Before I start. No I’m not a football manager or scout and I’m notoriously tight with marks but let’s have a look at the transfer window. The clear out at the end of last season coupled with the sacking of Collins left lots of recruitment to do. We lost a lot of experience and goals but on the more positive side some players left who had gone a little stale with not a great deal of improvement left in them. In terms of management Collins divided the fan base many were supportive thinking he had worked well with what he had whilst others saw an opportunity in a weak league spurned. Key positions to strengthen were goalkeeper, the forward line and a left back. Equally important was to end the Callum Styles fiasco and get him out of the club. In terms of marks I have knocked a point off if it looks like they will not impact the first team this season Manager Clarke. 7 Lots of experience at this level. Knows what it is to scrap and grind out points. Something our team lacked last towards the end of last season. We present career progression for him so great to have someone in position who recognises an opportunity. Question marks around squad building and based on the first couple of games tactics and substitutions. Goalkeeping Recruitment Smith 6. Clearly one for the future and comes with a decent reputation. Not likely to trouble the first team yet and lack of a player with experience at the club to help him develop. Gaga 7 Made an immediate impression with his shop stopping but demonstrating a fragility in the air. A young guy with plenty of talent that it will be interesting to see develop. Defenders Roberts. 7 Marc has a lot of experience and should be able to help us create a cohesive defensive unit. Long throw remains a weapon. Balanced against that a lack of pace and composure on the ball. Gent 6 Early showing has shown a lot of inconsistency which also hints at the opportunity to develop. Midfield Conor 7 Hopefully a massive influence in the dressing room. A player that knows that hard work and dedication present opportunities. Down side is age unfortunately the legs aren’t what they were. Craig 6.5 (so far) Coming in on the back of an impressive loan spell last season and clearly he has an eye for a pass and creative spark. Not been able to demonstrate much of that so far but a young kid who will hopefully develop over the season Nawakali 7 Comes with a decent pedigree and a slight whiff of ego. Hopefully he can put that to one side and follow Conor’s lead in terms of application and professionalism. Hard to put a mark against him having not seen him play but clearly a player for now not the future Attacking Midfield DKD 8 Coming to us on the back of a stellar season at Mansfield. A clever player with great movement and positional sense. A player the manager clearly wanted so a statement from the board that they are willing to back him. Hopefully we do not put too much pressure on him to replicate his Mansfield numbers and give him the time and space to adapt to a higher league. Given our budget hard to see how the board could deliver more. Centre Forward Humphrys 7 A solid player at this level with an ability to stretch defenders and pop up with a goal or two. Aggressive and the type of player we have lacked since Norwood left. Styles Out 9. A long running saga that didn’t present either player or club in a great light. Overall 7.5. Some key signings that have strengthened us and a couple of really impressive ones. Many bought with an eye on the future with lots of development opportunities. Weaknesses remain in the forward line. We have failed to replace the goals that Cole and McAtee supplied but may have more players that can chip in to at least equalise that. Left back and left sided CB remain a problem that we haven’t really solved but we had a lot to do this window. Over the next two windows we really need to concentrate on thinning the squad out. We are far too heavy in some positions with many players clearly not going to play many or any minutes. Getting 6/7 off the wage bill and adding a quality forward & Left sided defender in is the next challenge. What do you lot think? onwards and upwards
As you said at the start, notoriously tight with marks, but a fairly balanced and considered review. Not sure it’s fair to score any of the players on their performance yet, but I’m happy to score them against whether I think other promotion hopefuls would have signed them/have signed better. Slonina - obviously his previous transfer fee is based on potential and not on current ability, but that being said he got player of the match in his first two matches for us, and all goalkeepers playing at this level are prone to a mistake or two. My only contention to his signing was that there were proven goalkeepers floating around on free transfers this summer, and perhaps we should have gone for experience. 8/10 Smith - One for the future and clearly described as such so I see no problem with signing him. It wouldn’t have been much of a financial outlay and he can challenge Killip and the U21s keeper, whose name has escaped me, for the back up keeper slot. Expect one of those 3 to be out on loan come January. Not worth scoring as not really for the first team. Gent - We desperately needed a left back and he came with lots of encouraging reports from Blackburn. He’s been used sparingly so far, but no doubt he’s going to be relied on later in the season. Is he a better option than Longelo? Probably in terms of potential and ability to improve, and he probably cost a lot less. 8 Nwakali - a complete unknown really. Clearly has pedigree but has never settled/been given opportunities so seems to have taken the opportunity to build his career back up. Haven’t seen anything of him in a reds shirt yet so will give him a 6. Roberts and Hourihane strike me as fan appeasers, there were loads clamouring for them to be brought back, but they do give us experience and focal points for our young players to look up to. 7 Craig was fantastic for Doncaster last season and has shown bits in preseason. Cautiously optimistic that he will be a good signing, although not convinced he will start every week due to the strength in depth we have in midfield. - 7 DKD is one of the types of signings we should be making. Hungry up and coming players approaching their peak from the league below. We obviously had our heart set on him, and he wanted to come. Happy with this one - 9 Stevie Humphrys - He’s made no bones about the fact that he was weighing up his options this summer but has given a great first impression with his statement and I reckon Clarke might just get him firing. He’s everything to gain if he has a blinder of a season this year and fires us to promotion. 9
An equally fair analysis. I am quietly optimistic that Clarke will get the best out of Humphrys too. Seems a good fit
Thought I’d bump this for a bit of discussion. probably underscored Gent a bit. In terms of on field influence Conor has been non existent however we have scored a lot of set piece goals which maybe hints at this influence. Rest seem pretty accurate.
Can’t disagree with what you’ve typed as explanations but if you are tight I must be Scrooge. Clarke - 6 Slight difference just purely based on he talked such a fantastic game but hasn’t quite lived up to it yet. Slonina - 7, Good start, got found out a little with crosses etc, will come good again, injury probably came at right time for him. Conor - 3 Has literally done nothing in terms of playing. I’m sure he will add value behind the scenes. Gent - 6.5 Can see glimpses of why we bought him, taken time to settle but can see him going on to be a favourite. Craig - 6 Shown glimpses of his reputation but been well below what I expected for most of it. Nawakali - 5 Taken time to settle, looks promising but I have a feeling he could be a Paddy or a Shea, too early to tell. DKD - 7 Can see why we wanted him and will be key to any success, slightly lower as has tendencies where he is non existent. Humphrys - 7 For the reasons you have put.
Clarke- doing well with a squad not as good as last seasons imo, some of his interviews blaming players in public, starting weakened teams then saying huuds had just been relegated and had better players have pissed me off. Plus sub and tactics questionable at times, but he's done OK. 7 Slonina put in some good performances earlier in the season then started to look a liability and cost us points. Still young and in experienced. A big problem for me is past 2 seasons we have had loanees brought in as number 1 keepers. 6 Conor could say it's down to him we have scored more from set plays but we have o keffe and connell who can pass and Roberts Russell and Earl will always be a threat in the air. 3 Gent early days took time to get in the side but I think there's a player in the and a very good one. My motm v Rotherham by some distance. 7 Robo experienced always a threat from set plays good to have in your side. Not so good on the ball and lost abit of pace which he has previously but a good addition. 7.5 Craig. Not convinced we have looked better since dropping him send him back. 4 Nawakali apparently carried a injury for a while from the little I've seen looks a player time will tell. 6 Dkd I like him although he does miss some easy chances. Been a good signing so far though. 8.5
Clarke 6 Slonina 4 Hourihane 1 Gent 6 Roberts 9 Craig 4 Nwakali 2 Dunn 6 Humphreys 7 Some might seem harsh, for example Hourihane, but I think he is lucky to get 1 given he's effectively retired but I suspect getting a very decent salary. And Nwakali has had one good sub appearance, so over the space of several months, his rating has to be weighted as low. Roberts is the stand out signing and I fear to think how bad our defence might have been without him. And now Humphreys is getting up to speed he looks our best forward Dunn has been very inconsistent with a few glimpses of what he might be able to do, similarly Gent, though his crossing does look pretty decent and I think if we can find a stable team with a bit more quality behind him, we might have a good prospect on our hands. Craig and Slonina have been massive let downs so far. All in all, I'd give us a 6 out of 10 with lots of scope for improvement. Performances have been erratic. The defence has been continually porous. Our shape has often left us and yet somehow we've had lots of chances we've not been good enough to take. And despite all that, we're in playoff contention! A strange season in many ways so far.
