Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: GazLaz on February 15, 2025, 10:00:36 am
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13 Signings this season, either temporary (8) or permanent (5). Which of these have had the most impact?
Gibson
Sbarra
Clifton
TSL
Sharp
Kelly
Yeboah
Street
Fleming
Emanuel
Crew
Ennis
Nixon
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Gibson probably. Crew, Street and Ennis too soon to judge. None of that list have been above a 7 out of 10, maybe even 6.5 out of 10.
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I would say only TSL and to a lesser extent, Clifton.
The rest haven't been disasters but as a result of McCann dramatically changing our set up and constantly changing the characters around a stable core of players, it's been a nightmare for anyone to get a run of games.
Clearly Yeboah came to us at least a season too early.
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Sharp’s 10 goals so far can’t be dismissed surely?
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TSL’s the only one who’s been a consistent regular (too early to judge the January signings really). Sharp, Gibson, Kelly & Clifton have all made contributions.
I expect by the end of the season the answer will be Crew & Kelly.
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Sharp’s 10 goals so far can’t be dismissed surely?
And how many would he have got if we had wingers who could cross the ball?
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TSL but being the number 1 goalkeeper he was always going to.
The others have all been fairly average. Good in spells, others not so.
I don’t think it’s all down to them as individual players. The massive squad and constant changes hasn’t done them any favours up to now.
It will be interesting to see if any really kick on now and drag us to promotion.
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TSL
Our 6 best players were all here last year.
The back 4, Bailey and Molyneux
Ironside should also be playing every week from the start
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TSL but being the number 1 goalkeeper he was always going to.
The others have all been fairly average. Good in spells, others not so.
I don’t think it’s all down to them as individual players. The massive squad and constant changes hasn’t done them any favours up to now.
It will be interesting to see if any really kick on now and drag us to promotion.
As mentioned by DonnyOsmond the other day. The likes of Sharp, Sbarra and Gibson are all decent players but perhaps not the correct player profiles to fit the roles required in the system Grant likes.
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Would love to know the system that Grant likes....
A number of people made the point above, about the constantly changing cast of players.
We have played 30 league games now. Putting aside the fairly solid defensive unit of TSL, Sterry, McGrath and Olowu, the only players to have started 20 league games or more this season are Molyneux and Bailey.
Our defence hasn't been really the problem in terms of performance. The lack of consistency among selection elsewhere on the pitch, probably tells you the story.
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Would love to know the system that Grant likes....
A number of people made the point above, about the constantly changing cast of players.
We have played 30 league games now. Putting aside the fairly solid defensive unit of TSL, Sterry, McGrath and Olowu, the only players to have started 20 league games or more this season are Molyneux and Bailey.
Our defence hasn't been really the problem in terms of performance. The lack of consistency among selection elsewhere on the pitch, probably tells you the story.
I do think that since the Walsall game our approach has been more consistent. First half of the season we were changing shape/ tactics every game.
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13 Signings this season, either temporary (8) or permanent (5). Which of these have had the most impact?
Gibson
Sbarra
Clifton
TSL
Sharp
Kelly
Yeboah
Street
Fleming
Emanuel
Crew
Ennis
Nixon
when you see them listed on a page like that it really puts into perspective how poor they have been. There’s only 2 I’d be sorry to see leave. And one of them ain’t ours and the other has been injured most of the season.
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I predict that Crew will end up being spoken of very highly come the end of the season.
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I predict that Crew will end up being spoken of very highly come the end of the season.
Needs to start second half here as he looks like a schoolboy against this lot.
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Such a massive shame Adelakun isn’t on this list. Rovers missed a huge trick with him . He was a perfect fit .
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Street the only one to come out with credit today.
I don’t see the fuss with Crew, anonymous again for me. No better than Broadbent.
Gibson rubbish. Clifton rubbish.
Really disappointing the recruitment.
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I don't think you can separate the quality of the signings from the system. Today was a case in point. What on earth were we trying to play, other than hammering balls up front, admittedly more effectively when Street was on. People were presumably signed with some system in mind but rarely have we played anything consistent or effective. Hard to judge on all those lads against that backdrop.
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I don't think you can separate the quality of the signings from the system. Today was a case in point. What on earth were we trying to play, other than hammering balls up front, admittedly more effectively when Street was on. People were presumably signed with some system in mind but rarely have we played anything consistent or effective. Hard to judge on all those lads against that backdrop.
The fact we don’t really have a defined style of after Grants been here since the start of last season is worrying. Grimsby had a really clear system today. We just rely on individual moments and our better players standing up at the right time.
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Gibson hasn’t been anywhere near it for us. I actually think he’s a decent footballer but he’s just nowhere near it. Hurst gave us more. Moly gives us absolutely barrels more.
Patrick Kelly I just don’t get it. I really do not know what he offers. Him and Broadbent are conference players.
Truth is when you go from Adelakun to Gibson and Craig to Kelly/Broadbent (Crew not been here long enough) then you’re gonna struggle.
Main concern today was the total lack of style. Total shite.
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You could argue being in the playoffs is an over achievement considering we haven't improved our starting 11. We've just increased the number of back up players.
As for Adelakun we did go for him, at the time he thought he was better than he was but all of league 1 didn't. He's now at a club probably paying the same we offered him or less
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In front o f the defence we have no pace whatsoever every team good or bad seem to know where to play the ball when we have the ball we stand looking to see where we are it's like they've never played together
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I think the recruitment team have made us into a worse team/squad than what finished last season.
Gibson - poor
Sbarra - waste of a signing
Clifton - average
TSL - not as good as TLT, but better than Lawlor
Sharp - ok but no more please
Kelly - not good enough (yet)
Yeboah - useless
Street - average
Fleming - not as good better than what we have
Emanuel - ditto above
Crew - looked lost today
Ennis - so far, no threat
Nixon - average
No substitute for a bit of know-how and physicality all over the midfield/attack. And, I agree, there seems to be nobody who is lightning quick.
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Streets not average ! He was the only player today that comes out of that game with any credit ! And not because he scored either.
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Street finally got to play in his actual position today
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Street finally got to play in his actual position today
Has to play centrally doesn’t he. Especially with Ironside and Sharp out of form.
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Exactly Padge, why the hell cant Grant see this ? We all do.
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What is the best side? God knows given the midfield options, none of which are great. I would try the below and allow Bailey to get more advanced given security of the other two behind him.
TSL
Sterry
Olowu
McGrath
Maxwell
Bailey
Broadbent
Crew
Gibson
Street
Molyneux
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You could argue being in the playoffs is an over achievement considering we haven't improved our starting 11. We've just increased the number of back up players.
As for Adelakun we did go for him, at the time he thought he was better than he was but all of league 1 didn't. He's now at a club probably paying the same we offered him or less
At the point where it was obvious he wasn’t going to a higher league surely the rovers door was still open? For him to not go to a lge one club is one thing , but to end up at another lge 2 club, and one that is in the end of season promo mix is a double kick in the teeth.
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You could argue being in the playoffs is an over achievement considering we haven't improved our starting 11. We've just increased the number of back up players.
As for Adelakun we did go for him, at the time he thought he was better than he was but all of league 1 didn't. He's now at a club probably paying the same we offered him or less
At the point where it was obvious he wasn’t going to a higher league surely the rovers door was still open? For him to not go to a lge one club is one thing , but to end up at another lge 2 club, and one that is in the end of season promo mix is a double kick in the teeth.
On a 12 month deal!
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You could argue being in the playoffs is an over achievement considering we haven't improved our starting 11. We've just increased the number of back up players.
As for Adelakun we did go for him, at the time he thought he was better than he was but all of league 1 didn't. He's now at a club probably paying the same we offered him or less
At the point where it was obvious he wasn’t going to a higher league surely the rovers door was still open? For him to not go to a lge one club is one thing , but to end up at another lge 2 club, and one that is in the end of season promo mix is a double kick in the teeth.
Too late by then we'd made our signings
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We will need a massive rebuild with more experienced players regardless of what division we are laying next year. In all positions.
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We will need a massive rebuild with more experienced players regardless of what division we are laying next year. In all positions.
Whichever division we find ourselves in next season (gawd forbid it’s this one), I don’t think we need throw the ‘baby out with the dishwater’.
The player we most need to keep hold of is Joe Olowu from the current squad given the fact that as far as ‘we the supporters’ are concerned, the only way we are going to hang onto him is by offering him a contract as a league1 team with serious ambitions to ‘quickly’ become a Championship side is our only hope of hanging onto him.
Moly’s position, despite being under contract for another two years, still remains a tenuous one if we aren’t promoted this season.
Sterry, Maxwell, McGrath will ‘serve us well’ should we not get promoted but again, if any one of them is offered more money to play at a higher division they’re more likely to go than stay.
Joe & Billy may well be agreeable to stay if we miss out on promotion but given their age & impact this season could we not do better & most certainly if we are promoted we would absolutely need to look to replace them surely?
The midfield needs addressing whether we get promoted or not.
We need more aggression in there, more nouse.
Joe & Billy have shown us that perhaps their best days are behind them be it either a division higher or this one. We need more height, more physicality, more pace.
No more waiting for Broadbent to become ‘the player we know is inside there’, no more Cliftons, Sbarra’s & Close’s.
We need to ‘move on’ promotion or not.
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Funny isn't it, everybody wanted rid of Olowu last year. Now I wonder out of the list you want rid of next year is going to end up our best player. Molly was apparently rubbish a few weeks back.
I don't think any of us are managers.
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Funny isn't it, everybody wanted rid of Olowu last year. Now I wonder out of the list you want rid of next year is going to end up our best player. Molly was apparently rubbish a few weeks back.
I don't think any of us are managers.
So you’d keep Billy & Joe next season, bring Close with a year left on his contract back into the fold & persist with Broadbent, Sbarra & Clifton?
I’m not the manager, just a supporter with an opinion trying to react to what I’m seeing on the pitch & wondering if we’re coped to push on to our dream of playing & competing in Lg1 next to the extent where we’re in with a chance of promotion to the Championship & I don’t happen to believe half a dozen of the squad would be up to that.
Just my thoughts.
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Funny isn't it, everybody wanted rid of Olowu last year. Now I wonder out of the list you want rid of next year is going to end up our best player. Molly was apparently rubbish a few weeks back.
I don't think any of us are managers.
I didn’t want rid of Olowu!!!!
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Who washes a baby in dishwater?...
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Funny isn't it, everybody wanted rid of Olowu last year. Now I wonder out of the list you want rid of next year is going to end up our best player. Molly was apparently rubbish a few weeks back.
I don't think any of us are managers.
I didn’t want rid of Olowu!!!!
No but you felt Mols had found his level in Lg1 & I quote “I could find better cheaper”.
So let’s not blow our own trumpet too loud.
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Funny isn't it, everybody wanted rid of Olowu last year. Now I wonder out of the list you want rid of next year is going to end up our best player. Molly was apparently rubbish a few weeks back.
I don't think any of us are managers.
I didn’t want rid of Olowu!!!!
No but you felt Mols had found his level in Lg1 & I quote “I could find better cheaper”.
So let’s not blow our own trumpet too loud.
I could certainly find a better player than Luke. The lads scored 23 league goals in 2 2/3 seasons with 13 assists. He’s looked good playing in a top 3 team over the last 12 months admittedly but prior to that, when the going was tough, he showed no signs of being a good player.
Hope he fires us to promotion and we can see where he ends up long term and how his career pans out. If I have an opinion on someone it’s not personal, I hope he does well and makes his money out of the game. It’s just what I think at the time. I get a wage out of football so I’ll keep giving my opinions till someone doesn’t want pay me for them any more. That’s when I may realise I’ve diverged too far away from the mark.
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Funny isn't it, everybody wanted rid of Olowu last year. Now I wonder out of the list you want rid of next year is going to end up our best player. Molly was apparently rubbish a few weeks back.
I don't think any of us are managers.
I didn’t want rid of Olowu!!!!
No but you felt Mols had found his level in Lg1 & I quote “I could find better cheaper”.
So let’s not blow our own trumpet too loud.
I could certainly find a better player than Luke. The lads scored 23 league goals in 2 2/3 seasons with 13 assists. He’s looked good playing in a top 3 team over the last 12 months admittedly but prior to that, when the going was tough, he showed no signs of being a good player.
Hope he fires us to promotion and we can see where he ends up long term and how his career pans out. If I have an opinion on someone it’s not personal, I hope he does well and makes his money out of the game. It’s just what I think at the time. I get a wage out of football so I’ll keep giving my opinions till someone doesn’t want pay me for them any more. That’s when I may realise I’ve diverged too far away from the mark.
There’s always horse racing?
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We will need a massive rebuild with more experienced players regardless of what division we are laying next year. In all positions.
Whichever division we find ourselves in next season (gawd forbid it’s this one), I don’t think we need throw the ‘baby out with the dishwater’.
The player we most need to keep hold of is Joe Olowu from the current squad given the fact that as far as ‘we the supporters’ are concerned, the only way we are going to hang onto him is by offering him a contract as a league1 team with serious ambitions to ‘quickly’ become a Championship side is our only hope of hanging onto him.
Moly’s position, despite being under contract for another two years, still remains a tenuous one if we aren’t promoted this season.
Sterry, Maxwell, McGrath will ‘serve us well’ should we not get promoted but again, if any one of them is offered more money to play at a higher division they’re more likely to go than stay.
Joe & Billy may well be agreeable to stay if we miss out on promotion but given their age & impact this season could we not do better & most certainly if we are promoted we would absolutely need to look to replace them surely?
The midfield needs addressing whether we get promoted or not.
We need more aggression in there, more nouse.
Joe & Billy have shown us that perhaps their best days are behind them be it either a division higher or this one. We need more height, more physicality, more pace.
No more waiting for Broadbent to become ‘the player we know is inside there’, no more Cliftons, Sbarra’s & Close’s.
We need to ‘move on’ promotion or not.
So last week Joe Ironside was the best in the league at holding ball up and now he’s past it? Bit of a turnaround.
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Funny isn't it, everybody wanted rid of Olowu last year. Now I wonder out of the list you want rid of next year is going to end up our best player. Molly was apparently rubbish a few weeks back.
I don't think any of us are managers.
I didn’t want rid of Olowu!!!!
Me neither! Nor did I think Moly was rubbish!
GazLaz, you mention that Moly has looked good playing in a top-3 team over the last 12 months, but I'd flip that around and suggest we are a top-3 team largely thanks to Moly's excellent form over that 12 months.
We're a bit of a puzzle to me this season.
The general view (including mine) is that our defence has probably been the best part of the team, and yet we've conceded more goals than any other top-7 side.
Another feeling sometimes expressed is that we're not good enough in the final third, we don't hurt the opposition enough and our strikers lack the required quality, and yet we've had more shots this season than any other team in League Two, and only 4 teams have scored more goals than we have.
I think we've failed to dominate enough games and have rarely put the opposition to the sword. The midfield is where we're lacking in my opinion - we rarely control this area of the pitch and get turned over too easily. That was certainly the case against Grimsby, and I don't like to single out a particular player but I felt Charlie Crew looked like a little boy lost at times.
Anyway, 15 games to go and plenty of points to be won.
Let's get back to winning ways, starting tonight.
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TSL
Our 6 best players were all here last year.
The back 4, Bailey and Molyneux
Ironside should also be playing every week from the start
Good grief, our goal difference would be -26 or so then, if he played for 30 games he might have scored two or three times.
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Funny isn't it, everybody wanted rid of Olowu last year. Now I wonder out of the list you want rid of next year is going to end up our best player. Molly was apparently rubbish a few weeks back.
I don't think any of us are managers.
I didn’t want rid of Olowu!!!!
No but you felt Mols had found his level in Lg1 & I quote “I could find better cheaper”.
So let’s not blow our own trumpet too loud.
I could certainly find a better player than Luke. The lads scored 23 league goals in 2 2/3 seasons with 13 assists. He’s looked good playing in a top 3 team over the last 12 months admittedly but prior to that, when the going was tough, he showed no signs of being a good player.
Hope he fires us to promotion and we can see where he ends up long term and how his career pans out. If I have an opinion on someone it’s not personal, I hope he does well and makes his money out of the game. It’s just what I think at the time. I get a wage out of football so I’ll keep giving my opinions till someone doesn’t want pay me for them any more. That’s when I may realise I’ve diverged too far away from the mark.
Pretty evident to me that McCann has got the best out of molyneux, like he’s done with lots of players, especially in that position.
This season he’s up there with the best players in the division and looked very good playing against players of a much higher level.
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Moly and McGrath , not sure about who else, some of the other signings must've had a CV put together by a Labour MP
He didn’t sign moly
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Seems on a lot of threads we’re talking down our players and saying s rebuild is needed. It’s not the case this is down to management and I’m a huge fan of GM. This season he’s not got it right though. We’re still in the mix because we’ve got good players.
The club gave Grant everything he asked for or could reasonably expect in L2. He’s not got it right often enough and has wasted some expensive resources who were signed/ offered extensions only to hardly feature.
Let’s not do anything stupid either way I’d still back grant to get it right but let’s not get on the players backs they were good enough in ten summer and still are
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Not really a case of talking our players down, but let's look at things slightly differently. I don't think anyone could realistically argue that we are strong enough in central midfield, less so if you take out our young loanees in that area. We are crying out for an hard as nails experienced pro in that area. I'm not talking a thug by the way, but someone who can put well timed firm tackles in and can help to direct play. For a decent squad we need 4 fit competing central defenders. Mcgrath and Olowu take up 2 of those positions. I'd like to see Faulkner back in the fold as our 4th cental defender giving him time to develop into the player I think he can still be. That leaves the question for me of Anderson/Wood or someone new. for the rotate in and out as needed central defender. Hopefully Oram turns into a good Keeper, but Lawlor and a loan Keeper is not the answer. I would have no issue with us signing TSL or TLT perm if either was made available but most likely neither will be. Jamal Blackman would be a realistic signing who would be an upgrade on Lawlor. Most of our creativity out wide comes from Molyneux, Sterry and when fit Maxwell. Full back is probably my area of least concern when it comes to our squad, but that doesn't mean I'm totally happy with it. We need another wide man to compete with Gibson assuming that Hurst is on his way out. Up top we need at least 3 target men types. Billy isn't what he was but he's still scoring and I wouldn't be adverse to giving him one final year. Ironside's main attribute seems to be his hold up play, but I want a player who is ours (not a loanee) to be able to compete with them. Not quite the target man, but I want to see more what Sbarra brings to the table, because right now I simply don't know. Regardless of the division we find ourselves in (and I hope it is league 1) we need a minimum of 5 new players inthe squad to strengthen the spine and give competition. Developing a squad takes time and I feel Mccann is the right man and will get it right.