Squad Thoughts

[3spirit]

5 hours ago, Curtis said:

Without it appearing to be the clubs specific strategy, over the last two seasons we have seen the likes of Tenconi, Pruti, Dandy & George comfortably make the move up to senior football & establish themselves as good players at our level.

There will be lots of others out there, either being released from professional academies or late developers currently playing at a lower  level, and there will be lots of young players, the likes of Stevens, Adebayo, Alexander, & Dennis, who will be keen on being loaned out to get the experience of senior football.

Field of Dreams - ‘Build it & they will come’.

 

Curtis, while I recognise the standard of the four players you mention as making it in the National League South [ Teconi,Pruti,Dandy and George] I think you miss the point,in that all these 4 players were not the finished article at all and no way could you make a team of these sorts of players and expect them to do well in this division. To me a first eleven side in the National League South needs at least 7 experienced proven players at this level in the team to have any chance of being a consistent,achieving team. In squad terms I think that loosely translates to 11 to 12 proven players.

Next season I think Slough will have problems given that our squad is now threadbare, and that there's not many good players left to build around.

A new goalkeeper seems needed. Hopefully we will keep Josh Jackman, Joe Dandy, Shane Bush and Gabe George in defence but to me we need a proper left back and another quality centre back added to those 4 to play week in week out. Midfield I would keep Scott [obviously], Matt Lench and Johnny Goddard but would be looking to bring in  3-4 new midfielders.

Upfront I would keep Ogo and Elliot but would try to get Francis Amartey back and try to bring in a proven goalscorer to start in the first team with him[Francis] or Ogo.

[GlenSTFC]

7 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

Curtis, while I recognise the standard of the four players you mention as making it in the National League South [ Teconi,Pruti,Dandy and George] I think you miss the point,in that all these 4 players were not the finished article at all and no way could you make a team of these sorts of players and expect them to do well in this division. To me a first eleven side in the National League South needs at least 7 experienced proven players at this level in the team to have any chance of being a consistent,achieving team. In squad terms I think that loosely translates to 11 to 12 proven players.

Next season I think Slough will have problems given that our squad is now threadbare, and that there's not many good players left to build around.

A new goalkeeper seems needed. Hopefully we will keep Josh Jackman, Joe Dandy, Shane Bush and Gabe George in defence but to me we need a proper left back and another quality centre back added to those 4 to play week in week out. Midfield I would keep Scott [obviously], Matt Lench and Johnny Goddard but would be looking to bring in  3-4 new midfielders.

Upfront I would keep Ogo and Elliot but would try to get Francis Amartey back and try to bring in a proven goalscorer to start in the first team with him[Francis] or Ogo.

Mostly agree with you. I wonder if Forster will be retained? It’s a 50/50 for me… he was dropped for a reason and we got very lucky with Will. Now he’s gone I think it’ll be difficult to get a keeper as good. But Forster has had a great season with Ascot gaining promotion and going to Wembley. He’s also near enough guaranteed to be first choice there so would he want to give that up knowing if he gets the chance to start for us it could go pear shaped like last season? Tricky one I feel. We obviously need new players in each dependent but it does seem like midfield needs the most recruiting. If Goddard stays him and Lench do need to up their goals and assists stats unless we can bring in 1 or 2 goal scoring midfielders. Up front I’m not sure about Ogo, he has something of course but not sure he’s consistent enough and would score the 20+ we need. But if we can find that main striker for him to play off then yes I’d keep him. For me Benyon and Kayani aren’t going to score even 10 each at this level. So I think we’re looking at 8-10 new players depending on how many A23’s are brought in.

[Ian g f]

26 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

Mostly agree with you. I wonder if Forster will be retained? It’s a 50/50 for me… he was dropped for a reason and we got very lucky with Will. Now he’s gone I think it’ll be difficult to get a keeper as good. But Forster has had a great season with Ascot gaining promotion and going to Wembley. He’s also near enough guaranteed to be first choice there so would he want to give that up knowing if he gets the chance to start for us it could go pear shaped like last season? Tricky one I feel. We obviously need new players in each dependent but it does seem like midfield needs the most recruiting. If Goddard stays him and Lench do need to up their goals and assists stats unless we can bring in 1 or 2 goal scoring midfielders. Up front I’m not sure about Ogo, he has something of course but not sure he’s consistent enough and would score the 20+ we need. But if we can find that main striker for him to play off then yes I’d keep him. For me Benyon and Kayani aren’t going to score even 10 each at this level. So I think we’re looking at 8-10 new players depending on how many A23’s are brought in.

If Alfonso hadn't gone to America he'd be playing at a higher level now He goal ratio was great Signing 8 to 10 players who are we Chelsea?

[Reading Rebel]

54 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

If Alfonso hadn't gone to America he'd be playing at a higher level now He goal ratio was great Signing 8 to 10 players who are we Chelsea?

I think 8 to 10 players is ok but not all will be of the quality we will need to have a decent season in the league.

I'd rather have 5 or 6 better quality players.

[Reading Rebel]

5 hours ago, Curtis said:

Just a thought…… didn’t Michael Edegbe go out on a season long loan to Southall?
 

I think he is only 21, so presumably a decision would need to be made about whether to re-sign him. Southall finished mid table at Step 4, but does anybody know if he started regularly or if he progressed & had a good season?

I think he was a regular starter for Southall.

[SloughFlyer]

2 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

I think he was a regular starter for Southall.

He was RR

[SloughFlyer]

For me on squad make up, I think we should be looking at:

10-12 quality conference south level or above players (Jackman, George, Bush, Dandy, Davies, Lench, Obi is a good start to that)

3-5 quality loan signings along the lines of Dennis, Eweke and Alexander

3-4 A23 players to develop and learn from the senior team players.

With a 16 man match day squad, considering injuries, suspensions and "absences" for other reason AND the flexibility of the academy players, that should give us a good squad make up and from a budget point of view be managible due to the loans and younger players.

[3spirit]

22 hours ago, Curtis said:

This was the experience we had in the squad at the beginning of last season:-

 

North

Bird Togwell Hollis

Jackman Goddard Davies Lench Dobson

Harris Benyon

Average age : 31.5 

How did that work out?

I think you are being harsh on Bakes and Unders and the funds they had available. I don't think either of us knows, who was contracted and who was not. I do know that Elliot was brought in because he was experienced and at the time was about all the club could afford !  Remember Ben Harris had been told he could leave but got brought back because Bakes and Unders didn't have any money to recruit better. Dobbo they took a chance on, and Ryan Bird they used noble and good management acumen to give Ryan a helping hand after his horrific injury. What's wrong with that? They had no intention of using Ryan as one of their best centre halves,in my eyes [and I'm sure theirs] he was viewed as a squad player.

I actually think you've made those older players fit into your first eleven and forgotten about younger players they used and recruited like George Hunt, Joe Dandy and Imran Kayani.

[3spirit]

16 hours ago, SloughFlyer said:

For me on squad make up, I think we should be looking at:

10-12 quality conference south level or above players (Jackman, George, Bush, Dandy, Davies, Lench, Obi is a good start to that)

3-5 quality loan signings along the lines of Dennis, Eweke and Alexander

3-4 A23 players to develop and learn from the senior team players.

With a 16 man match day squad, considering injuries, suspensions and "absences" for other reason AND the flexibility of the academy players, that should give us a good squad make up and from a budget point of view be managible due to the loans and younger players.

I disagree about 3-5 loan signings for pre-season/start of league games. I think 2 maximum.  I take the view that loans are better used through the season NOT at the start of one.

I agree with your 6 players to build around although I only see 4 of them worthy as being of regular first eleven starters. I would actually go 7 and include Elliot Benyon, not because I find him the best player but because our squad is currently lacking experience and whatever you say about Elliot he has been 'around the block' and playing at this sort of standard for awhile, he also gets on well with his team mates and can be relied upon by Scott to do a specific job when asked. The thing is though out of those seven, I see 3 of them as squad players.

It's also possible that Scott may include Matt Hall in his plans for pre-season, as Matt has got to know players here and could be a useful player to have around, I imagine he's relatively cheap and he appears to offer versatility in a number of positions,if the budget needs to drawn in somewhat. I see him as useful but other fans might not.   

The A23 lads need to be cherry picked who's worthy of periphery squad inclusion.I think it would do no harm to include a U23 keeper among them, and if Josh Jackman  and Joe Dandy stay, someone up and coming who can be mentored by them for defensive/offensive  preferably right hand side duties. Like how Gabe George has come into our team on the left. I would be also on the lookout for a gifted player for the wing/attack[good ball control/dribbling skills possibly quick] ie a young Jake Parsons/Lee Randall type, and someone who with potential for centre mid duties like a young Sam Bateman/Ryan Hope/George Hunt type [plenty of energy and can do hard running in midfield].

Of course a forward like Alfonso Tenconi would be handy but these nuggets are hard to find. This season,though, I hope we  install a potential 20 plus goal poacher and another forward experienced to play off him[preferably Francis Amartey], and then have Ogo and Elliot as back up to shake things around and change the line up when needed. I take your point on Francis, SloughFlyer, but do not agree with your view. I think Ogo Obi is the perfect foil to keep Francis on his toes. If a forward drops in form you have options to replace him.

Edited May 10, 2023 by 3spirit

[Curtis]

Last season Watford released the following under 23’s on 26th May:

Derek Agyakwa, Dante Baptiste, Jack Broome, Jack Burchell, Ryan Cassidy, Jimiel Chikukwa, Kamil Conteh, Kane Crichlow, Jordan Harrison, Dominic Hutchinson, Andi Janjeva, George Langston, Kyrell Lisbie, Kyreece Lisbie, Josh O’Brien, Adam Parkes, Dan Phillips, Maurizio Pochettino and Henry Wise.

Several of them played non league football last season at the likes of Eastleigh, Gateshead, Eastbourne, Dover, Chorley, Plymouth Parkway etc (some went on to other league clubs, & some seem to have disappeared from football).

It will be interesting to see who they release in the next couple of weeks. Do we have a connection with Watford now? I seem to recall a friendly with their under 21 or under 23 side?

[SloughFlyer]

6 hours ago, 3spirit said:

I disagree about 3-5 loan signings for pre-season/start of league games. I think 2 maximum.  I take the view that loans are better used through the season NOT at the start of one.

I agree with your 6 players to build around although I only see 4 of them worthy as being of regular first eleven starters. I would actually go 7 and include Elliot Benyon, not because I find him the best player but because our squad is currently lacking experience and whatever you say about Elliot he has been 'around the block' and playing at this sort of standard for awhile, he also gets on well with his team mates and can be relied upon by Scott to do a specific job when asked. The thing is though out of those seven, I see 3 of them as squad players.

It's also possible that Scott may include Matt Hall in his plans for pre-season, as Matt has got to know players here and could be a useful player to have around, I imagine he's relatively cheap and he appears to offer versatility in a number of positions,if the budget needs to drawn in somewhat. I see him as useful but other fans might not.   

The A23 lads need to be cherry picked who's worthy of periphery squad inclusion.I think it would do no harm to include a U23 keeper among them, and if Josh Jackman  and Joe Dandy stay, someone up and coming who can be mentored by them for defensive/offensive  preferably right hand side duties. Like how Gabe George has come into our team on the left. I would be also on the lookout for a gifted player for the wing/attack[good ball control/dribbling skills possibly quick] ie a young Jake Parsons/Lee Randall type, and someone who with potential for centre mid duties like a young Sam Bateman/Ryan Hope/George Hunt type [plenty of energy and can do hard running in midfield].

Of course a forward like Alfonso Tenconi would be handy but these nuggets are hard to find. This season,though, I hope we  install a potential 20 plus goal poacher and another forward experienced to play off him[preferably Francis Amartey], and then have Ogo and Elliot as back up to shake things around and change the line up when needed. I take your point on Francis, SloughFlyer, but do not agree with your view. I think Ogo Obi is the perfect foil to keep Francis on his toes. If a forward drops in form you have options to replace him.

What is it with you and old strikers that dont score goals!😉. I think there are loads of better, experienced options out there and from a recruitment point of view, there HAS to be better options to support development in that area.

100% agree with Matt Hall, I was very surprised given some of our defensive issues at the end of last season (Temi's suspension, Joe's injury and suspension etc) that he wasn't used even in the squad as opposed to dual reg'd out. I thought he made a good start to life in the first few months with the squad and would like to see him stay.

I think we already have the wing/attacking player you mention in Louis Walsh. Whilst we have only seen him in a limited capacity he looks quick, skillful with a good eye for goal from out wide. 

100% agree about the striker (although obviously not the named player). Unfortunately, I also agree that finding that striker will be very tough. Having said that, if there is one thing our manager has is contacts in the game of football, so if anyone can, he can I'm sure. 

[rebelbrewer]

On 08/05/2023 at 13:14, Reading Rebel said:

So why no news of the new owner/fans forum if it's all done and dusted?

Because the FA take ages to do anything, particularly in non league

[Reading Rebel]

41 minutes ago, rebelbrewer said:

Because the FA take ages to do anything, particularly in non league

As it's been 4 months I think you could be right.