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RHB

I'm a Mod too⭐⭐
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When Jakub Sokolik was first with us on loan I thought he was a real prospect, and I would have loved to have him permanently with Southend. That didn't happen and from then on his career development has been on hold it seems, for a variety of reasons.

Now he is finally back with us as a real Blues player, and based on what I have seen so far, and from reports from those that have seen him away from home, he is now growing again in the footballing sense and it will be very interesting to see if PB shares my view that he should be a first team starter. We are now a bit spoilt for choice where CBs are concerned, but if Phil continues with five across the back, then I would make Jakub a regular and perm the rest of them with him. I haven't seen Inniss play yet so I don't have a view there but I think Sokolik is worthy of starting with any of the other CBs.

Incidentally, he is not the finished article by any means. He will make mistakes but with the other more experienced players next to him I think he will become a class defender and he is my main preference in defence.

Views?
 
Yep, agree with your sentiments. I think this is where Ferdinand can be very important for us, to help bring those younger than him on. Could get Sokolik back on track. I also think the stagnation of his development is in part due to injury, so fingers crossed he stays fit, gets a run in the side, as I think we'll see Sokilik developing into a good player that will hopefully bloom with us.
 
Phil has mentioned the problems defending free kick and corners. This is the main reason for bringing in Ferdinand and Inniss.
So these two look likely to be first choice centre backs, with Thompson, Barrett and Sokolik as back up. But of course if we play 5 at the back, which is really 3 centre backs and 2 attacking full backs, then one of those 3 will fit in. The competition is fierce there now, probably why Thompson, Barrett and Sokolic upped their game at Bolton.
 
Bolger was getting better all the time, a big lad too.....it was Phil,me,me ,me.....and off he went.....thought he would have been really good long term...
 
Bolger was getting better all the time, a big lad too.....it was Phil,me,me ,me.....and off he went.....thought he would have been really good long term...

But I was asking about Sokolik. What's Bolger got to do with it?
 
IIRC at the time, he played alongside another young loanee, John Egan, I can't remember if this was by choice or by the fact that we had no other options.

They were excellent, however their choices in subsequent club(s) has I think shaped their progress, Egan now showing Championship class, whilst Sokolik having to go back to the drawing board with us.

Maybe a partnership with another young prospect, Ryan Innes, could prove to be equally successful as Sokolik/Egan?
 
He looks a mean bugger, quite imposing on the touchline when warming up, I think he can develop into a bit of a beast.
 
At the time he signed I thought it looked like a desperation move to bring someone in for a 3rd time. Bolton was only the 3rd game I've seen this season and I was impressed. That was a brilliant tackle to take it off Madine's toe for a tap in after Smith's equally brilliant save
 
It does worry me that Yeovil would just release an X Liverpool player, if he is not good enough for them.. But he is for us. I know we need players NOW, but like a few on here, I'd rather we scouted the (wait for it Hungry) non league players, and improve them, I think they are out there.
 
You'll soon find most are playing at non-league level for an obvious reason....and 'hungry' sure doesn't ensure any quality or natural ability....
 
Wasnt overly impressed with Sokolik at Bolton - thought he was the weakest of the back three. Whilst I'm not one to get caught up in all the Barrett worship that goes on round here, he was the stand out defender for me. Clearly any player can do a Bolger and I hope he does - but I rather suspect Inness is going to add more (height and aggression) once fit and Sokolik will be gone at Xmas.
 
He definitely benefited from playing alongside Egan first time around. On his second loan spell he failed to impress at all, however, I have been fairly pleased with him this time round. He can definitely benefit from playing alongside Ferdinand and has the attributes to be a good, solid, no-nonsense defender.
 
He can do a job. He is only on a short term contract.

It's a win win. Perform and get a deal. Don't then we sign another.
 
Wasnt overly impressed with Sokolik at Bolton - thought he was the weakest of the back three. Whilst I'm not one to get caught up in all the Barrett worship that goes on round here, he was the stand out defender for me. Clearly any player can do a Bolger and I hope he does - but I rather suspect Inness is going to add more (height and aggression) once fit and Sokolik will be gone at Xmas.

Rather agree with this. I think Sokolik has the greatest upside from all our choices at centre-half though so I'd be prepared to accept the occasional mistake (and he made mistakes at Bolton) for now and I'd pair him with Inniss (and Anton Ferdinand, if he's fit and we're playing 5 at the back).

He definitely benefited from playing alongside Egan first time around. On his second loan spell he failed to impress at all, however, I have been fairly pleased with him this time round. He can definitely benefit from playing alongside Ferdinand and has the attributes to be a good, solid, no-nonsense defender.

He benefited more from not playing against many big attackers in the run-in meaning that he and Egan could physically bully them. When he and Egan came up against a big, physical strike-force in the play-offs they struggled. That's why it was important to get Inniss in.
 
I really rate Sokolik, and was delighted to have him back. He did do well when he was here before with Egan, and there is no doubt that they complimented each other well. Different styles of players though, and for my money, I preferred Sokolik. I'm fully prepared to accept that some of this may have been down to the romance of us giving him his first chance at actual football after all those years at Liverpool, but I also really liked his desire to try to make things happen from the back. You could see his frustration when we weren't going forward or were chasing the game, and he would look to surge out of defence with the ball at his feet, trying to get us to push up and looking for a pass rather than a clearance.

Of course he will make mistakes, but he shows more than enough class for me to hope we see a lot more of him in this team, hopefully with a view to him establishing himself as a long-term signing.

With regard to the points previously made about him not being good enough for Liverpool, well, no he isn't, and the fact that he learnt his trade at a premier club may actually be a hindrance to him at the lower levels. I spoke to a manager recently of a lower league club, and he actively stated that he is not interested in whether a player has come from a premier league club. Failed youth prospects are touted by their agents all the time, but this manager found that because they'd learnt to play premier league football, they were actually useless in the lower leagues, where the game is played in a completely different way, and different qualities are required for success. Footballing intelligence and pace will transfer down the leagues, but ingrained tactics almost certainly will not. Sokolik will have had to re-learn and adapt elements of his game to play lower down, and I hope he continues to do so with us.
 
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