ianofcleveleys

Hannibal Lectern

Quite some game that, Celtic could have been two down (two disallowed) then scored three worldies

I don't see him changing much at all from last Sat, only maybe in defence if he feels their front men are sorts more suited to Davies at CB than Famewo. Famewo was in their last week, at least in my eyes, because of the sort of front man PNE had in Osmajic. I'm not over keen on him at LB, rarely gets forward and not a great passer of a ball of what we've seen so far. Conway might stay in there.

No doubt last year, in L1 football, he blew a bit more cold than hot, had too many games where he was remembered for little other than doing his 'cut inside then balloon it into Row Z' thing, and was of very limited help to the full back behind him when we lost the ball But, Sheff W game and last Sat showed promising signs of his decision making and productivity for the team improving, three great balls across first half v Sheff W, another couple on Sat, as well as a goal where he kept the shot down.

Wrexham should have put it to bed well before, created 4 or 5 good situations, hit woodwork twice

Indeed, not overly bothered about Wrexham, dont mind them much, Cardiff having a sticky start would be good news. GT another solid game for Wrexham EDIT - not so sticky now, what a free kick!

Wouldn't disagree with that, if he hadnt started but come on with 20 left on Sat he'd have done a solid job of keeping the ball up their end and we might have been under less pressure at the end. I do think though that on some sub occasions he charges around like a headless chicken, whereas on Saturday, starting the game meant he got into the pace of it more easily and was effective

Any judgement of McAtee or any of ours after Saturday needs to be tempered by how gentle an introduction to the Championship Preston gave us. They were miles off it for 70 odd minutes, didn't press us with any urgency, allowed us to get out of defensive situations and move the ball through the thirds easily. Very little of our build up play was made under any great pressure. McAtee certainly had, for him, a welcome productive day, good on him for that. It wasn't one though that meant his long term limitations should be glossed over.

There were a couple of balls played forward today that someone like Kenny would have raced onto and relished. We could do with someone who can stretch and get beyond back lines

It wasn't a particularly easy situation for any of the three subs to positively catch the eye in. Hardie's an 'off the target man' sort of striker, not someone who's going to help keep you up the other end of the pitch. Dong was a bit unlucky prior to their goal, was ratting around trying to get hold of the ball, couple of ricochet and it popped out for them to start the break Not a situation SS would have ideally introduced any of them but we got away with it

It was tricky for him today with the subs, had to throw people in who'd only walked in the building in the last couple of days and take something of a gamble with EE, who rarely finished games in L1. I might have put someone like Watson on rather than Hardie, to buzz around Dalby and get about their players, but SS got pretty much everything right today Likes of Sam and Hardie will hopefully get a bit more up to speed with another week on board.

Although Preston were not much of a guide to the level, EE may be one of those who looks better a step up, as with Sheehan. Both those two recycled and then looked after the ball ever so well. EE in particular had it on a string for 70 odd minutes

Any giddiness needs to be tempered by us not being likely to come across a side as bad as Preston for some while but it was a great afternoon and 3 points on the board. Fair play to SS, a few surprises in the selection but entirely justified as it turned out. McAtee and EE both making major contributions. Not sure about Famewo against footballing sides but against PNE's Bradford impression he was ideal, did the agricultural stuff well. Our right hand side was the best takeaway from last week and it was super solid today, Stephenson really decent and Larry is a very good player. Also looks like some work's been done with Gale over Summer, still did one of his Row Z efforts but, aside from his good goal, he made (like last week) a lot better use of the ball. Lots to like and enjoy, 3 points down, another 47 to go!

Considering also that the segregation area in SSL on East Side is very small by comparison

Clearly the loss of RR and Simons is a big factor in us going into this month's games looking well short, when added to the shortages out wide / up front. It's also hard to judge which, if any, of the new lads will be upgrades on what we've let go and hack it in Championship, until they've actually come up against such opponents at least 3 or 4 times. As things stand today though, on the eve of our first game, we look some way short of a squad that will take points off even those in the bottom third. Any sort of positive result tomorrow, whether by way of an OG, a blunder, a dodgy pen or whatever, will be a big bonus

That's about it, I reckon SS will be checking back on his dash cam footage to see if he's run over any black cats recently. It's a big blow, without question, and SS will earn his corn and some finding a way for us to get points over that period without what RR brings. Championship's new Dogs of War incoming

He didn't always start under SS at Plymouth and scored a fair number of his goals late on, off the bench, when defences were tiring and bits of spaces appeared. He's a finisher, something we clearly lack. Hopefully gets a better run of injury free weeks and months with us, if so, all good.

Although it's been argued earlier (and with reason) that our reliance on loans last season is biting us on the arse, so is the legacy of indulging Evatt with fees and contracts to the degree he was, on the likes of Schon, Randall, Lolos. There's a thread of its own on the pros and cons of McAtee but I'd also include him. That £2.5m wouldn't necessarily be a game changing amount of course, but it's money spent with next to nil return in terms of contribution to our promotion and a limiting factor to the flexibility and ambition with which SS can currently operate

These preview articles / pods by NTT20 and others probably ought to come with a caveat that they'll repeat/revise them first week of September. A lot of clubs might be in different places personnel-wise by then. I sincerely hope we're one such club.

Agree with this, there's been a lot of talk before and since yesterday along the 'glorified friendly', 'pre-season comp', 'wont care if we're out of it' lines. Almost that playing round 1 before league starts has lowered its status compared to if it was played a week on Tuesday as has been tradition. What it does do is miss the trick you've set out, we've been used to bedding new boys in through Pizza Cup and maybe a couple of games in Carabao. None of that open to us now. We made a balls of that yesterday

SS has said the other week he wants at least two more strikers, of different types, one to run in behind and stretch defences, the other a physical presence / aerial threat type

I'll base it on my own judgement, having watched all the friendlies and today. Even if Randall wasn't already history, based on his absence from the last three squads, he wouldn't be near being in front of Watson anyway. Watson hasnt ripped any trees up but did well enough in each of the friendlies, today wasn't a great situation for any of the subs to come into, only Dong in a couple of flashes made much impression.

Daughter went to Uni in Sheff 16 years ago, never came back, settled there, fair to say I enjoy my visits to hers 😊🍺

Don't disagree re RR, he'd have to play himself out of the team really, the most creative body we have at the minute

Friendlies and today have shown, for me, that Dalby wont get into double figures in this league if he's being asked / trying to be two things at once. If he's coming deep to hold it up and bring people in he hasn't the pace to then get on the end of crosses that follow. If he stays high up and is a goalmouth loiterer RR will have a lot to do as the link between midfield and him. SS has said he wants someone (such as Kenny) who has the pace to get beyond him and their back line. If he plays though, as you say, where does RR fit in? Finding the mix that gets us scoring but accommodates our few Championship level performers is going to be a challenge.