Wright doing a lot of heavy lifting in that good as any in the league strikeforce there.
Doyle will be going abroad. Tbh, we’ve got Kitching who will only improve and should imagine we are stuck with Binks. Wouldn’t make much sense to spend the amount being reported on a position we are not desperate for.
Agreed, but then this is my point. How can we attract and get much better than our current 2 without spending a fortune?
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When we score so many goals the desperation to spend serious money on new strikers as a priority eludes me.
It is the position we are most desperate for. We leaked goals all over the place not just left back. You can have one of Kitching or Thomas but not both. We need someone better to dominate the defence. Stupid goals (like the Stoke second to name but one) need to be cut out.
When we score so many goals the desperation to spend serious money on new strikers as a priority eludes me.
It would be nice if they chipped in with a couple of goals every now and then.
Wright obviously does already but needs to be more consistent.
If we got Doyle that would be an unreal however it's a dream signing, at CB we can do with a experienced head , probably get slaughtered for this but Ben Mee has been released from Brentford, he's 35 but would do for a year and an option of another
I would also add Pace and distribution to that list …. It’s why Grimes comes so deep because we can’t trust the back 2 to play out from the back and it’s why Milan is less attacking than he was as we need his recovery pace to cover Thomas and Kitchin.
Grimes dropping deep is clearly tactical, and even with better distribution from centre halves cant imagine it would change
Kitching has all the game awareness of a newborn puppy.
First two are backups and we’ve got three left backs! Keeper maybe but sounding like Dovin isn’t a million miles away I wouldn’t be surprised if we left it and made do.
we need better CBs if we’re serious this season
It’s in part tactical but as we saw at the end of the season teams worked out if they blocked Grimes and left the ball with Thomas or Kitch they would get it back quite quickly
If we are serious about going for promotion this year then we are surely signing a new #1.
Still think a loan is the smart thing to do. We can't get everything ready for the season then start dropping early points all over the place because our backup keepers love to chuck one in.
Spot on with regards to distribution. I think Bobby is a great old fashioned CB, but his distribution lets him down at times
He'll stick with Thomas and look to upgrade Kitching imo. Kitching isn't bad btw, at all. Walks into a lot of other teams in this league but if we want to kick on again it'll be something we look at.
I would break the bank to go and sign Doyle, then try and offload one of our other centre halves. If you look at our goals for and against last season it’s glaringly obvious that end of the field is what cost us - if we spaffed our entire budget shoring up the defence and bringing in genuine competition for Dovin, then left the top end as it is it wouldn’t bother me.
Eccles yesterday , Kitching today , who's getting drivel posted about them tomorrow?
Simple facts are that in the last two seasons our defence has performed better with Kitching in it than when he wasn't
Simple facts are that in the last two seasons our defence has performed better with Kitching in it than when he wasn't
With equal respect I don’t think it is. I know you’re going to tell me Kitching and Thomas are the greatest CB pairing outside the PL, I’m just going to believe my lying eyes and say they lose their man too often, are slow to notice danger and often make poor choices considering the game state.
We are significantly better with Kitching in the team than without.
If anything that points to Thomas being the weak link.
Kitching is fine for this level but people do vastly overrate him. He's slow, regularly overcommits himself, and isn't brilliant at tracking opposition.
We need someone far more assured starting if we're going to stop conceding silly goals as a collective back line.
I think Kitching is better than Thomas at defending personally. Thomas is better in the oppositions box which is why some have rose tinted specs around him.
I'd personally like to see them with a competent keeper in goal and a good quality LB.
Is this a “I can’t tell the difference between a team stat and a player stat” thing?
Thomas is younger and has positives like his danger in the other box that make him worth persevering with. They’ve both got similar issues, but you can have one if they e got a leader and organiser by them.
He's a good player and i wouldn't be that bothered if we went in with Thomas and Kitching, but i do get the feeling we'll look at that LCB spot. Think its simplistic to look at defensive calamities and point at them 2 but there was a lot going on last season from messing around with the CBs (Binks and Lati... don't get me started) to the messing around with keepers and of course the injury to Dovin once he was finally settled. Our LBs didn't help much, Dasilva picked up a bit but overall him and Bidwell were both poor.
Get a competent keeper in on loan, get the fullbacks sorted, have a settled unit from the start and i think a lot of the issues go away.
But yeh having said all that still feel like we'll bring in another LCB.
This is not how you progress though is it ….
We are not deciding which 2 of our existing 4 are best, we are debating whether can improve the team in the central defence areas…. It’s madness to suggest we can’t or shouldn’t try to.
As I see it, we have two LCBs (Kitching and Binks) and 2 RCBs (Thomas and Lati). Both Binks and Lati need upgrades of a better quality than the first choice pairing of Kitching and Thomas. Doyle would fix the LCB side still leaving something more for RCB. This is all of course funds dependent and I am not the manager!
There's not really a lot in it defensively between the two really. Both have had suspect moments.
Thomas is a lot better in the air though and wins more aerial duels. Personally I think against teams which play long Kitching is a serious weak link. Thomas is also a goal threat which offers us something different.
Kitching does progress the ball well though, I'll give him that.