Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: Butchers Red on February 11, 2024, 10:13:22 am
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Yesterday provided confirmation that if we had enjoyed a fit Woody over the season we would now be likely top 7 rather than bottom 7. It's not just how he defends as an individual,it's far more how he pulls the strings all around him and is the only defender at the club who can be heard shouting and directing all the way through. Olowu plays to his potential alongside such an experienced campaigner but looks all at sea when paired with Anderson or McGrath.
Against a good side with decent wingers we won every header that came into our box either from open play, and then from set pieces /corners Woody left himself free 8 yards out in the middle and attacked everything.
This plus the combination of a keeper with real presence who clearly is unafraid to come off his line and claim completed the job and for the first time in years I wasn't dreading every cross.
All in all a massive improvement and surely from now on it's a case of Woody plus (hopefully ) McGrath first and Olowu second.
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A bit unfair on Olowu I think.
He could be heard very clearly from my spot behind the goal shouting to team mates at corners and incoming free kicks.
He was also the one who won most of the clearing headers in the first half.
I agree though that Wood was excellent at organising things.
We employed zonal marking tactics at corners too.
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Hound think that emphasises what Butcher wrote really. Olowu played really well alongside Wood
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The goalie makes an enormous difference, catching the ball, not being scared of jumping against players, theirs or ours to claim it is invaluable.
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To say we won every header is a bit of a stretch, they should've scored with a header in the 3rd min with an easier chance than Ironsides.
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Hound think that emphasises what Butcher wrote really. Olowu played really well alongside Wood
Yep, fair enough.
I was just emphasising that Olowu did more than enough to be rated alongside Wood and attacked and won his fair share of the headers and that it wasn’t just Wood who was shouting and organising.
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We thought that Olowu had his best game for ages. He looked more confident and attacked the ball earlier and quicker than he has been doing. He seemed a lot more confident and positive in the air as well.
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Does anyone else think he may have another year in him considering his lack of playing time this season? I guess we get to the end of the season and analyse it then. But given that we have largely inexperienced central defenders Olowu, McGrath & probably Bobby his experience could be invaluable.
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I’ve no doubt that having a fit Wood playing all season would have been beneficial to us, and I’ve only seen the highlights yesterday so not in a position to comment as a whole but having seen the highlights we still conceded chances as a result of his lack of pace and could easily have conceded a couple when he was beaten. He’d definitely have improved us but it’s not as though he’d have been peak van Dijk back there, not sure it would be enough to transform us to a top 7 team even with a keeper who is clearly more capable than Jones.
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Does anyone else think he may have another year in him considering his lack of playing time this season? I guess we get to the end of the season and analyse it then. But given that we have largely inexperienced central defenders Olowu, McGrath & probably Bobby his experience could be invaluable.
A deal heavily weighted towards appearances could be worth exploring.
I’ve said this before about Olowu but we can’t keep calling him young or inexperienced. McGrath and Faulkner are inexperienced, but Olowu is 25 this year and has probably pushing 100 appearances for us. He still has the capacity to improve but inexperience can’t really be used as an excuse for him.
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One key area for concern is when Wood decides to step up and dive in nearer the halfway than our area. He did 2 or 3 times yesterday and was skinned each time. He then has no pace to recover and with Tom alongside him alarm bells start to ring. It's OK if you have someone with the pace of Olowu to cover but not big Tom
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Got to feel for Olowu with how many different CH partners he has had. In the main he is a really good solid player. One of my concerns is the amount of injuries he suffers from, can excuse the impact ones and the horrible facial injury he had but seems slightly brittle
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Seemed to be holding his hamstring when he cameback to the touchline after being treated
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Keeper has made a huge difference - getting a solid number 1 for next season is crucial.
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The goalie makes an enormous difference, catching the ball, not being scared of jumping against players, theirs or ours to claim it is invaluable.
Totally agree, any chance we can get him to stay?
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Hull have a lot of keepers, pretty much all senior to our man Tim.
Matt Ingram (30)
Ryan Allsop (31)
Ivor Pandur (23)
David Robson (22)
Harvey Cartwright (21)
Owen Forster (19)
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The goalie makes an enormous difference, catching the ball, not being scared of jumping against players, theirs or ours to claim it is invaluable.
Totally agree, any chance we can get him to stay?
TLT’s Hull contract runs to June 2025.
This is his second league 2 loan, so I doubt they would loan him out again to this level.
100k might do it
Thing is, given his age that if he does well he will have his sights set higher
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If we are going to spend cash he is the type of of player to do it on.
Even if we weighted it toward a big sell on and small upfront cash - we need to make these sort of gambles.
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If we are going to spend cash he is the type of of player to do it on.
Even if we weighted it toward a big sell on and small upfront cash - we need to make these sort of gambles.
It needs to be a calculated gamble. He’s had a promising start but let’s take a good look between now and the end of the season.
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If we are going to spend cash he is the type of of player to do it on.
Even if we weighted it toward a big sell on and small upfront cash - we need to make these sort of gambles.
It needs to be a calculated gamble. He’s had a promising start but let’s take a good look between now and the end of the season.
A sensible course of action.
One swallow etc.
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If we are going to spend cash he is the type of of player to do it on.
Even if we weighted it toward a big sell on and small upfront cash - we need to make these sort of gambles.
It needs to be a calculated gamble. He’s had a promising start but let’s take a good look between now and the end of the season.
He’s likely to be better than our current plight. Very unlikely.
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A keeper and a defender that shout and organise................. about time
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We’ve needed a strong core to the team all season. Wood has been written off while not even playing. Various comments, too old, past it, got no pace. He’s never had any pace, if he’s in your side you build your back three or four around him. Put young players at the side of him, a young quick keeper and all of a sudden you have a backline.
A lot of work to do but looks more promising with him back there. Olowu etc have needed that rock back there that they can learn from, for some time. Experience like he has, can make or break whether a young player is retained or released, very influential player.
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A keeper and a defender that shout and organise................. about time
That’s what has been missing nearly all season.
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Anderson did a solid job when he replaced Joseph Oluwo, he also headed a few clear of danger.
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JD, there were other things he did in the game when he looked completely shot to me and nowhere near fit, and did well to play like he did in the game, hopefully he is better for the game time and can put a run of games together and get back somewhere where he was as a player.
I feel for the lad, like Taylor his injuries have taken a right toll on them both who were good players the club were lucky to have at their best.
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Dead on Brian and JD Andreson did a sound job on Saturday. He's come in for some criticism this season that I thought was over the top he's the old type of central defender no frills, will put his head in without thought. I hope he gets back to his old self on a regular basis.