Sorry to bring this up again. Genuinely not trying to stir up any bad vibes or anything like that... however...
I did think in the summer it was bizarre that these three players weren't properly replaced. I was ridiculed months ago by many on here and by various Argyle friends of mine who just went along with the line of "Schuey, Dewsnip and co know what they are doing... chill out..." However it's clear now that not replacing AT LEAST two of these three players have cost us.
Weirdly, many people will react with the fact that Ennis is injury prone. That's not the point at all. His presence last season, along with those other two i've mentioned made the difference between finishing top and in the play offs where I'm fairly sure we'd have been beaten, lacking that one-match edge that other teams have. So we needed to find a replacement for Ennis in the summer as mentioned when he signed for Blackburn. But that's proven to be a difficult task even for our management, who for the most part so far have been top quality.
Not a brainbusting theory but it's obviously far more difficult to attract great attacking players, as they generally cost more and obviously bringing in Whittaker and then Azaz back on loan was good business. For me the signing of Luke Cundle has been the third best bit of business (behind Gibson/Whittaker) in the summer transfer window however it doesn't take away the fact we never replaced Ennis, Mayor and Cosgrove. Even if you count Bundu he is nothing in terms of positioning like the three players above.
When we go round and round and round on various posts regarding defeat after defeat this point doesn't really get mentioned, but the reality is we should have replaced these players AND not only that but with BETTER players. Simple stuff, but difficult to implement. Arguments about the defence being a bit porous are kind of invalid, or who should play at full back (I mean that's another argument as in a back 4 do we have proper full backs at hand?) BUT ultimately it's all about goals...goals keep you in a division especially if you can't keep clean sheets and we just can't rely on Hardie, Whittaker and Cundle.
So my initial theory months ago was that we need to stay above that relegation zone, as far up as possible until the January transfer window kicks in... to then strengthen especially up front, however with talks of most / all of the budget blown I wonder what the plan is from the board and management moving forward? To have one senior striker on the books along with a very young player in BW is extroadinary! IF we can't improve our attacking options then our only hope is to drastically improve defensively and rely on nicking draws here and there (contradicts my porous comment lol.) That means that even Cooper in goal isn't guaranteed a spot because our defensive unit have all been at fault for goals conceded these past few weeks.
I did think in the summer it was bizarre that these three players weren't properly replaced. I was ridiculed months ago by many on here and by various Argyle friends of mine who just went along with the line of "Schuey, Dewsnip and co know what they are doing... chill out..." However it's clear now that not replacing AT LEAST two of these three players have cost us.
Weirdly, many people will react with the fact that Ennis is injury prone. That's not the point at all. His presence last season, along with those other two i've mentioned made the difference between finishing top and in the play offs where I'm fairly sure we'd have been beaten, lacking that one-match edge that other teams have. So we needed to find a replacement for Ennis in the summer as mentioned when he signed for Blackburn. But that's proven to be a difficult task even for our management, who for the most part so far have been top quality.
Not a brainbusting theory but it's obviously far more difficult to attract great attacking players, as they generally cost more and obviously bringing in Whittaker and then Azaz back on loan was good business. For me the signing of Luke Cundle has been the third best bit of business (behind Gibson/Whittaker) in the summer transfer window however it doesn't take away the fact we never replaced Ennis, Mayor and Cosgrove. Even if you count Bundu he is nothing in terms of positioning like the three players above.
When we go round and round and round on various posts regarding defeat after defeat this point doesn't really get mentioned, but the reality is we should have replaced these players AND not only that but with BETTER players. Simple stuff, but difficult to implement. Arguments about the defence being a bit porous are kind of invalid, or who should play at full back (I mean that's another argument as in a back 4 do we have proper full backs at hand?) BUT ultimately it's all about goals...goals keep you in a division especially if you can't keep clean sheets and we just can't rely on Hardie, Whittaker and Cundle.
So my initial theory months ago was that we need to stay above that relegation zone, as far up as possible until the January transfer window kicks in... to then strengthen especially up front, however with talks of most / all of the budget blown I wonder what the plan is from the board and management moving forward? To have one senior striker on the books along with a very young player in BW is extroadinary! IF we can't improve our attacking options then our only hope is to drastically improve defensively and rely on nicking draws here and there (contradicts my porous comment lol.) That means that even Cooper in goal isn't guaranteed a spot because our defensive unit have all been at fault for goals conceded these past few weeks.