The three in midfield

CarrickBall

Well-known member
Crooks, Howson, McGree. As we stand at the moment, they're your three.

Other 'options' in the squad at present for those positions... McNair and Boyd-Munce. Desperate times.

After allowing Payero and Tavernier to leave, I think we are all in agreement that two signings are needed to bolster that department.

What types of players? Any specific names you'd like us to target? Have you heard any links?

Personally I'd like to see a big, strong, mobile midfielder that can play 6.. aggressive tackler, protector of the back three, covers ground, breaks up transitions in play, keeps the game simple. Alongside that we need a box to box 8, someone comfortable on the ball, can pick a pass but also shoot and chip in with goals, breaks into the box when attacking but has enough athleticism to get back and cover when needed.

I've said on a couple of threads over the last fortnight that Willock at QPR and O'Hare at Coventry would be my first choices to come and play 8.. whether our purse strings would stretch that far, and whether they'd want to come, is another thing.

Number 6... Choudhury? A Kieran Scott wildcard pulled out of the bag?

Critical we invest some of that money we've brought in for this department. Quickly.
 
Has Kieran Scott done anything to suggest he is any better than the Gary Gill and Neil Bausor clown show that came before him?
 
Has Kieran Scott done anything to suggest he is any better than the Gary Gill and Neil Bausor clown show that came before him?

I think this is his time to earn his crust.

After only being here for 1, notoriously difficult January window so far, it's difficult to judge him on what's happened to this point.. what he has had is enough time since coming through the door to assess, get his house in order, analyse what's needed and draw up a comprehensive list of targets/types of targets that we should be looking to bring in.

With the money brought in, everything is lined up for him to show us what he's got/
 
I’m not sure on names as such but we certainly need someone like Tav who can do all the off the ball work, defensively and offensively, that most fans don’t take note of. Bournemouth have got themselves a great player there at a steal price. Really naive of Boro to let two midfielders go without having replacements at least lined up
 
I’m not sure on names as such but we certainly need someone like Tav who can do all the off the ball work, defensively and offensively, that most fans don’t take note of. Bournemouth have got themselves a great player there at a steal price. Really naive of Boro to let two midfielders go without having replacements at least lined up

I personally don't have an issue with us selling Tavernier (didn't want to be here, contract running down, etc).. what I do have an issue with is us not having a replacement lined up.

Surely... SURELY.. the recruitment department have a list of potential targets as long as my arm for every single position on the pitch.

That list should have been brought up on the biggest screen at Rockliffe the minute the £12,000,000 landed in our bank and they should have been approaching the club of player 1 straight away. Vital area of the pitch with the way we play.
 
Need 2 CMs who are mobile and like the physical side of the game. We need a CM to do the running for Crooks and help Howson, who at 34 can't do it all himself and won't be able to do it for 46+ games.
Are there no CMs in League 1 who would be worth a punt? Look abroad get a German or Scandinavian in? Has to be someone better than what we have......
 
Don't know enough about O'Hare myself but seems highly rated by those who do. He wouldn't be cheap, but weren't Burnley quoted something like £8-9m?

So we know we can get him for that much. We apparently weren't planning on selling Tav so investing most of that money on a young, but finished, proven championship product like that would seem to make sense and we'd still have the budget we had before we sold Tav, which presumably includes a good fee for a striker and enough to bring in a couple of others too.

I assume he won't have Tav's workrate but if we bring in a proper DM too, that would sort of balance it out. I think Tav allowed us to get away with the fact Howson isn't really a destroyer.

So O'Hare and a proper DM (possibly on loan) and we'd be looking much better in that part of the pitch.
 
The three in midfield at the moment are too slow and while we play Howson as a holding midfielder he isn’t a tackler or harrier. As someone else said we need to find the next Robbie Mustoe, happy to give Boyd Munce or McNair a go, but haven’t seen enough of BM and I’m sure we’ve tried Paddy there before?
 
I think you are spot on WilderBall. We need a dominant, mobile defensive mid destroyer immediately. Preferably one who is 6'2 or over to compensate for our lack of height in the defence, especially when Fry doesn't play. We then need an 8 who can run his legs off, get stuck in and create and score. Not a big ask then! Who can we realistically sign, for the budget we have who can do these jobs? I cannot believe we let Tav go so cheaply. And it is cheap for what he offers. He does a ridiculous amount of off the ball work for the team, then drives it forward, creates chances and scores a few goals. He does it for 90 minutes, week in, week out. Always available. People said he didn't create/score enough, and I get that, (though he was improving and adding that to his game anyway), but it's not just about assists. Tav was the only Champo player in the top ten last season for key passes *and* tackles won. He was crucial to our system.

And even with him here, for me we still needed a more defensive destroyer type for the Howson role, at least in some games. McGree has some qualities but he can't do the Tav role, so we have now completely exposed Howson who is not even a defensive midfielder. He's 'doing a job' and he's done it well, because he's an intelligent player, but it needs addressing.

For me this is a much more pressing issue than the striker issues. We scored twice at QPR, which should be enough for at least a draw away from home, but no, we gifted them three goals. With the way our attack minded wingbacks kick on, it was staggering he picked Bola and Dijksteel ahead of Fry at the weekend. Neither of them like to do the dirty side of defending. The recruitment team really need to pull some rabbits out of hats, because we need to shore it up fast.
 
Don't know enough about O'Hare myself but seems highly rated by those who do. He wouldn't be cheap, but weren't Burnley quoted something like £8-9m?

So we know we can get him for that much. We apparently weren't planning on selling Tav so investing most of that money on a young, but finished, proven championship product like that would seem to make sense and we'd still have the budget we had before we sold Tav, which presumably includes a good fee for a striker and enough to bring in a couple of others too.

I assume he won't have Tav's workrate but if we bring in a proper DM too, that would sort of balance it out. I think Tav allowed us to get away with the fact Howson isn't really a destroyer.

So O'Hare and a proper DM (possibly on loan) and we'd be looking much better in that part of the pitch.
Good shout O'Hare; has more of a goalscoring element to his game than Tav too. Not sure if he's more of an attacking MF?
Burnley, apparently, were told £10m, no negotiating, so they backed off.....and subsequently O'Hare is injured and out for a few weeks .
So totally agree, we need 2 CMs minimum.....and if we get Hoppe + one other up top then I'd definitely be looking to spend decent money on these positions, rather than spaffing £7m+ on a CB just because he's left footed.
 
Has Kieran Scott done anything to suggest he is any better than the Gary Gill and Neil Bausor clown show that came before him?
Forss we were after under Warnock.
Hoppe they tracked last summer under Warnock.
Not entirely sure why we’ve created a job for someone if he’s useless or not being listened to.
We’re just using the same recruitment that brought us Payero, James Lea Siliki and Sporar.
 
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