So how bad is it really?

[fbm]

For the first time in many seasons, fbm is worried. It definitely now feels as though we have been relegated rather than just not going up, and our total inability to stride past these non league teams in cruise control has me worrying what may happen if we lose heavily at Wycombe on Saturday.

I am trying very hard to keep the faith, and I am happy with the decisions made by Tilly in releasing the players he let go, and we have done some good business in getting money for Hooper, Liptak and MacDonald.

And then this afternoon I have been thinking... is it really as bad as all that?

Lets look at the squad in some depth

Goalkeepers -

Mildenhall, Joyce and Masters. As good as we would hope to get in fairness. Not a lot of improvement could be made in this area.

Defence - Barrett, Clarke, Sankofa, Francis, Grant (if he signs), Herd. Ok, this is the really serious area where we need to strengthen. Herd and Grant will be cover at best, and we need a commanding presence.

Required - 1 tall centre half and 1 left back

Midfield - Bailey, McCormack, Moussa, Scannell, Lokando, Grant (if he signs), Revell, Foran. Quite happy with this really although with Lokando out on loan and Foran surely going at some point, another wide man would be good.

Required - 1 wide midfielder


Strikers - Furlong, Barnard, Walker, Revell, Foran, Harrold, Ademeno. Ademeno will be purely emergency cover, Foran and Harrold on their way... but that still leaves 4. Furlong won't play whole games I'm sure, and with Barney on the treatment table every time he loses an eyelash, we possibly need one more. But I suspect we will have to use Foran and Harrold. And if Foran wants to go, if he has any sense he'll be playing out of his skin to say to someone "Come and get me".

Required - 1 striker... but only if Foran and Harrold go


So actually, bearing in mind the fact that the transfer window is open until the end of August, we don't have a bad nucleus of players fopr a first team squad.

The strongest line up could be -

Mildenhall

Francis
Clarke
Barrett
Sankofa

Scannell
McCormack
Bailey
Revell

Furlong
Barnard


Subs

Joyce
Walker
Grant
Moussa
Foran




Actually, apart from the left back position, that is not a bad side at all.

So although we need to strengthen, it is just that; strengthen. We are perhaps not in as desperate a position as we think, even if we are a touch short of numbers.

And it will be easier to loan players rather than sign permanently, if necessary.

I think the main fear is that as we have such a radically different side now, with the mainstays and regulars of the last few seasons - Maher, Gower, Flahavan and Hunt - all having departed, we really don't know what to expect. It is a fear of the unknown. Perhaps when they take the field against Peterborough on August 9th everything will be ok and the players will suddenly start hitting the cows arse with their respective banjos.

But if we lose to Posh, lets not panic... in the last few seasons when we have lost our opening day match we have gone on to have tremendous seasons.

Blue Army!

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

I share your optimism up to a point, but the left side of the team looks non-existent! - Sankofa and Revell is not a left-sided partnership that would scare most non-league sides let alone league one!

However, I agree with you in as much as - provided Bailey and Clarke stay - the squad is only a couple of permanent signings worse off than last year. We need to replace Hammell/Mulgrew and Gower.

Easier said than done though!

 

[Neil_F]

I don't think we're too far off from a decent first XI. We will certainly start the year with a stronger side than last season.

For me the only positions to fill are at left-back and on the flank. My suspicions, and they are no more than that, are that the left midfield spot will be filled by one Robson-Kanu and lef-back will be Barrett with Richard Keogh playing centre-half.

Obviously we need cover, but not all that much cover. We seem to function better as a small squad turning out week after week. There is always loan cover if it is required.

It may take until the end of August to get what we need but I'd rather that if it gets done properly.

P.S. I am right in thinking Keogh hasn't yet gone anywhere?

 

[Bromley Blue]

Great post. And to be honest can you actually remember a summer where you were totally happy with the side going into the first game of the season?

Last summer we had just lost Freddy and had to look forward to a strikeforce of Lee Bradbury and Matt Harrold. We still had very much the same defence that had got us relegated and was therefore very low on confidence.

I think some people on here are giving League One more respect than it deserves to be honest. Yes there are some strong sides in the division this year on paper such as Leicester, Leeds and the promoted sides. But thinking back to last season there are also a lot of very poor sides that we managed to beat without playing particularly well.

Its true that we need to strengthen as a few injuries could ruin any progress we make but our starting XI is still pretty strong and will be more than a match for the majority of sides this year.

We do need around 3 more players but we always have the option of loans and I dont think Tilly will really start looking into this until he can totally rule out finding someone more permanent for that position.

 

[ShrimplyTheBest]

Good summary... agree on all fronts! I would only add that we need more than 1 more winger - we can't keep resorting to Revell and Walker etc on the wings - strikers are not wingers!!!

But if we can make the right late additions we could suprise a few people :)

 

[fbm]

I share your optimism up to a point, but the left side of the team looks non-existent! - Sankofa and Revell is not a left-sided partnership that would scare most non-league sides let alone league one!

Then I'd play Scannell on the left and Revell on the right. That has a better balance maybe?

 

[steveo]

The strongest line up could be -

Mildenhall

Francis
Clarke
Barrett
Sankofa

Scannell
McCormack
Bailey
Revell

Furlong
Barnard

Didnt this lot start at Braintree?

 

[OldBlueLady]

Well you can take Macca out of any equation for a while. Still say Tilly should re-register and play on the left if we're short come the beginning of the season.

 

[fbm]

Didnt this lot start at Braintree?

There's always one, isn't there?

lol

Probably...

 

[Hooly]

Then I'd play Scannell on the left and Revell on the right. That has a better balance maybe?

But surely that means playing 2 players out of position, rather than one? Scannell, to my albeit limited knowledge, is naturally a right winger but who can use his left foot to a degree & he's also totally inexperienced at league level.

With Sankofa not a left back & who openly said he didn't enjoy playing there, we would start the season with 3 players out of position. I can't see that as a recipe for success. :nope:

 

[fbm]

But surely that means playing 2 players out of position, rather than one? Scannell, to my albeit limited knowledge, is naturally a right winger but who can use his left foot to a degree & he's also totally inexperienced at league level.

With Sankofa not a left back & who openly said he didn't enjoy playing there, we would start the season with 3 players out of position. I can't see that as a recipe for success. :nope:

Fair point.

 

[haveaguiness]

Then I'd play Scannell on the left and Revell on the right. That has a better balance maybe?

What is everyones obession with playing revell in midfield!!! HE IS NOT A MIDFIELDER!!!
I don't know about everyone else but i feel really let down when we have to resort to playing a striker out on the wing and imagine how they feel having to play in a position where they feel totally uncomfortable becuase they have played up front all their career. Just because they can attack doesnt mean they can play on the wing.
I think this is better shown by the fact that if you stuck gower up front he wouldnt have a clue where to position himself and its the same with strikers outwide.
This is also probably one of the reasons revell gets so much stick because when he plays out wide and has a bad game people get on his back. Its not his fault he cant play in that position.
And as for the "squad" that was mentioned in the first post, if you feel happy starting a season with that sqaud then i envy your opimism! Because although our starting 11 looks ok the sqaud is probably weaker than most in league 2. The fact that Masters, Peggy, Heard and ademeno have not played at this level, despite them being good talents leaves us very exposed, especially with an injury or two.

We need a genuine left back and although barrett could cover for the first few weeks of the season, he is not going to provide the same outlet as hammel or mulgrew did.
We need two wingers, preferebly a natural left winger and a versatlie gower type that can operate on either wing.
We dont need any strikers! we already have 4. If we sign another they will end up playing out on the wing as per normal to compensate them. this is also sending out a message to the other strikers that they arent good enough!
These postions are hard to fill and although i feel we need an experienced left back to sure up the defense a little (clapham would have been perfect) i feel the wingers could be bought in on loan from prem clubs, like kanu was last season.

Plus what happened with that max noble???

 

[* ORM *]

Any starting line up with AB either as centre-half or left-back can hardly be described as strong :p

I share the thought that this league is not as strong enough as we are giving it credit for but I have two key worries. Firstly our biggest weakness last season was defensive frailty not helped by an uncommanding GK, whatever his relative strengths in other areas. I do not see that we have adequately addressed the need for a tall, commanding defender with the command of the back four that someone like Prior offered. The lack of a left back is a major worry and as AB has proved enough times he is no better than a stop-gap in this position.

The other worry is the lack in depth in the squad. Losing Gower with the creativity he brought may not be such a disaster if Scannell steps up to the plate or and out of position Walker/Revell find that they can adapt and carve out an unexpected career for themselves. There are enough precendents in the game for this but that's 2 ifs already.

The third if comes in the coverage in centre midfield. With Macca out it is definitely time for Moussa to come good. Glimpses of potential are one thing but there's no passengers in a CM berth and I'm not convinced he is the answer.

Saying we're only three or four names away from having a playoff capable squad is one thing. Tuning into the Zone yet again to find no tangible evidence of new names is quite another. There is still time and no need to panic but every signing free day adds another murmer to the heartbeat.

 

[Andyhsufc]

I think if we make 4 signings, the mood will be very different. A squad of -

Mildy
Joyce

Franny
Sankofa
Clarkey
Barrett
Herd
* Centre half
* Left back

Grant
Bailey
Macca
Moose
Scannell
2 x winger
Foran (think we could do worse for back up)

Furlong
Red Rum
Barnard
Walker

is a play off looking side

 

[BoyWonder2]

Don't forget Walker has done very well on the wings in the two games I've seen so far, that being Fulham and Chelmsford.

I'd start with:

Mildenhall

Francis
Clarke
Sankofa
Barrett

Scannell
Bailey
Grant if he signs, otherwise Moose
Walker

Barnard
Furlong.

 

[bazza192]

Anybody remember a few seasons back, when all we had signed up to this point of the season was Mitch Cole. Everyone was worried and venting there concern on the forums, but what happened? We ended up getting promoted !!!!

 

[GodblessArthurRowley]

One small fly in the ointment. There is no room for suspensions and injuries at all and that is not a pratical postion to be in. The season hasn't started yet and we have already lost McCormack. 6 games in we may have lost Bailey suspended, Barnard injured, plus maybe one or two others either suspended or injured we are at least 4 players short.

 

[Mick]

One small fly in the ointment. There is no room for suspensions and injuries at all and that is not a pratical postion to be in. The season hasn't started yet and we have already lost McCormack. 6 games in we may have lost Bailey suspended, Barnard injured, plus maybe one or two others either suspended or injured we are at least 4 players short.

To suggest we may have lost Bailey and one or two others due to suspension after just 6 games is taking pessimism to new extremes. In fact the only player likely to rack up cards at that rate will now be missing those first 6 games.

 

[fbm]

To suggest we may have lost Bailey and one or two others due to suspension after just 6 games is taking pessimism to new extremes. In fact the only player likely to rack up cards at that rate will now be missing those first 6 games.

You might be underestimating Grant there... I think he'll be the standard bearer for the clubs next summons to Lancaster Gate on disciplinary matters...

 

[Hooly]

You might be underestimating Grant there... I think he'll be the standard bearer for the clubs next summons to Lancaster Gate on disciplinary matters...

Spot on fbm. I reckon he'd manage to get booked more than Macca & Bailey togther, if they were all on the pitch an equal amount of time.

15 yellows & 2 reds for Wycombe in 2006/7 & probably not even trying!