Really strong spine next season

Duffman

Duffman

Well-known member
——————-—- Dieng——————
—-RVB——— Clarke ——— Lenihan ——
———————-Howson ————————
———————Latte Lath ———————

6 quality players
 
Central defence is a bit of a head scratcher for Carrick once injuries are not an issue.

Clarke, VDB, Lenihan, Fry and McNair (who I assume will leave).
 
Duffman said:
——————-—- Dieng——————
—-RVB——— Clarke ——— Lenihan ——
———————-Howson ————————
———————Latte Lath ———————

6 quality players
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Fry to replace Clarke. I'm sick of seeing him going down on one knee and then struggling to get back when the man goes past him.

IMG_6333.jpeg
 
Angus said:
I can’t agree Clarke is a top quality defender at this level he reads the game very well.
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And I can't agree with that. I know I am in the minority on this board regarding not liking Clarke, but I feel people are getting mixed up with his commitment rather than the level of skill he possesses.
 
Nero said:
Central defence is a bit of a head scratcher for Carrick once injuries are not an issue.

Clarke, VDB, Lenihan, Fry and McNair (who I assume will leave).
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Lenihan is top for me out of that list, but good problem to have. Well it will be a good problem to have when they're all fit or we stop shipping goals which we've not really achieved yet.

I assume RVDB will either need to be first choice or sold, as there's probably going to be a lot of interest, so he won't be sitting on the bench.

Assume McNair will be off, and one of the other four will likely be injured at any one time, which leaves three, so we may still need a backup. Would probably make sense to keep McNair mind, if we can't get better.

We need an upgrade on Howson, great player to have around and a great squad player, but a tough ask on him for 46 games and for a top 3 side which is where we need to be aiming next year.
 
I'm hoping Howson can be used more as a squad player for us next season, although that will depend on whether we can get it right and bring in a quality defensive midfielder.

I get that Carrick wants midfielders who can play but I feel it's about getting the right balance in the middle.

If Southampton get promoted I'd be making a cheeky loan bid for Smallbone.
 
Clarke has been fantastic since coming back from a serious injury. He rarely puts a foot wrong. We will need squad depth and would love to see Fry and Clarke battling for that place
 
Assuming Hackney comes back fit and fresh then we need an Adam Clayton type as a priority, to take some of the pressure off Hackney for getting the ball back.

I love Howson but we really need to bring in a replacement this season so he can be bedded in. Leaving it another year is just asking for trouble. Howson shouldn't be the player we're building the team around.

Clarke has been outstanding recently. His one weakness is turning a 3/4 circle to face goal when there isn't an easy out. Needs to go route one or row Z in those situations.
 
Diego said:
You are becoming a parody.
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I've never had to exaggerate any of Clarke's faults, the issue we have is you can't see them.

I think you are still gutted from when I told you Carrick would drop him for Fry and hey presto, Clarke got dropped and Fry stepped in.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
I've never had to exaggerate any of Clarke's faults, the issue we have is you can't see them.

I think you are still gutted from when I told you Carrick would drop him for Fry and hey presto, Clarke got dropped and Fry stepped in.
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The issue we have is you can’t see Clarke is better than Fry like the rest of us. Back then it was still doubtful as to whether Clarke could keep it up so I get Carrick bringing fry back in. Also he was not long back after an enormous injury.

But now Clarke has shown form for a long spell and proved his fitness. I would be astounded if Fry started ahead of Clarke next season for the opening of the season.

We all get things wrong and when we do you get told. Just like I did with Scott 👍
 
Diego said:
The issue we have is you can’t see Clarke is better than Fry like the rest of us. Back then it was still doubtful as to whether Clarke could keep it up so I get Carrick bringing fry back in. Also he was not long back after an enormous injury.

But now Clarke has shown form for a long spell and proved his fitness. I would be astounded if Fry started ahead of Clarke next season for the opening of the season.

We all get things wrong and when we do you get told. Just like I did with Scott 👍
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If this is Clarke hitting form, I would hate to see him perform during a bad spell. 🤣 🤣 🤣
 
Clarke has been my player of the season since his return. No way I would be leaving him out of the side next season. I think Fry will be very much the 4th choice and given the talent of the other 3 a back 5 with two great wing backs and a top quality bloke alongside Howson will set us up nicely.
 
SouthStandSY said:
Everyone goes on about Lenihan, but the simple fact is, we rarely get a clean sheet when he plays
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I think this year that was down to who he was playing at the back with (i.e fry, coulson and mcnair), he's the best out of all of them considerably. RVDB played a couple of games with him too, as well as Engel, but neither of those really hit the ground running either. Also, beginning of the year we were all over the place with what was going on in front of him, had a lot of changes etc.

So, for all of that, and where we were shipping goals, it's more correlation not causation for me etc.

We were more solid at the back last year, probably even with a worse defence than what we ended up with this year. I think if you add him in there, then we will just be better all over the pitch as he's as good or better than the rest, and he is probably the best captain/ organiser when we're a settled side.
 
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