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    Saturday 4th May 2024
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    Championship

Transfer Speculation and Gossip

Drog

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
Have to say Dack is one of those players who needs good players around him to think on the same lines as him and deliver the ball into the danger area quicker. Presented with methodical square passing he can't escape his marker(s) and get on the end of moves. We saw Dack's 'slump' in form disappear and his contributions improve in the final weeks of the season when TM finally admitted defeat with playing Evans and Smallwood together and got his team selection right by including Rothwell, Travis, Armstrong and Reed in the same midfield. Keep that lot together (unfortunately the Reed situation is out of our hands) and we'll see Dacks value increase I feel.
 
Drog

Drog

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Staff member
Bit of gossip here given that we are in the market for defenders. Grant Hanley is back living up here. He had a house here anyway but who knows whether he's just here short term until training starts again at Norwich or whether he's back with intent?
Just 2 years into a 4 year contract he's only made 10 appearances for the canaries this season, and with Norwich due a bagful of dosh and preparing for the Prem he might be surplus to requirements down there.
 
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Drog

Drog

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Staff member
We obviously need to replace Downing and there has been talk last season of picking up Bauer on the cheap, but to get an experienced CH would probably mean dropping Mulgrew. I know Charlie is getting on a bit but is this totally necessary when .....

a. Mulgrew is still playing CH for Scotland?

b. We already have replacements in his position in Williams and Magloire?

c. I believe we should really prioritise a less accident prone and more experienced goalkeeper who can command the defence (as they should) would eradicate most of our defensive slip ups down.

d. After GK I still believe that our weak links are in both full back positions.

e. Too many of our forward players don't appear to see the need to put a defensive shift in. All it takes usually is for strikers to get goal side of their opposite number when the opposition is in possession. Too often I have witnessed us capitulate from a leading position when the opponents are forced to push forward from defence and find they are pushing against an open door.
The old saying 'when the opposition have the ball a team should have 11 defenders and when we have it we should have 11 attackers' is still as relevant today as it was years ago when Liverpool ruled the roost and the nations most creative CH was Alan Hansen and the best defender was generally held to be Ian Rush by his fellow professionals!
 
Drog

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
Speaking of keepers. Apart from Stoke's Jack Butland the keeper that most impressed me last season was Millwall's Jordan Archer. One match isn't much but it seems he's fallen from grace at Millwall. From being a promising prospect he's been released by spurs, made a great start for Millwall and been called up by Scotland. Since last autumn his career seems to have gone south so whether his attitude or his social life has stalled his career I don't know but a free GK of apparent quality requires our attention I'd suggest. There must be something wrong with him but I recall Nottm Forest won the European Cup with a number of misfits and n'er do wells that Cloughie had turned around.
Maybe Charlie Mulgrew might know the inside story on this one.
 
Drog

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
I still believe that GK, RB and LB are greater priorities. Also the rest of the squad need to be able to dig in defensively. Last season we went in front a number of times only to capitulate all too easily when the opposition had to go on the offensive. Our Achilles heel was exposed time and again because too many crosses came across our box because of feeble attempts to track back and cut them out. With an indecisive keeper who is dodgy in the air conceding was almost inevitable. Opposing scouts are there to pick these things up and devise tactics with their managers to exploit our weaknesses.
 
Drog

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
Everybody has their own opinions Steve but an imposing and dominant keeper who commands his area and is trysted implicitly by his defence cannot be overstated. Such types give the entire defence a massive confidence boost and imo can get another 20% out of them.
 
Drog

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
Drog said:
Bit of gossip here given that we are in the market for defenders. Grant Hanley is back living up here. He had a house here anyway but who knows whether he's just here short term until training starts again at Norwich or whether he's back with intent?
Just 2 years into a 4 year contract he's only made 10 appearances for the canaries this season, and with Norwich due a bagful of dosh and preparing for the Prem he might be surplus to requirements down there.
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Steve Moss said:
I’d take Hanley back in a second.
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Even if Lenihan leaves Steve? Rumours gathering pace. https://the72.co.uk/135021/blackburn-rovers-star-man-a-long-term-target-for-sheffield-united/
I must say Hanley was an OK CH back then but was stronger as most are, when in partnership with better players than himself if that makes sense. Alongside the likes of Dann, Duffy and even Kean and Baptiste Hanley was a strong performer. When he was No 1 CH he was not quite so strong and imo prone to mistakes.
 
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steve w

steve w

Senior Member
Drog said:
Even if Lenihan leaves Steve? Rumours gathering pace. https://the72.co.uk/135021/blackburn-rovers-star-man-a-long-term-target-for-sheffield-united/
I must say Hanley was an OK CH back then but was stronger as most are, when in partnership with better players than himself if that makes sense. Alongside the likes of Dann, Duffy and even Kean and Baptiste Hanley was a strong performer. When he was No 1 CH he was not quite so strong and imo prone to mistakes.
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Think he believed his own hype - Not a very nice human being by all accounts. I noticed he was doing a David May at the Norwich celebrations
 
Drog

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
Not sure about that one at all. Something is nagging me about why he isn't good enough for Boro. Too many painful memories of Murphy and Whittingham. :mad: However on the other hand 'proper' men like Moran, Kendall and 'Sid' Cowans would be welcome here anytime.
 
Barmitzvah Boy

Barmitzvah Boy

Global winner of the 2021 Christmas Quiz 👊🤩🤩
Excellent signing in Downing. We need his experience, and being a 1 year contract is different to the likes of Murphy and Whittingham who could sit it out and draw the salary.
 
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