Mladen in the YP.

Saying we need a keeper left back/wing back.. plus replacements for Kane and Cole.
But also says that when everyones fit our defence is ok.. I don't agree on that..
But we do have enough bodies.. Lopata McCarthy and Shepherd who Clarke took last season. Plus young James, so see if he can get a tune out of any of em.. But I'd still wouldn't be against us bringing in another CB.. maybe a decent loan

 

I think we would all like better quality at centre back but we were never going to be signing centre backs with 6 first team players in different positions leaving & needing replacing.

We’ve got Pines, Earl, De Gevigney, McCarthy, Lopata & Shepherd on the books already & if any of them left we probably wouldn’t get a lot for them.

 

Lopata Has history of asking for a move if he’s not playing so I honestly think if he’s not a regular he’ll be off, also he didn’t pull any trees up at Port Vale.

Shepherd isn’t first team material just yet but as a left sided centre half he’s gold dust. He needs a loan out to L2 so he can play week in week out.

That leaves Pines, Earl, De Gevigney and McCarthy. As we’ll be playing 3 at the back we’ve only one player cover.
Even then McCarthy hasn’t kicked a ball in anger for months, De Gevigney is wildly inconsistent, Earl started brightly then faded badly, who I assume will be cover for LWB and we don’t know how durable Pines is for playing 50 games consistently.

Personally we need experienced cover like Marc Roberts who can take the pressure off Pines and De Gevigney.

Tom Edward’s has been released, he did ok when he was here and was unlucky with the injury.

 

I hope this is smoke and mirrors because if they don't think the defence needs looking at after last season then we might have a bit of a problem.

 

I agree with your summary, we definitely need another CH. Marc Roberts would be a great option on a free and he's a local lad who'd be up for it. No brainer on a one year deal.

 

I'd be amazed if McCarthy is still here at the start of next season.

 

I assume Mladen thinks another coach will get a different tune out of the defence. Not sure he's right. Last term it was a complete disaster show. A really big risk to go into this season without a fundamental change. Seems to be an assumption Pines will be a top player for us and the missing link. I suspect the odds will prove otherwise. Every other manager in this league knows exactly how to score a goal against the Reds.

 

We have to retain Shepherd and get him developed. Whether that be in at the club or out on loan. He’s a local lad who’s done good - living the dream. You have to support your own. He’ll never give less than 100% and run through brick walls for the club. I also think he’s good enough too - he did ok on his loan spell away.

I’m sure the new manager will also make a difference to certain players - they always do.

 

I’ve got to say, it’s a while ago since I saw McCarthy play but I don’t remember being overly impressed with him at the time. He obviously needs a chance to show he’s up for the challenge.

 

100%, at 23 he's not a kid but centre halves usually develop later/slower than other positions.

 

Yes, worrying if he thinks that. We were a shambles at the back last season and to pin all our hopes on a player who's played less than half a dozen games in the EFL is madness.
I'd be moving McCarthy out and loaning one of Shepherd or Lopata out to a L2 club. Offering Marc Roberts a one year deal to strengthen us and help develop the back line is a no brainer to me.
He's local, loves the club and is a free agent too.

 

He is crazy if he thinks we only need four signings and no new defenders. Pep and Jurgen would struggle to make half of our current batch of defenders up to scratch.

 

I think we might be a bit previous in writing off (or at least drawing conclusions on limitations of) all the centre halves we have on the books - we’ve only seen them under one regime really.

We’ve seen plenty of examples of players who look markedly different under different coaches or who look better at other clubs after leaving us even.

Let Clarke have a look at them and see what tune he can get out of them. Pines should be fit so there’s a bit of pace and height; the rest all have attributes and ability - and let’s face it, better organisation generally and particularly at set pieces - so some basic coaching - might well improve the goals conceded by fifteen to twenty alone.

I wouldn’t be gutted to see a new centre half but it’s not a priority for me.

 

McCarthy played pretty much the whole second half of the season for Swindon.

 

I totally missed that, thanks for the correction.
Hopefully he’ll get the chance to prove himself.

 

I genuinely can't remember anything about him.

Of the three centre halves we sent out on loan (Lopata, Shepherd and McCarthy) McCarthy's was the most successful, establishing himself in the Swindon team. The other 2 were in and out.

 

Maybe he thinks the defensive frailties were more down to the coaching rather than the players

 

We are in serious trouble if that's the plan of recruitment for this summer. They've got all hopes pinned on brining back Hourihane to mask over the absolute shower of a summer window ahead.

 

Take for example Lopata. Even out on loan under different coaching he didn't impress.

 

Or recruitment..