What Do We Lack?

[Herbert]

Vibe was injured on the 4th game of the season and didn't make it back until mid October.

And had agreed his move to china during the summer before their transfer window had been closed early

 

[Herbert]

This in a nutshell.
End of thread.

We've got a very decent striker in Maupay. He needs competition. Can't expect one striker to do it all

 

[rhbee]

Am I the only one still thinking Ollie could be the striker everyone is calling for? He's big, has a physical presence and is relatively fast. Yes, he didn't have the best of games yesterday, but he was making all the right runs, his touch was just off - if he hadn't trained all week that might be why.
Even though there is lots of clamouring for another striker (which I can understand) I would not bee surprised to see us still with Ollie and not bring anyone in, with maybe Forss a back up to Ollie and Neal.

 

[sonofabee]

............a few more half glass full type fans.........sitting in the away end yesterday with the negative comments flying around ,you would have thought Brentford were bottom three............astounding mentalities..............

 

[sonofabee]

Am I the only one still thinking Ollie could be the striker everyone is calling for? He's big, has a physical presence and is relatively fast. Yes, he didn't have the best of games yesterday, but he was making all the right runs, his touch was just off - if he hadn't trained all week that might be why.
Even though there is lots of clamouring for another striker (which I can understand) I would not bee surprised to see us still with Ollie and not bring anyone in, with maybe Forss a back up to Ollie and Neal.

I think you’re right and he will be

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Am I the only one still thinking Ollie could be the striker everyone is calling for? He's big, has a physical presence and is relatively fast. Yes, he didn't have the best of games yesterday, but he was making all the right runs, his touch was just off - if he hadn't trained all week that might be why.
Even though there is lots of clamouring for another striker (which I can understand) I would not bee surprised to see us still with Ollie and not bring anyone in, with maybe Forss a back up to Ollie and Neal.

Doesn't seem to have a striker's instinct so I'm not expecting many goals from inside the 6 yard box. Maybe that will come.

 

[Doovster]

Style and panache on the terraces. Think SOB, GP200 and KB need to address this for next season by offering a pre-season dress camp

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Style and panache on the terraces. Think SOB, GP200 and KB need to address this for next season by offering a pre-season dress camp

How camp would they make it?

 

[Doovster]

How camp would they make it?

I'll let them answer that

 

[Vid]

We don't need " a striker ". We need the shots we make from numerous players to be more accurate. Remember how we played with one target option Hogan and how much better we played when he left. Vibe wasn't a target striker player. He ran about pulling defenders away leaving gaps for other players to have goal scoring opportunities. Unfortunately those opportunities have consistently been wasted. I don't understand why players who can hit a cross pitch pass with pin point accuracy not get within ten yards of the goal when shooting. Our penalty conversion rate is poor. Maybe it is a mental thing and we just need to hire a hypnotist/ psychologist.

 

[IslandBee]

I don’t doubt that

He is still very much a work-in-progress in that position though, as yesterday showed (even if he was only just fit).

 

[IslandBee]

Am I the only one still thinking Ollie could be the striker everyone is calling for? He's big, has a physical presence and is relatively fast. Yes, he didn't have the best of games yesterday, but he was making all the right runs, his touch was just off - if he hadn't trained all week that might be why.
Even though there is lots of clamouring for another striker (which I can understand) I would not bee surprised to see us still with Ollie and not bring anyone in, with maybe Forss a back up to Ollie and Neal.

But as yet not great with his back to goal. With some work, yes, but there is still quite a bit to do.

 

[IslandBee]

I think next year might be more one of consolidation with us looking to have a real go again in 2019/20. If the majority of Bentley, Mepham, Bjelland, Barbet, Woods, Judge go they will take a lot of replacing and I can't see us doing that in one season (our DoFs are good but I am not sure even they could pull that off). We also need a fully fit Canos with a full pre-season behind him. I think we addressed the main reason we didn't make the play-offs during the course of the season ie our inability to hold leads in the first 10-15 games.

 

[rhbee]

But as yet not great with his back to goal. With some work, yes, but there is still quite a bit to do.

I don't disagree about that, but he's only 22 so he's got plenty of time

 

[WARFIELD BEE]

Am I the only one still thinking Ollie could be the striker everyone is calling for? He's big, has a physical presence and is relatively fast. Yes, he didn't have the best of games yesterday, but he was making all the right runs, his touch was just off - if he hadn't trained all week that might be why.
Even though there is lots of clamouring for another striker (which I can understand) I would not bee surprised to see us still with Ollie and not bring anyone in, with maybe Forss a back up to Ollie and Neal.

It seems that is the clubs thinking, strikers are expensive, and a lot of them outside our price range.

 

[swr22]

You've been spoilt mate, this club has been effing wonderfull these last 5 to 6 years. We are playing football of the highest calibre in a very strong league. Your assertion that playing Reece cole does not make much sense to me, The flowing football that we play will always leave us open. We are not far away, and I would sooner watch the standard of football that we play than the boring ***** that Warnock plays at Cardiff.

Asking where we can improve is not showing a lack of appreciation or asking to play Warnock football. I know we're all feeling down but I prescribe some remedial reading comprehension classes.

 

[swr22]

In terms of our crowds and means we punch well above our weight so in one sense we don't lack, we overachieve.
Staying up very, very comfortably for four seasons is a considerable achievement.
A question will always be what can we afford - fee and then wages.
I would imagine often an agent says 'Brentford are interested and they've offered x' and other clubs ***** up their ears and offer more.
But if you want my thoughts on what could ensure we get in the top six next year: we've been light up front this year; we could do with a big, strong CM (not going to come cheap); we can lack power / height / can be a bit nice (Cardiff showed that).
I think some potentially losses e.g. Bentley, Woods, Mepham, Sawyers could be quite hard to replace straight away but our record at finding players is good.
But I'm happy with things in the main - but for some daft lost points and an awful start we could well have made the playoffs this year.

Agree with all this. I am hopeful we can see some more of the B Team players stepping up and contributing too. And clearly keeping our core is the most important thing. But a more physical presence in that box-to-box midfielder role and some more competition up front would be great.

I am confident we'll have a lot of players progress too: Maupay and Mokotjo will be better for another year in the division and we have a young squad who would come on for more experience at this level.

 

[belvederebee]

A striker; an enforcer.

 

[West Wilts Bee]

Asking where we can improve is not showing a lack of appreciation or asking to play Warnock football. I know we're all feeling down but I prescribe some remedial reading comprehension classes.

Yaah great i will get some booked.

 

[Frothybaby]

I don't think we need anything, other than a bit of luck and something to break down the ultra-defensive teams. I think the players we have will get better. Maupay and Watkins (maybe a couple of former B team as back-up) will score more next season with similar game time. A higher return from Canos, Sawyers, Woods, Flo Jo or whoever plays behind/alongside the striker. I think they will all improve on this seasons final tally.

I would say that any up and coming striker would surely love the chance of playing in a team like ours. The chances that are created would be a great opportunity for a striker to really get noticed.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

Early season fortune. And urinals.

 

[SpiderBee]

Belief, quality, money and about 10000 fans

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

No one has mentioned the left back position. Perhaps Rico Henry will recover his form and fitness and walk straight back into the team. Or perhaps he won't. He's played very little football for 18 months and that has to be a concern. At the very least we need a specialist LB as a deputy. We've been mending and making do all season but surely we can't carry on like that?

 

[rhbee]

No one has mentioned the left back position. Perhaps Rico Henry will recover his form and fitness and walk straight back into the team. Or perhaps he won't. He's played very little football for 18 months and that has to be a concern. At the very least we need a specialist LB as a deputy. We've been mending and making do all season but surely we can't carry on like that?

To be fair, he came straight back in after his previous injury and did well. I reckon that unless there is someone for good value out there, we'll stick with him and then Field or Ilias as second choice (or Clarke or Barbet)

 

[ruislip bee]

To be fair, he came straight back in after his previous injury and did well. I reckon that unless there is someone for good value out there, we'll stick with him and then Field or Ilias as second choice (or Clarke or Barbet)

So in fact we are incredibly well covered at left back. That's 4 possible deputies if they all stay.

 

[jlove]

I think our experience in getting world-class surgery and rehabilitating players, especially from major injuries, will bring Rico back to be our first-choice left back and regain England selection. Clarke and Barbet have shown they can deputise there, so retaining one will give us cover, and only the coaching staff will be able to assess the potential of Field and Chatzitheodoridis.

What we lack is experience and the players we retain will all have another year ticked off. From the experience point-of-view, Bjelland moving on will be a serious loss and Judge must be a serious doubt to remain. So, there is a open question about bringing in a more experienced player, possibly as a centre back. To me, that issue was brought into focus against Barnsley, where the serious lack of any leadership on the pitch, allowing players to play as purposeless individuals and beat themselves up when they made errors.

 

[Brain-dead Bee]

We're still over-achieving in terms of league position vs expenditure.... probably only Millwall would be ahead of us on that.

The challenge is to develop a potential promotion side while knowing that sides with larger budgets can take some of your best players every year. To even stay where we are, we need to be successful in every transfer window (as least in the Summer one), so that we replace the departing players with others who are or will be at the same level, while making a profit to slightly reduce how much MB has to put in. As an early poster on this thread said, Fulham are us plus Mitrovic - but we can't take that sort of financial gamble

 

[Mr Tree]

we can lack power / height / can be a bit nice (Cardiff showed that).
But I'm happy with things in the main - but for some daft lost points and an awful start we could well have made the playoffs this year.

yep, that'll do for me. i think our squad is very exciting, lots of talented and decent lads, and we've been the team on the front foot in the vast majority of games that we've played this season. it's very impressive considering our budget.

i think it's fairly farcical to think that we'd identify something here that Mr Benham et al haven't noticed. I do find it funny how some seem to think Matthew is watching in his underground lair somewhere and when the match finishes he closes his laptop and shrugs "ah well, win some lose some, good effort, can't quite put my finger on it" - guys, it's safe to assume he's noticed that we need more goals (although we have been consistently among the top scorers in recent years) - if it were easy to fix, i'm sure he would. it's not that easy, but i daresay there's a plan...

they've earned my trust with their transfer dealings in recent years - not a 100% record but no-one is 100%, they've certainly had much more good than bad. so i'm excited to see what comes over the next three months, and there's a World Cup in the meantime to distract us for a few weeks

 

[Leonardo]

I would say LB has hit us bad this season. Barbet and Clarke (and Colin for a while) have covered but it is a specialist position to balance going forward, attacking, defending and crossing and as enthusiastic as these 3 were, it is not their natural positions and Field and Ilias are not at the level to do this yet.

A CF is probably needed as once Vibe went that left Maupay and Watkins who bot are adjusting to this level and beneath them are Forss and Shaibu who don't appear ready for this level yet either. I expect Maupay to be better next season in the same way FloJo has taken his game to a new level this season.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

So in fact we are incredibly well covered at left back. That's 4 possible deputies if they all stay.

If you're prepared to play players out of position and/or throw in raw youngsters then I dare say we're "incredibly well covered" in every position!!!

The truth is not quite so rosy of course. Clarke has repeatedly shown how uncomfortable he is at LB. (I'm not having a go at him - I like him - but he's no LB). Barbet has done a good job covering but again he's clearly not a real LB and looks like a fish out of water against speedy right sided attackers. Field will probably be released and Chtzitheodirides is too raw to rely on for a whole season. I really hope Henry comes good but quite a lot of footballers who are out for very long spells don't recover their previous form and fitness (just ask AJ!!) so we ought to be making some contingency plans.

 

[The Pipe]

Lots of sensible posts on here ( which makes a change!!!) however I will disagree with pretty much everyone as I don’t think we lack anything that we can realistically obtain.

Obviously once the transfers start then it is a different matter however at present I think we are perfectly capable of making a realistic attempt on promotion next season. Yes there are some areas that are weaker than others but, even here, we have seen players change positions and give criditable performances.

For those that are advocating a new forward or tough DM I think you will be dissappointed !!!

 

[Mr Cynical]

For those that are advocating a new forward or tough DM I think you will be dissappointed !!!

I suspect if you look at any clubs ‘GPG’ then they’ll all be wanting the same. Everyone needs a tough tackling, passing midfielder and a 20/30 goal a season and therein lies the rub.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

I suspect if you look at any clubs ‘GPG’ then they’ll all be wanting the same. Everyone needs a tough tackling, passing midfielder and a 20/30 goal a season and therein lies the rub.

Exactly! You hear a lot of clubs saying "we're only two players away from being a top six side" .......but those two players might cost £20m!!!

 

[AB]

I think our experience in getting world-class surgery and rehabilitating players, especially from major injuries, will bring Rico back to be our first-choice left back and regain England selection. Clarke and Barbet have shown they can deputise there, so retaining one will give us cover, and only the coaching staff will be able to assess the potential of Field and Chatzitheodoridis.

What we lack is experience and the players we retain will all have another year ticked off. From the experience point-of-view, Bjelland moving on will be a serious loss and Judge must be a serious doubt to remain. So, there is a open question about bringing in a more experienced player, possibly as a centre back. To me, that issue was brought into focus against Barnsley, where the serious lack of any leadership on the pitch, allowing players to play as purposeless individuals and beat themselves up when they made errors.

It is worth remembering that we have the second youngest first team squad in the division.

Barnsley have the youngest.

 

[mhead bee]

We've got quality throughout the team but we still have fallen short of the playoffs. So what do we lack? I can't help thinking that we could use some more strength in the middle of the park, especially against lower table and more physical teams. Some teams do try and bully us into submission. I'd also like to see Reece Cole given more of a role next year because it would be good to see more goals from midfield.

Where would you prioritise improving the team?

Another goalscorer and a boss in the middle. It is tough when people put 10 at the back but we have learned to deal with these teams in the second half of season more than we did in the first half. Those awful tactics work as you can see with PNE, Derby, Boro and Cardiff all being at the top of the table. Not much anyone can do about it consistently so not sure there is an answer we don't already have, a touch of magic from RS, Jozef or Canos.

 

[mhead bee]

Exactly! You hear a lot of clubs saying "we're only two players away from being a top six side" .......but those two players might cost £20m!!!

Each,

Look at Wolves.