Everybody keeps wanting a striker, but I think even with a top striker we would still struggle to score we don’t create enough, there is no threat anywhere on the pitch. Not in up front, out wide, from midfield, from corners, from free kicks nothing at all. There is no battle in midfield to feed any striker.

While I'm broadly supportive of the loan policy, I do think that rather than going for Gore, we may have been wiser in getting an experienced midfielder who would be a no nonsense holding player and quite physical, to give the back three some protection and stop us being overran 

As stated elsewhere, one of the key takeaways from the fans forum was that between now and the end of the window we’re only aiming to potentially sign 2 more young loans.  This would be all well and good if we had a fully fit squad with strength in depth in all positions to which we were looking to augment by adding a bit of quality competition in some positions.  This is obviously not the case as we were already weak in certain areas prior to the latest crop of injuries, with Uche added to the list yesterday, in addition to losing the 2 quality loans, Arblaster and Devine.  To make matters worse we’re sitting just above the relegation zone with “games in hand” rather than points on the board.  Each window should allow teams to strengthen but in our case we’re simply replacing the loan players we’ve lost and we’re back to square one in terms of having to get those players up to speed, we’re definitely not stronger.  Additionally, we have no idea as to how soon the longer term injured players will be out for but what is fact is that they too will take time to get up to full speed.

The club seem to be taking a real gamble here, calculated or not.  The only positive I see in this overall policy right now isn’t the tie ups with the top clubs but the fact that we’re in the fortunate position of having a crop of youngsters capable of playing at this level, but even this is somewhat offset by their inconsistency.

Bit of a ramble.

 

While I'm broadly supportive of the loan policy, I do think that rather than going for Gore, we may have been wiser in getting an experienced midfielder who would be a no nonsense holding player and quite physical, to give the back three some protection and stop us being overran 

I said exactly that as soon as Ojo got injured. We don't have a spine that is strong enough. Even more so now Uche is out. Commanding centre half, hard nosed midfielder and a forward to hold the ball up desperately needed

Sent from my XQ-CC54 using onevalefan mobile app

19 minutes ago, Granville said:

While I'm broadly supportive of the loan policy, I do think that rather than going for Gore, we may have been wiser in getting an experienced midfielder who would be a no nonsense holding player and quite physical, to give the back three some protection and stop us being overran 

Someone like Tom Conlon maybe.

8 minutes ago, gags 64 said:

I said exactly that as soon as Ojo got injured. We don't have a spine that is strong enough. Even more so now Uche is out. Commanding centre half, hard nosed midfielder and a forward to hold the ball up desperately needed

Sent from my XQ-CC54 using onevalefan mobile app
 

And cannot be Academy players, they’ve got to seasoned players not teenagers.

The starting midfield yesterday struggled. Chislett looked good throughout but Gore and Weir struggled.  We desperately need Ojo back. It's easy to have knee jerk reactions after a defeat and that was a first game for Weir and Gore. In the ideal world I think we do need a more experienced player who can play in there, particularly with the Garrity situation. I guess the alternative is a LWB with the option to move Grant inside. 

If Uche is out for a month or longer we definitely need a couple of forwards.  

I don't know the finances but in the ideal world I still think we need 2 strikers, a LWB and a midfield player. We have a very small squad of players. I think we have 18 over 21. Even if we just bring in a couple of journeymen on short-term contracts. I don't think our first 11 is a relegation side. However,  take Clark, Ojo, Uche and Garrity out of the team and I think we might be. I doubt we will sign players better than those 4 but we do need a couple in who are better cover than we currently seem to have. Someone like Olamide Shodipo isn't going to get into our first 11 but he would offer something different if needed over the next 6 months. I think we've reached the point with injuries where there has to be some focus on the here and now as well as the longer term. This season we need 20 plus more points in 20 games. I fully accept it's going to take time to progress to a higher level. There does need to be some focus on delivering today.

Someone like Tom Conlon maybe.

Conlon was no where near L1 level, hence why he's ended up in the conference. He isn't the answer to our problems

1 minute ago, Walka003 said:

4 minutes ago, Conrad said:

Someone like Tom Conlon maybe.

Conlon was no where near L1 level, hence why he's ended up in the conference. He isn't the answer to our problems

He’s a lot better than conference level.

He’s a lot better than conference level.

The why is he playing there? Why didn't a L2 team take him on?

7 minutes ago, Conrad said:

Someone like Tom Conlon maybe.

A hypothetical question but would the club have released him if they'd known Devine was going to be released?

When we had Sang, Arblaster,  Devine, Ojo and Chislett he wasn't anywhere near the first 11. Yesterday I certainly don't think he would have done worse

6 minutes ago, Walka003 said:

8 minutes ago, Conrad said:

He’s a lot better than conference level.

The why is he playing there? Why didn't a L2 team take him on?

Wage and I don't think he's keen on relocation.  Didn't he have a first child recently?

Wage and I don't think he's keen on relocation.  Didn't he have a first child recently?

There's plenty of close by league 2 teams, Stockport, Wrexham, Notts County, Mansfield, Salford, Accrington, Walsall. None of them fancy taking him on?

14 minutes ago, Walka003 said:

17 minutes ago, Conrad said:

Someone like Tom Conlon maybe.

Conlon was no where near L1 level, hence why he's ended up in the conference. He isn't the answer to our problems

How you say that when he wasn’t given a chance since his recovery. 
To highlight something from last season, our best away performances were Derby and Plymouth for both games who was Vales central midfield player ???

Answer - Tom Conlon

34 minutes ago, Walka003 said:

38 minutes ago, JRC said:

Wage and I don't think he's keen on relocation.  Didn't he have a first child recently?

There's plenty of close by league 2 teams, Stockport, Wrexham, Notts County, Mansfield, Salford, Accrington, Walsall. None of them fancy taking him on?

It's a bit like asking why did James Norwood sign for them. He'd have scored more goals for us this season than any of our forwards. Nobody knows who else enquired after Conlon (or Norwood) but one can assume they offered him the best deal overall.