Injuries

Can’t see how you can say Jalo not an issue, of course he will be missed, he’s on fringe of 1st eleven and would probably have played last week if not injured. As for putting a 15 year old centre half into team alongside what will not be our 1st choice centre halves?.....he needs to be brought in when at least Roberts plays to guide him along, not for me and it would be a very brave man to do so away from home at Exeter

 

One door closes another one opens.
No issue with Pines he played well against Birmingham and is ready and match fit.If its Mcarthy in the team I'm sure he''ll be out to show one or 2 that he can perform at this level.

 

Fabio has made nine sub appearances totalling about 180 minutes. No goals, no assists. Aiden Marsh has made six sub appearances totalling about 180 minutes. No goals, no assists. It's a simple swap isn't it? Or maybe there's another young lad worthy of a bench spot? Is Dyer on loan somewhere, Luke Alker? I dunno.

I have time for Jalo, but - and it might be down to his shoulder issue that's now been operated on - he's looked well off it to me when I fully expected this to be the season where he really left an imprint on the team. I saw his debut a few years back, the brace at Donny too, and he doesn't seem to have improved to me. Injuries? I don't know. But I'm not seeing much development if I'm honest.

The losses of Earl and Roberts are big, Jalo really isn't.

And I'm comfortable being in the minority of one who would like to see Wilkinson involved.

 

Might be a bit past it now. Although he'd be a better option than Cosgrove up front.

 

Would have liked Marsh to have made it, but unfortunately not looking likely and if both were fit then Jalo in front of him every time, so I don’t get the “simple swap”.....we will agree to disagree

 

That’s part of the game buddy, full of opinions.

 

I’ve been disappointed with Sam. Thought he’d push on this year after his playoff form. Appears that was the anomaly, sadly. But, we live in hope.

 

Jalo has shown a lot more than Marsh for me, but I'd love Aiden to take his chance. Not seen that much from him TBH, where as Jalo seems to trouble defences, creating space elsewhere. His end product could be better, but that comes with experience.

We are stuck with what we've got. Sometimes a squad can come together at challenging times & surprise us. We need it, as we are on a god awful run at the minute.

 

It is and it isn’t.

If he stays with Bradford, he could play another 25 games plus.

If he comes back here, he’ll only get 4-5 tops.

Long term for the player (and ultimately us), it could be better for him to stay at Bradford.

Utilise McCarthy and Pines for now.

 

Shepard could come back and end up
being too good to drop. no saying he'll get the elbow when the rest are fit..

 

I see what you mean and it's definitely a consideration. I'm sure it was when we sent him out on loan as well. But the flip side is that he comes back and performs well. He's been getting rave reviews at Bradford, so I'm sure he'll back himself to perform at the higher level.

 

Anyone remember Adie Moses playing against Villa in the Cup in 95 due to an injury crisis in central defence? He was 19. And he was up against John bloody Fashanu. And his elbows. I can't remember if it was his debut or not, he might have played before, but if so, not much. Anyway, Adie did pretty well and he was a big strong lad, but they targeted him and gave him a right roughing up. They didn't better him, but they certainly tried. You can't chuck a 15 year old into that kind of environment.

 

Interesting to see how this one plays out cos if you recall Clarke had him on loan at the back end of last season at Cheltenham so all things considered if Clarke was happy for him to go out on loan again he perhaps thought at the time he wasn’t ready so will be interesting to see if his thoughts now changed on this considering he played at our level last season and now dropped to the league below.

 

Worrying news.

 

Whilst I see & probably agree with your point mate, Clarke would have been slaughtered if he dropped Roberts for some of those games. I know we lost, but so much would have been put on Roberts not playing had he been rested.

I like Pines, I am fearful about his ability with ball at feet, but if he can stick to doing bare minimum in that regard, we should be fine. The main issue last season was we just couldn't win headers at the back, it was bruising. Now we are able to replace one with another who are both commanding in the air.
Shame about Jalo, I wanted him to have a run in the team with how we've been struggling to score but hopefully this sorts him out for good now. Would love to see Nwakali start & Yoganathan on the bench because I have very high hopes for them both.

I think throwing Wilkinson in at 15 is a mistake, especially at centre back. 1 big mistake pounced on and could have a huge impact on him at that age. Throwing him in the deep end like we did with RNL & Moon I think would be a mistake. I really liked the look of Nathan James during those couple of cameos for us so no issues if he had to be in the squad - but the coaching staff see a lot more of him so I imagine maybe he just had a couple of good games and we've raised the bar too high on him just yet

I'd recall Shepherd back, leave Lopata on loan (depending on his injury if he can return there afterwards) but I do worry when Earl returns he will have little to no game time. Interested to see what Clarke & co do.

 

cometh the hour, cometh the man.

 

He should have been left out of the cup game imo. Leaving him fresh for Wrexham and Brum. I know it’s a fine line, but at some point, you have to make that call.

Going forward, we need to utilise McCarthy. Otherwise he needs to go in January - no point having him if he can’t step in.

I think Shepherd’s a good player - still learning his trade more, but has promise. And being a young local lad picked up from non-league, he should have our full support.

 

As would this bag of postcrete that I’m about to use to set a gate post in

 

What about Sam Cosgrove at centre back?

 

Wilkinson captain for England u16s today v Netherlands