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Regarding the point on Burnley's kick off, here's a video for the footballing nerds which explains it a bit further:
I must say listening to Jason Taylor's interview it is refreshing that he focusses almost solely on clean sheets,goals and results. Seems the perfect addition to the coaching staff. I wouldn't fancy getting on the wrong side of him either!
I always assumed that Burger had been signed as a long term replacement for Gilmour with his ability to turn and carry the ball. Reckon through injuries he probably ended up featuring more than McNulty would've liked last season and although he showed a lot of potential, for me he seemed to go through phases within a game of giving the ball away or not making the right decision- something which tbf is to be expected at his age. Himself and Edwards are two young players who have had their pathways blocked by the new signings and I can see a loan to another National League side for both. Is our squad at 26 now? It will be difficult keeping that many happy.
Being treated pretty much as televised bounce games. Only caught a few minutes but Griffiths played and commentators confirmed he had signed a contract, not sure on the length though. Good to see the injured trio of McBride, Burger and Gomez-Mancini all feature. Amantchi looks a good signing for squad depth.
A very good signing but for a considerable amount if Twitter is to be believed. FGR, Carlisle and York have all spent a fortune this summer. At least one of them is going to be very unhappy by July.
One thing I'd add about the Southend substitution/switch was as an exile tuning in on DAZN it was really interesting/ worrying to seeing Beckwith's reaction to the change. Hogan was practically having to point and position him to exactly where he was supposed to be playing as LWB- which seemed an indicator to me that it hadn't really been covered much in training. I'd be very surprised if we ever see Beckwith playing that role again.
It was a good question and really interesting response for various reasons. As DDB states we had announced Baah signing a Professional deal. Also surprised me to hear Delves say we’d do the same again- pretty sure all tribunals (regardless of fee received) give us 15%(?) of their next sale, which I could’ve been a decent amount.
Can’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed on this one. Presumed Whatmuff was going to be our number 2 and regardless of age, think the gk position now sticks out as the weakest area of our squad. Think it’s obvious we’ve missed out on a few targets but would rather us have been a bit more patient (even if it had meant starting the season with just Whatmuff). Agree with what 442 said about Coleman, O’Donnell etc on not needing an experienced keeper but on paper would say these 2 keepers have less experience on their CVs than any keeper we’ve signed under McNulty. To put it bluntly I think it was probably the area which needed improving most based on last season, and is the only area in the squad where I don’t think we’ve improved!
A large squad of genuine quality and it'll be important for Jim to manage the game time and personalities amongst everyone. Last season, on the playing side I thought we suffered through:
Not being able to break down 'low blocks'- As said before I wouldn't fancy sitting back and defending my penalty box against Mani for 90 minutes! When fit, Mancini should offer genuine quality even if only from the bench.
Injuries to key players at different stages- The squad above shows that not only do we have genuine competition for every position, but stylistically every player seems pretty much a like-for-like replacement. Bird getting injured last season was a great example of us finding a tweak to the system that worked, but then having to try revert back as Kairo wasn't capable of doing what Bird could do.
A lack of mental strength-I think this is probably the hardest to fix in the squad, but we've signed Pritchard, Manni, Levi who have all been promoted from this league and scored in the big games. Petit coming in as a specialist DM should also help tighten us up in the big games/moments
Goalkeeping issues- Obviously we've still only got Whatmuff at the moment but woudn't be surprised if we had been in for Winterbottom and McNicholas amongst others. Given Brad Kelly was never fully trusted in goals, it always meant that a new keeper would take 4-5 games getting up to speed with how we played which was impacted even more by the amount of injuries we recieved there. Expect us to sign a number 1 keeper, but also for Whatmuff to step in for 2/3 games if needed to.
Credit to the board for backing Jim and credit to Jim for addressing the areas for development from last season. It should be an exciting year.
That and playing alongside Bird suited his style of play much more than Kairo. Without checking the stats I can’t imagine there was too many games over the previous 2 seasons where both Rodney and Kairo found the scoresheet in the same game.
Agreed and unfortunately changing a squad's and management's mentality is a very difficult task.
In terms of breaking teams down I think Dieservwe will be a game changer. One of the biggest criticisms of McNulty from myself last season was his Plan A relied too heavily on the opposition allowing us space behind their defence to run into. As soon as the opposition, whether good or bad, denied us space we were absolutely toothless and ended up recyling possession constantly to try and create the perfect opening. I wouldn't fancy sitting in and defending my own box for 90 minutes if I was competing against Mani in the air.
Really nice kit design. Aesthetically speaking would rather it not have the sponsors everywhere akin to an F1 car but well done to the commercial department on more money raised by the club.
Not in the know at all on this but wouldn’t be surprised to see Gilmour leave. Thought he was a cut above in the last few months of the season and I’m sure he’d have caught the eye of a few league clubs.
Re: Dieseruvwe- I think he'll make us more direct and speed up play from defence when needed. His goalscoring record is a huge bonus but tbh if he can bring Hendo, Rodney, Mancini etc into play 20 yards from goal then they'll have a lot of success next season and something we really lacked with Kairo.
Looks another very strong signing on paper. I do wonder whether the signings of Moss and Tutonda have been made with half an eye on us going to 4 at the back for certain games, something I know 442dale and others have referenced before.
The tactical flexibility would be a good step in the right direction of tweaking things from last year.
I know very little about National League opposition players but remember a few goals he scored last year were absolutely incredible. If we get him fit and back to his best then we have a brilliant player for this level.
Will digest it more in the morning but can't help but feel completely hollow after that and our whole season's weaknesses exposed in one caricature of a performance.
- Poor tactical decisions - No mental strength - Kairo's poor form - Not being able to break a team down when they're defending
He also has the 3rd best minutes per goal rate in the league (137). Behind Linney (134) and Pearce (124). Incredible considering he's gone through periods of relatively poor form.
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