| Main concern for the season. 21:59 - Aug 4 with 4574 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
Our back line may get found out.
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| Main concern for the season. on 22:02 - Aug 4 with 3324 views | Steve_M |
Define found out here, it’s definitely an area we want to strengthen in but we proved very good at denying opposition teams chances last season and I don’t see that level of organisation and preparedness dropping away.
I think we could do with some Championship experience, a younger Keogh perhaps. |  |
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| Main concern for the season. on 22:15 - Aug 4 with 3238 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
If we can stay solid at the back, playing footballing teams like Southampton should suit our style. We played our best football on the break last season e.g the goals against Bolton and Derby away. In contrast we at time struggled to grind out the teams that played with 10 men in defence.
Bring it on! |  | | |
| Main concern for the season. on 22:15 - Aug 4 with 3241 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
My concern is that the crisper speed of passing and movement may expose frailties. At times last season the limitations of our opposition meant we got away with mistakes. Combine this with our weakness at times last season to back post crosses and we may have problems. I have confidence in our abilities in midfield and attack, so this is my main concern. | |
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| Main concern for the season. on 22:19 - Aug 4 with 3203 views | NthQldITFC |
| Main concern for the season. on 22:15 - Aug 4 by SuperKieranMcKenna |
If we can stay solid at the back, playing footballing teams like Southampton should suit our style. We played our best football on the break last season e.g the goals against Bolton and Derby away. In contrast we at time struggled to grind out the teams that played with 10 men in defence.
Bring it on! |
Southampton's main threat I think came from the amount of space Wednesday gave Tella and Edozie to start in, by pulling their full backs in too narrow. Town won't do that. |  |
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| Main concern for the season. on 22:20 - Aug 4 with 3194 views | ghostofescobar |
Why, what have they done? Love a bit of goss, me. |  |
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| Main concern for the season. on 22:27 - Aug 4 with 3161 views | Bobsthename |
Yep that’s my worry and has been since we got promoted and even more so now after not signing any centre halfs .Think Leigh is a better defender than Davis but not as affective,I’m happy with Wolfie,Clarke, but Burgess worries me i’m not believing he is Championship quality so it’s a big test Sunday . | | | |
| Main concern for the season. on 23:04 - Aug 4 with 3009 views | ibbleobble |
That’s a concern for every season. Given how strong it’s been over the last year, this ‘concern’ is nothing other than a reaction to not signing anyone knowing we’re in the market for a centre back. You make it sound like we’ve been getting away it for a while, which isn’t the case. Weird post on the eve of a new season with nothing to point to that is evidence of concerning during pre-season. | | | |
| Main concern for the season. on 23:28 - Aug 4 with 2930 views | BigCommon |
| Main concern for the season. on 22:27 - Aug 4 by Bobsthename |
Yep that’s my worry and has been since we got promoted and even more so now after not signing any centre halfs .Think Leigh is a better defender than Davis but not as affective,I’m happy with Wolfie,Clarke, but Burgess worries me i’m not believing he is Championship quality so it’s a big test Sunday . |
Define "Championship quality" Bob..
Last season we battered Rotherham and lost narrowly in a replay to the runaway champions. On top of that, we didn't lose a single game to the relegated Championship sides in L1, and battered all 3 of them on their own turf to nil...
I mean , some strengthening is always nice. But we shouldn't be too worried with what we've got here. Especially with a manager and coaching staff that play to each players strengths and are continually improving our players. Burgess in particular, I'd say, is twice the player that arrived here. |  | | |
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| Main concern for the season. on 23:36 - Aug 4 with 2907 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| Main concern for the season. on 23:28 - Aug 4 by BigCommon |
Define "Championship quality" Bob..
Last season we battered Rotherham and lost narrowly in a replay to the runaway champions. On top of that, we didn't lose a single game to the relegated Championship sides in L1, and battered all 3 of them on their own turf to nil...
I mean , some strengthening is always nice. But we shouldn't be too worried with what we've got here. Especially with a manager and coaching staff that play to each players strengths and are continually improving our players. Burgess in particular, I'd say, is twice the player that arrived here. |
My quietly simmering concern was brought to the surface by Southampton's second goal but I accept they may well be better than average. | |
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| Main concern for the season. on 01:01 - Aug 5 with 2786 views | pennblue |
You don't need to be concerned, because you can guarantee the manager knows where we need to strengthen and if that happens to be defence, then they will no doubt be working hard to sort it.
I would agree that you could bring in more quality in certain positions, but I also believe the defenders we have are well up for this season. They know this is their chance to make a case for being strong championship players and possibly even putting themselves in the shop window for a Premier team. So with the right coaching and mental attitude, it will be interesting to see how they do. | |
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| Main concern for the season. on 07:48 - Aug 5 with 2575 views | LegendofthePhoenix |
My biggest defensive concern is Burgess' lack of pace, if balls get played in behind him. But he does compensate with a great aerial presence, especially in the light of Walton being out. KM of course knows where our weaknesses are, and we frequently see Davis and Burns covering the goal line behind the central defenders.
However having watched Weds v Soton last night, I feel my confidence levels rising steeply - not much to worry about with either of those teams. First 15 minutes I thought Soton would run riot, but they reminded me of how we were playing in the first half of last season when we had all the possession and no penetration. I honestly think we would take both those teams in our stride based on how we ended last season. And I think the players will be even fitter and more focussed now. [Post edited 5 Aug 2023 7:49]
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| Main concern for the season. on 08:04 - Aug 5 with 2543 views | NthQldITFC |
| Main concern for the season. on 07:48 - Aug 5 by LegendofthePhoenix |
My biggest defensive concern is Burgess' lack of pace, if balls get played in behind him. But he does compensate with a great aerial presence, especially in the light of Walton being out. KM of course knows where our weaknesses are, and we frequently see Davis and Burns covering the goal line behind the central defenders.
However having watched Weds v Soton last night, I feel my confidence levels rising steeply - not much to worry about with either of those teams. First 15 minutes I thought Soton would run riot, but they reminded me of how we were playing in the first half of last season when we had all the possession and no penetration. I honestly think we would take both those teams in our stride based on how we ended last season. And I think the players will be even fitter and more focussed now. [Post edited 5 Aug 2023 7:49]
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I'd agree with that pretty much. Southampton looked very, very good early on against a terrible Wednesday defence, largely because their wide attackers were terrorising Wednesday's fullbacks, but Southampton seemed to run out of ideas and variations after a while.
I'd say we're a similar side to Southampton, with not quite so much individual talent, but more creativity and energy as a team. And momentum, baby. | |
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| Main concern for the season. on 08:26 - Aug 5 with 2478 views | nodge_blue |
| Main concern for the season. on 07:48 - Aug 5 by LegendofthePhoenix |
My biggest defensive concern is Burgess' lack of pace, if balls get played in behind him. But he does compensate with a great aerial presence, especially in the light of Walton being out. KM of course knows where our weaknesses are, and we frequently see Davis and Burns covering the goal line behind the central defenders.
However having watched Weds v Soton last night, I feel my confidence levels rising steeply - not much to worry about with either of those teams. First 15 minutes I thought Soton would run riot, but they reminded me of how we were playing in the first half of last season when we had all the possession and no penetration. I honestly think we would take both those teams in our stride based on how we ended last season. And I think the players will be even fitter and more focussed now. [Post edited 5 Aug 2023 7:49]
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I’m not used to rampant Town positivity and I think too much is unproven yet. Remember this is a Sheffield Wednesday side that we failed to beat in two matches last year. And a Southampton side with internationals.
Morley made a good point that Middlesbrough lost about 15 games last year and still made the playoffs. So it’s highly likely in this really competitive championship that we will see a tight and compressed league table. |  |
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| Main concern for the season. on 08:31 - Aug 5 with 2455 views | BlueBadger |
Budgie Bob is also worried, so it's probably OK. If that helps. |  |
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| Main concern for the season. on 08:53 - Aug 5 with 2400 views | Churchman |
| Main concern for the season. on 23:28 - Aug 4 by BigCommon |
Define "Championship quality" Bob..
Last season we battered Rotherham and lost narrowly in a replay to the runaway champions. On top of that, we didn't lose a single game to the relegated Championship sides in L1, and battered all 3 of them on their own turf to nil...
I mean , some strengthening is always nice. But we shouldn't be too worried with what we've got here. Especially with a manager and coaching staff that play to each players strengths and are continually improving our players. Burgess in particular, I'd say, is twice the player that arrived here. |
Our defence was good last year. Four goals conceded in the last 16 games, while scoring 45. That wasn’t luck and nor were all the teams as weak as FGR. Your point about our record v relegated sides is interesting and yes, the two Championship teams hardly ran riot and neither did Luton in pre season.
Our lot defend and attack as a team. Of course it’ll be more difficult and we will lose more games. We could hardly lose less. Players will make mistakes, players will get caught one on one, but they always did. Burgess lack of pace? There have been plenty of ITFC defenders short on that in the Championship but it was always about how they defended collectively.
John Wark at the end of his time had no pace whatsoever and his partner Linighan was hardly a rival to Usain Bolt. It didn’t matter because with two good full backs they were tight as a unit and the CHs knew where to be - particularly a class player like Wark.
I hope we are are able to bring in a better CH than what we have to strengthen the squad, but if we don’t, I think we will be fine. ‘Championship quality’? The Championship is the same mix as it ever was. Some good, some abject. Better overall than L1 but nothing special.
Sadly, if we start poorly or go on a run of not winning games I suspect the same lack of patience shown on here and Twitter in Jan/Feb will roar back into life, creating additional pressure they don’t need. That is actually my biggest concern. |  | | |
| Main concern for the season. on 09:01 - Aug 5 with 2372 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| Main concern for the season. on 08:53 - Aug 5 by Churchman |
Our defence was good last year. Four goals conceded in the last 16 games, while scoring 45. That wasn’t luck and nor were all the teams as weak as FGR. Your point about our record v relegated sides is interesting and yes, the two Championship teams hardly ran riot and neither did Luton in pre season.
Our lot defend and attack as a team. Of course it’ll be more difficult and we will lose more games. We could hardly lose less. Players will make mistakes, players will get caught one on one, but they always did. Burgess lack of pace? There have been plenty of ITFC defenders short on that in the Championship but it was always about how they defended collectively.
John Wark at the end of his time had no pace whatsoever and his partner Linighan was hardly a rival to Usain Bolt. It didn’t matter because with two good full backs they were tight as a unit and the CHs knew where to be - particularly a class player like Wark.
I hope we are are able to bring in a better CH than what we have to strengthen the squad, but if we don’t, I think we will be fine. ‘Championship quality’? The Championship is the same mix as it ever was. Some good, some abject. Better overall than L1 but nothing special.
Sadly, if we start poorly or go on a run of not winning games I suspect the same lack of patience shown on here and Twitter in Jan/Feb will roar back into life, creating additional pressure they don’t need. That is actually my biggest concern. |
Agree with that last paragraph and hope we don't get to that point again.....the spirit within the team should count for a lot. | |
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| Sunderland worries about their weak attack… so that’s good?! (n/t) on 11:14 - Aug 5 with 2247 views | unstableblue |
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| Main concern for the season. on 11:18 - Aug 5 with 2239 views | chicoazul |
Main concerns;
no Walton
lack of quality squad depth
can Burns, our key player, do it at a level he’s never done it at |  |
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| Main concern for the season. on 11:20 - Aug 5 with 2227 views | pointofblue |
| Main concern for the season. on 08:53 - Aug 5 by Churchman |
Our defence was good last year. Four goals conceded in the last 16 games, while scoring 45. That wasn’t luck and nor were all the teams as weak as FGR. Your point about our record v relegated sides is interesting and yes, the two Championship teams hardly ran riot and neither did Luton in pre season.
Our lot defend and attack as a team. Of course it’ll be more difficult and we will lose more games. We could hardly lose less. Players will make mistakes, players will get caught one on one, but they always did. Burgess lack of pace? There have been plenty of ITFC defenders short on that in the Championship but it was always about how they defended collectively.
John Wark at the end of his time had no pace whatsoever and his partner Linighan was hardly a rival to Usain Bolt. It didn’t matter because with two good full backs they were tight as a unit and the CHs knew where to be - particularly a class player like Wark.
I hope we are are able to bring in a better CH than what we have to strengthen the squad, but if we don’t, I think we will be fine. ‘Championship quality’? The Championship is the same mix as it ever was. Some good, some abject. Better overall than L1 but nothing special.
Sadly, if we start poorly or go on a run of not winning games I suspect the same lack of patience shown on here and Twitter in Jan/Feb will roar back into life, creating additional pressure they don’t need. That is actually my biggest concern. |
Though I think any lack of patience this time around will be aimed at Ashton for not doing better in the transfer market, rather than a perception that McKenna and the squad should be getting better results, which was the case last year when we went four months without winning two league games back to back (certainly made up for that from mid February). [Post edited 5 Aug 2023 11:30]
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| Main concern for the season. on 11:24 - Aug 5 with 2214 views | WD19 |
Playing without a keeper is not going to help. |  | | |
| Main concern for the season. on 11:30 - Aug 5 with 2198 views | Dyland |
| Main concern for the season. on 11:18 - Aug 5 by chicoazul |
Main concerns;
no Walton
lack of quality squad depth
can Burns, our key player, do it at a level he’s never done it at |
Burns, as much as I like him, isn't our key player. |  |
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| Nice positive post Penners on 11:35 - Aug 5 with 2178 views | Dyland |
| Main concern for the season. on 01:01 - Aug 5 by pennblue |
You don't need to be concerned, because you can guarantee the manager knows where we need to strengthen and if that happens to be defence, then they will no doubt be working hard to sort it.
I would agree that you could bring in more quality in certain positions, but I also believe the defenders we have are well up for this season. They know this is their chance to make a case for being strong championship players and possibly even putting themselves in the shop window for a Premier team. So with the right coaching and mental attitude, it will be interesting to see how they do. |
I see a lot of posters concerned about Burgess' lack of pace. I'd be more concerned (if I was at all, which I'm not) by him and Luke getting caught in possession, Burgers because he's not the most technical with ball at feet and Wolfers because he can be beautifully casual, before we get into their ability to atone for it. We shall see I guess. To your point, it's not as if these players are hoofing duffers is it. And I agree re even eying Prem... Luke has a very high ceiling imo, casual or not. | |
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| Main concern for the season. on 11:37 - Aug 5 with 2168 views | chicoazul |
| Main concern for the season. on 11:30 - Aug 5 by Dyland |
Burns, as much as I like him, isn't our key player. |
I think he is as he makes our formation work. He does lots of work off the ball and gives us balance with Leif on the other side. He dovetailed with Chaplin and Clarke, drops in with the defence, has the energy and pace to join in the attack. In a lot of ways he is why we can play only a dedicated 2 in CM. | |
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| "Leigh is a better defender than Davis..." on 11:40 - Aug 5 with 2155 views | Dyland |
| Main concern for the season. on 22:27 - Aug 4 by Bobsthename |
Yep that’s my worry and has been since we got promoted and even more so now after not signing any centre halfs .Think Leigh is a better defender than Davis but not as affective,I’m happy with Wolfie,Clarke, but Burgess worries me i’m not believing he is Championship quality so it’s a big test Sunday . |
Based on....?
I like what I've seen of Leigh btw, but Davis has been excellent. Going forward obviously, and also at the back. There were a handful of posters going on about him being caught out because of his height. That may have happened on the odd occasion when up against a clogging giant, but generally he was pretty solid. Him and Wolfenden have the highest ceilings along with Hirst, imho. So two defenders ja?
Yeh I get that we don't have superb depth, but actualy who does in the Champ? I genuinely don't know so I'm not going to be negative when pretty there are so many positives. | |
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| Fair points Chickers old duck on 11:41 - Aug 5 with 2154 views | Dyland |
| Main concern for the season. on 11:37 - Aug 5 by chicoazul |
I think he is as he makes our formation work. He does lots of work off the ball and gives us balance with Leif on the other side. He dovetailed with Chaplin and Clarke, drops in with the defence, has the energy and pace to join in the attack. In a lot of ways he is why we can play only a dedicated 2 in CM. |
You are still wrong of course. I mean, you're even more hopeless with footy anaytics than I am. Well, probably about the same. | |
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