That’s him. But it’s not who @Chickenhead was thinking of.
Jason Banton was a rare miss, particularly on the character test front IIRC, but it’s all whispers and perception. He certainly didn’t pull up any trees.
GA’s recruitment certainly wasn’t infallible but it was more hit than miss and brought so many great players, nay people, to the club. It’s an incredibly tough act to follow and possibly not repeatable in the same sense, but a yardstick the current OG will be beaten with (fairly or unfairly) as it led us to our greatest ever position.
I am trying to check my bias and temper my emotions towards the OG as there is good amongst the bad. But as said, if you’re going to promise a shiny new world, expectations do get raised. The pre season interview with Rice did irk me as it seemed to insinuate old is bad and new is good with little humility or nod to what was the most successful period in our history. Maybe it’s a ‘me’ issue. Other opinions are available.
6 Likes
I think the Banton signing in his early days might have led to the prominence of Dobbo’s views on character coming to the for and his promotion to assistant manager from academy lead.
I may have this timeline wrong though about Banton being the trigger. Dobbo gave a great interview on character and how they used that, alongside the data, to create the best dressing room. At the time, it was leading insight and we were alledgedly one of the few clubs using psychologists and this side of things in the football league.
My interpretation of OGs comms was that we were going to be signing Championship ready/Auto’s League one players, using their amazing unique data approach.
Whilst we may have signed some decent players for top 10 in League One, only Henderson is Championship ready.
For me, this is why the recruitment has been so disappointing thus far. What we were sold versus what we have.
If we put the OGs claims to one side and judge the signings as whether they are good enough to grab a play-off place (not Auto’s) in League One. Through those spectacles I think you can add Mullins, Hagelskaer, Allen, Casey to that list of decent signings for this season.
Although I still have serious concerns about Anders and Allen defensively, I think they would get seriously exposed in the Championship, offensively they are both excellent.
I think Boyd-Munce could well join them with a run of games.
The rest, as it stands, are not consistent enough or good enough (this season) for top half of League One - Fink, Westergaard, Quitirna, Back, Van Sas, Taylor, Tilley, Lowry, Berry.
As others have said, we are not going to get everything right but only having one championship ready player out of 15 permanent signings is not what I was expecting following the OGs claims. Having 6 out of 15 ready for top half of League One still feels short of what was required but is not as doom and gloom as perhaps it was a few months ago.
8 Likes
Sorry, @Commoner, I’m a big fan of your work, but what was it that was said that led you to expect Championship-ready players? I ask only because I’ve never got that impression. I thought it was all about developing the players and the club to make us sustainable in the Championship.
3 Likes
The stated aim was to be a Championship Club with North Star of the Premier League.
In order to do that you need to have some of your squad capable of playing in the Division above whilst in the current division.
Birmingham, Wrexham and Charlton have strengthened but they’ve also continued to utilise a number of players from last season. I would expect us to have to do the same should we get promoted.
We do have some players outside of the new OG signings that could hold their own - Grimmer, Harvie, Scowen, Fred - I was hoping we would have added more than just Henderson to that list though.
I’m not sure any of our marquee signings - Westergaard, Taylor, Hagelskaer, Berry, Fink - will develop into solid Championship players.
Hope that answers your question! 
EDIT: Also, my interpretation of development was to buy them cheap, develop them and sell them on. Perhaps only Mullins may come good on that. Is one player per season or every other season enough though, given the money we’re spending? I suppose that’s what we’ve become accustomed to with Kone, Mehmeti, Forino moving on with no budget for signings. De facto, I’m expecting more if we’re breaking transfer records consistently. (Appreciate Forino we didn’t get money for.)
1 Like
I agree with you,in fact I doubt whether Woodrow would get more than 5 in a season let alone 20. As a few have said he brings other attrubutes to our attack but I am afraid scoring goals isn’t one of them.
In fairness to Fink he went for the far corner as a striker is told to do on his first chance and Bishop pulled off a decent save with his legs. The other he smacked the post. He actually looked more likely in 12 minutes to get a goal than Woodrow had done in 78 mins. Woodrow does help knit our attack together better than Fink however.
4 Likes
Thank. I’m not sure I agree. What I heard from Rice was that we wanted to get into the Championship and become established there (and blah, blah the Premier League). But I didn’t hear any imminent deadline for that and I don’t think it follows that players we’ve bought had to be of Championship standard right now. I assumed that the aim was to develop players, with clear potential now, to be able to compete at that level if and when we get there - to come on the journey with us, if you will.
That view was partly based on the recruitment model and particularly the age of the recruits, but also on what the club executive have said. Stockwell even said at the fans forum in the autumn that he thought the summer recruits were ahead of his expectations in terms of their contribution - convenient for him and them, I thought. But it is consistent with a longer-term approach.
What I wouldn’t argue with you about is that to date, the recruits in the 2 previous windows offer a poor return for the outlay. I am just more open to the argument that the return might come later.
3 Likes
I personally think their use of data was as simple as ‘that box-to-box’ midfielder playing in the Danish League has the same running/passing/tackling/shooting statistics and is the same age as that guy playing in the Championship but only costs a quarter as much’.
(I don’t actually think that but I wouldn’t be that surprised if they actually were that stupid)
1 Like
What I never understood about the recruitment was that MD1 was a coach who was expected, if rumours are to be believed, to develop players to play a certain way but the management didnt seem to have recruited players to play the way they wanted him to play, so he had had to try and make Bloomfield’s players do things they had not been bought to do…to diminishing returns. Duff seems to have just asked people to do what they can do…to better effect.
68 career league goals and he’s got more than 5 in three different seasons, two of which were in the championship. So not a great point there.
I’m not really bothered about his past as it’s what he does for us now that is important.When was the last time he looked even close to scoring a goal for us ? He is clearly not the man who is going to be banging goals in for us.It isnt as if he been unlucky by hitting the woodwork or forcing world class saves. I Can’t remember the last time he came close and certainly not as close as Fink came 2-3 times against Wimbledon.
I do rate him as someone who can make things tick but a prolific striker he clearly isn’t. Certainly not now and with us.
1 Like
Jason Bantom.
Well he’s had 33 shots, 12 on target and two league goals. So he’s looked like scoring a goal quite a bit.
he really has not…
These are statistics, not an opinion
Jason Banton
1 Like
A shot hitting the corner flag is a shot. Stats can say anything you want them to say. I have a set of eyes (assuming you do go and watch the games so do you). He is a good player and I am not saying he isn’t. He is not a prolific striker. Apart from one season at Barnsley he never has been.
More importantly for us he was in his prime at Barnsley and no longer is. He deserves a place in the team, he offers alot to our attack but out of his 2 league goals one was a penalty and he most certainly is not prolific or is ever likely to be. He seriously is not the goal scorer we could do with.
Is anyone arguing he is prolific? I think the point is he isnt, and isnt necessarily in the side to be prolific, based on set up. But, he gets involved and helps create, while also getting chances.
People say we need a striker, but what type, and how will it impact the style. Because if you have a new centre forward and play 352, where you playing Fred, who is looking dangerous running through the middle. If you are going 433 you need more wingers, rather than those that cut in, or you have everyone im the middle, if your forward doesn’t drop deep, as Woodrow does.
1 Like
Woodrow can hit a penalty .Before he joined I’d pretty much given up getting excited if we were awarded a penalty, as Leahy and co seemed to miss them anyway.
3 Likes
Woodrow is on 5 goals this season, yes only 2 in the league, but still 5.
I’m struggling to see how people think Finky missing a few chances in quick succession last week suddenly makes him a better bet than a guy who has two 15 goal seasons in the championship a few years ago.
4 Likes