| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era 09:28 - Aug 1 with 2128 views | LegendofthePhoenix |
Considering how much success we enjoyed, the recruitment was pretty woeful. I can't help but think we had the success due to McKenna's coaching more than anything. Some of the recruitment was good, but way too many hopeless acquisitions both bought and loans that evan at the time seemed questionable. AAH is an obvious one, Szmodics, Akpom, Ogbene, Phillips, Muric, not to mention Camara, Godfrey, Ahadme.
Granted not all acquisitions are gonna be hits, but it does seem that we've made some really poor recruitment decisions over the past 4 years. So far the O'Neil acquisitions look better. |  |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 09:33 - Aug 1 with 1888 views | Keno |
By and large the signings to us into the Prem first time round were excellent, some misses but a lot of hits
Since that initial promotion they have been largely a but 'meh'
yes thats a sweeping generalisation |  |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 09:35 - Aug 1 with 1859 views | longtimefan |
None of this years additions have yet to prove to be better than Hutchinson, Delap or O’Shea. |  | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 09:41 - Aug 1 with 1793 views | pingu67 |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 09:33 - Aug 1 by Keno |
By and large the signings to us into the Prem first time round were excellent, some misses but a lot of hits
Since that initial promotion they have been largely a but 'meh'
yes thats a sweeping generalisation |
To be fair how many of those were actually signed by cook and not mckenna?
Ok walton signed perm under km but was signed by cook initially
Morsy, chappers etc were cook
Km though signed hirst and broady | | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 09:52 - Aug 1 with 1703 views | HighgateBlue |
I agree regarding the recruitment during the McKenna era.
However, I don't think you can possibly reach any conclusions on the recruitment in the GON era yet, as they haven't kicked a ball in anger. On paper, yes, they look good, and I'm happy with all of them. But the same was largely said of McKenna's recruitment at the time. SS and Akpom were former top goalscorers in the Championship. So on paper, they looked like really good signings. Indeed, it will be interesting if we do keep Akpom to see how he does this year. It is conceivable that the recruitment was fine, but in his case the coaching/handling/tactics were not. It's hard to tell.
When you assess McKenna in the cold light of day, he is no Bobby Robson. The yardstick that I think it reasonable to use is whether a manager overachieved in his division, when compared to the resources of his club.
By that measure:
- McKenna came 2nd with us in League One. That was the cause for much jubilation and positivity, but we had the number 1 budget. It's churlish to grumble at a promotion, and I'm not doing so, but that was not overachievement.
- McKenna got us promoted from the Championship twice. The first time it was a marvellous managerial achievement. It was achieved in part by keeping that squad togetherness. Both in terms of team spirit and clearly defined and understood roles, the coaching was spot on. Our resources-spent were not that of a promotion contender. He overachieved, and it was a really important success in terms of transforming the club's finances.
- the premier league season was a damp squib. There's no getting away from that. Gambles did not pay off (Phillips). Talent identification was off (yes, Cajuste). The Champ all stars were not quite good enough. The Goalkeeper was either a clown or fatally undermined by the fanbase who caused McKenna to wuss out (depending on your viewpoint). Numerous purchases did not fulfil expectations, and even Delap faded. There was then major weirdness with giving away Morsy during his contract. We came 19th. I can't see that that constitutes a material overachievement.
- McKenna got us back up again. That was a serious achievement, because the champ is a highly competitive league that everyone is desperate to leave, and of course few do. But again, it was not an overachievement in terms of resources.
So in three of his complete seasons, we finished in roughly the 'right' spot for our resources. In one of his seasons, he achieved a great feat.
In the main, the recruitment per pound was possibly slightly worse than average, and the coaching was better than average. The benefits of a settled team and system cannot be overstated in the first Champ to PL promotion season. That is a luxury we've not been able to repeat since, because the gap between those two divisions is so substantial that major surgery is always required. Being a yo-yo team is something that I personally am delighted with for our current stage of development. One notch up from that is becoming established for a fair few years, but that only puts you in Charlton/Bolton territory - they were once "established" premier league clubs. I have no idea whether Forest/Leeds/Sunderland will be able to turn into a a Brighton/Brentford. But we have to put ourselves into the former category before we can dream of the latter.
And to do that, some really serious recruitment is necessary. I would say so far so good, but we can't really know yet. Another 5 or so like the recent additions would be really interesting. Then it's over to GON to coach them into a real unit with a well-drilled system. |  | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:06 - Aug 1 with 1623 views | Steve_M |
This post reads like one from the Summer of 2018. Overly-critical of past players and eulogising those who are yet to kick a ball for us.
There are clear failings - being a striker short in every Summer window, central midfield for the last two years - but all clubs have hits and misses in recruitment. Woeful is well over the top. AAH made critical contributions to promotion in 2024, he’s not pushed on but it was a reasonable gamble for a third choice striker for where we were at the time. Szmodics and Ogdene were I think trying to find players for games where we wouldn’t have possession, one of them half-worked and the other got injured.
We’ve currently got gaping holes in central midfield and are gambling on a striker stepping up just as we were two years ago with Delap. There is a long way to go before deciding our recruitment has drastically improved.
There’s also a question of who is making recruitment decisions with governance at the club still not properly addressed after last-season’s embarrassments off the pitch. |  |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:09 - Aug 1 with 1596 views | nrb1985 |
3 promotions in 5 years.
This is terrible bordering on moronic take. | | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:11 - Aug 1 with 1576 views | LegendofthePhoenix |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 09:52 - Aug 1 by HighgateBlue |
I agree regarding the recruitment during the McKenna era.
However, I don't think you can possibly reach any conclusions on the recruitment in the GON era yet, as they haven't kicked a ball in anger. On paper, yes, they look good, and I'm happy with all of them. But the same was largely said of McKenna's recruitment at the time. SS and Akpom were former top goalscorers in the Championship. So on paper, they looked like really good signings. Indeed, it will be interesting if we do keep Akpom to see how he does this year. It is conceivable that the recruitment was fine, but in his case the coaching/handling/tactics were not. It's hard to tell.
When you assess McKenna in the cold light of day, he is no Bobby Robson. The yardstick that I think it reasonable to use is whether a manager overachieved in his division, when compared to the resources of his club.
By that measure:
- McKenna came 2nd with us in League One. That was the cause for much jubilation and positivity, but we had the number 1 budget. It's churlish to grumble at a promotion, and I'm not doing so, but that was not overachievement.
- McKenna got us promoted from the Championship twice. The first time it was a marvellous managerial achievement. It was achieved in part by keeping that squad togetherness. Both in terms of team spirit and clearly defined and understood roles, the coaching was spot on. Our resources-spent were not that of a promotion contender. He overachieved, and it was a really important success in terms of transforming the club's finances.
- the premier league season was a damp squib. There's no getting away from that. Gambles did not pay off (Phillips). Talent identification was off (yes, Cajuste). The Champ all stars were not quite good enough. The Goalkeeper was either a clown or fatally undermined by the fanbase who caused McKenna to wuss out (depending on your viewpoint). Numerous purchases did not fulfil expectations, and even Delap faded. There was then major weirdness with giving away Morsy during his contract. We came 19th. I can't see that that constitutes a material overachievement.
- McKenna got us back up again. That was a serious achievement, because the champ is a highly competitive league that everyone is desperate to leave, and of course few do. But again, it was not an overachievement in terms of resources.
So in three of his complete seasons, we finished in roughly the 'right' spot for our resources. In one of his seasons, he achieved a great feat.
In the main, the recruitment per pound was possibly slightly worse than average, and the coaching was better than average. The benefits of a settled team and system cannot be overstated in the first Champ to PL promotion season. That is a luxury we've not been able to repeat since, because the gap between those two divisions is so substantial that major surgery is always required. Being a yo-yo team is something that I personally am delighted with for our current stage of development. One notch up from that is becoming established for a fair few years, but that only puts you in Charlton/Bolton territory - they were once "established" premier league clubs. I have no idea whether Forest/Leeds/Sunderland will be able to turn into a a Brighton/Brentford. But we have to put ourselves into the former category before we can dream of the latter.
And to do that, some really serious recruitment is necessary. I would say so far so good, but we can't really know yet. Another 5 or so like the recent additions would be really interesting. Then it's over to GON to coach them into a real unit with a well-drilled system. |
I distinctly remember having the collywobbles about some of those signings at the time. AAH and Ahadme were just young players at a much lower level and too big a punt. Akpom seemed like we only did it to stop Birmingham getting him. Szmodics seemed a lot of dosh at his age. Phillips was again someone who had had a torrid time at Wet Sham and was a massive punt, and similar with Godfrey. You cold argue we were unlucky with the injuries to some (Camara, Townsend), but the others I just don't see how on earth they got selected by a decent recruitment team. Personally, I think Mehmeti was an odd purchase, he was cheap, but I think we need to offload him now as I don't think he is PL quality.
The new recruits I like the look of. Daizen, Diop, Fatawu, Scherpen, the only one I'm not sure about is Emersonn. I hear we are looking at the St Ettiene striker also, but he's only played in Ligue 2, would far prefer we get someone with top league experience. | |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:20 - Aug 1 with 1507 views | jasondozzell |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 09:52 - Aug 1 by HighgateBlue |
I agree regarding the recruitment during the McKenna era.
However, I don't think you can possibly reach any conclusions on the recruitment in the GON era yet, as they haven't kicked a ball in anger. On paper, yes, they look good, and I'm happy with all of them. But the same was largely said of McKenna's recruitment at the time. SS and Akpom were former top goalscorers in the Championship. So on paper, they looked like really good signings. Indeed, it will be interesting if we do keep Akpom to see how he does this year. It is conceivable that the recruitment was fine, but in his case the coaching/handling/tactics were not. It's hard to tell.
When you assess McKenna in the cold light of day, he is no Bobby Robson. The yardstick that I think it reasonable to use is whether a manager overachieved in his division, when compared to the resources of his club.
By that measure:
- McKenna came 2nd with us in League One. That was the cause for much jubilation and positivity, but we had the number 1 budget. It's churlish to grumble at a promotion, and I'm not doing so, but that was not overachievement.
- McKenna got us promoted from the Championship twice. The first time it was a marvellous managerial achievement. It was achieved in part by keeping that squad togetherness. Both in terms of team spirit and clearly defined and understood roles, the coaching was spot on. Our resources-spent were not that of a promotion contender. He overachieved, and it was a really important success in terms of transforming the club's finances.
- the premier league season was a damp squib. There's no getting away from that. Gambles did not pay off (Phillips). Talent identification was off (yes, Cajuste). The Champ all stars were not quite good enough. The Goalkeeper was either a clown or fatally undermined by the fanbase who caused McKenna to wuss out (depending on your viewpoint). Numerous purchases did not fulfil expectations, and even Delap faded. There was then major weirdness with giving away Morsy during his contract. We came 19th. I can't see that that constitutes a material overachievement.
- McKenna got us back up again. That was a serious achievement, because the champ is a highly competitive league that everyone is desperate to leave, and of course few do. But again, it was not an overachievement in terms of resources.
So in three of his complete seasons, we finished in roughly the 'right' spot for our resources. In one of his seasons, he achieved a great feat.
In the main, the recruitment per pound was possibly slightly worse than average, and the coaching was better than average. The benefits of a settled team and system cannot be overstated in the first Champ to PL promotion season. That is a luxury we've not been able to repeat since, because the gap between those two divisions is so substantial that major surgery is always required. Being a yo-yo team is something that I personally am delighted with for our current stage of development. One notch up from that is becoming established for a fair few years, but that only puts you in Charlton/Bolton territory - they were once "established" premier league clubs. I have no idea whether Forest/Leeds/Sunderland will be able to turn into a a Brighton/Brentford. But we have to put ourselves into the former category before we can dream of the latter.
And to do that, some really serious recruitment is necessary. I would say so far so good, but we can't really know yet. Another 5 or so like the recent additions would be really interesting. Then it's over to GON to coach them into a real unit with a well-drilled system. |
Think that's a very unfair overview of KM era.
I would argue the very opposite and say he's worthy of being compared toRobson in the context of the modern game.
The first promotion finishing second was on the back of years of decline here. In half a season, he got us ready to make promotion bid, got us playing brilliant football and built foundations for Championship.
Promotion from championship was staggering. One of the great seasons this club has had. Fearless, attacking football and a total fairytale. We were sensational to watch at points.
I simply do not agree that the prem season was a 'damp squib'. I was proud of the team. We played with determination and character and attacked despite being totally unprepared for the reality of elite level football because the club had spent two decades falling behind. The first half against Liverpool down here brought great joy.
I've said before, that last year's promotion was imo KM's best. A really challenging season and he steered us through.
His reign effectively re-establishes us as a big club after twenty years out in the cold.
Deservedly up there with Robson, Ramsey, Lyall, Burley.
Some of the best football I've ever seen in 35 years plus of watching us. [Post edited 1 Aug 10:21]
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:22 - Aug 1 with 1487 views | BlueBadger |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:09 - Aug 1 by nrb1985 |
3 promotions in 5 years.
This is terrible bordering on moronic take. |
Definitely got a touch of 'the Frimmers' about it |  |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:24 - Aug 1 with 1448 views | nrb1985 |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:22 - Aug 1 by BlueBadger |
Definitely got a touch of 'the Frimmers' about it |
Village idiots the pair of them. | | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:29 - Aug 1 with 1414 views | HighgateBlue |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:20 - Aug 1 by jasondozzell |
Think that's a very unfair overview of KM era.
I would argue the very opposite and say he's worthy of being compared toRobson in the context of the modern game.
The first promotion finishing second was on the back of years of decline here. In half a season, he got us ready to make promotion bid, got us playing brilliant football and built foundations for Championship.
Promotion from championship was staggering. One of the great seasons this club has had. Fearless, attacking football and a total fairytale. We were sensational to watch at points.
I simply do not agree that the prem season was a 'damp squib'. I was proud of the team. We played with determination and character and attacked despite being totally unprepared for the reality of elite level football because the club had spent two decades falling behind. The first half against Liverpool down here brought great joy.
I've said before, that last year's promotion was imo KM's best. A really challenging season and he steered us through.
His reign effectively re-establishes us as a big club after twenty years out in the cold.
Deservedly up there with Robson, Ramsey, Lyall, Burley.
Some of the best football I've ever seen in 35 years plus of watching us. [Post edited 1 Aug 10:21]
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This sort of debate is interesting, and I'm very happy to hear and consider opposing viewpoints to my own.
So would you say that (a) the 'league (and cup but whatever) performance versus budget' is an overly simplistic and unfair yardstick, or (b) it's a fair yardstick, but I have not accurately assessed where we 'should' have finished on our budget?
I totally see that the quality of football was a real improvement on what went before, and that that was part of what made the club so positive and joyful for a few years. However, I'm trying to be objective about success flowing from recruitment, rather than entertainment. I can see that different people have different objectives, and I am very much someone who sticks up for Mick, despite his turgid and functional style, on the basis that he overperformed with the financial hand he was dealt. | | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:33 - Aug 1 with 1373 views | tonybied |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:24 - Aug 1 by nrb1985 |
Village idiots the pair of them. |
There's a few that seem to be creeping out from under their rocks this week. A lot with particularly bed wetting, hot takes about past, and present transfer dealings. |  | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:41 - Aug 1 with 1320 views | nrb1985 |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:33 - Aug 1 by tonybied |
There's a few that seem to be creeping out from under their rocks this week. A lot with particularly bed wetting, hot takes about past, and present transfer dealings. |
Both and their like need to fk off and support Liverpool or City.
Imagine, after the run we’ve been on, complaining about recruitment when the whole club had been decimated by Evans.
Y Iznt EVerY SigNIN a GuD Un | | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:46 - Aug 1 with 1290 views | jasondozzell |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:29 - Aug 1 by HighgateBlue |
This sort of debate is interesting, and I'm very happy to hear and consider opposing viewpoints to my own.
So would you say that (a) the 'league (and cup but whatever) performance versus budget' is an overly simplistic and unfair yardstick, or (b) it's a fair yardstick, but I have not accurately assessed where we 'should' have finished on our budget?
I totally see that the quality of football was a real improvement on what went before, and that that was part of what made the club so positive and joyful for a few years. However, I'm trying to be objective about success flowing from recruitment, rather than entertainment. I can see that different people have different objectives, and I am very much someone who sticks up for Mick, despite his turgid and functional style, on the basis that he overperformed with the financial hand he was dealt. |
I can see your point about budget and expectation. Clearly as soon as Gamechanger arrived the reality was we were going to be competitive again. There's a clear correlation between budget and finishing position in every league.
But that correlation isn't a hard and fast rule. And as we've seen, clubs can literally spend billions and fail.
It's a fair yardstick up to a point, but it ignores context, history, squad dynamic, principles etc. I'm pretty sure that KM referenced early on that a style of play that might not be so conducive in league one was necessary to establish principles for higher up.
The cold hard reality is that recruitment dictates a lot, you're right. But we unearthed some real gems plus recruitment starts in your own squad. I thought KM's willingness to work with players here already was fantastic.
Kayden Jackson is probably the player that embodies the KM era in a way. Along with JD.
I'm sympathetic to your position on Mick. He was a very effective sticking plaster as Evans cut the purse strings. But ultimately he was loyal to the man paying him big bucks and refused to see it from the supporters' point of view.
I've not totally lost hope that we might see KM down here again at some point... | | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:51 - Aug 1 with 1243 views | pointofblue |
Other than a lack of a second striker at times I'd say our recruitment was good under McKenna whilst in League One and the Championship, prior to promotion. - Luongo, Broadhead, Harry Clarke, Hirst, Tuanzebe, Hutchinson, Sarmiento, Moore. Even Travis was a savvy signing even if he wasn't used much, and Taylor was much needed last season. Admittedly Al Hamidi and Scarlett were desperate gambles which didn't pay off.
Our Premier League recruitment was horrific outside of O'Shea, Delap and, ironically, perhaps Cajuste. Enciso came too soon though would love to have him back now so hope the rumours are true.
It's difficult to look at last season fairly as we made such hard work of what should have been a simpler goal (I appreciate others disagree). Matusiwa has been a massive hit, Furlong and Kipre decent, and I still like the signing of Young but feel Nunez and Mehmeti have both flattered to deceive. Egeli never settled in properly whilst McAteer just about clawed himself back to average after a torrid start. Cajuste was outpaced and out-muscled whilst the less said about Akpom the better. I hope O'Neil can get more out of him than McKenna ever managed. Neil was a "Travis" though seemed to have lost something from the previous year at Sunderland. Azon was a striker who could do everything but score.
I just think we wasted so much money over 2024/25. Admittedly, we haven't seen them play competitively yet but I like most of what we've done this summer. I do have concerns about Emersonn - we still have striker issues - and central midfield needs a lot of work. | |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:59 - Aug 1 with 1193 views | SheffordBlue |
Worth looking at the development of the recruitment/scouting infrastructure here as well I think.
In the year we first promoted from the Championship we lost our Head of Recruitment and ended up with an underpowered recruitment team with a limited overseas scouting network trying to plan for life in both the Championship and Prem.
We now have a Director of Recruitment with extensive experience of the Prem, two regional scouts with similar levels of experience. We also have two people whose job role includes supporting first team players which makes bringing players in from overseas more viable - sorting out tax, accomodation, schooling etc. | |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 11:03 - Aug 1 with 1168 views | Swansea_Blue |
We did ok with our signing in KM’s first summer - Leif, Mass, Broady, even the likes of Harness, Clarke played important roles. Hirst, Tuanzebe and the loans of Hutch and big Kief were critical to our first Championship promotion.
We found it a bit harder in that summer before the PL though didn’t we. |  |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 11:04 - Aug 1 with 1158 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:41 - Aug 1 by nrb1985 |
Both and their like need to fk off and support Liverpool or City.
Imagine, after the run we’ve been on, complaining about recruitment when the whole club had been decimated by Evans.
Y Iznt EVerY SigNIN a GuD Un |
Hang on im not even involved in the thead ffs.
Btw oxford nice little stadium. Strange to see a ground without a stand.
Sitting opposite town fans in the upper teir. Fat guy if anyone wants to shout hi frimmers. |  |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 11:05 - Aug 1 with 1150 views | jasondozzell |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 11:04 - Aug 1 by FrimleyBlue |
Hang on im not even involved in the thead ffs.
Btw oxford nice little stadium. Strange to see a ground without a stand.
Sitting opposite town fans in the upper teir. Fat guy if anyone wants to shout hi frimmers. |
Watch out for the fog! | | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 11:12 - Aug 1 with 1109 views | fabian_illness |
Some of the signings being questioned here had clearly had great success playing in a formation with tactics that played to their strengths. Akpom and Szmodics for instance, focal point strikers with service to suit equals goals. Drop them into a Mckenna side, out of position playing a totally different game... its not going to work out so well for them. KM never went for a formation change to try and play to an individuals strengths, we were stuck rigid for the majority of his tenure, looking for players to adapt. |  | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 11:21 - Aug 1 with 1028 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 09:41 - Aug 1 by pingu67 |
To be fair how many of those were actually signed by cook and not mckenna?
Ok walton signed perm under km but was signed by cook initially
Morsy, chappers etc were cook
Km though signed hirst and broady |
Cook’s time was important for laying some foundations and then KM built on it very successfully. We needed both of their influences. Leif was the big one. He was transformation for us and without him we’d probably not got into the PL first time. Arguably Tuanzebe too. And Hutch on loan obviously. All some of the best players in the league and that’s not easy to do.
There are bound to be a good number of average or poor signings. It’s normal for most clubs. | |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 11:35 - Aug 1 with 969 views | Churchman |
Szmodics, Akpom, Ogbene, Phillips, Muric, not to mention Camara, Godfrey, Ahadme. You can add Cajuste, Harper, Evans, Carroll, Penny, Pigott, Fraser, Bonne to that catalogue of woe. Shocking waste. As we know, every other club has a 100% success rate in transfers. Boooooooo, Ashton and McKenna out!
To help with the reflection, let’s just focus on negatives and ignore Burgess, Chaplin, Morsy, Davis, Walton, Edmundson, Burns, Harness, Ladapo, Clarke, Broadhead, Luongo, Taylor, Hirst Tuanzebe, Moore, Hutchinson, Sarmiento, Travis, Philogene, Delap, Clarke J, O’Shea, Nunez, Furlong, Mehmeti, Matusiwa.
Personally, it comes down to results and what I see when I wile away a couple of hours watching ITFC. 3 promotions in 5 years, the best football I’ve seen since GBs time. The balance sheet? Some losses, some profits, some really good value from players that in real terms didn’t cost too much (Morsy, Luongo, Jackson, Donacien, Ladapo).
Overall, I don’t think there’s not too much to bleat about unless expectations and entitlement are 100% transfer success and disappointment we are not already in the Champions League. Then I suspect there are those that want ‘their club back’ and yearn for the Evans years of hoofball and 15th. It’s all about differing views.
As for the O’Neil appointments, we won’t know if they are going to succeed or fail until they play. |  | | |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 12:09 - Aug 1 with 862 views | nrb1985 |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 11:04 - Aug 1 by FrimleyBlue |
Hang on im not even involved in the thead ffs.
Btw oxford nice little stadium. Strange to see a ground without a stand.
Sitting opposite town fans in the upper teir. Fat guy if anyone wants to shout hi frimmers. |
Fair enough but you do often love a moan about the most asinine of things frequently, like this OP.
Wednesday's friendly a case in point. [Post edited 1 Aug 12:09]
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 12:55 - Aug 1 with 672 views | LeoMuff |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 10:11 - Aug 1 by LegendofthePhoenix |
I distinctly remember having the collywobbles about some of those signings at the time. AAH and Ahadme were just young players at a much lower level and too big a punt. Akpom seemed like we only did it to stop Birmingham getting him. Szmodics seemed a lot of dosh at his age. Phillips was again someone who had had a torrid time at Wet Sham and was a massive punt, and similar with Godfrey. You cold argue we were unlucky with the injuries to some (Camara, Townsend), but the others I just don't see how on earth they got selected by a decent recruitment team. Personally, I think Mehmeti was an odd purchase, he was cheap, but I think we need to offload him now as I don't think he is PL quality.
The new recruits I like the look of. Daizen, Diop, Fatawu, Scherpen, the only one I'm not sure about is Emersonn. I hear we are looking at the St Ettiene striker also, but he's only played in Ligue 2, would far prefer we get someone with top league experience. |
AAH was 21 yo and too good for league 2, not unrealistic to expect him to step up and be good back up, we will probably get what we paid and more for him, clearly has something about him. Ahadme was a cheap punt, Akpom you could see why any championship club would want him, a top player at that level on his day.
Sammy was top scorer in the champ and did ok for us when fit, you can see the logic behind all our buys some work out some don’t.
I don’t think you can knock recruitment that picked up Delap, Hirst, Omari, Chappers, Broady, Dara, Leif |  |
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| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 12:58 - Aug 1 with 631 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Reflecting on our recruitment in the McKenna era on 12:09 - Aug 1 by nrb1985 |
Fair enough but you do often love a moan about the most asinine of things frequently, like this OP.
Wednesday's friendly a case in point. [Post edited 1 Aug 12:09]
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Was the moan when i said we played well
Or was it when i said davis will be fine as a wingback but not sure if fullback
Btw this oxford game hasnt been great. Am i allowed to say anything about it? | |
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