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Post by upthecowboys on Sept 2, 2017 11:26:29 GMT
I think we are in a decent position. Particularly pleased with the addition of Mousinho, thought pre his signing we were very light in numbers at centre back.
Hopefully there is a bit of a war chest available for the January transfer window. If we are in with a shout of promotion in January then I hope we can use some of the Johnson money for a push, something we didn't do last season.
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Post by rickyotto on Sept 2, 2017 12:55:16 GMT
An absolutely fantastic squad on paper.
We have a goalie we all love and respect.
We have much better full backs than last year including a guy who who has played in the prem and international football, a young starlet, a Brazilian maestro.
We have a much touted centre back, and two other centre backs with lots of experience at championship and above last season and before . That's a position where experience is key in my book. Game managers.
Our midfield is just unbelievable now. We've got a Barcelona B player thatarfuanly is 6-7th choice! Payne and Mowatt were both championship stars and will rip this league a new one. I know if I were still playing and a team had two players of this ilk (relatively speaking) my mindset would immediately change from "how do we win today" to "how do we stop those grenades". Last week you could mark Payne out of the game. That option is gone now. You do that and mowatt hasloads of space and vice versa. Ledson the little rat terrier is a year older and gnarlier and can protect the defense that doesn't need protecting. Look how many goals we've conceded since February.
With that as your core you then dump any half decent players on top of it and you'll be ok. But we get to throw in a respected league one striker and Swindons player of the year. An ex champions league forward. Another experienced championship creator in Henry that's an excellent singing for this level and Hall....a guy who will flourish around good players and with the extra space created by mowatt and Payne. . This is a dreamy proposition
We haven't spent big on transfer fees. The model has shifted a bit. But look through that list and say we aren't paying a tone in wages instead. If that's our new route so be it. Might not be sustainable in league one if we don't find players to sell but we are sure going to be up there if Clotet proves he knows how to manage a team.
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Post by charliesghost on Sept 2, 2017 14:14:42 GMT
Money we got for Johnson was way over the top.....Peps mate Monk has done us a right favour. I must admit I was hoping for a striker to be signed yesterday but in the cold light of day have changed my mind. We have scored 15 goals in 6 games and had 10 different scorers if my sums are right. The system we play will means everyone will chip in with goals and we won't be reliant on the so called 20 goal a season striker who could get injured and the goals dry up. The two signings yesterday have raised the bar again and I'm expecting the play offs come May. Ive had 25+ years of mediocrity and have never been more optimistic. 25 years plus of mediocrity? You must have been supporting a different club 20 years ago, then. We had a side that steamed to automatic promotion with combination of power (Elliott, Moody, massey), skill (Beauchamp, Ford, Robinson, whitehead) and grit (m Ford, Gray etc). That's before we even get into the David rush, Martin Aldridge , Nigel jemson. A huge number of those players were in their prime, and once in the championship were in the mix for promotion to the premier league until Elliott was sold in Feb 2007. It was a superior side to what we have now in every position (excepting possibly goalkeeper). For a year or two after that we were a reasonably competitive championship side (so better than now), but the seeds were being sown for our eventual downfall as robin herd ran out of money to pay the builders at minchery farm. Ever since then the stadium situation has haunted us. Our current spell is as good as we have seen in 19 years, and is a remarkable achievement, given that it comes with the stadium situation worse than ever. But it is still basically a castle built on sand. If our recruitment system breaks down (and suddenly there are very few saleable assets at the club) we are back to either not competing or losing 2 million quid a year.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 14:33:00 GMT
I've not been as optimistic as I have been for years. We have a really solid side that could maybe benefit from another striker. When you've got the likes of Hall, who is improving with every game and Eastwood who is a fantastic goalkeeper we should certainly do well this season. There's not too many of Wilders players left at the club.....see he's on the Sky Sports panel today. As Charlie says if we could somehow sort the stadium issue out our future would look a whole lot more certain. The new players seem to be fitting in very well from the off. So many changes made and not only performing well but entertaining too. Plus money in the bank as well
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 14:33:39 GMT
Gillingham losing to dark horses Shrewsbury
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 14:35:49 GMT
Oldham score courtesy of Craig Davies
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Post by charliesghost on Sept 2, 2017 14:54:48 GMT
I've not been as optimistic as I have been for years. We have a really solid side that could maybe benefit from another striker. When you've got the likes of Hall, who is improving with every game and Eastwood who is a fantastic goalkeeper we should certainly do well this season. There's not too many of Wilders players left at the club.....see he's on the Sky Sports panel today. As Charlie says if we could somehow sort the stadium issue out our future would look a whole lot more certain. The new players seem to be fitting in very well from the off. So many changes made and not only performing well but entertaining too. Plus money in the bank as well Money in whose bank? Don't forget that the club has managed to end up owing DE the thick end of 11 million (see other threads). I suspect that shortly OUFC will owe its owner 7 million quid instead of 11 million! On the pitch, I would estimate that we are better equipped than we were in the first half of last season and not quite as good as we were in the second half if last season. Should be in the mix for top 7, but Mowatt will have to be very good to turn us into the top 5 side we were with McAleny in the spring. So, as I wrote after seeing us at Scunthorpe, we are very decent but maybe a game-changer short of beating the better sides. But van kessel and Mowatt could be those two players. Both on loan, though, which is just a little note to consider when it comes to long-term optimism. As is the lack of any plan on the stadium front. But compared to where we were five, ten and fifteen years ago yes, these are heady days.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 15:33:16 GMT
I'm pleased but I wish we could've kep McAleny as he could've been a goal machine for us this season
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Post by forevayella on Sept 7, 2017 16:28:47 GMT
Money we got for Johnson was way over the top.....Peps mate Monk has done us a right favour. I must admit I was hoping for a striker to be signed yesterday but in the cold light of day have changed my mind. We have scored 15 goals in 6 games and had 10 different scorers if my sums are right. The system we play will means everyone will chip in with goals and we won't be reliant on the so called 20 goal a season striker who could get injured and the goals dry up. The two signings yesterday have raised the bar again and I'm expecting the play offs come May. Ive had 25+ years of mediocrity and have never been more optimistic. 25 years plus of mediocrity? You must have been supporting a different club 20 years ago, then. We had a side that steamed to automatic promotion with combination of power (Elliott, Moody, massey), skill (Beauchamp, Ford, Robinson, whitehead) and grit (m Ford, Gray etc). That's before we even get into the David rush, Martin Aldridge , Nigel jemson. A huge number of those players were in their prime, and once in the championship were in the mix for promotion to the premier league until Elliott was sold in Feb 2007. It was a superior side to what we have now in every position (excepting possibly goalkeeper). For a year or two after that we were a reasonably competitive championship side (so better than now), but the seeds were being sown for our eventual downfall as robin herd ran out of money to pay the builders at minchery farm. Ever since then the stadium situation has haunted us. Our current spell is as good as we have seen in 19 years, and is a remarkable achievement, given that it comes with the stadium situation worse than ever. But it is still basically a castle built on sand. If our recruitment system breaks down (and suddenly there are very few saleable assets at the club) we are back to either not competing or losing 2 million quid a year. Ok so 25 years was over the top........it just seems that long!!!! Matty Elliott remains one of my all time heros, I still remember his rasping strike against the scum at the Manor. I even went out and brought a pair of Muzuno boots because he wore them.
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Post by Marked Ox on Sept 7, 2017 19:36:08 GMT
Money we got for Johnson was way over the top.....Peps mate Monk has done us a right favour. I must admit I was hoping for a striker to be signed yesterday but in the cold light of day have changed my mind. We have scored 15 goals in 6 games and had 10 different scorers if my sums are right. The system we play will means everyone will chip in with goals and we won't be reliant on the so called 20 goal a season striker who could get injured and the goals dry up. The two signings yesterday have raised the bar again and I'm expecting the play offs come May. Ive had 25+ years of mediocrity and have never been more optimistic. 25 years plus of mediocrity? You must have been supporting a different club 20 years ago, then. We had a side that steamed to automatic promotion with combination of power (Elliott, Moody, massey), skill (Beauchamp, Ford, Robinson, whitehead) and grit (m Ford, Gray etc). That's before we even get into the David rush, Martin Aldridge , Nigel jemson. A huge number of those players were in their prime, and once in the championship were in the mix for promotion to the premier league until Elliott was sold in Feb 2007. It was a superior side to what we have now in every position (excepting possibly goalkeeper). I'd have Phil Whitehead ahead of Simon Eastwood by a good chunk.
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