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Grant, Edwards or Randell v Ipswich?
- Thread starter mikes
- Start date
Mayor must play, I think, but not in that position where if he loses the ball we are in trouble. Grant is the most 'safe' in possession but has a more limited passing vision, Camara has similar frailties to Mayor but would work incredibly hard, Broom would get stuck in although it doesn't seem a natural position for his explosive style and Randell has the vision, skill and passing range but could be physically out-muscled. That's how I see it anyway, and I trust Ryan Lowe to make the right selections!
Agree with all that. Could risk Mayor at LWB allowing Broom to play as well. Too much of an ask just to throw Randell in.
I hate to agree with IJN but don't you think playing Ipswich is a much taller order than Hartlepool?!
I think you’d have to be Mark Matthews to play an untried young professional in such a position in such a game when you have other options available. Bearing in mind the Mariner connection which gets celebrated after the game we don’t want these boys getting too big for their tractors.
I've been thinking for some time now that Lowe's number one priority in January ought to be another defensive midfielder and this discussion triggered by Houghton's impending suspension really just confirms this. You don't really want to have to disrupt a different part of the team to fix a temporary hole somewhere else (e.g. using Grant or Edwards). The squad ought to be able to cope. Obviously that wouldn't be the case if there was more than one player missing. Ideally, with the current squad, Randell would slot straight in as a replacement for Houghton but I think Lowe's comments about the performances of fringe players when they have played tell us that he's not been seeing what he needs to see from Randell. It wouldn't be too disruptive if one of Broom, Camara or Mayor could naturally slot into Houghton's role (leaving the other two in their normal roles) but I don't think they could - Camara might be the best bet I'm not convinced. Perhaps putting Broom and Camara together in slightly deeper positions with Mayor playing centrally in front of them behind split strikers could work - a kind of 3-4-1-2 formation.
I very often agree with what you say regarding football. It's the other rubbish I have a problem with!
Edwards for Houghton with DM to fill Edwards spot. However whatever RL decides will do for me. We are playing very entertaining footy. Suggest we need to give RL a 10 year contract before with SH backing.
Interesting that those who don't want Randell and would choose Grant to replace Houghton, also suggest anyone but Ryan Law to replace Grant at LWB. Presumably this is again due to inexperience. How are Randell (21) and Law (22, and in his fourth year as a pro) to gain experience if they're not picked?
Sadly, I suspect that amongst those who don't trust these young players is a certain Mr R Lowe. To answer the thread's question, it ought to be Randell, but I don't think it will be.
The above problem is not helped by the apparent lack of competitive senior football for those who don't start for the first team. How much competitive football do Randell and Law play? How does the occasional 20 minutes off the bench prepare Agard if he's needed to play 90? And how are the long term injured (Bolton, Ennis, G Cooper) going to get match ready once the injuries have healed? Not blaming the club for this as I believe steps were being taken to rectify this a couple of years ago, and then Covid arrived. However it is a significant issue for Argyle at present.
Sadly, I suspect that amongst those who don't trust these young players is a certain Mr R Lowe. To answer the thread's question, it ought to be Randell, but I don't think it will be.
The above problem is not helped by the apparent lack of competitive senior football for those who don't start for the first team. How much competitive football do Randell and Law play? How does the occasional 20 minutes off the bench prepare Agard if he's needed to play 90? And how are the long term injured (Bolton, Ennis, G Cooper) going to get match ready once the injuries have healed? Not blaming the club for this as I believe steps were being taken to rectify this a couple of years ago, and then Covid arrived. However it is a significant issue for Argyle at present.
I see where you're coming from, but is it practical? You want to sign a back-up player in a very specialist position (in Lowe's formation) where the incumbent is one of the first names on the team sheet. Unless Houghton sustains a medium term injury, the new signing is not going to play many minutes - and those targeted will know that. It's going to be difficult to get a specialist of reasonable quality and experience (they've obviously got to be better than Randell) to sign on this basis, and you've got to pay the player concerned to potentially do very little. It's a bit like a reserve goalkeeper.
If, however, we ignore your "number one priority", and then Houghton gets a bad injury in February, your post will be proved correct! It's a difficult one.
I don't think it'll happen, but I'd go with DM in DM. He's got the footwork, composure and passing range to do the job, and he's not bad in the tackle either.
Whoever fills in, we need to be on the front foot against Ipswich and that means playing Broom and Camara in the roles they're best suited to.
Whoever fills in, we need to be on the front foot against Ipswich and that means playing Broom and Camara in the roles they're best suited to.
Law and Randell given thier senior outing of 90 minutes recently and by all accounts failed miserably to impress!
There are a lot of different views here.
From the beginning I've been thinking if Randell doesn't get a game now, coming in for the position that he covers on the bench. Then when will he get a chance? He's not a 17 year old who'll only come on in dead rubber end of season games. If not now, then when? What game would be suitable for him?
An alternative might be to move Edwards to DM, and bring Randell in as RWB. That way Randell still plays, and out on the right is where he'd been playing on loan at Torquay.
I've also been thinking that Mike Cooper didn't start off last season with too many great overall performances. Many thought he was particularly dodgy on crosses. And he had to work on and improve his game. But without real match time how do you find out where you need to improve? If we genuinely want to develop our youngsters, then they need to play, at least when they can. Now seems like an opportunity for Randell to get a proper game under his belt.
I'd rather keep 90% of the team the same, and if it's not working change it at half time.
From the beginning I've been thinking if Randell doesn't get a game now, coming in for the position that he covers on the bench. Then when will he get a chance? He's not a 17 year old who'll only come on in dead rubber end of season games. If not now, then when? What game would be suitable for him?
An alternative might be to move Edwards to DM, and bring Randell in as RWB. That way Randell still plays, and out on the right is where he'd been playing on loan at Torquay.
I've also been thinking that Mike Cooper didn't start off last season with too many great overall performances. Many thought he was particularly dodgy on crosses. And he had to work on and improve his game. But without real match time how do you find out where you need to improve? If we genuinely want to develop our youngsters, then they need to play, at least when they can. Now seems like an opportunity for Randell to get a proper game under his belt.
I'd rather keep 90% of the team the same, and if it's not working change it at half time.
- Oct 31, 2010
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The same could be said about Ryan Law except Lowe chose Garrick to play out of position at LWB when Grant went off injured after 30 minutes against Crewe.
Law was the ready made replacement but wasn't selected until late in the game. That was in September and Law hasn't played a single minute of a league game since.
He's now 22 and should be pushing for a starting place.
I think Lowe will opt for the tried and trusted Edwards on Saturday, he played at CDM at the start of our promotion season.