| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. 13:30 - Jul 21 with 4761 views | Westcountryblue |
3–4 weeks ago, if you had said Delap, Tuanzebe, Morsy, Hutchinson would be leaving and incoming would be Button (36), Young (40), Matusiwa (good on paper, but with no experience in English football), I think there would be some concerned faces.
While I understand the logic behind signing Young, the Championship is a different beast. The relentless Saturday–Tuesday fixtures and 40–50 game schedule are completely different to playing in the Premiership, where you benefit from 7 days of rest and recovery (if you're not involved in Europe) and regular international breaks.
I think we've lost a few vital components in our squad. Losing the likes of Luongo, Morsy, Tuanzebe is a big loss in terms of leadership and voice on the pitch. Importantly, this leadership has been backed up on the pitch, largely by Morsy, who leads by example and isn't just a presence/voice in the changing room. I'm not sure the likes of Matusiwa will be able to turn around to Davis and Clarke and give them an earful for not tracking back etc.
Another thing we've lost is that searing pace that the likes of Hutchinson and Delap gave us. There are big, big questions about whether Ogbene can return after a very serious Achilles injury and Burns (30) an ACL, where players never quite reach the same levels of movement and explosiveness they previous had.
For me, we should be good enough to be around the play offs, but I'm highly doubtful we're top 2 quality at the moment. We don't have the physicality in midfield, have lost leadership across the pitch, and we lack the pace to really hurt teams—that's essential against teams that will come up to PR and set up for a point.
Huge amount of work ahead for MA and KMac. [Post edited 21 Jul 13:39]
|  | | |  |
| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. on 21:23 - Jul 21 with 211 views | itfctilidie |
| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. on 19:13 - Jul 21 by Illinoisblue |
Was it Ashton or KM who said many many weeks ago that “we are quite far down the line” with our transfer business? Must be a long line…. |
....and we've signed 3 players since then |  | | |
| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. on 21:24 - Jul 21 with 207 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. on 21:22 - Jul 21 by EEJB |
Probably meant that we've known we were gonna give away our club captain for sod all, fail to get two of our defenders on new contracts and inevitably sell our two best attackers because of relegation release clauses.
"Down the line" for departures.
Player trading and all that. |
Or..
Axel. Burgess. Morsy. Delap. Hutch etc has given us a bigger pot than first thought so maybe we are shopping in a different pot now.
Could be many various reasons imo |  |
| |
| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. on 04:29 - Jul 22 with 82 views | Benters |
| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. on 14:24 - Jul 21 by blueasfook |
If we sign Young (irony!), then that's honestly a fookin joke. The guy is 40 years old FFS. |
Ashley not so Young.
40 is the new 30 or something. |  |
| |
| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. on 05:19 - Jul 22 with 69 views | franz_tyson |
| Ashley Young - not convinced, or by our business so far. on 14:44 - Jul 21 by SavageITFC |
I am not overly convinced by the signing of Ashley Young, but as people have pointed out helps us to fill a clear leadership void. Am not sure he is needed with 2 capable full backs already at the club for rb/lb. Feels as if people are overreacting to our summer so far, yes we need bodies in a few areas CM/ST urgently, but other than that we already have the core of a squad more than good enough to challenge for top 2. |
It's not the lack of signings, but I hear all the time how good our squad is already. Good enough to challenge the top two? I'd say that's only on paper. We signed top Championship players, who weren't good enough( yet) for the PL, but who automatically will be a top 2 team. I'll only be convinced when I see these players start to put performances together in the Championship. We've seen scant evidence the players assembled can perform at a high level as a team... just an assumption that the drop down from the PL automatically means they will challenge. It's not a given. We haven't played well for over a year.
Definitely need to bring in more quality before we can start saying we're top two material. I think the first couple of months are going to be difficult so I'm steeling myself for an iffy start.
The signings will come, but let's hope we don't hang on in too long on ones beyond us. | | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
