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Reply | Interesting Leif Davis stat in BBC Ait-Nouri story:
at 13:39 3 Jun 2025
It would need to be a team whose formation and style enabled him to play to his strengths without exposing his defensive weaknesses. Not sure who that team might be as most in the PL would demand a higher level of defensive craft. However, quite likely that someone would (rightly) feel they could develop that side of his game and retain his attacking prowess. |
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Reply | Lewis Travis
at 13:33 3 Jun 2025
Decent player to have although not as a regular starter. Would help fill the leadership deficit in the squad. |
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Reply | What signings do Town need in the summer?
at 15:24 29 Apr 2025
Your last sentence is key. The task is to build a PL ready squad in the Championship but that is difficult as it means attracting 4 or 5 players in competition with PL and other well funded Championship clubs. It is made more difficult by our lack of reach to date into the market outside English football.
The midfield needs an almost complete rebuild assuming Cajuste and Phillips move on. The existing CM will be squad players and/or move on. We need two or more players capable of playing the pivot role in the PL and a more box to box style midfielder.
We will need a couple of strikers maybe more depending on who goes.
Don't see Davis going as his defensive work has not been up to PL standard and that will deter buyers at all but a bargain price. |
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Reply | Midfield
at 12:16 16 Feb 2025
Agreed. Morsy's early season strong form has tailed off as both a player and on field leader. The midfield looked solid yesterday and it feels like individually and as a pairing they will improve. If that double pivot works to a genuine PL standard then the potential uplift to the team could make a difference.
Townsend is also showing that he is an option for some games and leaves Greaves less exposed than Davis. |
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Reply | Is Morsy cooked?
at 10:09 2 Feb 2025
Hard to make a case for him as a starter at the moment. He has lost his bite. In KM's preferred double pivot midfield you need two very strong players with PL knowhow. Finishing the game with Taylor and Morsy contributed to the defeat. Start Phillips and Cajuste, use Morsy as a finisher. Challenge Phillips, Cajuste, Godfrey, O'Shea, Axel to lead. |
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Reply | Phillips
at 09:54 2 Feb 2025
Was about to post about this. Yesterday’s unused bench had more PL experience than the team selected. It does reflect some of the several imbalances in the squad but also raises question about approach and formation. Surely Phillips and Godfrey would have added some experience in the last 20 minutes – increasingly our weakest period of the game. A draw would have been much better than a damaging defeat. |
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Reply | How much we paying for Phillips?
at 10:17 26 Jan 2025
Agree - I thought he was decent - did a huge amount of covering. The two man pivot is under so much pressure it is difficult for them to play a more forward role at the moment. Phillips and Cajuste need a run in the side as a pair. Switching them around in the starting line up is hoping neither them nor the team. |
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Reply | Sam Morsy
at 10:13 26 Jan 2025
His form has waned compared with the games in the Autumn. Unfortunately, his leadership appears to be in decline as part of this. He has been our best captain for many years but increasingly our lack of leadership and organisation on the pitch is losing us points. |
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Reply | Frustrating on several levels
at 10:11 17 Jan 2025
It’s a difficult call but I fear the negatives from last night outweigh the positives of the first half. The last 30 minutes or so, but in truth most of the second half, was a case of an opposing manager making adjustments and neither the players nor McKenna having a response. The problem is that this is becoming something of a pattern where a team/manager react and then bring on subs who can add impetus. KM is and has been limited by the relative weakness of our bench but I sense he has also become more tentative about making changes.
The hope must be that with Philogene, Godfrey and a couple of other signings plus the return of Tuanzebe and Szmodics we have more options from the bench and that KM feels able to use them more proactively as he did last season.
Not entirely convinced that we can keep the current formation(s). The imbalance in midfield numbers in so many games keeps us on the back foot. Although an additional striker is the priority, attacking midfielder feels like a gap we ought to fill. |
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Reply | Transfer window predictions...
at 15:37 2 Jan 2025
The last couple of games have illustrated KP's value where his experience and energy have been really useful in the last 20 minutes or so. Finishing games has been a major weakness and even if he was deployed mainly as a finisher/alternative starter and it gave that impetus or security in the last quarter it would be worthwhile.
I don't see many short term alternatives around if he did go back to Man City. |
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Thread | Gaps to fill obvious last night
at 10:10 28 Dec 2024
Defensively and mainly in midfield we are looking ok but last night magnified the areas where we carry too little threat:
Attacking /creative midfielder
Right sided replacement for Ogbene
Striker
Can we fill all of those in time to make an impact? Two out of three of those are probably must haves.
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Reply | Who starts from Morsy, Cajuste, Phillips in midfield against Chelsea? (n/t)
at 10:04 28 Dec 2024
Beyond the Chelsea game, Cajuste and Philips has to be the preferred midfield pairing. It’s hard on Morsy who has played pretty well but Cajuste and Philips are a level above and worked well as a pair last night. They were both more vocal last night (as were O’Shea and Woolfenden) and that leadership and organisation is something we have often lacked but needed this season |
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Reply | We're a long way from being relegated already
at 09:07 9 Dec 2024
Agree with much of that analysis. I would add three things:
Tuanzebe is a huge loss whose presence would surely have helped yesterday
In the recent close games the other managers have had the know-how and players including subs to tweak their systems for the second half. McKenna has appeared less proactive with substitutions and with changes within games (sometimes but not always the lack of options on the bench). His dilemma has been whether to stick as we are when we are doing OK or to make a change. Yesterday exemplified that – Taylor and Morsy were playing reasonably well individually but as a unit were unable to prevent Bournemouth having too much possession in midfield. For once he had strong midfielders on the bench and the experience and abilities of Cajuste and Philips should have helped.
Our game management must improve and we do need the experienced players to step up in this respect. |
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Reply | A few thoughts in light of day
at 12:27 4 Dec 2024
McKenna has a tried and tested system, inevitably he will want to stick with it and rightly so. Cajuste has added the ability to break forward from centre midfield which has added an increment to our attacking play. Like most of the best players he seems to have that extra bit of time on the ball and it feels like he could adapt to a slightly more forward role. KM has sometimes hinted about that position in the past e.g. when signing Camara and Taylor |
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Reply | A few thoughts in light of day
at 12:03 4 Dec 2024
January is always a difficult transfer window especially for clubs in the relegation zone. My assumption is we have the scope for one more significant buy and then loans. The essentials are a striker and a replacement for Ogbene. Ideally we need another more creative, quick forward but suspect that will be out of reach in this window.
More generally, we need the players with the required physicality on the pitch even if that means tweaking formations. It would be interesting to see Philips added to the midfield with Cajuste and Morsy. |
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Reply | Morsy & Cajuste
at 15:12 11 Nov 2024
Cajuste and Philips ought to be a good pairing but Morsy has to be picked on the basis of current form. A bit of rotation can help all three over the course of the season.
One really encouraging aspect of Cajuste's game is that he seems to have a bit more ability to orchestrate an attack. The way he can break forward gives a bit more to the attack than Morsy or Philips. |
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Reply | Really hard to see where we make upgrades in January
at 15:00 11 Nov 2024
It’s still a bit early to say with certainty about January’s priorities. There are some positions where we need more depth and options - striker, right sided attacker in Ogbene’s absence. Centre midfield is an area where there will be injuries and suspensions.
If we can continue to improve and start January outside the bottom 3, we have some scope to attract decent players. If we are really struggling bringing in the right players becomes difficult.
It’s taken a while for McKenna to forge a team capable of turning in the necessary performance levels for the PL and I’d imagine he would want to minimise changes in January. The last January window has some clues to the approach we might take this time – someone who can add firepower in attack (Moore), a strong, experienced character (Travis) and one or two more opportunist signings to add options (Sarmiento and Al-Hamadi). Something similar but up a level is probably the aim for this year. H Clarke, Al-Hamadi and Broadhead probably need Championship loan moves to help their own development. Unless any are keen to drop back down on loan, I can’t see any other of the frequent nonstarters going. Burns, Luongo and Woolfie all have parts to play and contribute to the culture of the squad. |
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Reply | VAR Reform | What's changed since the vote?!
at 09:32 4 Nov 2024
The VAR technology works, unfortunately it is not being used with sufficient clarity or consistency and by officials who appear not be sufficiently trained. It is actually in the interests of PL and PGMOL to sort this out. VAR is deeply unpopular with supporters although maybe less so with those involved in betting and supporters outside the PL.
It does need a push from clubs and supporters to make sufficient change to the operation of VAR to remove it as an issue. It is damaging PL football. A few bad decisions over a season are part of the game but adding an extra layer via poor use of VAR wrecks a game. |
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Reply | Chaplin
at 16:41 3 Nov 2024
Chaplin's performances in the last two games have been a real bonus. He has proved that he can have a significant part to play this season. Like many I was worried that he wouldn't cope well enough with the physicality but maybe he seems to have tweaked his game just a little to find a bit more space and time.
With Chaplin playing well we are invariably a much more cohesive side. He is the player who seems to have the best understanding of what KM wants from the side. Others like Davis and Hirst are very clear about their own roles but Chaplin seems to have that extra team wide view.
Importantly, CC adds to team leadership. His cajoling and energy when on form help fill the leadership gaps. |
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Reply | Anyone else still angry?
at 11:40 3 Nov 2024
Missed chances and rash decisions by senior players turned what should have been an almost comfortable win into a draw. However, we are right to feel aggrieved at the lack of competence in officiating. The PL and PGMOL should be concerned that a technology designed to increase consistency and fairness has been so badly implemented that it has had the opposite effect. It is increasingly obvious that much more work is needed to train referees to operate at a higher, more consistent level. We are not suffering from corruption, just very poor performance of match officials. |
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