I wonder how bad our defence really was last year?
Jerome Opoku looks like heās gained a new contract at Fulham and is expecting a Championship loan. Lowe thought he had a bright future.
Jerome Opoku has 'a big future' says Plymouth Argyle manager Ryan Lowe (Herald Feb 21))
Kell Watts is getting rave reviews at Newcastle.
Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce praises former Plymouth Argyle loanee Kell Watts (5 days ago Chronicle Live)
Another, Sam Woods is highly rated at Palace and Lowe thought he was a diamond when he landed him
āI knew straight away he was a diamond.
Everyone at Crystal Palace speaks highly of himā Ryan Lowe Feb 21 Herald.
Where did it all go wrong?
I think we will quickly find out whether last years recruits were the issue. or whether it was the manager and his tactics which were at fault. If we concede two goals per game in our opening few fixtures it will be the latter.
Iām not as confident as others that our defence is necessarily fixed. A couple of clean sheets in our opening fixtures might change my mind and convince me we can finish in top 10. 2 goals per game conceded early doors and it might be a rinse and repeat of last year with Lowe gone by Chrimbo.
Why are you dragging up quotes like it is exposing Ryan Loweās judgement?
Heās hardly going to say āwell this young defender is raw and not exactly the best, they say he is a defender but he canāt really head very well, but I spent all my wage budget getting Hardie back and giving Jephcott and Cooper decent new contracts to stop them leaving, so weāre a bit desperate now. Anyway welcome Jerome.ā
We all know what we saw of our defending last season and Ryan Lowe saw it too. The change in recruitment strategy is evident, proven and experienced lower league defenders, not academy graduates on their first coach trip.
We conceded so many soft goals last season it was remarkable. No one is suggesting our defence is fixed, but there is no way we will have that soft underbelly and naivety that was painful to watch.
We wonāt have the best defence in the division, but hopefully we wonāt have one of the worst either. That in itself will be a big improvement.