Transfer Gossip

[masi 51]

No excuses and every credit to the board for this backing................As they use to say in the backstreets of Bolton growing up

 

Shit or bust!!

[Farrelli]

The recruitment has been excellent. COYWM👍

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

I'm swimming against the tide by the sounds of it but Sheehan's best position seems to me to be that deeper role - it's where he played for Newport County and it's where he found a role in our starting eleven

We might change formation so we end up with two deeper maybe, but an Evatt team will always have someone dropping to collect possession from the centre halves, whether it's Sheehan or Matete

I think I'll also reserve judgement on our signings for now until I've seen them play/we know how fit they are (although McAtee would clearly be a very good addition)

[Ros Coe]

Do we still need/want the 2 Prem loanees that Evatt hinted at? If so there will be a few disgruntled new arrivals who can’t get into the team..🤷‍♂️

[tomski]

Defo feels like something good is being done in this transfer window.

Cant get super excited till we see who starts and where. 

Hopeful is probably where I’m at.

The board have really backed em once again.
 

 

[Dr. Feelgood]

A good, busy, window & I still feel there's a couple to come.

However, the first time this new look team passes the ball aimlessly between Santos & full/wing backs, to Santos, to keeper, to Santos & he stands with the ball, makes a roll-up, reads the paper & eats his lunch while the opponents gather 11 back I'll feel none of it has changed. 78% possession & losing 0-1 is my nightmare.

THAT, not who we've signed, will be the test.

[Leyther_Matt]

9 hours ago, Stig said:

3 at the back really is 5 at the back. We're never playing midfielders/wingers in those positions, but defenders who are being asked to be a bit more attacking.

Therefore 532/523 is less attacking than a 4 at the back variant at a basic level.

I don’t entirely disagree - although our wingbacks have varied wildly in defensive ability under IE - but that isn’t what Fred the Red said. 

[gonzo]

1 hour ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

I'm swimming against the tide by the sounds of it but Sheehan's best position seems to me to be that deeper role - it's where he played for Newport County and it's where he found a role in our starting eleven

We might change formation so we end up with two deeper maybe, but an Evatt team will always have someone dropping to collect possession from the centre halves, whether it's Sheehan or Matete

I think I'll also reserve judgement on our signings for now until I've seen them play/we know how fit they are (although McAtee would clearly be a very good addition)

All about tempo isn't it.

Nothing wrong with Sheehan collecting deep. Every good team in the land has someone doing that. Rodri, Jorginho etc. 

Trouble is when Santos takes that long to finally release the ball Sheehans got 2 sweaty attackers all over his back and our full backs are cut off. 

Tempo tempo tempo. We were at our best last season with tempo and early balls down the channels or into the box.

 

[L/H White]

We're nailed on to win the pizza again

[Rizlar]

6 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

I'd be surprised if they even try to reintroduce "Sheehan's deeper role" now that Buckingham graphically demonstrated how it can be totally nullifed and everyone will have seen the video. Gone are the days of Santos making the short straight pass to Sheehan so he has time to turn and distribute as he wishes IMO. The 4 in the middle is designed to give more options passing out from the back but it's still a concern to me as Johnston, Santos and Toal's mid range passing is "variable" in quality (which is why Sheehan was dropping back to pick up the ball) and now teams will try to force the back three to pass it out themselves. In fact I'm wondering if Sheehan will have any role this season. He's no DM and he gets targeted and occasionally man-marked to stop him spraying it around so I'm not convinced he'll be part of the new plans - which seems to be geared towards a more athletic powerful approach.

I genuinely wouldn't be shocked if we sold Sheehan, but if he can carve out a new role for himself in this squad, fair enough because he's a talented player.

Excellent post Lusty totally agree 👍

[Tonge moor green jacket]

11 hours ago, barrycowdrill said:

Sheehan along with Baxter, santos and Charles are the spine. They’ll play every week when fit. Chuck Collins in there too and there’s a lot of competition for the remaining 6 spots 

We'll see. 

Sheehan went missing when it got physical and opponents shut him down. 

Part of the reason we need a plan B.

We've also got more midfielders now, and supposedly fewer places in the team for them.

 

[barrycowdrill]

2 hours ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

I'm swimming against the tide by the sounds of it but Sheehan's best position seems to me to be that deeper role - it's where he played for Newport County and it's where he found a role in our starting eleven

We might change formation so we end up with two deeper maybe, but an Evatt team will always have someone dropping to collect possession from the centre halves, whether it's Sheehan or Matete

I think I'll also reserve judgement on our signings for now until I've seen them play/we know how fit they are (although McAtee would clearly be a very good addition)

I completely agree. Sheehan is best in that deeper role. He might not get about the pitch and smash people as that CDM role makes people believe is needed and Evatt has said it himself in the past that actually the work Sheehan does defensively is clever and underrated. He blocks off passing channels and cuts angles with his positioning. Obviously there are times where he gets passed by but as a team we’re prone to that risk anyway because we commit so many men in to the oppositions half. 
 

some of the best teams in the world have had a footballer as the “pivot” Busquets, Pirlo etc. now I’m not comparing him or us to those players or sides by any stretch of the imagination but it’s more about the principle of how we want to play. Control the ball, dictate play, try and pass through the lines etc. and there’s no one better for us than Sheehan. 
 

the change to 2 in the middle with 1 man sat at the side of him can only be a good thing in my eyes. GT, Demps or Mateta do the leg work. Win it back and give it to Sheehan to start again. There’ll also be an expectation for one of the 10s to drop and sit in front of them when we don’t have the ball so we still have the midfield 3 alongside a wing back sitting in dependant on which side the ball is and whose pressing.. 

[Farrelli]

7 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

I'd be surprised if they even try to reintroduce "Sheehan's deeper role" now that Buckingham graphically demonstrated how it can be totally nullifed and everyone will have seen the video. Gone are the days of Santos making the short straight pass to Sheehan so he has time to turn and distribute as he wishes IMO. The 4 in the middle is designed to give more options passing out from the back but it's still a concern to me as Johnston, Santos and Toal's mid range passing is "variable" in quality (which is why Sheehan was dropping back to pick up the ball) and now teams will try to force the back three to pass it out themselves. In fact I'm wondering if Sheehan will have any role this season. He's no DM and he gets targeted and occasionally man-marked to stop him spraying it around so I'm not convinced he'll be part of the new plans - which seems to be geared towards a more athletic powerful approach.

I genuinely wouldn't be shocked if we sold Sheehan, but if he can carve out a new role for himself in this squad, fair enough because he's a talented player.

No chance. Sheehan will be bossing the game again many times this season and when he is doing that we are at our best. You don’t dispose of your best footballer but you have to be proactive in changing it when the opposition do what Oxford did. After 20 minutes at Wembley Evatt should have made a tactical change and hopefully he has learned.

[Rizlar]

14 minutes ago, Farrelli said:

No chance. Sheehan will be bossing the game again many times this season and when he is doing that we are at our best. You don’t dispose of your best footballer but you have to be proactive in changing it when the opposition do what Oxford did. After 20 minutes at Wembley Evatt should have made a tactical change and hopefully he has learned.

I hope you are right because if IE hasn’t learnt we will be in for a long season. 

[Farrelli]

7 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

I hope you are right because if IE hasn’t learnt we will be in for a long season. 

The signs are that he has

[Wanderlust]

11 minutes ago, Farrelli said:

No chance. Sheehan will be bossing the game again many times this season and when he is doing that we are at our best. You don’t dispose of your best footballer but you have to be proactive in changing it when the opposition do what Oxford did. After 20 minutes at Wembley Evatt should have made a tactical change and hopefully he has learned.

I hope you are right TBH but I can't see a role for Josh in the new system. Before his deep role, Sheehan started off playing further forward as a 10 and did great for a while before he was noticed but then his influence waned as opposition managers nullified him - so he was taken out of the mix and reinvented as a sort of 6 and again did well picking it up from deep - but again he's been targeted.

The thing is that given time and space there are a lot of good players who can spray it around, but he's not being given any time and space and being so lightweight and lacking pace compared to others - and especially compared to the athletes we've been recruiting - I'm wondering if he still figures in our new plans? Maybe all these runners are being brought in to provide options for him and protect him - but at some point the other players have to take responsibility themselves rather than leave it up to him. And he's not the only one who can find a killer pass - e.g.  Lolos to Dion the other day.

Love the guy and what he's done for us but we seem to be changing up a gear.

[barrycowdrill]

Some seem to be forgetting Sheehan was our player of the year last season. By some distance. Tweaks to a system that got us close to promotion? Yes. Removing arguably the most important cog within it and starting again? Absolutely no chance. 

[Dr. Feelgood]

17 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

I hope you are right because if IE hasn’t learnt we will be in for a long season. 

If IE hasn't learned he'll be gone. The fan's patience has been sorely tested since January, not just the Wembley game.

The club have backed him & tje fan's will, so long as he delivers. If he doesn't, especially if he responds with his stubborn arrogance it won't be tolerated.

He had points in the bag, but they're spent. He needs to deliver.

[Farnywhite]

8 minutes ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

If IE hasn't learned he'll be gone. The fan's patience has been sorely tested since January, not just the Wembley game.

The club have backed him & tje fan's will, so long as he delivers. If he doesn't, especially if he responds with his stubborn arrogance it won't be tolerated.

He had points in the bag, but they're spent. He needs to deliver.

The problem is the division is going to be a lot tougher by delivering what position are you expecting for him to keep is job ? I think anything inside the play offs as the season progresses he is safe 

[Wanderlust]

1 minute ago, barrycowdrill said:

Some seem to be forgetting Sheehan was our player of the year last season. By some distance. Tweaks to a system that got us close to promotion? Yes. Removing arguably the most important cog within it and starting again? Absolutely no chance. 

The most important cog in a different system though. If we also adopt a different playing style/approach, THEN I would be concerned for Josh.

Look at it the other way round - would you say that the players we have recruited were chosen to fit in with the way we played last season?

I'm not sure they were - after all that system featuring Josh which tried playing him in two different roles has failed to get us promoted in two consecutive seasons and there's an air of "shit or bust" about this season.

I genuinely don't know which way it will go - just saying there is a possibility we are changing.

 

[barrycowdrill]

6 minutes ago, Wanderlust said:

The most important cog in a different system though. If we also adopt a different playing style/approach, THEN I would be concerned for Josh.

Look at it the other way round - would you say that the players we have recruited were chosen to fit in with the way we played last season?

I'm not sure they were - after all that system featuring Josh which tried playing him in two different roles has failed to get us promoted in two consecutive seasons and there's an air of "shit or bust" about this season.

I genuinely don't know which way it will go - just saying there is a possibility we are changing.

 

It’s hardly a different system and it’s definitely not a new way of playing. We’ve essentially pushed one midfield position further forward and made it a number 10 and GT who you could argue was a number 8 last season a bit more disciplined and sat alongside Sheehan. Still with the freedom to get up and support attacks. A tweak at best. Whether that’s to give him more protection I don’t know only time will tell but his role will be exactly the same. 
 

we’ve now got 3 midfielders who have the legs to a) play alongside him and do the “dirty” work but b) also support going forward. 
 

there won’t be many games where it’s not Sheehan and one of the 3. 

Edited August 9, 2024 by barrycowdrill

[Wanderlust]

3 minutes ago, barrycowdrill said:

It’s hardly a different system and it’s definitely not a new way of playing. We’ve essentially pushed one midfield position further forward and made it a number 10 and GT who you could argue was a number 8 last season a bit more disciplined and sat alongside Sheehan. Still with the freedom to get up and support attacks. A tweak at best. Whether that’s to give him more protection I don’t know only time will tell but his role will be exactly the same. 
 

we’ve now got 3 midfielders who have the legs to a) play alongside him and do the “dirty” work but b) also support going forward. 
 

there won’t be many games where it’s not Sheehan and one of the 3. 

Hope you're right Barry. He'll certainly start the season like that whilst the newbies are settling in and the walking dead get up to speed and then we'll see how it goes when the transfer window closes in 3 weeks time. Can't see us selling him but I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility.

[Farrelli]

45 minutes ago, Wanderlust said:

I hope you are right TBH but I can't see a role for Josh in the new system. Before his deep role, Sheehan started off playing further forward as a 10 and did great for a while before he was noticed but then his influence waned as opposition managers nullified him - so he was taken out of the mix and reinvented as a sort of 6 and again did well picking it up from deep - but again he's been targeted.

The thing is that given time and space there are a lot of good players who can spray it around, but he's not being given any time and space and being so lightweight and lacking pace compared to others - and especially compared to the athletes we've been recruiting - I'm wondering if he still figures in our new plans? Maybe all these runners are being brought in to provide options for him and protect him - but at some point the other players have to take responsibility themselves rather than leave it up to him. And he's not the only one who can find a killer pass - e.g.  Lolos to Dion the other day.

Love the guy and what he's done for us but we seem to be changing up a gear.

Luckily you are not manager then 

[W.cramp]

Anybody spotted mcatee at burger king yet?   

[Farrelli]

44 minutes ago, barrycowdrill said:

Some seem to be forgetting Sheehan was our player of the year last season. By some distance. Tweaks to a system that got us close to promotion? Yes. Removing arguably the most important cog within it and starting again? Absolutely no chance. 

Absolutely 👍 Sheehan is a player who could step up to championship level which is what we will need soon. Would be madness to get shut of a player with his ability