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Post by El Goodo on Sept 16, 2024 19:36:23 GMT
To think that Tunbridge, Monk and co were talking in the summer about not settling for scraping survival at this level and wanting to kick on up the league seems a million miles off what's going on right now. This is it for me. There's plenty of time this season but so far the actions currently have not matched the words or seem to align with what we are striving to achieve away from the pitch. Hopefully Loft will turn out to be the ghost of Pelé & Gardner the Solihull Rodri, & we'll all be laughing come December as we eye up a 9th win in 12 to go 8th in the table.
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rozza1
Reserve team regular
Posts: 3,243
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Post by rozza1 on Sept 16, 2024 19:43:36 GMT
This is it for me. There's plenty of time this season but so far the actions currently have not matched the words or seem to align with what we are striving to achieve away from the pitch. Hopefully Loft will turn out to be the ghost of Pelé & Gardner the Solihull Rodri, & we'll all be laughing come December as we eye up a 9th win in 12 to go 8th in the table. If this becomes reality then Strang gets a statue right next to Dunk's.
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Post by El Goodo on Sept 16, 2024 19:48:07 GMT
If this becomes reality then Strang gets a statue right next to Dunk's. You know as well as I do that if they turn out to be a success then they're "Monk signings".
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Post by Tom Shaw's Fist of Rage on Sept 16, 2024 19:51:10 GMT
Ultimately none of us know who we tried to sign, who we failed to sign or why, who were our first choices that we got (I'd imagine Loft was one given the fee & contract length) & who was 2, 3, 4, 5 players down the lists, who Monk pushed for, who he didn't, who he said no to, or what our budget actually looks like. Without all the information, none of us from the outside can make a properly informed judgment about Strang's performance, nor that of the coaching staff, nor the scouting/recruitment department, nor the physios. So in that sense we have to trust that the people who do have all that information – which presumably is the board & owners – are making the right choices. Operating on a smaller budget, as we are at this level, means you are always going to have a squad that's not perfect or is light in some areas or others, and we know that strikers are both the most sought-after & therefore also the most expensive ones. There's always going to be something to weigh up: would going all out for another striker have meant we didn't sign Longelo, leaving us light on that flank? Or perhaps we wouldn't have been able to have brought in O'Riordan, leaving us more reliant on Okedina, a player we transfer-listed. We're also competing not just with the teams in our league for players but the with the top 8-10 in the league below too. Crawley came up & lost 2 of their best players to Notts County this summer, 1 to MK Dons & another to newly monied Burton. Is it better to have an anyone-will-do type signing just for the sake of another player in there? Possibly, but that's where we found ourselves with Bonne (and to a degree Taylor) so it's not always better to have someone than not, especially not when we as fans have been saying we want to see us blood more youth players – well this is partially what that looks like. Signing another striker in the summer means someone like Njoku would almost certainly not have played a minute in the league so far. On the injury point, it's a tough one isn't it? I'd be keen to see how many players out there, especially ones in their mid-20s or older, haven't had significant injuries at some point or other. It's football, people get injured, and the longer you've played the game the more likely that is. Digby had a poor injury record when we signed him yet has gone on to make 200 appearances in just over 4 seasons. Brophy doesn't seem to have had anything significant in his whole career, but that's a rarity. McConnell's 19 & has now had two mid/long-term ones. Gardner has already missed more games for us than he did in the entirety of last season. Where does the blame lie for that, if anywhere? As for the "aging journeymen", that was a significant departure last summer & Bonner explained the thinking behind that. You don't have to agree with the thinking (I don't) but it was something that was deliberate & something that has had a knock-on effect this season with our hands tied as Morrison, Andrew & Cousins were all baked-in contract extensions (although the the latter's only just turned 30 anyway). This summer our new signings signings have been 20, 20, 23, 24, 26, 33, 32, 23, 20, 25, 26 & 25. Kaikai's 29 & Kachunga 32. We actually only have 7 players >30 in the entire squad. I dunno really. We've certainly not got everything right, not even close to it, but given we are in a broad sense a fairly well-run club, it does suggest what we're trying to do is pretty difficult. Of the 11 teams that either came up with us or did in the 3 seasons after, 5 of them have already been relegated again & the only other one from out season that's still here is Bolton. This is a great post. It's the boring truth though that isn't as exciting as moaning about faceless suits, calling for sackings and claiming players we haven't even seen will be useless, on forums, social media and podcasts though.
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eenyc
On trial
Posts: 286
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Post by eenyc on Sept 16, 2024 20:01:44 GMT
The answer is obvious - it's time for our Brophy to emerge as the out-and-out striker we didn't see right under our noses.
But seriously, are there any players (not injured) in the squad who could be recast as goal-getters?
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Post by El Goodo on Sept 16, 2024 20:05:01 GMT
Stokes scored 17 goals or whatever it was for Aldershot last season so you'd think we'd be looking to him to weigh in.
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malotru
Youth team star
Posts: 1,685
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Post by malotru on Sept 16, 2024 20:18:29 GMT
The answer is obvious - it's time for our Brophy to emerge as the out-and-out striker we didn't see right under our noses. But seriously, are there any players (not injured) in the squad who could be recast as goal-getters? Longelo is our joint top scorer in all comps. Goal machine. Should have stayed on Saturday.
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rozza1
Reserve team regular
Posts: 3,243
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Post by rozza1 on Sept 16, 2024 20:18:41 GMT
Ultimately none of us know who we tried to sign, who we failed to sign or why, who were our first choices that we got (I'd imagine Loft was one given the fee & contract length) & who was 2, 3, 4, 5 players down the lists, who Monk pushed for, who he didn't, who he said no to, or what our budget actually looks like. Without all the information, none of us from the outside can make a properly informed judgment about Strang's performance, nor that of the coaching staff, nor the scouting/recruitment department, nor the physios. So in that sense we have to trust that the people who do have all that information – which presumably is the board & owners – are making the right choices. Operating on a smaller budget, as we are at this level, means you are always going to have a squad that's not perfect or is light in some areas or others, and we know that strikers are both the most sought-after & therefore also the most expensive ones. There's always going to be something to weigh up: would going all out for another striker have meant we didn't sign Longelo, leaving us light on that flank? Or perhaps we wouldn't have been able to have brought in O'Riordan, leaving us more reliant on Okedina, a player we transfer-listed. We're also competing not just with the teams in our league for players but the with the top 8-10 in the league below too. Crawley came up & lost 2 of their best players to Notts County this summer, 1 to MK Dons & another to newly monied Burton. Is it better to have an anyone-will-do type signing just for the sake of another player in there? Possibly, but that's where we found ourselves with Bonne (and to a degree Taylor) so it's not always better to have someone than not, especially not when we as fans have been saying we want to see us blood more youth players – well this is partially what that looks like. Signing another striker in the summer means someone like Njoku would almost certainly not have played a minute in the league so far. On the injury point, it's a tough one isn't it? I'd be keen to see how many players out there, especially ones in their mid-20s or older, haven't had significant injuries at some point or other. It's football, people get injured, and the longer you've played the game the more likely that is. Digby had a poor injury record when we signed him yet has gone on to make 200 appearances in just over 4 seasons. Brophy doesn't seem to have had anything significant in his whole career, but that's a rarity. McConnell's 19 & has now had two mid/long-term ones. Gardner has already missed more games for us than he did in the entirety of last season. Where does the blame lie for that, if anywhere? As for the "aging journeymen", that was a significant departure last summer & Bonner explained the thinking behind that. You don't have to agree with the thinking (I don't) but it was something that was deliberate & something that has had a knock-on effect this season with our hands tied as Morrison, Andrew & Cousins were all baked-in contract extensions (although the the latter's only just turned 30 anyway). This summer our new signings signings have been 20, 20, 23, 24, 26, 33, 32, 23, 20, 25, 26 & 25. Kaikai's 29 & Kachunga 32. We actually only have 7 players >30 in the entire squad. I dunno really. We've certainly not got everything right, not even close to it, but given we are in a broad sense a fairly well-run club, it does suggest what we're trying to do is pretty difficult. Of the 11 teams that either came up with us or did in the 3 seasons after, 5 of them have already been relegated again & the only other one from out season that's still here is Bolton. This is a great post. It's the boring truth though that isn't as exciting as moaning about faceless suits, calling for sackings and claiming players we haven't even seen will be useless, on forums, social media and podcasts though. Again though, if the general consensus on here is that Monk's job should start to be inquestion then in turn Strang's should too. This start and the rocky form over the last two and a bit seasons implicates more than Monk. I reckon that's what most people who are questioning Strang think, and I don't believe that's unreasonable either. Nor would I deem it to be scapegoating.
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Brophypants
Reserve team star
What are you doing with my badge? :(
Posts: 4,389
Favourite CUFC player: Harrison Dunk
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Post by Brophypants on Sept 16, 2024 20:25:05 GMT
Well gee, that's quite rubbish.
He's blessedly not the only player to have looked like scoring (we haven't always been able to say that when strikers get injured!) but he's seriously tidy and despite our results one of the better footballing players we've had.
Njoku, Stokes, Barton, time to deliver the goods.
It does say something about squad building that I have more faith in those with their average age of 19 than I do the other available attacking players.
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Post by El Goodo on Sept 16, 2024 20:27:34 GMT
Kaikai got 12 for Shrewsbury in L1.... 9 years ago. Perhaps this is the spur he needs to deliver his once-in-a-decade season.
Anyone fancy giving Janneh another go?
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malotru
Youth team star
Posts: 1,685
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Post by malotru on Sept 16, 2024 20:53:06 GMT
Kachunga’s a forward I suppose. Until he’s injured again. Got 5 or so last season, none from further than 5 yards out, inc the first under Monk. Time to step up and earn those probable considerable wages.
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camloyal
Reserve team regular
Posts: 3,664
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Post by camloyal on Sept 16, 2024 20:54:32 GMT
Kachunga’s a forward I suppose. Until he’s injured again. Got 5 or so last season, none from further than 5 yards out, inc the first under Monk. Time to step up and earn those probable considerable wages. Kaikai and kachunga upfront would be so depressing
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Post by El Goodo on Sept 16, 2024 20:58:58 GMT
Again though, if the general consensus on here is that Monk's job should start to be inquestion then in turn Strang's should too. This start and the rocky form over the last two and a bit seasons implicates more than Monk. I reckon that's what most people who are questioning Strang think, and I don't believe that's unreasonable either. Nor would I deem it to be scapegoating. I don't think anybody thinks it isn't fair to question him. We've had a very tough 2 years, albeit preceded by 2 unexpectedly successful ones. There have been & still are questions to be asked, without doubt. But you have to decide whether to trust that the people who matter, and who have knowledge of the full facts of the situation, have actually asked them. Personally, given the generally sensible nature of how we appear to have been run in recent times – and the fact they've shown they're willing to make changes when they think it's the best thing to do – I'm inclined to believe they have. I can understand why people might not but I think that does a slight disservice to the board, Barry & other owners. But maybe I'm wrong. If there's any truth to the whisper that Barry effectively overruled Strang to appoint Monk then that would be quite a concern.
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Post by El Goodo on Sept 16, 2024 21:00:36 GMT
Kaikai and kachunga upfront would be so depressing 1 of Kaikai's 2 excellent performances came playing up front last season against Oxford.
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Post by funkymonk on Sept 16, 2024 21:09:13 GMT
Have you forgot to switch your log in details El G?
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