| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... 13:10 - Feb 15 with 3696 views | itfcjoe |
.....and it is really hurting us.
Bearing in mind Humphreys was seen as a squad player at start of season and we clearly wanted 4 senior guys in there....
We signed Camara on very last day of window who had an ongoing injury problem.....he said he only found out about the move in the morning of deadline day so presumably no thorough medical was able to be done....the player with clear red flags has proven to be an absolute non-contributer this year.
Dom Ball picks up a bad injury, this seems more unlucky than anything because he has generally been a resilient player in his career.
Lee Evans suffers bad injury, but he is a player who has only played 50% of this teams league minutes 3 times in his career - with one of those times being last season where he still missed 19 games. The most minutes he has ever played in a league season is the equivalent of 32-33 games. And if you believe some of the genuine ITK people around the club there was a seeming view that he would go down in the second half of the season
So in January we turn to Massimo Luongo, who due to injury played the equivalent of 48 games across 3 seasons for Sheffield Wednesday, and was unselected for Boro for half a season (may have been some unknown injuries in that period)
So effectively in the squad we have 2 senior CMs who could be described as durable in Morsy and Ball, one of which we know is out long term....but even Ball has never played more than the equivalent of 27 games in a 46 game season.
We were told no stone would be left unturned in January but the CM problems were fairly predictable and have come to pass.
Meanwhile Idris El Mizouni puts in another starring performance for Orient last night - 15 ground duels won, 10 tackles won and a goal.
Meanwhile Posh chairman MacAnthony says they were still getting bids in for Jack Taylor (presumably from us) as the deadline shut.
And then to really top this - when we play Pompey in the Papa Johns, Morsy starts, when we play Buxton in the FA Cup, Morsy starts....in both games v Burnley, Morsy starts (when in home tie we had Humphreys and Luongo on the bench).
We've got one senior CM fit, he's walking a suspension tight rope and he has been flogged more than anyone else in the squad. He's played over 200 more minutes than Christian Walton, he's played nearly the equivalent of 4 games more than Woolfie who is 3rd in the squad on minutes.
Opting to go for Luongo over El Miz has been a mistake, and is one of the resons why our engine room has spluttered in recent weeks - hopefully Ball and Luongo can get fit sooner rather than later to try and stop this derailment of the season and give us a good base to finish the season well and, realistically, go into POs in a decent vein of form |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:14 - Feb 15 with 2576 views | chicoazul |
So glad we’re now being run by excellent football people who are true experts and leave no stone unturned in the quest for glory. |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:14 - Feb 15 with 2582 views | southnorfolkblue |
Spot on.
Imho this is the crux of our problems. Morsy has been run into the ground. I think the Broadhead and Clarke money should have been spent on Taylor |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:16 - Feb 15 with 2560 views | Nutkins_Return |
I did say in the window it might be a good idea to bring back Harper. El Miz' loan and playing week in and week out is good for his development. Harper would be an able deputy and body to take away the strain from others. He's still a player with excellent potential and would be pushing to get himself a place with injuries we have. | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:17 - Feb 15 with 2533 views | textbackup |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:16 - Feb 15 by Nutkins_Return |
I did say in the window it might be a good idea to bring back Harper. El Miz' loan and playing week in and week out is good for his development. Harper would be an able deputy and body to take away the strain from others. He's still a player with excellent potential and would be pushing to get himself a place with injuries we have. |
Develop him in our team
He’s perfectly capable |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:18 - Feb 15 with 2521 views | FrimleyBlue |
It's amazing really we spent £3 mill on 2 players in positions which whilst extra quality would have been great... midfield as you say was a bit of an obvious weak area.
I'm caught.
On one hand we spend that much in Jan. You think that's for us to push for top 2.
But then the profile of both players plus Hirst doesn't really seem like the expectation is to actually push this side of the window and get players ready for next season.
KM spoke of developing Clarke in a new role.
Broadheads being carefully managed.
Hirst is trying to get match fit.
Financially it sounds like a push for promotion.
But when you review it overall.. was it?
Did we not bust a gut for a cm. Because we have Ball and Camara for next season.....
All rather odd. |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:18 - Feb 15 with 2519 views | bournemouthblue |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:14 - Feb 15 by southnorfolkblue |
Spot on.
Imho this is the crux of our problems. Morsy has been run into the ground. I think the Broadhead and Clarke money should have been spent on Taylor |
I don't think it was a case that we weren't trying in fairness
I'm sure we'll sign Taylor on a free in the summer |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:18 - Feb 15 with 2513 views | SomethingBlue |
Absolutely spot on — this is the heart of everything in my opinion. | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:19 - Feb 15 with 2495 views | portmanking |
Many of us were saying at the time of strong XI's for the Pizza Trophy etc that it would bite us in the backside and it truly has, much sooner than I envisaged, too.
If the club knew how much our midfield intensity was going to drop off, I'm surprised they didn't pay the extra 400k and get Taylor in when they could have. | | | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:21 - Feb 15 with 2434 views | tractorboy1978 |
I think we need to find another option in there over the next few games. Sounds like Ball is going to be back sooner than we perhaps thought but he's coming back off a pretty serious injury and shouldn't be rushed. Clarke/Aluko are the two most obvious to be able to slot in.
A card for Morsy would have been ideal last night really. Get FGR/MK out of the way and give him a rest. | | | |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:21 - Feb 15 with 2430 views | ITFCBlues |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:18 - Feb 15 by bournemouthblue |
I don't think it was a case that we weren't trying in fairness
I'm sure we'll sign Taylor on a free in the summer |
He's still got a year on his contract so I doubt we will get him for nothing |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:23 - Feb 15 with 2399 views | ITFCBlues |
Pretty much nail on head. Luongo is baffling. Even when he's been fit he can't get on the bench. I do wonder if humphreys involvement has muddied the waters somewhat. He could've had a load of minutes still in the various cup competitions.
Either way, we've left ourselves massivley short and Morsy has clearly dropped off in form as well which is completely understandable.
The signing of Clarke has been strange, doesn't look an upgrade on Donacien although wonder if he could be shifted to CM to help? | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:29 - Feb 15 with 2330 views | Vaughan8 |
I can't disagree with any of that. I don't think we could have bought another midfielder as we do have a lot, they're just injured!
However a loan would have been good but maybe no-one was available. BUT surely we would have recalled someone out on loan to act as cover? very strange.
In addition, I think all these forward options are both putting a few players nose out of place as well as causing us to not know who the best players are. Are we changing the forwards because of the opponent, or just to "keep everyone happy"?
Bar a great freekick the other day, have Broadhead and Hirst (and Clarke to an extent) really added too much? I don't think so. I know its early days but there was more urgent areas to address. | | | |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:30 - Feb 15 with 2312 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
Who is this Luongo you speak of? |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:32 - Feb 15 with 2283 views | bournemouthblue |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:21 - Feb 15 by ITFCBlues |
He's still got a year on his contract so I doubt we will get him for nothing |
Okay, I thought his contract was running down and therefore Posh really needed to be cashing in during this window | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:34 - Feb 15 with 2241 views | ibbleobble |
Completely agree. Just posted something similar querying why we didn’t recall El Miz with only 4 fit midfielders come end of Jan. If the Taylor bid did fail, all the more reason given Humphrey’s introduction and inexperience and Morsy’s perpetual tight rope. | | | |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:35 - Feb 15 with 2232 views | Nutkins_Return |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:17 - Feb 15 by textbackup |
Develop him in our team
He’s perfectly capable |
El Miz would play considerably less minutes in our team than he is now. I'm not convinced he's going to make it with us to be honest but he needs to play to have a chance in my opinion. Harper's situation was a new manager had come in and wasn't playing him (he is now). He's a good quality league one player and made sense. | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:36 - Feb 15 with 2207 views | bournemouthblue |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:29 - Feb 15 by Vaughan8 |
I can't disagree with any of that. I don't think we could have bought another midfielder as we do have a lot, they're just injured!
However a loan would have been good but maybe no-one was available. BUT surely we would have recalled someone out on loan to act as cover? very strange.
In addition, I think all these forward options are both putting a few players nose out of place as well as causing us to not know who the best players are. Are we changing the forwards because of the opponent, or just to "keep everyone happy"?
Bar a great freekick the other day, have Broadhead and Hirst (and Clarke to an extent) really added too much? I don't think so. I know its early days but there was more urgent areas to address. |
Clarke is basically Donacien II
He's looked alright so far if inconsistent which you are going to get with someone of this age, we really needed a left footed version of Donacien who could push Edmondson and Burgess
The Pizza Cup earlier in the season gave our squad the chance for more game time and perhaps even helped Humphreys establish himself as a first team option
It was fine when the squad was all fit but it soon fell apart when injuries began to mount up | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:38 - Feb 15 with 2175 views | cbower |
Agree. Said as much on Guthrum's thread earlier. |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:41 - Feb 15 with 2156 views | Steve_M |
It's pretty odd that we didn't recall El Mizouni in January all things considered.
Personally I would have signed Bakinson last Summer, a bit raw but with a bit of everything needed in central midfield and capable of playing consistently at this level. |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:41 - Feb 15 with 2155 views | itfcjoe |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:34 - Feb 15 by ibbleobble |
Completely agree. Just posted something similar querying why we didn’t recall El Miz with only 4 fit midfielders come end of Jan. If the Taylor bid did fail, all the more reason given Humphrey’s introduction and inexperience and Morsy’s perpetual tight rope. |
I wonder if we had a certain date to recall El Miz by but let that pass and regretted it? It seems baffling to be where we are when it was mostly predictable how it would go as opposed to being an unforeseen worst case scenario | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:42 - Feb 15 with 2152 views | BrockleyBlue78 |
What is the situation with Luongo? Is he injured again (after the Burnley at home sub appearance) or just not considered match fit yet?
After last night’s showing, Humphries really shouldn’t be starting again for a little while imo. |  | | |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 13:53 - Feb 15 with 2084 views | LankHenners |
Yeah it's definitely the biggest tangible problem we have. Camara they presumably accepted the risk and thought he'd miss a few months but would be ready for the 2nd half of the season which obviously hasn't happened.
I'd, and the club it seems, assumed that by having Luongo on what was essentially an extended trial prior to joining would give the club an idea of his durability, fitness etc. Given he hadn't played all season you'd naturally expect him to be eased in but obviously has struggled a bit with an injury and seems to be in a constant 'might play next game' state where he'll only manage maybe 60 mins max anyway.
Sometime before the window I wondered whether it'd be worth it to bring El Miz back in case we needed him rather than let him play every week at Orient but it's clear now we absolutely should have got him back. One of the best performing combative midfielders playing for the leading team in League Two and we simply had to push the button and he's ours again and we didn't do it. Easy enough to say so with hindsight I guess but did think we were taking a risk exiting the Jan window with Morsy as the only fully fit and performing senior CM.
Could have done with Morsy serving his suspension for the next two games in honesty, and certainly could do with him serving it before we hit the Bolton, Barnsley, Derby away games. Have to hope Luongo really is ready to come back and play otherwise we're looking at Humphreys plus something unorthodox which we could do without. |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 14:16 - Feb 15 with 1958 views | Illinoisblue |
Camara has been a disaster. Was that someone KMac actually wanted? More generally, it’s amazing to me that Broadhead couldn’t start last night because he had cramp on Saturday. How can a professional athlete in his young 20s be that affected by cramp three days later? |  |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 14:18 - Feb 15 with 1932 views | FrimleyBlue |
| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 14:16 - Feb 15 by Illinoisblue |
Camara has been a disaster. Was that someone KMac actually wanted? More generally, it’s amazing to me that Broadhead couldn’t start last night because he had cramp on Saturday. How can a professional athlete in his young 20s be that affected by cramp three days later? |
Wasn't Broady more of a tight hamstring rather than cramp? | |
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| We really haven't managed CM options very well..... on 14:30 - Feb 15 with 1858 views | hype313 |
To be fair, our striker situation isn't much better, Ladapo was clearly brought in as a number two, and ended up being our only option after the panic signing of Ahadme, and whilst he's done ok, he's not someone who is going to spearhead you into promotion.
Bit of a mess in both positions, but the Midfield mess is proving catastrophic. And that's no slight on Humphreys who has done admirably, but no one expected him to be playing so much, even he's probably surprised. |  |
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