Post by dungeonmaster on Aug 17, 2024 17:15:38 GMT
Goalkeepers
Lewis - Protected by the defence today so he didn't have a save to make, which is a good job as he still doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Looks to be a huge waste of money with the transfer fee and wages involved we signed a dithering flapper who is worse than Tomas Holy. He will continue to cost us goals and points.
Breeze - Still a bit raw but already a better goalkeeper than Lewis. Lewis has to get the nod as Simpson paid a fee for him. Breeze needs games to develop, being behind Lewis in the pecking order will not help him.
Smith - Has an appalling record statistically, but currently, who knows whether he's good enough or not? Seemed like the cheap option.
Conclusion: We desperately need a competent goalkeeper, this should be top of our shopping list in the current transfer window. None of our goalkeepers are anywhere near League One quality.
Full-backs
Davies - Looks decent defensively but his delivery sucks (which is supported by his career stats). Could make a good L2 player, but again not even close to L1 standard
Ellis - Competent at filling in at full-back, but is not a central defender being played out of position?
Harper - INJURED. Jury currently out.
Williams - Settled in quite well considering how little pre-season he had with the squad. Some good moments, some struggles (Gillingham's third goal) but remains to be seen how he settles
Conclusion: We look short in the full-back department with Ellis being asked to cover both sides, could cost us later in the season as #Simpsonball asks a lot physically from our full-backs
Central-defenders
Hayden - Looks reassuringly solid so far. Looks a little stiff however and the injury question mark looms large.
Thomas - At times looks very assured. His error at Gillingham apart looks to be settling well.
Lavelle - We know he's not good enough and as per Lewis, we know the next calamity will be arriving sooner rather than later.
Mellish - All heart and does have some technical ability in there somewhere, but lacking in the brain department. Although he wears his heart on his sleeve and is a "fan favourite" we still need better for L1 (if we want to stay in it). Can be useful bringing the ball out of defence with his pace.
Barclay - Actually looks more comfortable in midfield than he does in defence, but in truth not up to standard in either. His long throws are useful but is a yard behind in leg and in brain.
Conclusion: Hayden & Thomas don't look like too bad a central defensive pairing in L2, especially with added Mellish in the mix. There are still huge question marks over Barclay and Lavelle as cover, ideally this area of the squad would have deeper quality
Midfielders
Guy - INJURED and sorely missed. Hopefully the Guy who returns will be the same player
Robson - INJURED Jury currently out.
McGeouch - INJURED The more injured he gets, the slower he becomes
Vela - Chubby. Looks to be carrying a few extra pounds, like a hamster preparing to hibernate through the winter. Does some decent work, in fairness, and would look better in a better midfield. More of a 6 than an 8, we'd see a much better player holding.
Neal - There's some technical ability there, however the unfortunate truth is he's too stiff and slow to use it. My lawn grows faster than he moves and my dining-room table turns faster. He's one of these players who probably looked amazing at youth level, but in the Man's game he's been left behind.
Charters - There's a lot of technical ability there, however the unfortunate truth is his hamstrings are tighter than a Louisiana banjo string. A fit Charters would be an asset in Simpson's system as he's a naturally left sided "8". However the hamstrings say "no"
Butterworth - A creative midfielder being persistently misused as a winger and striker. Could be used as a number 10 and there's definitely a footballer in there somewhere (if we had a manager and coaching team who could bring it out)
Conclusion: We lack pace and creativity. Out failure to address this in the last two transfer windows (so far) is managerial negligence of the highest degree (a sacking offence by itself).
Forwards
Wyke - Struggling to get up to speed. Looks far from lethal in front of goal and his all round game is sloppy. Pointless fouls / bookings. Giving the ball away cheaply. Looks a shadow of the player he once was and not at all worth what we're paying him.
Armstrong - Again, has looked far from deadly. More energetic than Wyke at least, but huge questions remain about his true quality and ability to finish.
Kelly - Like a Roddy Collins signing. Big, awkward, clumsy, needs to learn the offside rule. Has shown nothing to suggest he's good enough at this time, almost zero threat.
Adu-Adjei - Our most threatening forward by a country mile. His pace and core strength has been a constant worry for our opposition and appears to have something our other strikers are currently lacking, composure in front of goal. Such an important player for us already.
Conclusion: We lack quality, threat and depth in our forward positions. Without Adu-Adjei we'd be in real trouble upfront, better quality is an absolute must.
Overall: The squad lacks depth, technical quality, pace, a competent goalkeeper and looks very much like a bottom end L2 group of players. A couple of injuries to key players and a slog of a season could turn into a disaster.
Lewis - Protected by the defence today so he didn't have a save to make, which is a good job as he still doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Looks to be a huge waste of money with the transfer fee and wages involved we signed a dithering flapper who is worse than Tomas Holy. He will continue to cost us goals and points.
Breeze - Still a bit raw but already a better goalkeeper than Lewis. Lewis has to get the nod as Simpson paid a fee for him. Breeze needs games to develop, being behind Lewis in the pecking order will not help him.
Smith - Has an appalling record statistically, but currently, who knows whether he's good enough or not? Seemed like the cheap option.
Conclusion: We desperately need a competent goalkeeper, this should be top of our shopping list in the current transfer window. None of our goalkeepers are anywhere near League One quality.
Full-backs
Davies - Looks decent defensively but his delivery sucks (which is supported by his career stats). Could make a good L2 player, but again not even close to L1 standard
Ellis - Competent at filling in at full-back, but is not a central defender being played out of position?
Harper - INJURED. Jury currently out.
Williams - Settled in quite well considering how little pre-season he had with the squad. Some good moments, some struggles (Gillingham's third goal) but remains to be seen how he settles
Conclusion: We look short in the full-back department with Ellis being asked to cover both sides, could cost us later in the season as #Simpsonball asks a lot physically from our full-backs
Central-defenders
Hayden - Looks reassuringly solid so far. Looks a little stiff however and the injury question mark looms large.
Thomas - At times looks very assured. His error at Gillingham apart looks to be settling well.
Lavelle - We know he's not good enough and as per Lewis, we know the next calamity will be arriving sooner rather than later.
Mellish - All heart and does have some technical ability in there somewhere, but lacking in the brain department. Although he wears his heart on his sleeve and is a "fan favourite" we still need better for L1 (if we want to stay in it). Can be useful bringing the ball out of defence with his pace.
Barclay - Actually looks more comfortable in midfield than he does in defence, but in truth not up to standard in either. His long throws are useful but is a yard behind in leg and in brain.
Conclusion: Hayden & Thomas don't look like too bad a central defensive pairing in L2, especially with added Mellish in the mix. There are still huge question marks over Barclay and Lavelle as cover, ideally this area of the squad would have deeper quality
Midfielders
Guy - INJURED and sorely missed. Hopefully the Guy who returns will be the same player
Robson - INJURED Jury currently out.
McGeouch - INJURED The more injured he gets, the slower he becomes
Vela - Chubby. Looks to be carrying a few extra pounds, like a hamster preparing to hibernate through the winter. Does some decent work, in fairness, and would look better in a better midfield. More of a 6 than an 8, we'd see a much better player holding.
Neal - There's some technical ability there, however the unfortunate truth is he's too stiff and slow to use it. My lawn grows faster than he moves and my dining-room table turns faster. He's one of these players who probably looked amazing at youth level, but in the Man's game he's been left behind.
Charters - There's a lot of technical ability there, however the unfortunate truth is his hamstrings are tighter than a Louisiana banjo string. A fit Charters would be an asset in Simpson's system as he's a naturally left sided "8". However the hamstrings say "no"
Butterworth - A creative midfielder being persistently misused as a winger and striker. Could be used as a number 10 and there's definitely a footballer in there somewhere (if we had a manager and coaching team who could bring it out)
Conclusion: We lack pace and creativity. Out failure to address this in the last two transfer windows (so far) is managerial negligence of the highest degree (a sacking offence by itself).
Forwards
Wyke - Struggling to get up to speed. Looks far from lethal in front of goal and his all round game is sloppy. Pointless fouls / bookings. Giving the ball away cheaply. Looks a shadow of the player he once was and not at all worth what we're paying him.
Armstrong - Again, has looked far from deadly. More energetic than Wyke at least, but huge questions remain about his true quality and ability to finish.
Kelly - Like a Roddy Collins signing. Big, awkward, clumsy, needs to learn the offside rule. Has shown nothing to suggest he's good enough at this time, almost zero threat.
Adu-Adjei - Our most threatening forward by a country mile. His pace and core strength has been a constant worry for our opposition and appears to have something our other strikers are currently lacking, composure in front of goal. Such an important player for us already.
Conclusion: We lack quality, threat and depth in our forward positions. Without Adu-Adjei we'd be in real trouble upfront, better quality is an absolute must.
Overall: The squad lacks depth, technical quality, pace, a competent goalkeeper and looks very much like a bottom end L2 group of players. A couple of injuries to key players and a slog of a season could turn into a disaster.