Replacements for Ennis, Mayor, Cosgrove...

[Lancastergreen]

Not sure why people continually bring up Ben Waine’s age when defending his lack of impact. He’s 12 months younger than Haaland. 6 months younger than Whittaker. If he was good enough he’d be doing it by now. He’s just not Championship level quality.

I do agree with your main points though. The return of Ennis for the run in was a huge part of the reason we went undefeated after the Wembley shambles. We’d be 5-6 points better off if we had a fit Niall Ennis this season as his hold up play and ability to nick a goal in tight games was invaluable. A massive loss for us.

Unless you're psychic you cannot make that claim as it can't be proven!

 

[Voice of Reason]

I must be in a very small minority, but was Ennis such a loss? I'm very much of the opinion last season will turn out to be his career highlight.
4 goals in 28 the year before
6 goals in 34 20/21
Even last year when you drill into it, just 3 goals scored away from home of which 2 were against relegated sides (MK & FGR).
So far this year three separate injuries and just a league cup goal at home to Walsall to show for it.
Its only been a loss numerically as far as i'm concerned.

 

[Green Flash]

I must be in a very small minority, but was Ennis such a loss? I'm very much of the opinion last season will turn out to be his career highlight.
4 goals in 28 the year before
6 goals in 34 20/21
Even last year when you drill into it, just 3 goals scored away from home of which 2 were against relegated sides (MK & FGR).
So far this year three separate injuries and just a league cup goal at home to Walsall to show for it.
Its only been a loss numerically as far as i'm concerned.

Ennis was in the right place at the right time with Argyle for sure, but who is to say he could not have continued in the same vein had he stayed? You could have looked at Whittakers stats for Swansea before he came here and after he returned from loan and say something similar.

I think the move was a mistake for him as well as a loss for the club.

 

[Devizes Green]

Totally agree.Whilst the defence is continually criticised we are wide open in midfield with no physicality or tacklers which leaves the defence very exposed.Also with 'inverted full backs' little cover for Gibson and Co

 

[monkeywrench]

Ennis was a great player for us but often injured.
This seasons stats in the league. No starts, no goals and 6 sub appearances.

 

[JannerinCardiff]

I think our transfer dealings have been great in respect of Ennis personally... he could still be at Argyle right now with a likely improved contract eating up our budget sitting on the treatment table, but Argyle obviously didn't offer him as much as he wanted (prob based on his injury record).

Instead we've the chance to either bring in someone in permanently in Jan who could potentially become another saleable asset (like Morgan Whittaker will undoubtedly be) or maybe go back in for a good quality loanee until the end of the season (Coburn who's not currently involved in Middlesboroughs starting XI..?)

We only play with 1 striker and we were unlucky to lose both Hardie and Bundu to injury in same match and as others have said I don't feel that right now Waine is of standard required at this level (at the moment.. ), but he's young and could still turn out to be an excellent signing.

So to me we do need another striker, but this person doesn't have to be in mould of Ennis imo. Coburn would do just fine imo. I would say a good injury record (as we've a small squad) and pace is more important to the way we play than being good at hold up play (that was Ennis's strength).

 

[Nobby]

I was a huge Danny Mayor fan but he has been replaced by Whittaker and also Cundle.

Cosgrove was a useful player but not a vital one. He has been replaced somewhat by Bundu.

I do agree regarding Ennis, none of our strikers are able to give us what he did.

No but they are able to give us actual minutes, something Ennis regularly failed to do and has not done for his current club.

I liked Ennis. I do feel he is overrated somewhat on here. He was never consistently fit, not a consistent goalscorer and certainly had a howler in him. He was good at playing with his back to goal, however and that we really need to replace. It is not Hardie’s strength, Waine does not appear strong enough physically and Bundu has no interest in doing it.

As others have said, Bundu has replaced Cosgrove as an impact sub. Whittaker / Cundle have replaced Mayor. I think the player we have failed to replace is Jay Matete who was a different profile to our current midfielders and offered more bite and aggression, which in these tough away games may have been beneficial.

For me the issue is that our January window last year, although exciting at the time, in hindsight looks very much like we recruited for a scenario where we could still be in League One, rather than doing what Ipswich did and having the belief that they would be in the Championship this year. None of last January’s recruits have shown they are good enough to be regulars at this level (although I do have high hopes for Saxon Earley when fit). We need a much stronger window this time around, with less emphasis on player development and more on looking for players who are ready to make a big contribution straight away. I know that isn’t the model, but a good recruitment model should be flexible to the needs of the team and that’s what we need right now.

 

[Green Flash]

No but they are able to give us actual minutes, something Ennis regularly failed to do and has not done for his current club.

I liked Ennis. I do feel he is overrated somewhat on here. He was never consistently fit, not a consistent goalscorer and certainly had a howler in him. He was good at playing with his back to goal, however and that we really need to replace. It is not Hardie’s strength, Waine does not appear strong enough physically and Bundu has no interest in doing it.

As others have said, Bundu has replaced Cosgrove as an impact sub. Whittaker / Cundle have replaced Mayor. I think the player we have failed to replace is Jay Matete who was a different profile to our current midfielders and offered more bite and aggression, which in these tough away games may have been beneficial.

For me the issue is that our January window last year, although exciting at the time, in hindsight looks very much like we recruited for a scenario where we could still be in League One, rather than doing what Ipswich did and having the belief that they would be in the Championship this year. None of last January’s recruits have shown they are good enough to be regulars at this level (although I do have high hopes for Saxon Earley when fit). We need a much stronger window this time around, with this less emphasis on player development and looking for players who are ready to make a big contribution straight away. I know that isn’t the model, but a good recruitment model should be flexible to the needs of the team and that’s what we need right now.

Entirely agree, a central defender and a striker are an absolute must if we are to stay up, especially now most of the teams around us are improving. Unless we get another investor in before the window I think expecting more seven figure transfers is unrealistic. I am hoping that premier league teams and top championship teams will be re-assessing the position from the summer and players not previously available on loan may become so.

 

[freathyd]

This was the point I was going to make. How can it be a problem that we haven't replaced three attacking players when we're among the highest goalscorers in the division?

Okay, so I get that someone like Ennis had the ball retention qualities that can take pressure off a team, but the key issue for me is that our back four just aren't good enough as a unit. Scarr and Pleguezuelo have both had more troughs than peaks and are both better suited to a back three IMO, while only one of our fullbacks (Joe Edwards) is actually any good at 1v1 defending.

If for some reason we lost Schuey tomorrow, you can guarantee any new manager coming in would immediately set about trying to make us more solid at the back - be it through recruitment or on the training ground.

The return of Saxon Earley should help, but we have no idea how he'll cope with the step up in standard.

I still think it was a mistake to abandon our successful formation from last season. The tactical tweaks Schuey made after the MK Dons 5-0 were wildly successful, but I think he got a bit carried away with his own success in rolling the tactical dice again this summer.

You sign two players for a million quid and then play them in different positions in which all and sundry can see they aren't as effective. Dan Scarr was recruited to play in a three but is now being asked to play in a two against Championship forwards. He's coping but only just. Callum Wright was recruited as a No.10 but is being played out wide. Azaz has been good but his very best form for us came when he had another No.10 alongside him.

I think it was a change that was made for the sake of change and one that isn't getting the best out of our squad.

An excellent post,Furthermore it is my view that Alfie may at £250,000 was a bargin even at his age and we should have gone for him

 

[xmastree]

Not sure why people continually bring up Ben Waine’s age when defending his lack of impact. He’s 12 months younger than Haaland. 6 months younger than Whittaker. If he was good enough he’d be doing it by now. He’s just not Championship level quality.

I do agree with your main points though. The return of Ennis for the run in was a huge part of the reason we went undefeated after the Wembley shambles. We’d be 5-6 points better off if we had a fit Niall Ennis this season as his hold up play and ability to nick a goal in tight games was invaluable. A massive loss for us.

Possibly, but it's so hypothetical that it's irrelevant. Particularly as you talk of "a fit Niall Ennis". Given his injury problems at Blackburn, and the fact that he had some longish spells out, how likely would it have been that he had been fit through the first 20 games, had he been here? You might as well speculate that we'd have had more points if the likes of Cooper, Galloway, Miller and Hardie had been available throughout.

 

[Biggs]

With hindsight I definitely feel we could have done with just one old Championship head, someone like a Ciaran Clark or Sean Morrison who I believe were available.

But... we're really not doing that badly and are outperforming our budget still. Even if we do really badly in the next few games, we'll still get to the transfer window at least in touch with the other sides. And hopefully we don't do really badly and are well clear.

 

[philevs]

No but they are able to give us actual minutes, something Ennis regularly failed to do and has not done for his current club.

I liked Ennis. I do feel he is overrated somewhat on here. He was never consistently fit, not a consistent goalscorer and certainly had a howler in him. He was good at playing with his back to goal, however and that we really need to replace. It is not Hardie’s strength, Waine does not appear strong enough physically and Bundu has no interest in doing it.

As others have said, Bundu has replaced Cosgrove as an impact sub. Whittaker / Cundle have replaced Mayor. I think the player we have failed to replace is Jay Matete who was a different profile to our current midfielders and offered more bite and aggression, which in these tough away games may have been beneficial.

For me the issue is that our January window last year, although exciting at the time, in hindsight looks very much like we recruited for a scenario where we could still be in League One, rather than doing what Ipswich did and having the belief that they would be in the Championship this year. None of last January’s recruits have shown they are good enough to be regulars at this level (although I do have high hopes for Saxon Earley when fit). We need a much stronger window this time around, with less emphasis on player development and more on looking for players who are ready to make a big contribution straight away. I know that isn’t the model, but a good recruitment model should be flexible to the needs of the team and that’s what we need right now.

Very good point about missing Matete’s physical presence and influence.

 

[Green Flash]

With hindsight I definitely feel we could have done with just one old Championship head, someone like a Ciaran Clark or Sean Morrison who I believe were available.

But... we're really not doing that badly and are outperforming our budget still. Even if we do really badly in the next few games, we'll still get to the transfer window at least in touch with the other sides. And hopefully we don't do really badly and are well clear.

When you are near the bottom of the table to say we "out-performing the budget" is a bit meaningless. Technically we may have close to the lowest budget (sometimes I hear lowest, sometimes bottom 2, sometimes bottom 3) but it is not out of line with the bottom third of the division. We are in a bottom third mini-league budget wise and the measure of success should be to come as near the top of it as we can.

 

[greenpilled]

I must be in a very small minority, but was Ennis such a loss? I'm very much of the opinion last season will turn out to be his career highlight.
4 goals in 28 the year before
6 goals in 34 20/21
Even last year when you drill into it, just 3 goals scored away from home of which 2 were against relegated sides (MK & FGR).
So far this year three separate injuries and just a league cup goal at home to Walsall to show for it.
Its only been a loss numerically as far as i'm concerned.

My sense was that when he played, Ennis was the best player in L1 last season. A quick glance at the stats supports that. He averaged a goal or assist every 102 minutes played, better than Conor Chaplin (107 minutes) and Jonson Clarke Harris (133 minutes). Unlike Ennis, I think both those players took penalties too. Ennis also almost always delivered his goals/assists at vital moments in tight games.

I'm not sure we would be higher up the league if Ennis had stayed, because of his injury record and other signings we'd have had to forego in order to be able afford to keep him. However his departure undoubtedly meant a massive loss in quality, and that we had to spend money and bring in really outstanding players just to get back towards the quality we had last season.

 

[stevey]

Very good point about missing Matete’s physical presence and influence.

Matete came in on loan during the January transfer window. His physical presence was noticeable and looked a quality player. My argument by memory was that as the season progressed he was used less by Schumacher. He picked up yellow cards regularly and was possibly seen more as a problem with the possibility of Matete getting himself sent off.. I haven’t looked at the second half of the season stats but I don’t think he made as big a impact as many might suggest..