Pre-season has just started and 4 new players have joined the squad. Those who were out of contract have been let go. In any profession when results are bad heads normally roll.
When good players are scouted at 8 to 12 years old being U23 is an asset not a liability.
Arguable a would be good to have a manager in place but the circumstances behind Russ return to Y23 last Friday made that difficult; it does however, give the club a chance to find a new man.
Looking at the current squad my thoughts are as follows:-
Goal keepers Watson, Kelsey and Collins. Perhaps Rory will start as first choice but if you have watched U23 and U18 games Kelsey and Collins will push him hard.
Centre Halves – McGahey, Bedeau and Onariase – No nonsense tough defenders who want to keep clean sheets. I am looking forward to seeing McGahey and Onariase play in the same side and expect good things.
Right back – Clarke, the best there is in the lower leagues and a long rest and a new baby may make him a star and a great captain.
Left Back – Lewis Butroid this will almost be a great season for Lewis.
Don’t forget Rowe, O’Mally and Barks, excellent prospects.
Midfield – Hallam, Gilliead, Dales, Beeston, Spence, Pugh and Hornshaw. A good range of ability for the manager to work on. Theres is also Silva and Shrimpton who would relish a few games in the first team.
Forwards Colclough, van Veen, Olomola, Eisa, Green McAtee,Jarvis and Mooney. A lot a criticism last year when there weren’t many strikers on the books. Mr Swann has surely pushed the boat out this year. Goals won’t be a problem.
Covid-19 makes this season unique since the war. Mr Swann continues to fund the team, hoping for success on the field and enough income through the gates, sponsorship and kit sales.
As always my glass is brim full and I remain confident with a tinge of realism for the season ahead.
I’d invest in a pair of corduroy boxers Brian. A couple of your predictions may return to bite you on the bum!
Eg – “this will almost be a great season for Lewis” & “Goals won’t be a problem”
My glass has a crack in it, so if you tilt it one way it leaks badly.
My concerns are – still no depth of leadership and experience. Take Clarke an KvV out of the equation and we’ve little in the way of either.
We are lightweight in CMF. We know how important Lund was before he was sold on and in our play-off seasons the contributions of the likes of Matt Crooks and Ryan Yates were critical.
But my main worry is that once again we will have a manager coming in to work with players he didn’t sign.
You’re not telling me that negotiations between Swann and Wilcox went on for four months!
How about a sweepstake on which players will be shipped out on loan without kicking a competitive ball?
Dales and Olomola must be packing their bags already!
My view from an earlier thread:-
Well we seem to have signed players that may have potential but lack experience, very much as expected. But the mix is something of a surprise, if we go with 2 up front we have a choice of KVV, McAtee, Green, Olomola, Jarvis and Mooney. Seems like a bit of overkill as we still have only 1 CM, unless Beestin, Hornshaw, Pugh or Hallam are considered up to the job, haven’t seen enough of any of them to pass judgement. Maybe a little more movement in and out?
As for ” Lewis Butroid this will almost be a great season for Lewis.” have you missed a word out Brian? I fear, based on recent experience, that he might be behind Bedeau for the LB spot. Hope not.
I don’t think we can compare the coming season with last season (or three quarter season), a lot of teams have had to offload their more experienced and therefore most costly players.
We just don’t know yet how the season will pan out, do we have the advantage of having run an U23 team last year? Most clubs didn’t.
I too have concerns about leadership on the pitch (and off it) but it may turn out to be a very strange season, I’m expecting the quality of the league to drop significantly, but I live in hope.
What the club needs is positivity, on the pitch and off it, including the crowd, including me.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Gilliead is played in CM seeing we have plenty of decent wide players and strikers, I hope Colclough is brought back into the squad but my biggest concern is keeper, I want to see a massive improvement with Rory, your heart is in your mouth not knowing if he will make a great save or he will make a blooper, I would love to see Kelsey given a chance, also Butroid needs to be given a chance, but I also want to see a young manager who hasn’t got the mentality of over complicating tactics.
Lewis Butroid – yes this will almost be a great season for him but still work to do.
If its true there haven’t been more than 1000 season tickets sold it is a big ask to expect the board to fund the club as in previous seasons without even knowing when there will be supporters allowed into the ground.
Regarding enthusiasm I would rather go into a season with realism and hope than predict the worst. It is true pessimists make the best prophets but I will continue to be positive. (Cheer up Brian – always look on the bright side of life)
Now Frank Vincent a centre mid player who comes with ringing endorsements. Mr Swann saving money in non essential areas, using this money wisely to amass a top six squad.
Thanks Darryn, as you say, the Manager becomes important but to avoid duplication I wouldn’t mind a head coach appointment who will be in charge of team affairs. Past managers appear to want to get a number of underlings to reduce their workload while improving their apparent worth to the club. The backroom team is still too big IMO each wanting an assistant and sometimes an assistant for the assistant. This isn’t affordable today and going back to a coach or even a player coach could be a step forward. I welcome others thoughts on what will surely be the pivotal role in the new format.
Wilcox and Pressman for u23’s and we’ve only got Mussy for the seniors atm so new boss can bring an assistant I reckon and that’s a good number.
Bish without a club. I know it’s looking backwards again but in a player/ assistant manager role could be ideal. Not to play much at 38 but there if needed and he’ll teach the kids some passion.
My biggest concern is still that there is no suggestion of our goal keeping problem, presently we have two inexperienced keepers and a youth keeper, none of these guys are really good enough for League football.
After saying that, why do we still employ two goalkeeping coaches, I know one is actimh 23s ass ,manger, but he really is a keeper coach.
If you look at the squad, it’s fairly strong in all areas besides the GK position. If we sign an experienced, solid GK, it will do us the world of good.
I don’t think Swann will want to though. Swann was asked if he thought we needed an experienced gk on Hullberside a while back and he didn’t sound too keen.
If he bites the bullet and signs a really good, commanding and experienced Gk…we’ll be in quite a handy position in terms of squad strength.
Cm was worrying we slightly but an energetic box to box left footed CM player is just what we needed. It would be a great shame if he didn’t sign a keeper because we’re pretty much covered in all other areas.
We need a bit more experience too so would be ideal from that standpoint as well.
I no longer see us as possible relegation candidates hovering around 17th or 18th but could see us achieving top half.
But there still are too many variables, unknowns and imponderables in the mix.
Look, I don’t like to see anybody lose their job but these are exceptional times and it’s happening. My point? We have 2 GK coaches for 3 GKs and our number 1 has been here over 3 years and is still not up to L2 standard.
Conclusions:-
1. We are overstaffed.
2. The coaches are ineffective.
3. Some people never learn.
Harsh? Maybe, but times are tough at the moment.
We didn’t have that bad a squad during the last two seasons, yet we churned out some dreadful stuff.
What has come across during the “in conversation” podcasts is the togetherness of the squad in the Laws/Adkins era. We have to get this back under a similarly motivational manager.
The worry is that we’ve be saying this for quite a while now. Managers in all shapes and sizes have come and gone. Some have outstayed their usefulness, others never had a chance to prove it.
And now we are in the less than ideal situation of the new manager coming in to work with players he didn’t sign!
We’ve had a good clear out but the place still looks a mess!
Well another brick in the wall. Neil Cox, 29 years after he left he returns. Not the prodigal son but a guy us older fans can remember. Personally I am delighted, it won’t be easy and we may not hit the ground running but make no mistake under the circumstances Neil is absolutely the right man for the job.
My wish his wing man will be an excellent coach who can mould this young team into an unbeatable unit.
Have the good times returned, time will tell but remember ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. Mistakes are part of the learning process and should be accepted. Forget the negatives, put your moans in the bottom drawer and get on the band wagon. If you don’t, in truth, you are not an IRON fan.
LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE. UP THE IRON.
” Mistakes are part of the learning process and should be accepted.”
Experience is learning from your mistakes, wisdom is learning from somebody else’s mistakes. (CT c1995 to his offspring)
Neil is not experienced but could have wisdom, let’s hope so.
Cassidy we employed a shit ton of staff to qualify for the next youth category with designs on moving up to the championship, while that’s well and truly fell down the wayside, we unfortunately are still carrying those staff.
To say we’re over staffed is an understatement. I’ve said it on many occasions. To be honest, it needs well and truly cutting back.
By all means if we get to that positions again and we need to take into consideration upscaling again, great but we don’t need all of them at this moment in time.
Big question is though how much it would cost to restructure the staff to a league 2 sized structure. Yes, they will all obviously need paying and will drain the club but it’s finding the money upfront to pay them off which I fear may be the issue.
Tyler Cordner – another brick in the wall. Cox signing and he has seen him play a lot more than any on here. 3-4-3 perhaps. But who cares he is the tough nut we need.
Brian the other day he said we are going to play attacking football like Peter Swann confirmed last night and a 4-4-2 formation like they PL ayed against Doncaster and Hull.
Brian the other day he said we are going to play attacking football like Peter Swann confirmed last night and a 4-4-2 formation like they PL ayed against Doncaster and Hull.
That’s it then 4-4-2 until the end of time, or at least to the end of Neil’s stint as manager?
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