bluebruce

Not that I disagree, but it's a problem for Tyjon if he can't play as a lone forward. That's almost all the modern game has to offer a striker. Wouldn't say he has the pace to play wide in a front 3 either. I think the last sentence I've quoted is pertinent. Gueye is surely in need of some match fitness at this point, even if we want him to be of use from the bench.

In the summer he was being looked at as a winger. So assessing his attacking abilities was very much relevant. A defensive winger can serve a purpose occasionally but mostly you need one that can attack, if you haven't got a dire or highly attacking full back behind him. He looked much more comfortable last night playing as a wingback.

Chaddy would predict 46 wins in a row.

Actually he took a free kick or goal kick, and sent it straight out of play.

And Toth's. Kinda amazing that he managed to get injured in a game where the opponents didn't have a single shot on target 😂 Hope he's not out long...in fact I hope he is back for Derby but may be too much to ask. Pears is a better keeper than he was a couple of years ago, but...he still worries me in goal.

It's a very strange pick. Alebiousu is far better, even just from this summer's signings. They've literally picked Gudjohnsen because of his dad and having been at Real's academy. And this list was picked before he scored too. It's someone who has never seen us play. But yes, this was a poor summer window on current evidence.

Honestly, I would expect his stock has dropped, at least a bit. He was expected to be a Championship squad player this season and he hasn't been anywhere near it. Prem clubs will notice he hasn't developed as expected. I'm not sure he will still get 10k pw offers unless that changes by season end. Tbh I got the impression in the summer Arsenal only wanted him for their u21s and the off chance he makes it, rather than thinking he's the real deal.

No.

Who says he would be any good at being a loan manager? Rhodes knew how to move and knew how to finish. It was pretty much all he was good at and what he made his career out of. If he doesn't know how to tell people those techniques, he's probably an idiot and shouldn't be employed in any post-playing capacity with us. What experience would I expect...well if you look at Joleon Lescott, he didn't go immediately from playing into being City's Loan Manager. He coached with the England U21s. Sam Hayball likewise didn't just become a Loan Manager. He was a non-player who started as an Academy Analyst then a First Team Analyst. Then he became a Loan Coordinator under his predecessor. All of that builds him up for the role better than someone who used to kick a ball in the net but apparently doesn't know how to tell anybody how to do that. Both your examples worked in youth football for a while. Presumably they also impressed, showed they understood football properly (which you need as a Loan Manager if you're choosing the clubs to navigate the career paths of young players) and developed the ability to integrate with different parts of the club. If you can't coach, you probably aren't a very good Loan Manager. And if you haven't worked with young players I don't see what you bring to the party.

It still boggles my mind that probably the most instinctive goalscorer we have had since Shearer (Rhodes had no physical attributes of note, silky skills etc, he just know where to move in the box and could finish) has been employed here...but as a loan manager which he has no relevant experience for, rather than as a, ya know, striker coach where I would have absolutely welcomed him. God our lads could do with some of his nous.

I'm not sure if my point is coming across. We don't know how far either team's players are from the incident when it starts in order to determine how many of each should have got there by the time it ends. Not from that clip. Quite frankly our player is also the provocateur and is on top in no need of help until the other Sheff U players get there and it escalates. Their lot feel more urgency as it's their lad being dragged about. And the clip may be several seconds but it's slowed down. And in answer, about 5 or 6 Rovers players appear to have joined Taylor on the clip by the time it's done. At least one of the ones with yellow bibs is a Rovers player and I think the rest are too.

And they may have been closer.

The clip doesn't show how far away those teammates were in the first place though.

Hardy har. I think it's pretty obvious that people who love their shit circumstances are welcome to them.

The fans who find the status quo acceptable absolutely do deserve this. It's the rest of us who don't.

You don't generally buy goalkeepers with the prospect of making a profit on them. They rarely change hands for high values. Any profits in question are usually small compared to profits from spending similar amounts on outfield players.

The club is of course a mess, but this is a strange stick to beat them with. What it shows is how quickly jingoistic lies spread on the Internet these days. In the current climate this sort of thing could spread quickly at any club and need putting down. The club have acted quickly to quash it, and that's the right move. They're not to blame, whichever pillock fabricated this is.

I really don't think that matters when they won 3 out of 4 world cups.

The thing is, you can't really know at this point. Players can falter or accelerate in their development rapidly. At one point, Grant Hanley was considered a superior prospect to Phil Jones. Adam Henley was allegedly being scouted by Real Madrid after putting in corking performances against Manure and Liverpool. We didn't need Zidane because we had Tim Sherwood. Obviously we can't sign them all up, but we should be signing up the most promising ones, and the ones handling their current level best. Not just the ones we currently think are going to be Championship level.

You were expecting a 'hat tricks in the top tier' level of player from him? That seems a bit much tbf. There has been hype but not that much.

Yeh I'm not saying he won't make it, but he doesn't seem to be where the hype train suggested he would be. I had the impression he was going to be a useful squad or at least bench option this season. Now that seems like it's maybe 2 seasons away.

Speaking of compo, did the compensation for Finneran ever get sorted?

A lot of his goals this season seem to be penalties, scored one for the England youth side too. I dunno, despite all the hype I'm not really seeing why he was so highly touted, apart from a couple of nice moments when he first rocked up as a 15 year old. I agree with Rigger, doesn't seem ready for Championship football. Needs to sign that contract so we can get him out on loan. Suspect he will just leave in the summer for compo instead though.

I still consider this a meaningless stat.

Wow, I really thought he'd played 2 or 3 times that much. Maybe we have judged him a bit too quickly, given he actually looked fairly decent in his first game or two. Older players have been crap for far longer than that before coming good.