@danamalt@DomShawEcho Losing arguably the only player capable of playing a splitting pass for the attackers to run onto (rather than trying to pick up the ball and travel before shooting) is going to be difficult to replace - not to mention his goals which far outweigh any other MF in the squad
IMO @schwarzer_mark gave an impartial assessment of the game last night and held back on criticism, respectfully. We gave it a good go over 2 legs, but the gap between PL and EFL gets wider every season.
@thepinkponce Recruitment pre-season regarding CF has been dreadful. Wilder last season was left without a striker and Carrick this season. Akpom was a fluke last season in terms of how he got reintegrated into the squad out of pure lack of options so he can’t be counted in reality
@AndrewHaslam79@GraemeBandeira@NahItsLyingTho To be fair to Wilder, he said it time and time again, in pretty much every presser that he was our best player - so I don’t buy that internally the club didn’t appreciate that and how damaging the effect of not replacing him would be
@AndrewHaslam79@GraemeBandeira@NahItsLyingTho I honestly think that they thought they’d get away with it with Giles and McGree on the left. Otherwise why let Payero and Tav both leave
@AndrewHaslam79@GraemeBandeira@NahItsLyingTho No matter what club you are at, you always prepare for losing your best/most influential player and have a list of possible replacements to hand. Unless you’re Boro recruitment. Eyes shut, fingers in ears. And yet not one journo asks the club such pertinent questions
@AndrewHaslam79@GraemeBandeira@NahItsLyingTho I don’t question that they’re not trying. But they’ve been dealt a a bad hand by wiping the squad of pace and movement. Even Sporar would drag defenders/midfielders to the channels giving Crooks and Jones space to exploit.
@GraemeBandeira@AndrewHaslam79@NahItsLyingTho We simply do not have a captain in the squad. Nobody vocal or who will hold underperformance/mistakes/going missing on the pitch to account
@AndrewHaslam79@GraemeBandeira@NahItsLyingTho With a CM choice of Howson, Crooks, McGree, McNair there is zero pace. Shows how much Tav’s running was crucial to that midfield dynamic. Criminal not to replace that
@AndrewHaslam79@GraemeBandeira File under ‘plays for a big club so must be good’. The Championship is relentless in terms of balls pumped into the box on top of a keeper without a world class defence to help. A tough ask for any GK with no EFL experience regardless of quality
@AndrewHaslam79@GraemeBandeira A lot to be said for allowing the likes of Bamba and Peltier go in the summer - players that can offer advice and coaching to a defence devoid of confidence. They didn’t need to play week in week out, simply being there as experienced heads was invaluable
@GraemeBandeira Exactly that. Weak spine always a recipe for disaster. GK, CB, CM and ST. Not one of those positions really has a player you can say week in week out they’re on the team sheet because of attitude, reliability and performance. They’re simply on there because they’re what we have
@GraemeBandeira@sknab1 Listening to Warnock recently - NB is very good at bringing in the money and spreadsheets/cash flow but it was a struggle to get signings over the line and felt he lacked support. Just hope we’re not hearing the same from Wilder when window shuts (if he is still here)…