Transfer Rumour 25/26 Summer Transfer Window (48 Viewers)

[Lamps]

The only palatable option there is playing Wright LW which he is only record saying he views himself as a striker and wants to play there. Unless he forces a move, he’ll be our number 1 striker

Haji Wright will comfortably score 15-20 goals in a 46 game season, we don’t ‘need’ to prioritise spending on a ‘proper number 9’. We actually need to spend money on wingers right now. The top 3 teams last season have 3-4 wingers with 7-10+ goal contributions, we only have 2.

The problem is his injuries. He wasn't 100% fit at the end of the season. He isn't 100% fit now. We don't know for sure when he will be.

Can we afford to go into the season with only 1 striker that looks good enough but not knowing when he will be ready to play? We can't afford to play him at the start of the season with a niggling injury in case we make it worse. It leaves us with a confidence player in Simms who presently has no confidence and a headless chicken in BTA.

 

---

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Yes mainly from the left where he's obviously better. Not sure what you're refusing to see here tbh.

Haji has scored most of goals upfront for us lol… Besides, how are you fitting EMC in the team as well?

 

[TomRad85]

Haji has scored most of goals upfront for us lol… Besides, how are you fitting EMC in the team as well?

Has he? Do you have the figures for that? Seems like everyone can see he's better off the left than you tbh. Are you going to cope as hard as the Wilson fan boys when we inevitably sign another striker?

 

[Lamps]

Haji has scored most of goals upfront for us lol… Besides, how are you fitting EMC in the team as well?

His best game for us so far was in the middle against Sunderland. So what we should do is play him in a different position and leave one of our best players on the bench to make room for him.

 

[TomRad85]

His best game for us so far was in the middle against Sunderland. So what we should do is play him in a different position and leave one of our best players on the bench to make room for him.

He'll play if the strike force is left as is, this seems to have turned into Haji bashing when he's been one of my fave players overall last 2 seasons. This is more about Simms and BTA but the poster keeps deflecting from how poor they are.

 

[Lamps]

Has he? Do you have the figures for that? Seems like everyone can see he's better off the left than you tbh. Are you going to cope as hard as the Wilson fan boys when we inevitably sign another striker?

EMC and Wright started to get an understanding with each other. When Wright got the ball and took it towards the left EMC started to go towards the middle.

 

[Lamps]

He'll play if the strike force is left as is, this seems to have turned into Haji bashing when he's been one of my fave players overall last 2 seasons. This is more about Simms and BTA but the poster keeps deflecting from how poor they are.

Who has been bashing Wright? Not seen it a single time myself.

 

[TomRad85]

Who has been bashing Wright? Not seen it a single time myself.

No you are misunderstanding. Probably best to leave it. Muccas thinks the strike force is fine like others thought the keeper situation was fine. Please bookmark this for when we bring another in.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

The problem is his injuries. He wasn't 100% fit at the end of the season. He isn't 100% fit now. We don't know for sure when he will be.

Can we afford to go into the season with only 1 striker that looks good enough but not knowing when he will be ready to play? We can't afford to play him at the start of the season with a niggling injury in case we make it worse. It leaves us with a confidence player in Simms who presently has no confidence and a headless chicken in BTA.

Firstly, Haji has been generally reliable when it comes to injuries.

Second, both Simms and BTA have hit double figures leading the line in the Championship. Which is sufficient in terms of injury cover. What are peoples expectations for a 2nd or 3rd string striker?

Has he? Do you have the figures for that? Seems like everyone can see he's better off the left than you tbh. Are you going to cope as hard as the Wilson fan boys when we inevitably sign another striker?

Yes, you should’ve done your research. He’s played 11 fewer games as a striker and scored 10 more goals and 1 more assist than at LW.

His best game for us so far was in the middle against Sunderland. So what we should do is play him in a different position and leave one of our best players on the bench to make room for him.

If Haji is playing upfront, EMC obviously plays LW. EMC’s underlying numbers from last season are impressive and next season could be a breakout year if he can keep fit.

 

[Speedie's Head]

He'll play if the strike force is left as is, this seems to have turned into Haji bashing when he's been one of my fave players overall last 2 seasons. This is more about Simms and BTA but the poster keeps deflecting from how poor they are.

I think BTA has more to offer. He looked sharp on Wednesday. Simmo has reached to end of the road for me, much as he seems like a good lad.

 

[TomRad85]

I think BTA has more to offer. He looked sharp on Wednesday. Simmo has reached to end of the road for me, much as he seems like a good lad.

Same. Simms has ran his race here.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

He'll play if the strike force is left as is, this seems to have turned into Haji bashing when he's been one of my fave players overall last 2 seasons. This is more about Simms and BTA but the poster keeps deflecting from how poor they are.

Wright will play upfront because it’s objectively his best position and has been throughout his career to date.

Just because he had a good 20-odd game stretch under Robins, doesn’t make him a winger. He’s played made 2/3s of his career starts and scored 72.4% of his goals as a striker.

So naturally, like many of our managers in 00s like to be strikers on the wing, fans think he’ll play best as a winger.

 

[Lamps]

No you are misunderstanding. Probably best to leave it. Muccas thinks the strike force is fine like others thought the keeper situation was fine. Please bookmark this for when we bring another in.

What am I misunderstanding? Your words are there to be read clearly.

I would say that I've come the closest to bashing Wright by mentioning his recent injury problems. This isn't bashing him. It's stating why I think bringing in another good striker is so important.

Yes 62% of us thought we would be OK with Wilson and Collins. I wasn't one of them either.

I do understand why people are saying we need another winger in case of injuries. But my point has been that we already have injury problems with our only reliable striker. Would be great to bring both in though.

 

[TomRad85]

Wright will play upfront because it’s objectively his best position and has been throughout his career to date.

Just because he had a good 20-odd game stretch under Robins, doesn’t make him a winger. He’s played made 2/3s of his career starts and scored 72.4% of his goals as a striker.

So naturally, like many of our managers in 00s like to be strikers on the wing, fans think he’ll play best as a winger.

He'll play where the manager wants him to play and since he's been here he's been far better on the left of a front 3 than in the middle of it. He's not awful in the middle of it but really he's only moved back there because the players this is actually about and who you keep deflecting from aren't good enough.

 

[TomRad85]

What am I misunderstanding? Your words are there to be read clearly.

I would say that I've come the closest to bashing Wright by mentioning his recent injury problems. This isn't bashing him. It's stating why I think bringing in another good striker is so important.

Yes 62% of us thought we would be OK with Wilson and Collins. I wasn't one of them either.

I do understand why people are saying we need another winger in case of injuries. But my point has been that we already have injury problems with our only reliable striker. Would be great to bring both in though.

You've misunderstood it all tbh, I wasn't talking about you bashing Wright. That's why I said leave it because I really cba to explain.

I'm literally on your side, I also think bringing in another striker is important.

 

[Lamps]

Firstly, Haji has been generally reliable when it comes to injuries.

Wright missed a lot of the second half of the season. He was still carrying an injury at the end of the season. He still has the same injury at the start of the season and will most probably miss the start in a couple of weeks. We don't know for sure when he will be back. This is a.problem.

 

[Lamps]

You've misunderstood it all tbh, I wasn't talking about you bashing Wright. That's why I said leave it because I really cba to explain.

I'm literally on your side, I also think bringing in another striker is important.

You didn't say me. You said Wright bashing because of BTA and Simms. I just don't see it at all.

 

[fernandopartridge]

Haji has scored most of goals upfront for us lol… Besides, how are you fitting EMC in the team as well?

No he hasn't, most have come from him playing as a left sided forward

 

[TomRad85]

You didn't say me. You said Wright bashing because of BTA and Simms. I just don't see it at all.

Your forcing me to explain myself, highly frustrating... I'm basically saying it looks like I'm bashing Wright when actually I think he's really good and its not about him, the other poster keeps deflecting from the other strikers for some reason.
Happy to slate far better players in the form of EMC and Sakamoto but Simms and BTA need to be mollycoddled.

 

[Lamps]

Your forcing me to explain myself, highly frustrating... I'm basically saying it looks like I'm bashing Wright when actually I think he's really good and its not about him, the other poster keeps deflecting from the other strikers for some reason.
Happy to slate far better players in the form of EMC and Sakamoto but Simms and BTA need to be mollycoddled.

Not what you said but happy to leave it there

 

[TomRad85]

Not what you said but happy to leave it there

I don't understand at all so probably best.

 

[TomRad85]

No he hasn't, most have come from him playing as a left sided forward

Everyone knows this.

 

[David O'Day]

if wright is here next season, he'll play both positions

 

[Viktor17]

Any new rumour's?!

 

[Lamps]

I don't understand at all so probably best.

What chance have we got of understanding you when you don't understand it yourself

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

Who is an upgrade on Eccles ?
I keep seeing this posted on here like it's an easy solution

Pereira maybe? I don’t fully know who the best signing would be in terms of value/quality (and also how much we’d get for Eccles) but I imagine with what others have said about Pereira he’d be an upgrade on Eccles.

 

[TomRad85]

What chance have we got of understanding you when you don't understand it yourself

I think there are posters on here that could read through my posts and make perfect sense of it tbh. If it's not too boring I challenge someone to try and follow the thread as I'd think it's quite straightforward.

 

[Trueskyblue20]

Any new rumour's?!

Don’t be silly, this is the thread dedicated to debating Haji Wright’s best position

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

No he hasn't, most have come from him playing as a left sided forward

This isn’t correct Fernando. Last season, he scored 4 of his goals playing LW out of 12. 2 v Oxford, 1 v Blackburn and Plymouth away.

We played 5-3-2 v Leeds, PNE, QPR, Luton, Boro, Derby and Sunderland where Haji scored 4 goals. Then post-Lampard, scored 3 v Sunderland and another v Burnley in a 4-2-3-1.

If you itemise his goals in 23/24, it’s a similar pattern. Scored 4 before we switched to 4-2-3-1 (PNE, Boro and Blackburn), scored 6 from the wing in the league and the epic winner v Wolves, totalling 7. Even his goals v Sheff W and Man U, he played as a striker because we played 3-4-1-2 v Man U.

Haji’s goals v Watford and Huddersfield (3), we played 3-4-1-2 post-Sakamoto injury and against Millwall, he scored 2 playing as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1.

See Transfermarkt (attached) and the reason 3 of his goals aren’t credited as playing CF because he was substituted on for Simms v Boro and Blackburn (3-4-1-2) and on for COH v WBA (switched from 3-4-2-1 to 3-4-1-2).

Therefore, the final tally is 12 goals as a striker, 7 goals as a LW. Adjusting for his 4 penalty goals, it’s still 8 goals v 7 in 6 less games.

The conversation that should be taking place is not whether or not Haji’s best position is LW or striker… It’s whether or not he is better as a striker in a 2 or a one. Which is an entirely different topic of conversation.

 

[fernandopartridge]

This isn’t correct Fernando. Last season, he scored 4 of his goals playing LW out of 12. 2 v Oxford, 1 v Blackburn and Plymouth away.

We played 5-3-2 v Leeds, PNE, QPR, Luton, Boro, Derby and Sunderland where Haji scored 4 goals. Then post-Lampard, scored 3 v Sunderland and another v Burnley in a 4-2-3-1.

If you itemise his goals in 23/24, it’s a similar pattern. Scored 4 before we switched to 4-2-3-1 (PNE, Boro and Blackburn), scored 6 from the wing in the league and the epic winner v Wolves, totalling 7. Even his goals v Sheff W and Man U, he played as a striker because we played 3-4-1-2 v Man U.

Haji’s goals v Watford and Huddersfield (3), we played 3-4-1-2 post-Sakamoto injury and against Millwall, he scored 2 playing as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1.

See Transfermarkt (attached) and the reason 3 of his goals aren’t credited as playing CF because he was substituted on for Simms v Boro and Blackburn (3-4-1-2) and on for COH v WBA (switched from 3-4-2-1 to 3-4-1-2).

Therefore, the final tally is 12 goals as a striker, 7 goals as a LW. Adjusting for his 4 penalty goals, it’s still 8 goals v 7 in 6 less games.

The conversation that should be taking place is not whether or not Haji’s best position is LW or striker… It’s whether or not he is better as a striker in a 2 or a one. Which is an entirely different topic of conversation.

Fair enough, maintain that he is still more effective all round from the left if we're going to continue to play the same system. His goal record as CF is good but then he's scored more than one in a game from that position (Preston, Millwall, Huddersfield (a), Sunderland make up 10 (8 minus the penalties). So actually, agree with your final paragraph really!

 

[David O'Day]

This isn’t correct Fernando. Last season, he scored 4 of his goals playing LW out of 12. 2 v Oxford, 1 v Blackburn and Plymouth away.

We played 5-3-2 v Leeds, PNE, QPR, Luton, Boro, Derby and Sunderland where Haji scored 4 goals. Then post-Lampard, scored 3 v Sunderland and another v Burnley in a 4-2-3-1.

If you itemise his goals in 23/24, it’s a similar pattern. Scored 4 before we switched to 4-2-3-1 (PNE, Boro and Blackburn), scored 6 from the wing in the league and the epic winner v Wolves, totalling 7. Even his goals v Sheff W and Man U, he played as a striker because we played 3-4-1-2 v Man U.

Haji’s goals v Watford and Huddersfield (3), we played 3-4-1-2 post-Sakamoto injury and against Millwall, he scored 2 playing as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1.

See Transfermarkt (attached) and the reason 3 of his goals aren’t credited as playing CF because he was substituted on for Simms v Boro and Blackburn (3-4-1-2) and on for COH v WBA (switched from 3-4-2-1 to 3-4-1-2).

Therefore, the final tally is 12 goals as a striker, 7 goals as a LW. Adjusting for his 4 penalty goals, it’s still 8 goals v 7 in 6 less games.

The conversation that should be taking place is not whether or not Haji’s best position is LW or striker… It’s whether or not he is better as a striker in a 2 or a one. Which is an entirely different topic of conversation.

he played lw vs wolves

Wolves thought it was 3-4-1-2 but we pushed lats to rb and mve into a rw role - confused them so much their keeper had a tactical sit down

 

[Lamps]

Fair enough, maintain that he is still more effective all round from the left if we're going to continue to play the same system. His goal record as CF is good but then he's scored more than one in a game from that position (Preston, Millwall, Huddersfield (a), Sunderland make up 10 (8 minus the penalties). So actually, agree with your final paragraph really!

The other thing to consider other than where he plays when he scores the most is where does EMC play if Wright is on the left?

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Pereira maybe? I don’t fully know who the best signing would be in terms of value/quality (and also how much we’d get for Eccles) but I imagine with what others have said about Pereira he’d be an upgrade on Eccles.

I would like to see Pereira but as well as Eccles being retained . I think a midfield with Grimes , Rudoni , Torp , Sheaf , Eccles and Pereira is highly competitive and no real drop off in quality when a player needs resting/injured or suspended. That is if Pereira is as good as we hope he is

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

he played lw vs wolves

Wolves thought it was 3-4-1-2 but we pushed lats to rb and mve into a rw role - confused them so much their keeper had a tactical sit down

To clarify, I said 6 goals from the wing + the winner v Wolves so it’s been credited with a goal from LW for that game as well as, Leeds, Ipswich, Southampton Plymouth, Boro and Swansea. It’s all visible on websites like Transmarkt anyway.

Having done this exercise, the only Haji goals I haven’t witnessed is his brace v PNE.

 

[COVKIDSNEVERQUIT]

If MVE goes we can use that money to pay Man City what they want for Callum Doyle.