Was a massive part of our success last season and was as key as any of January signings.

Not had the best of seasons for me though so far.  For a 'destroyer' he's struggled to destroy and has offered little protection to the defence.

Is it just a case of temporary poor form, or is League 1 just a step too high for him?  Is there anyone else in the squad who can do the job he does, but better?

Expecting pelters for this btw

Think he is steady but in all honesty he picks himself because we have no one who can do his job if Tutte is injured and Johnston is playing in the 3

Evatt is resting everybody bar MJ and John. Johnston may be his long term replacement but it wont be this season

Still regaining fitness from Covid. 
 

How many times has he had a regular midfielder at the side of him? 

Last night he was in a midfield with two lads he’s barely played with.

Needs time to get that relationship. Morley him and Lee look good together so not having Morley in last night was never going to be easy. A bizarre decision as well. 

I’d think midfield destroyer is a priority in summer that’s if Dempsey ain’t that type, MJ done a decent job but similar to Sarce and Doyle we need to be looking at upgrades. 

I said the same thing in the Burton thread. I do believe he's lower/mid L1 quality which is fine but if we want to get to the championship, we do need better.

I'm not having a go at MJ, I like him but there must be better out there at screening the defence while contributing the odd goal too

Just now, Mounts Kipper said:

I’d think midfield destroyer is a priority in summer that’s if Dempsey ain’t that type, MJ done a decent job but similar to Sarce and Doyle we need to be looking at upgrades. 

On the subject of Dempsey he’s a better player from deep. Wasn’t always great last night but he never went missing and always showed for the ball 

28 minutes ago, DazBob said:

Expecting pelters for this btw

So you should 😊

Only kidding. It’s a good debate, as I think we are only having it because of how good he looked last season. He was sensational.

I’m still in the camp of him being one of our most important and influential players. And that’s even with the slight drop of form in the New Year and agreeing with @Rudy about regaining fitness and having a regular trio around him.

We are now judging him on top end L1/lower end Championship standards and that is a massive upgrade on last year.

But every game we have won, or battled out a draw for, this season, he’s been integral to that success.

He might not look as flamboyant and masterful as he did last season. But still one of the first 2/3 picks in our best side - but yes we do need some competition/recruitment to challenge him in that role.

 

Edited February 16, 20224 yr by desperado

Still have questions over santos myself (going forward if promotion came about), yes he’s a big lad and can throw is weight at times but he will get his arse handed in the championship and like I said in the Burton thread we have always had CB who can score 

Just now, radcliffe white said:

Still have questions over santos myself (going forward if promotion came about), yes he’s a big lad and can throw is weight at times but he will get his arse handed in the championship and like I said in the Burton thread we have always had CB who can score 

Think if someone comes in for him in summer he goes, and if I’m that honest I don’t think it will be the biggest blow.

The higher our ambitions are the better player we need to sign and that applies in every position. 

6 minutes ago, radcliffe white said:

Still have questions over santos myself (going forward if promotion came about), yes he’s a big lad and can throw is weight at times but he will get his arse handed in the championship and like I said in the Burton thread we have always had CB who can score 

Agree with this. Not a reaction from last night either. Gets himself into so much bother, especially with his passing out from the back. Luckily his burst of pace n power gets him out of these situations. Won't be so lucky if/when we go up

Wouldn't surprise me if we went back to Accrington to sign Ross Sykes in summer - a 6ft 5ins centre half. Contract ends this summer though there is a 12 month option to extend

1 minute ago, L/H White said:

Agree with this. Not a reaction from last night either. Gets himself into so much bother, especially with his passing out from the back. Luckily his burst of pace n power gets him out of these situations. Won't be so lucky if/when we go up

Similar to Doyle he did a job but for me in the next window we should be looking to improve on him, yes he’s a defender but he offers nowt attacking wise aimson & johnston have even chipped in 

14 minutes ago, Biggish Dave said:

Wouldn't surprise me if we went back to Accrington to sign Ross Sykes in summer - a 6ft 5ins centre half. Contract ends this summer though there is a 12 month option to extend

I’m not sure he’d fit in with Evatts demands for playing it from the back nor an upgrade on Santos. 

I've said the same about MJ. Since coming back from injury & covid, not the samer player, but let's give him time :  he's earned that right.

45 minutes ago, Rudy said:

On the subject of Dempsey he’s a better player from deep. Wasn’t always great last night but he never went missing and always showed for the ball 

Think he will be ok when he settles in but I’ve not seen anything yet to suggest he’s a goal scoring attacking centre mid in the style of Sarcevic.

Edited February 16, 20224 yr by Mounts Kipper

Disagree about MJ myself, think he's still an absolute Rolls Royce of a player and capable of higher than our current level. His movement, awareness and passing range is brilliant, I do feel like he could be a bit more imposing for his size but he definitely is a key cog to our style of play. 

I will concede that since the change in formation he's not quite as important and so perhaps has looked a little bit more passive at times. 

 

Santos though I agree, I like him and think he's growing into his role as captain, but if a Championship side wants to offer a couple of mil he'd be more than welcome to go and I'd be fairly confident in finding a replacement capable of being an improvement. 

The type of player your notice more when hes not there.

He looked to be limping for the last 20 mins of the first half yesterday.

9 minutes ago, burnden said:

He looked to be limping for the last 20 mins of the first half yesterday.

Then shook it off and booted half their team off the pitch in the 2nd 😂

Gonna have to disagree with you on this on Daz.

There’s not many games I can remember where he put in a MOTM performance, he goes under the radar but not because he hides, there’s a reason he starts every game.

what I will say is we could do with getting more competition for him in the next transfer window considering Tutte is an injury on legs

Edited February 16, 20224 yr by Mantra

3 hours ago, Rudy said:

On the subject of Dempsey he’s a better player from deep. Wasn’t always great last night but he never went missing and always showed for the ball 

I thought he began to show glimpses of what he's capable of as the second half wore on.

1 hour ago, burnden said:

He looked to be limping for the last 20 mins of the first half yesterday.

he got a bit of a stamp while trying to defend one of the set pieces

poorest player in the team, but who makes us a better team.

crazy

MJ struggles when teams get at him- as we saw earlier in the season  when they etc us move forward, then won the ball and got behind our more attacking midfielders.

He isn't the most mobile/agile but is a great passer of the ball.

Not sure last night is anything to judge him on, as there's an issue generally about aerial stuff.

There will be a reason Blackpool let him go, though I reckon Evatt knows his strengths and weaknesses and picks a team accordingly. 

We struggling for content today? Turning my router off and banging my head against the airing cupboard door. 
Please tell me this is a wind up and I’ve nibbled like a pregnant nun. 
 

hoping for clarity. 
mutley x

10 hours ago, Mutley said:

We struggling for content today? Turning my router off and banging my head against the airing cupboard door. 
Please tell me this is a wind up and I’ve nibbled like a pregnant nun. 
 

hoping for clarity. 
mutley x

We've lost a game so @DazBob has decided to start hounding one of our better players out