting a shift in.
I think he is basically a league one standard player, but championship level finisher, which may work in a team that creates chances for fun, but a horrible fit in a McCarthy team which relies on work rate and creates chances from those fine margins.
Kuqi would have been an absolute star in Mick's team. |  |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 10:04 - Apr 23 with 1362 views | Mullet |
| In the future when all's well....... on 08:35 - Apr 23 by NormEmerges |
Thanks Mullet, I always enjoy your reports - keep it up! |
Cheers Norm | |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 10:09 - Apr 23 with 1346 views | Mullet |
| In the future when all's well....... on 08:45 - Apr 23 by Dubtractor |
" Pitman meanwhile, I'm done defending. He's got some classy attributes but he's just not the right fit for Ipswich."
I've made the point before, but I just don't think that Pitman is actually that good. He's a good finisher and not really much else, certainly not one for putting a shift in.
I think he is basically a league one standard player, but championship level finisher, which may work in a team that creates chances for fun, but a horrible fit in a McCarthy team which relies on work rate and creates chances from those fine margins.
Kuqi would have been an absolute star in Mick's team. |
Kuqi was exactly who I had in mind when responding to Henners re: Ward etc.
I think he's a clear winner, but he has that Jim trait of pointing fingers and screaming at teammates without the class or track record Magilton had when he did it.
If you look at say the Wigan away game where he and McGoldrick worked well and made goals to get the win and fightback and he had room and time to work. Same as the moment mentioned from Monday, he rode a tackle well and had that second unaccosted at the back post to cross.
I'm not sure he has enough about his game to flourish in a lot of teams where the work isn't already done for him. If people must compare him to Moore for example, Keiffer wasn't afraid of playing the ball in the air or on the ground or making the run, that mindset might be the difference. | |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 11:00 - Apr 23 with 1289 views | cbower |
| In the future when all's well....... on 10:09 - Apr 23 by Mullet |
Kuqi was exactly who I had in mind when responding to Henners re: Ward etc.
I think he's a clear winner, but he has that Jim trait of pointing fingers and screaming at teammates without the class or track record Magilton had when he did it.
If you look at say the Wigan away game where he and McGoldrick worked well and made goals to get the win and fightback and he had room and time to work. Same as the moment mentioned from Monday, he rode a tackle well and had that second unaccosted at the back post to cross.
I'm not sure he has enough about his game to flourish in a lot of teams where the work isn't already done for him. If people must compare him to Moore for example, Keiffer wasn't afraid of playing the ball in the air or on the ground or making the run, that mindset might be the difference. |
Pitman plays for himself and not the team. Ok, he might be frustrated at his lack of starts but to put in a level of effort like yesterday is poor. As a senior player in that line up, he should have been setting an example, nurturing and encouraging. Insted he looked totally disinterested and marched off the pitch without shaking a single hand. He's done here I reckon. What really bugged me was his unwillingness to challenge most of the time. When he jumps, he can be quite effective in the air. Most of the time, however, he may as well not be there for all the effort he makes. Bishop got brushed aside time and again and there was no sign of the player that was always on the half turn with the ability to move forward and glide past a challenge. You're right -crossroads time for Ted. Dozzell just is not physically ready for me. Mick's assessment in terms of the team not being right for Andre this season is right. Diagouraga is not long term. Looked great at Villa, not bad at PNE, woeful at Oakwell and an unfit, clumsy plodder yesterday. Ward is a Mick player. Willing runner, strong and troubles centre backs. Money will be the stumbling block as per. Samuel, can't disagree with your assessment. However, he is not the answer on his own to our frontman needs. Really hope we get Huws. |  |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 14:22 - Apr 23 with 1222 views | LankHenners |
| In the future when all's well....... on 08:19 - Apr 23 by Mullet |
I saw some mates before and after the game and their feelings were as mixed as ours. It was annoying to lose, but Rotherham did have enough chances to punish us. We also had some decent ones that on another day might have got a goal or two. The result really wasn't important it was the performances and those were very hard to judge.
My assumption was that Mick must be looking for specific things such as positional discipline, attitude etc.
After Barnsley I might be biased towards to Diagouraga he was Paul Jewell bad that day. The idea he was Skuse with bell on was laughable at the time, but unless Mick thinks he can get him fit this summer I'd say he was done here. I wonder if he's carrying a more long term or deeper injury given he seems to hobble off towards the tunnel at full time from the subs bench. He had the prison walk again yesterday.
Ward was interesting as he was literally the only Rotherham player worth looking at anyway, and clearly will be coming to the Championship with a new club this summer. He and Samuel were very different prospects.
I actually liked the look of Samuel when I saw him off the bench and yesterday he was sort of quietly impressive. His movement is deceptive and he's probably as quick as Sears at least. He won a free kick expertly after drawing two or three men and showed some decent technique. If we went for him he'd be similar to Sears in that he can play out wide and up top and we've not seen enough of him to know much else yet. That injury looks frustrating in hindsight.
Ward meanwhile is a handful. I'd rather him than Hugill even if he's half a foot taller than Ward. Of all the likely targets Watkins seems the strongest choice. Pitman meanwhile, I'm done defending. He's got some classy attributes but he's just not the right fit for Ipswich. We either build a team around him or not.
Yesterday he was as guilty as anyone of passing to the invisible man. At one point he tried a one-two with Emmanuel on half way and seemed to expect Josh to teleport past two men. Then later he plays in Moore nicely. Looking at his delivery for Huws at Portman Road on Monday he was as contrasting as the whole team performance between the two games.
I'd say Bishop is being "handled". TC put an arm around him as he came off and the lad's head was almost through the floor. He clearly sensed he was not good enough yesterday and he probably wasn't. Those injuries have utterly destroyed what he had.
He's got the vision, and if he had a settled team around him he might have unlocked the defence frequently. He's just lost that desire to run at a man. Once Rotherham started flying in on players I knew that was it for Teddy. I think he has a lot of soul searching to do this summer. Does he want to hide away and graft on the practice pitch or end up being a lower league showpony?
As for Andre - most impressive of the kids bar Kenlock who for me cemented himself as first team capable all season next year. He should be battling Knudsen all the way for starts. The contrast between him and Josh was huge and Emmanuel was no disgrace once he settled after the penalty.
We bumped into Jason before the game and I got unusually a little starstruck. I hadn't seen him that close since the early 90's and I was a nipper. It made me think actually Andre is unfortunate to have the weight of that surname. His age and position means he might not even be ready next season. If Bishop is a lot like Will Hughes at Derby who did cut it at 17 or so, only to see a year of injuries drop his stock, maybe Andre is more like Dyer than his Dad?
He isn't as standout as Keiron was but I think he's in the kind of side that isn't capable of carrying him as Wigan and Hudds showed at either end of the table. For me AD is man to finish games. He was excellent at finding room and making play move. When he shifted to a deep lying playmaker role he had so much room he really shone but the players weren't always on his wavelength and the game was drifting. A bit like Webster he picked the inventive option too often when the simple one was needed.
What he does have, maybe to a greater extent than Teddy is an eye for keeping and giving the ball over and over again. I actually think if we could keep Skuse and have someone more capable of backing him up. Huws, Ward, Bishop and AD as a rotating line up ahead of him would vastly improve us. Bru might as well go. He's a neat player but never going to do more than make up the numbers. Another year of that is fine but I get the feeling he just can't put any kind of form together. |
Pitman was always a slightly odd one for me - just didn't seem the right type of player, especially as we've already got one silky skillful forward in McGoldrick who runs harder. Great finisher but I wouldn't be sorry to see us cash in on him, which is a small shame but as classy as he can be, we just don't see it in our system enough.
Watkins comes with the added advantage that his contract is up in the summer (I think), and as a free transfer I'd quite like him, although as discussed before he seems more Walters than Murphy for me.
Good to see Kenlock continuing to play well - a real prospect there but as with all young players could he keep it up over a 46 game season? Emmanuel clearly has clumsy raw talent and would be good to see him kick on next season.
Bishop does certainly seem to have been affected by his injuries - whenever I've seen him this season he's looked thoroughly unimpressive I have to say. Really hope he can re-find the kind of form he showed previously but he's going to have to do it quickly to be a main part of our midfield again. Naylor's comment on the radio was that he was disappointed that Bishop couldn't use his body better - all well and good being a smooth dribbler with some tricks, he said, but that's useless if you keep losing the ball to the first man to come near you.
Good to hear Dozzell did well but I agree that he's one to bring on late on in the game. Was so influential off the bench against Bristol at home over Christmas but has been bullied out of games a tad as well. A loan may well do him some good a la Benyu, who I'm looking forward to having a closer look at if he's in the first team plans come next season.
He didn't play yesterday of course but getting Huws signed up has to be a priority, with another box-to-box type as well - we've missed that kind of industry in midfield. | |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 15:57 - Apr 23 with 1164 views | Mullet |
| In the future when all's well....... on 11:00 - Apr 23 by cbower |
Pitman plays for himself and not the team. Ok, he might be frustrated at his lack of starts but to put in a level of effort like yesterday is poor. As a senior player in that line up, he should have been setting an example, nurturing and encouraging. Insted he looked totally disinterested and marched off the pitch without shaking a single hand. He's done here I reckon. What really bugged me was his unwillingness to challenge most of the time. When he jumps, he can be quite effective in the air. Most of the time, however, he may as well not be there for all the effort he makes. Bishop got brushed aside time and again and there was no sign of the player that was always on the half turn with the ability to move forward and glide past a challenge. You're right -crossroads time for Ted. Dozzell just is not physically ready for me. Mick's assessment in terms of the team not being right for Andre this season is right. Diagouraga is not long term. Looked great at Villa, not bad at PNE, woeful at Oakwell and an unfit, clumsy plodder yesterday. Ward is a Mick player. Willing runner, strong and troubles centre backs. Money will be the stumbling block as per. Samuel, can't disagree with your assessment. However, he is not the answer on his own to our frontman needs. Really hope we get Huws. |
Yeah, don't see too much wrong there.
I'd like to think we can afford Watkins but Ward would be more us as it were. I'm a big advocate of continuity and think that helped us in the playoff run more than anything else. Smith and Chambers as a partnership looks absolutely fine to me, Webster coming in throws that out completely.
The midfield is back to being a mess if you remove Skuse. There's a lot of work for Mick or his successor to do. | |
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| In the future when all's well....... on 16:14 - Apr 23 with 1137 views | Mullet |
| In the future when all's well....... on 14:22 - Apr 23 by LankHenners |
Pitman was always a slightly odd one for me - just didn't seem the right type of player, especially as we've already got one silky skillful forward in McGoldrick who runs harder. Great finisher but I wouldn't be sorry to see us cash in on him, which is a small shame but as classy as he can be, we just don't see it in our system enough.
Watkins comes with the added advantage that his contract is up in the summer (I think), and as a free transfer I'd quite like him, although as discussed before he seems more Walters than Murphy for me.
Good to see Kenlock continuing to play well - a real prospect there but as with all young players could he keep it up over a 46 game season? Emmanuel clearly has clumsy raw talent and would be good to see him kick on next season.
Bishop does certainly seem to have been affected by his injuries - whenever I've seen him this season he's looked thoroughly unimpressive I have to say. Really hope he can re-find the kind of form he showed previously but he's going to have to do it quickly to be a main part of our midfield again. Naylor's comment on the radio was that he was disappointed that Bishop couldn't use his body better - all well and good being a smooth dribbler with some tricks, he said, but that's useless if you keep losing the ball to the first man to come near you.
Good to hear Dozzell did well but I agree that he's one to bring on late on in the game. Was so influential off the bench against Bristol at home over Christmas but has been bullied out of games a tad as well. A loan may well do him some good a la Benyu, who I'm looking forward to having a closer look at if he's in the first team plans come next season.
He didn't play yesterday of course but getting Huws signed up has to be a priority, with another box-to-box type as well - we've missed that kind of industry in midfield. |
I'm unsure what Pitman is essentially worth given he couldn't get into a side in the kind of disarray we've been in and with the loss of Murphy to boot. Will be interesting to see if and what "cashing in" means there.
I think a whole season at LB is unlikely especially he does tend to miss his man sometimes and can get caught diving in. I also think we'd do well to keep Knudsen in there regularly too. But Kenlock seems to have embraced first team exposure and worked on those weakness progressively. Emmanuel is far more up and down and really looks more suited to the wingback role.
As said before I think his bottle has gone a little as well as his belief. He clearly didn't want another injury. Maybe yesterday was just about getting him back out on the pitch in a low pressure environment. I have the faith in Bishop's ability, I just fear he might not have the head for it to graft his way back to being a big player for us. That's the test.
I wouldn't be at all adverse to loaning out Andre for a season if we can find the right club and manager not to run him into the ground or get snapped by every League 2 brawler he runs at. It would send this place into tumult, but as you say Benyu looks like he might have used it to straighten himself out. What a story that would be if he does a Bishop/Garvan and makes a CM berth his next season.
Huws was one that gave me great hope when he signed. It was his injury and fitness that had question marks and he's shown those not to be an issue. The class he had and regard at City had him talked about for a long time. We often see those players come and go like Martin, JET, Veseli etc with varying levels of success but it's clear he'd do a job we badly need him to. | |
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