(That long since we've had any, couldn't find the thread)

Alan Nixon: "Top Liverpool starlet Cameron Branagan will Ben allowed out on loan in Jan.

Bolton lead the race for the 20 year old midfielder"

Edited December 11, 20169 yr by Ratwhite

7 minutes ago, Wanderlust said:

I agree but he shouldn't have come on in that game as he was clearly not up to speed either in fitness terms or knowing his teammates. I fully appreciate that Victor needed a rest after working his nads off, but SS could have switched things up tactically without risking him.

Etete has good feet and will make a good focal point once he's ready but got slaughtered mainly because of the pen and the attempted header of the cross that was just too high for him anyway - once he gets to know his teammates better he'll sort out the positioning and movement etc and be able to drag us up the park.

I’m just puzzled why he was started when we had Lolos who could have come in there and is already well up to speed? We seem to ignore him as a striker and play him in midfield despite the fact he’s the only one who can properly head the ball.

Edited February 2, 20251 yr by Whitesince63

18 minutes ago, Whitesince63 said:

I’m just puzzled why he was started when we had Lolos who could have come in there and is already well up to speed? We seem to ignore him as a striker and play him in midfield despite the fact he’s the only one who can properly head the ball.

It could be that Schumacher already has a firm view on Lolos from his time working with him as a youngster

2 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

why did he make that mistake at all

First of all I don’t think it’s a mistake. I’m not putting all the blame on Etete or SS for bringing him on for that being the sole reason for the defeat. Collins is just as much to blame.

I can think of a number of reasons behind his decision:

1/ He knows more than we think he does about this player, he likes the look of him he wants to play him

2/ He’s fitter than he thought he was, he’s a different option on the bench

3/ He’s not sure about him but wants to see him as soon as possible, especially before tomorrow in case he needs an another forward 

There’s plenty of reasons which can explain away it not being a mistake and trying to create a drama after seeing a player for 20 minutes.  

 

Edited February 2, 20251 yr by desperado

I'm impressed we're all now experts in how fit Etete is. 

If only the club had some way to assess it ... dunno, like maybe that medical he's just had.

 

7 minutes ago, wakey said:

I'm impressed we're all now experts in how fit Etete is. 

If only the club had some way to assess it ... dunno, like maybe that medical he's just had.

 

Obviously, there's a difference between physical fitness and match fitness

Schumacher himself acknowledged it'll be a while before Etete is match sharp

2 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

Obviously, there's a difference between physical fitness and match fitness

Schumacher himself acknowledged it'll be a while before Etete is match sharp

Of course, and he needs minutes to get that sharpness.

Think he's already played a cup game for Cardiff this month. From some of the comments, you'd think he'd come on on crutches yesterday.

We're not good at giving folk a chance are we.

1 hour ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Could be.

But if he's made his mind up, and won't sign, then at some point we have to cut our losses.

If we can get a bit for him, then so be it.

My main concern isn’t that he’s not good enough for us for the rest of the season, it’s the impact he has on the likes of Forrester and Toal by keeping them out of the team.

They’re our assets, their value is going up, they need to playing week in week out. Santos being here makes that less of a possibility so for me it’s thanks for everything Rico, you’ve been an absolute beast for the majority of the time but it’s time for you to move on and find a nice contract nearer home and we’ll move on to our next generation.

Probably our stand out player of the last 5 years but it’s just the right time for everyone involved.

Edited February 2, 20251 yr by Eddie

14 minutes ago, wakey said:

Of course, and he needs minutes to get that sharpness.

Think he's already played a cup game for Cardiff this month. From some of the comments, you'd think he'd come on on crutches yesterday.

We're not good at giving folk a chance are we.

There's no denying he'll need more minutes if he's to get match fit, but he's currently not and he played poorly, with one mistake having a big impact on the result

People are going to comment on that

But that's not the point you were making, you were implying the fact he'd passed his medical meant people claiming he was unfit were wrong

Anyway, as I posted previously, he must have something given his transfer history so let's hope he can quickly get himself match fit and show it

2 hours ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Could be.

But if he's made his mind up, and won't sign, then at some point we have to cut our losses.

If we can get a bit for him, then so be it.

If he's decided he's not going to sign a new contract, it'd be in his interest to let his current one expire and negotiate his next move as a free agent

30 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

There's no denying he'll need more minutes if he's to get match fit, but he's currently not and he played poorly, with one mistake having a big impact on the result

People are going to comment on that

But that's not the point you were making, you were implying the fact he'd passed his medical meant people claiming he was unfit were wrong

Anyway, as I posted previously, he must have something given his transfer history so let's hope he can quickly get himself match fit and show it

More the fact that having just had a full medical assessment, the club are in a  far better position to gauge his fitness than any of us. I was responding to the 'why the fuck have we signed another crock' type comments.

Anyway, let's hope he has better days ahead. 

33 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

If he's decided he's not going to sign a new contract, it'd be in his interest to let his current one expire and negotiate his next move as a free agent

Unless of course someone comes in for him now.

Someone he quite fancies, but one that may not wait until the summer. 

Chance he takes.

Moreover, if he isn't playing for us, then he may drop down the pecking order for those clubs who may be interested. 

1 minute ago, wakey said:

More the fact that having just had a full medical assessment, the club are in a  far better position to gauge his fitness than any of us. I was responding to the 'why the fuck have we signed another crock' type comments.

Anyway, let's hope he has better days ahead. 

We've signed plenty of those types, all who will have passed their medical.

The chance we take.

In this situation, SS has said he won't be up to speed yet.

Given we still have a chance to qualify for the play offs, it would seem better to have someone ready to go from the off.

Could understand it if he was coming on a permanent move.

1 minute ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

 

Given we still have a chance to qualify for the play offs, it would seem better to have someone ready to go from the off.

Could understand it if he was coming on a permanent move.

Doesn't feel like this is the Charles-replacement transfer, more a low-risk, adds something different type move. 

That said, it does take up a squad place, which seem to be at a premium at the moment. Suspect we're expecting a couple at least out tomorrow. 

In fact, tomorrow could be one of the more interesting deadline days. Maybe it'll all make sense by the end of it, or maybe we'll be scratching our heads a bit, who knows.

But whoever's in or out, I'm a fuck of a lot more excited about what our manager then does with the squad he has than I would have been with Evatt.

The thing with the Charles replacement, we have some very good strikers on our team, how many of our players had we written off under the old system that now look like different players. I never thought Forrester had this in him and look at him go! Could be the change of tactics and circumstances our lads up top finally start to shine a bit more? Defenders looked better as they were the first thing JD "fixed"?

3 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

I agree but he shouldn't have come on in that game as he was clearly not up to speed either in fitness terms or knowing his teammates. I fully appreciate that Victor needed a rest after working his nads off, but SS could have switched things up tactically without risking him.

Etete has good feet and will make a good focal point once he's ready but got slaughtered mainly because of the pen and the attempted header of the cross that was just too high for him anyway - once he gets to know his teammates better he'll sort out the positioning and movement etc and be able to drag us up the park.

I don't get why very fit professional footballers suddenly can't play 90 minutes, if they are strikers.  When did this become a thing?  Forrester, Johnston and Toal (first game in months) worked their nads off and didn't need to be subbed, Jones could have easily come on for any of them.  Substitutions just for the sake of it is the modern way (but this rule doesn't cover CBs for some reason).

Victors clearly been told to bulk up, you lose fitness when you do.. Hence why he's a lot slower than he was. 

Can someone explain for me (as someone with no idea), how this Markham thing works, so he's buying players for the club regardless of who the manager is? It makes no sense to me that we're just buying players based off a scout, clearly without a manager saying yes.. 

Would be interesting to see Big Dan's play now that the teams beginning to fire on all cylinders, they clearly like him at Cambridge. 

3 hours ago, desperado said:

First of all I don’t think it’s a mistake. I’m not putting all the blame on Etete or SS for bringing him on for that being the sole reason for the defeat. Collins is just as much to blame.

I can think of a number of reasons behind his decision:

1/ He knows more than we think he does about this player, he likes the look of him he wants to play him

2/ He’s fitter than he thought he was, he’s a different option on the bench

3/ He’s not sure about him but wants to see him as soon as possible, especially before tomorrow in case he needs an another forward 

There’s plenty of reasons which can explain away it not being a mistake and trying to create a drama after seeing a player for 20 minutes.  

 

Fair points, especially no.3.  I'm sticking with it was a mistake IMO for the reasons already discussed, mainly that he doesn't look upto speed/fit, the manager hasn't seen him play and this was an important league game at 0-0 not one we were 2-0 up in, and there were other options less risky.  Etete may turn out to be OK but that's for another day, as of today he doesn't seem ready for the 1st team IMO.

Let's not go down the "create a drama" route!  Just chat, opinions.  We're all behind SS, he's got a free hit for at least this season for me, but if I think he's made a mistake I'll say that, and I know your approach will be a lot more sympathetic, as it was for IE until very late in his tenure.  Fair enough, no right or wrong and no dramas. 

15 minutes ago, only1swanny said:

Victors clearly been told to bulk up, you lose fitness when you do.. Hence why he's a lot slower than he was. 

Can someone explain for me (as someone with no idea), how this Markham thing works, so he's buying players for the club regardless of who the manager is? It makes no sense to me that we're just buying players based off a scout, clearly without a manager saying yes.. 

Would be interesting to see Big Dan's play now that the teams beginning to fire on all cylinders, they clearly like him at Cambridge. 

I thought Dan was injured and out for a while?

4 hours ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

It could be that Schumacher already has a firm view on Lolos from his time working with him as a youngster

I hope not. I'd hope & expect a 5 year gap to when he was a teenager isn't going to influence matters .... apart from Billy Crellin, obvs.

20 minutes ago, only1swanny said:

Victors clearly been told to bulk up, you lose fitness when you do.. Hence why he's a lot slower than he was. 

Can someone explain for me (as someone with no idea), how this Markham thing works, so he's buying players for the club regardless of who the manager is? It makes no sense to me that we're just buying players based off a scout, clearly without a manager saying yes.. 

Would be interesting to see Big Dan's play now that the teams beginning to fire on all cylinders, they clearly like him at Cambridge. 

We have seen enough of Dan to no he’s not the man

Bear in mind that it is claimed that Rico is injured - so he may very well be in SS's plans going forward before you write him off. Tomorrow (today?) could be interesting.

The Randell Williams tweet was down to a row he'd had with Evatt leading to him being frozen out, wasn't it?

I'd guess that the new boss might want to form his own/a different opinion on a player who has featured regularly for us.

7 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

I don't get why very fit professional footballers suddenly can't play 90 minutes, if they are strikers.  When did this become a thing?  Forrester, Johnston and Toal (first game in months) worked their nads off and didn't need to be subbed, Jones could have easily come on for any of them.  Substitutions just for the sake of it is the modern way (but this rule doesn't cover CBs for some reason).

It has become a thing since the subs have increased. Suppose forwards more than defenders as they more proactive, so make more runs off the ball for 60/70 minutes then bring fresh legs on or a different type of striker on. 
 

 

7 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

no dramas. 

 

Maybe not on here, as always, the discussion is more balanced. 

But there’s a large majority elsewhere  who are writing someone off after 20 mins and making rash judgements on players and managers, who just love creating negative drama.

Some will lurk and possibly comment on here.

So it needs calling out for what it is. 

41 minutes ago, desperado said:

 

Maybe not on here, as always, the discussion is more balanced. 

But there’s a large majority elsewhere  who are writing someone off after 20 mins and making rash judgements on players and managers, who just love creating negative drama.

Some will lurk and possibly comment on here.

So it needs calling out for what it is. 

We have some bloody drama queens following us.