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Post by White Lightning on Apr 2, 2024 11:20:45 GMT
Downing is injury prone. Neither is he "clearly our best CB." Watching Lyden, who is 27, yesterday and last week, I am struggling to understand the "he's not fit" stuff. It simply doesn't ring true. So if he’s clearly not our best CB, or in your mind it’s debatable, who, putting aside the already referenced fitness issues, is? Or might be? They’ve all got a mistake in them, but Downing is the best reader of a game, so is consequently caught out of position less often, and is comfortably the best distributor of a football. Definitely an area that Mr Caddis needs to strengthen next season nonetheless. Downing is the Gazelle, Howkins or Cameron the Buffalo. I think that is the analogy that gets used. You often get similar with strike pairings.
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Post by greekgod on Apr 2, 2024 11:26:53 GMT
The old Mkandawire and James combo.
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Post by GRL on Apr 2, 2024 11:30:05 GMT
Going to be a very interesting summer. 3 signed for next year but PC clearly saying he wants to retain most and not rebuild. Assuming increases for existing players don’t eat up any extra budget, what are the key positions for strengthening. We do seem to concede goals very easily and need to find a way of countering the Alfreton/Buxton tactics. But how? 'But how?' Score before the opposition does. Simples. Once they fall behind there's zero to be gained by feigning near fatal injury or for the 'keeper taking five minutes to recycle the ball. We had ample opportunity to open the scoring before Buxton did. Had we done so they would have had to chase the game, thereby leaving themselves open to conceding further goals. Gifting them a two goal lead meant the three points were effectively out of our reach. YES. The think tank wrote to Caddis in August to get that sorted. We always choose to kick uphill first half. More flawed thinking.
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Post by greekgod on Apr 2, 2024 11:35:52 GMT
Anybody got a chart plotting points won etc depending on which way it all kicked off in the first half?
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Post by Barney still in B-Block on Apr 2, 2024 11:56:45 GMT
'But how?' Score before the opposition does. Simples. Once they fall behind there's zero to be gained by feigning near fatal injury or for the 'keeper taking five minutes to recycle the ball. We had ample opportunity to open the scoring before Buxton did. Had we done so they would have had to chase the game, thereby leaving themselves open to conceding further goals. Gifting them a two goal lead meant the three points were effectively out of our reach. YES. The think tank wrote to Caddis in August to get that sorted. We always choose to kick uphill first half. More flawed thinking. The ME faithful like to see us kicking downhill second period. And not only because they're nearly all in the bar by half three.
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Post by White Lightning on Apr 2, 2024 12:08:28 GMT
YES. The think tank wrote to Caddis in August to get that sorted. We always choose to kick uphill first half. More flawed thinking. The ME faithful like to see us kicking downhill second period. And not only because they're nearly all in the bar by half three. Do you remember when there used to be little gap under the central stairs in the LW. Plus the gate by the tea hut was open. You could go all the way from the yet to be built Block A to next to the away fans. I don't think away fans got any seats back then?
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Post by White Lightning on Apr 2, 2024 12:14:43 GMT
Anybody got a chart plotting points won etc depending on which way it all kicked off in the first half? I would imagine it would be statistically insignificant.
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Post by greekgod on Apr 2, 2024 12:58:26 GMT
Okay, thanks for keeping me abreast.
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Post by GRL on Apr 2, 2024 13:26:55 GMT
How many players have we used this season? 30?
The starting XI yesterday comprised 5 players who started the season: Pond, Skinner, Howkins, Cameron and Babos. 5. What does this say about the first draft of players brought into the club by Mr Caddis?
Yes, he has energised the club but I hope the recruitment will be much better this summer. That outfit yesterday didn't have the feel of a team who belong with one another. (Even though 3 are from Banbury.)
Taking age into consideration I would only think of keeping Howkins of the centre backs.
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Post by greekgod on Apr 2, 2024 13:47:41 GMT
How many players have we used this season? 30? The starting XI yesterday comprised 5 players who started the season: Pond, Skinner, Howkins, Cameron and Babos. 5. What does this say about the first draft of players brought into the club by Mr Caddis? Yes, he has energised the club but I hope the recruitment will be much better this summer. That outfit yesterday didn't have the feel of a team who belong with one another. (Even though 3 are from Banbury.) Taking age into consideration I would only think of keeping Howkins of the centre backs. And a high scoring Gloucester front line?
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Post by greekgod on Apr 2, 2024 13:54:09 GMT
How many players have we used this season? 30? The starting XI yesterday comprised 5 players who started the season: Pond, Skinner, Howkins, Cameron and Babos. 5. What does this say about the first draft of players brought into the club by Mr Caddis? Yes, he has energised the club but I hope the recruitment will be much better this summer. That outfit yesterday didn't have the feel of a team who belong with one another. (Even though 3 are from Banbury.) Taking age into consideration I would only think of keeping Howkins of the centre backs. Actually you're lucky with that one, as he had 2 on the bench who he deemed not to start and 2 more who may well have started that were not available, so nearly a flopper.
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Post by leedsbull on Apr 2, 2024 15:32:39 GMT
This is speculative, but it feels like our strategy over the past few months has been to bring in players on loan, almost as a "trial" period, with the potential to retain them for next season.
From Caddis' comments, it seems like some of these players are individuals we pursued previously (last summer) and are now out of favor at their current clubs (Phillips, McHale), or their current clubs are in disarray, as is the case with Banbury (Obadeyi, D'Ath).
Particularly, the signings of D'Ath and McHale, with half a dozen or fewer games to play, feel like attempts to test them out on a "try before you buy" (or sign on a free) basis. I imagine we're covering the vast majority of wages for these players in turn.
In some ways, I feel like that's a solid strategy. Caddis has certain expectations regarding mentality that were severely lacking in the Gowling era, and that's a very good development. Players at this level are unpredictable, and scouting is less well-resourced and less intensive than in the professional leagues. Resources are also tight, and with the focus on a small squad likely continuing into next season, integrating and testing players when they're available on loan makes sense.
However, it can also be argued that this possible strategy has been a detriment to the squad in recent weeks and months. We have undoubtedly suffered from injuries this season, but there has been a sense of chopping and changing in the second half of the season. Caddis himself, to his credit, has identified this in post-match interviews. He has stated on a few occasions that we've suffered during matches from a lack of continuity in players on the pitch.
Ultimately, teams at this level need to be well-drilled and cohesive. We saw in the Slade and Harris eras, particularly, that spending decent money on players doesn't guarantee results if the mentality is half-arsed. During the best periods of this season, we've seen the inverse under Caddis. We haven't spent much, but the team formed more than the sum of their parts.
There's a careful balance to be struck between testing players and throwing off the balance and continuity of the side. This is ultimately a minor criticism in approach, and we may feel the benefits of having tested these players out before potentially signing/not signing them in the summer. Either way, I feel like with our position last summer, this year the playoffs were a long shot. There have been missed opportunities undoubtedly and expectations will be higher next season, but I struggle to agree with some fans here arguing Caddis has failed this season.
Squad building is hard, particularly if we're struggling budgetarily every year. Ultimately, I think Paul Caddis has actually been fairly good at building something worth caring about this season with limited resources and limited experience. Something others have failed to do previously when given significantly more money and on paper having decades more managerial experience.
Also, this could just be me seeing patterns in our loan signings where there are none. It may come to the Summer, and we may see none of these loan signings again, but this is a feeling I have.
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Post by White Lightning on Apr 2, 2024 15:41:07 GMT
This is speculative, but it feels like our strategy over the past few months has been to bring in players on loan, almost as a "trial" period, with the potential to retain them for next season. From Caddis' comments, it seems like some of these players are individuals we pursued previously (last summer) and are now out of favor at their current clubs (Phillips, McHale), or their current clubs are in disarray, as is the case with Banbury (Obadeyi, D'Ath). Particularly, the signings of D'Ath and McHale, with half a dozen or fewer games to play, feel like attempts to test them out on a "try before you buy" (or sign on a free) basis. I imagine we're covering the vast majority of wages for these players in turn. In some ways, I feel like that's a solid strategy. Caddis has certain expectations regarding mentality that were severely lacking in the Gowling era, and that's a very good development. Players at this level are unpredictable, and scouting is less well-resourced and less intensive than in the professional leagues. Resources are also tight, and with the focus on a small squad likely continuing into next season, integrating and testing players when they're available on loan makes sense. However, it can also be argued that this possible strategy has been a detriment to the squad in recent weeks and months. We have undoubtedly suffered from injuries this season, but there has been a sense of chopping and changing in the second half of the season. Caddis himself, to his credit, has identified this in post-match interviews. He has stated on a few occasions that we've suffered during matches from a lack of continuity in players on the pitch. Ultimately, teams at this level need to be well-drilled and cohesive. We saw in the Slade and Harris eras, particularly, that spending decent money on players doesn't guarantee results if the mentality is half-arsed. During the best periods of this season, we've seen the inverse under Caddis. We haven't spent much, but the team formed more than the sum of their parts. There's a careful balance to be struck between testing players and throwing off the balance and continuity of the side. This is ultimately a minor criticism in approach, and we may feel the benefits of having tested these players out before potentially signing/not signing them in the summer. Either way, I feel like with our position last summer, this year the playoffs were a long shot. There have been missed opportunities undoubtedly and expectations will be higher next season, but I struggle to agree with some fans here arguing Caddis has failed this season. Squad building is hard, particularly if we're struggling budgetarily every year. Ultimately, I think Paul Caddis has actually been fairly good at building something worth caring about this season with limited resources and limited experience. Something others have failed to do previously when given significantly more money and on paper having decades more managerial experience. Also, this could just be me seeing patterns in our loan signings where there are none. It may come to the Summer, and we may see none of these loan signings again, but this is a feeling I have. Good post that. The only criticism I have is that the author isn't called leedsleedsleedsbull.
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Post by White Lightning on Apr 2, 2024 16:15:51 GMT
I have scouted us some defenders. Probably available.
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luke
Junior Member
Posts: 320
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Post by luke on Apr 2, 2024 17:15:00 GMT
Given Caddis said he wanted to keep 7 or 8 players around 3 weeks ago, but that negotiations have slowed down, I think we might see more turnover than hoped for (which raises questions).
Taking out Hudson & Texeira, plus D'Ath and McHale, who have come in since, that's Babos plus 6 or 7 (or only 4 or 5 if it does include those two). Reckon it's pretty much a certainty that three of those are Ceesay, Cowley & Skinner (and you could extend that to Downing if Caddis is willing to keep on with the injury-prone players experiment), so the others likely come down to what each player is earning and what they might accept? For example, Pond (who came up from Chasetown, who play at a similar level to our reformation season) is probably one of the lower paid members of the squad / lower paid of all the NLN keepers.
Would be pretty happy with: Pond Skinner Downing New Signing Hudson D'Ath Babos New Signing New Signing Cowley Ceesay
Then keep Texeira, and if either Mendes or Southern are happy to be squad players then think they can serve a purpose. If Caddis thinks McHale fits in then would be fine with that too, although probably not one to give a contract to given previous clubs' reviews.
Hope that Howkins and Cameron are moved on as neither are anywhere near consistent enough to start; and don't think you can give a 35 year old Obadeyi, or injury-prone Lyden or Willo a contract, although would be happy with them all sticking around on non-contract / pay-as-you-play type deals.
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Post by chalkywhite81 on Apr 2, 2024 17:19:50 GMT
How many players have we used this season? 30? The starting XI yesterday comprised 5 players who started the season: Pond, Skinner, Howkins, Cameron and Babos. 5. What does this say about the first draft of players brought into the club by Mr Caddis? Yes, he has energised the club but I hope the recruitment will be much better this summer. That outfit yesterday didn't have the feel of a team who belong with one another. (Even though 3 are from Banbury.) Taking age into consideration I would only think of keeping Howkins of the centre backs. His recruitment has got better but so has the budget and availability of players due to cup money plus he is learning the division.
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Post by White Lightning on Apr 2, 2024 18:00:23 GMT
How many players have we used this season? 30? The starting XI yesterday comprised 5 players who started the season: Pond, Skinner, Howkins, Cameron and Babos. 5. What does this say about the first draft of players brought into the club by Mr Caddis? Yes, he has energised the club but I hope the recruitment will be much better this summer. That outfit yesterday didn't have the feel of a team who belong with one another. (Even though 3 are from Banbury.) Taking age into consideration I would only think of keeping Howkins of the centre backs. His recruitment has got better but so has the budget and availability of players due to cup money plus he is learning the division. The budget at the very start was meant to be pitiful. Less than last seasons which was crap (especially at the end). Stig said as much, something along the lines of "Caddis knows the situation and to his immense credit he hasn't moaned once". Both have been great IMO. What we need factor in is we are at a level where Directors/Manager/Players/Refs are entitled to make mistakes. The other thing is at the end of the day it is just a poxy game that we for reasons of stupidity we allow to eat us alive, on that basis if you look back on this season it has been a good un. May have a little bit of an encore yet.
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Post by psychedelictony on Apr 2, 2024 19:09:57 GMT
No encore I don't reckon but it has definitely been a positive season. If we finish 11th or 12th then it can't been seen as a "good" one for me. If we get down to the last game v Boston and we could still make the play-offs, the financial kick on from that will be big next season.
Then, irrespective of the result(s), that will be a good season. For me.
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Post by GRL on Apr 2, 2024 19:53:11 GMT
Still lots of nonsense on here about "how the budget was meant to be pitiful". Where can I find this budget information? How much is it? Where's the league table of budgets? When exactly was the epiphany of honesty at this football club?
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Post by tigerfeet on Apr 2, 2024 20:01:11 GMT
Still lots of nonsense on here about "how the budget was meant to be pitiful". Where can I find this budget information? How much is it? Where's the league table of budgets? When exactly was the epiphany of honesty at this football club? White Lightning or Pink Sunshine or whatever he calls himself at the minute said that we had a bottom six budget for this season and lots of posters believed him. Realistically of course a club of our size and fanbase should have a top six budget, so it does seem we have underachieved this season.
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