Winter Improvement Thread (aka Winter Squad Weakening Thread and TWF Suicide Watch)

[Johnny75]

There is a difference in first team football from U21's at whatever level - there will be older/harder/more cynical players he will have been up against.

Those games will have helped, though agree that putting him straight in wouldn't have hurt on this occasion - problem for a Manager is whether they can cope immediately - Kenny is cautious & would have taken that sort of route

I think you're right PLF, it's one of the biggest complaints that managers have in that U21 stuff isn't a good enough bridge to high level first team football.

 

[slink]

There is a difference in first team football from U21's at whatever level - there will be older/harder/more cynical players he will have been up against.

Those games will have helped, though agree that putting him straight in wouldn't have hurt on this occasion - problem for a Manager is whether they can cope immediately - Kenny is cautious & would have taken that sort of route

I know there is a difference, under 21 football is awful. The standard of that league is shocking but i just don't think the 5/6 games made that much of a difference for Graham apart from show he was ready but Jackett should have known that anyway. It's obvious in his appearances for us that he should have been in the team at the start of the season.

 

[Parkins left foot]

I know there is a difference, under 21 football is awful. The standard of that league is shocking but i just don't think the 5/6 games made that much of a difference for Graham apart from show he was ready but Jackett should have known that anyway. It's obvious in his appearances for us that he should have been in the team at the start of the season.

From Graham's point of view it probably didn't, but gave Kenny the confidence to think he could cope with first team football & hence give him the chance.

As said Kenny is a cautious Manager

 

[slink]

From Graham's point of view it probably didn't, but gave Kenny the confidence to think he could cope with first team football & hence give him the chance.

As said Kenny is a cautious Manager

Yeah that's what i mean, it showed Kenny that Graham was ready and i understand he's cautious but he should be seeing that JG is ready without sending him on loan for 6 games.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Yeah that's what i mean, it showed Kenny that Graham was ready and i understand he's cautious but he should be seeing that JG is ready without sending him on loan for 6 games.

Doubt that Kenny will change (character doesn't tend to that much from his age on - & I should know)

He was unlikely to put Graham in without the loan which proved to him that Graham could cope - so at least an early loan & return allowed him in with a decent portion of the season still to go

 

[Carrotdude]

We might make a couple more signings in this window but I don't expect anything to change football wise. Ken will keep playing this 'McCarthy in the premier league' style football which will get us enough results to keep us in mid table and that will keep the board and Morgan happy I would think. Can't see anything changing until someone buys the club. Also, if I was Benik Afobe I'd be pretty keen to move to a team that might actually try and create chances for him and give him some help.

 

[Lycan]

Also, if I was Benik Afobe I'd be pretty keen to move to a team that might actually try and create chances for him and give him some help.

He'd be brilliant in that Derby team.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

We might make a couple more signings in this window but I don't expect anything to change football wise. Ken will keep playing this 'McCarthy in the premier league' style football which will get us enough results to keep us in mid table and that will keep the board and Morgan happy I would think. Can't see anything changing until someone buys the club. Also, if I was Benik Afobe I'd be pretty keen to move to a team that might actually try and create chances for him and give him some help.

To be fair I don't even remember McCarthy being as negative as this very often, he was more of a pure work rate fanatic than throwing numbers behind the ball from what I remember.

He'd be brilliant in that Derby team.

Have they changed their approach a bit under Clement then? Don't think I've seen anything of them other than when Wolves went up there this season but would never have thought Afobe could've replaced Martin in the system they used last year.

 

[sycophantia]

We might make a couple more signings in this window but I don't expect anything to change football wise. Ken will keep playing this 'McCarthy in the premier league' style football which will get us enough results to keep us in mid table and that will keep the board and Morgan happy I would think. Can't see anything changing until someone buys the club. Also, if I was Benik Afobe I'd be pretty keen to move to a team that might actually try and create chances for him and give him some help.

Really hope your wrong, I'm hoping this is a temporary style/tactics to get us out of the shit we were in and give the defence a bit of confidence, I'm hoping only till Williamson comes in/gets fit which will give us a bit more stability and cohesion at the back allowing us to go more offensive.

 

[Lycan]

To be fair I don't even remember McCarthy being as negative as this very often, he was more of a pure work rate fanatic than throwing numbers behind the ball from what I remember.



Have they changed their approach a bit under Clement then? Don't think I've seen anything of them other than when Wolves went up there this season but would never have thought Afobe could've replaced Martin in the system they used last year.

He's not the same type of player as Martin, no. Martin hasn't scored for 10 games or so though.

This front 6 would be absolutely amazing though.

Johnson Thorne Butterfield

Ince Afobe Russell

 

[Carrotdude]

I hope so too, I just think with the position we're in as long as we stay in this division the board will be happy for things to carry on like this and Ken won't change too much.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

He's not the same type of player as Martin, no. Martin hasn't scored for 10 games or so though.

This front 6 would be absolutely amazing though.

Johnson Thorne Butterfield

Ince Afobe Russell

On paper it looks good but if they're still playing through Martin a lot, even without him getting on the scoresheet, then I just don't see Afobe providing the same focal point as the big Scot, his movement and link up isn't anything like the same. Think they'd have to adapt to him much like when they had Bent filling in for Martin, someone playing off the shoulder looking to be the end point of their attacks rather than the focal point.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Winter Improvement Thread 2015/2016

After we beat West Ham away in March 2010, Mick went ultra negative towards the end as draws were pretty much good enough. Foley playing theoretically as the right sided forward and Mancienne/Henry holding hands three yards in front of the centre halves. You could at least see more reasoning behind that though, an obvious goal to the shit football, for an obviously finite amount of time, against good teams with much greater resources than us in every sense (none of that applies now).

 

[Lycan]

On paper it looks good but if they're still playing through Martin a lot, even without him getting on the scoresheet, then I just don't see Afobe providing the same focal point as the big Scot, his movement and link up isn't anything like the same. Think they'd have to adapt to him much like when they had Bent filling in for Martin, someone playing off the shoulder looking to be the end point of their attacks rather than the focal point.

Martin was dropped for Bent for the Leeds game so I'm not sure he's been linking the play all that effectively lately anyway.

Afobe is a very versatile forward, he should be able to play multiple roles in an attack with as much talent as Derby has. Jackett's hand wringing this season over how to fit Afobe into the team alongside Dicko/le Fondre has been nothing short of embarrassing IMO.

 

[Tony Towner]

Derby fans have had enough of Martin as they don't think he offers enough and (rightly) think Bent is a lazy bastard. They want a proper goalscorer. I don't watch them much when they don't play us, but Martin destroyed us two years running at their place. They have the squad to do it, but putting Afobe in would require them setting up differently. Ironically the way we have played over Xmas would suit Martin a lot more than it does Afobe.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Derby fans have had enough of Martin as they don't think he offers enough and (rightly) think Bent is a lazy bastard. They want a proper goalscorer. I don't watch them much when they don't play us, but Martin destroyed us two years running at their place. They have the squad to do it, but putting Afobe in would require them setting up differently. Ironically the way we have played over Xmas would suit Martin a lot more than it does Afobe.

The way Wolves have set up over Christmas doesn't really suit any forward, unless you got some beast of an all rounder like Drogba in his pomp to drop well below the level they deserve to be at and let them take the world on by themselves.

Martin would have a better chance of holding the ball up for longer than Afobe but when he's on song with Derby he's great at linking stuff up between the runners around him, he doesn't really have to try and hold onto it for any period of time to get others involved.

 

[Tony Towner]

Yep, no forward ideally plays in a system where the nearest player to him is 40 yds away. Martin back to goal with 3 runners off him has been immense when we've been to their place these last two seasons, but for whatever reason they haven't been destroying other teams there like they have us.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Other teams defend better than Wolves?

 

[Tony Towner]

I think it's partly that, partly a naivety from the manager in the way he has set us up both times and partly that on both occasions it has just clicked for them, Martin's goal this year as an example, he just doesn't normally score goals like that.

 

[Lycan]

It's also giving them too much respect. Ken has a massive hard on for Derby County. In the build up to our games he goes on at length about how wonderful Chris Martin & Jeff Hendrick are, how brilliant their system is and how one day, if we work really hard, we can aspire to be as perfect as they are.