The squad for next season

[ABH 470]

We need to find better loan options for our younger player than we have in the past. We need to find them more game time. Take ripley for example he when out on loan last season to be back up at bradford and sat on the bench only playing 1 game.

[Adam P 331]

Main in particular desperately needs to go out on loan as he just isn't good enough to play at Championship level at present.

 

The likes of Reach, L.Williams, Morris, Atkinson, Burgess etc could be good squad/back up options on pretty low wages so they would be very useful and efficient wage wise to have them as squad/back up players next season. It would be far better than in previous times where we had the likes of Haroun, Miller etc sat on the bench taking up decent wages without showing enough ability to ever be an important first team play in the future. So hopefully next season the path to the first team for our youngsters is far clearer to give them the opportunity to step into the team and prove themselves.

 

Main is a better player than Williams is imo

[2plus2 290]

Main in particular desperately needs to go out on loan as he just isn't good enough to play at Championship level at present.

 

The likes of Reach, L.Williams, Morris, Atkinson, Burgess etc could be good squad/back up options on pretty low wages so they would be very useful and efficient wage wise to have them as squad/back up players next season. It would be far better than in previous times where we had the likes of Haroun, Miller etc sat on the bench taking up decent wages without showing enough ability to ever be an important first team play in the future. So hopefully next season the path to the first team for our youngsters is far clearer to give them the opportunity to step into the team and prove themselves.

 

Hand on heart though, can you see many of them, if any, actually stepping up and ousting one of our current first teamers from the starting line up next season? I know there will always be exceptions. Look at Gibson for example. He's been excellent and has had a lot of starts. But, at the end of the day, he only really got his chance because of a glut of injuries. And he too benefited hugely from loan spells elsewhere before gobbling up his opportunity.

 

I'd rather we loan some out on season-long deals. And those who are (a) more likely to be called upon late in the season, and (b) realistically are at a level to cope with the Championship, can go on shorter deals with recall options. I'd much rather that then throw a young inexperienced player in at the deep end and have them struggle, or have them rot on the bench or reserves to an age where their development has been stunted.

 

If we had the likes of Haroun or Miller on the bench now, then I would see your point. But I think our first team and bench options are better then that at present. In most positions anyway.

[p_mards 1,365]

I don't expect any of them immediately ousting any of the players that will be ahead of them, except maybe Morris. They don't have to oust the players ahead of them to have beneficial season(I.E develop well). As long as they come in when injuries/suspensions hit and perform well and continue to develop then I would be happy with them as they're players for the future so I won't expect them to immediately be very good first team players. But after Ben Gibson's emergence this season goes to show that if you give young lads a chance they may surprise us with their progress.

 

In his time with us Steve McClaren found the right balance between have some very good first choice players with some talented youngsters on the bench that he wasn't afraid to play them. The youngsters now aren't of the same quality as then I know but neither is the quality of the opposition we are facing so I would feel comfortable about us going into next season with our good young players just below the first team level ready and waiting to take their chance when the opportunity comes.

[-Tim@london- 17]

I can see reach being useful until carayol comes back from injury, after that a loan will probably be best for him. If Rhys Williams leaves which looks likely then perhaps Atkinson could step up and replace him? I've never seen him play so i don't really know how good he is. Morris is 18 so 10+ appearances for us next season would be good progress.

[p_mards 1,365]

I think we will be signing a first choice RB with Atkinson being our back up.

[Prowler 197]

I reckon we may see Rhys as our RB :-/

[p_mards 1,365]

Yeah possibly if we fail to sell him. Hopefully a club comes in for him though.

[Prowler 197]

Yeah, I'd prefer him to leave.

 

Get some money and his wage off of the books but if he stays, we may as well use him at RB. Not the best but he's hardly the worst.

[p_mards 1,365]

Emnes starts for Swansea at Sunderland. I wonder how long it will be until he wins his customary penalty.

[HoyteForLeftBack 194]

I reckon we may see Rhys as our RB :-/

 

Karanka worked well on George at fullback, perhaps he could do the same with Rhys?

I agree about selling him if possible though

[p_mards 1,365]

Rhys played RB against Brighton at home earlier in the season where he had a poor 30 minutes but after then he was excellent(even though a few said he was terrible for the home game). I have faith that he would do a better job than Varga at RB, especially going forward where Rhys is far more comfortable on the ball.

 

But for his wages and potential sale value I think the money would benefit us far more than if we were to keep him. But if no one comes in for him then we will have to look to play him at RB as we should be playing Ayala and Gibson at CB(assuming we don't get Omeruo back on loan) with Friend LB.

[2plus2 290]

Friend has the proper attributes to be a full back though. What AK did was help him find his best form. When AK moved Rhys back to CB I think at times he found some of his best form again too, but I think his original loss of form had a lot to do with being played out of position in the first place.

 

I now definitely wouldn't look to sell Rhys, unless we are offered a good fee, which I think at this stage is unlikely. Ayala, Gibson, R Williams, Woodgate and hopefully Omeruo make up superb CB competition. That's the perfect number of quality CBs given that one will almost always be injured.

 

The question marks in defence for me would be..

(1) can we bring back Omeruo for the season?

(2) if so, do we still need Hines?

(3) do our CBs act as good enough FB cover?

(4) should we send the likes of Burgess and Atkinson out on loan?

(5) do we need a new RB, or will Varga suffice?

[Brunners 7,982]

I'm sure I remember reading something about Rhys not being suited for right back because his pelvic injury would worsen with constant running up and down the pitch 90 minutes every week.

[p_mards 1,365]

Yes I remember that too. Long term he's too much of a risk to keep but if no clubs are willing to sign him this summer then we need to try and get his performances to a good standard before selling him next time a club comes in willing to pay good money.