Matt Done

[1danewhitehouse]

Much as I like him, I still believe that we didn't need to spend £500k (or whatever the fee was) on Sharp, which means we now have 5 decent strikers and are still lacking in central midfield, central defence and now, arguably, left mid/wing. I think a combination of Done, Adams and McNulty up front would have been sufficient and we still could have got Sammon on loan.

Love Matty Done - easily one of the best signings Clough made, if not the best. For me, his attitude and play was defined by the goal he scored at the Lane v Peterboro last season. If all the players had Done's attitude, I'd have no doubt we'd be top of the league.

I suppose it depends on whether you percieve that the £500k spent on Sharp could have been used elsewhere. Phipps & Co always tell us there is money to bring players in and we are trying to do deals and that lack of funds is not the issue. IF we accept that as true, then signing Sharp has had no detrimental effect on squad building and therefore he has to be considered a good signing doesn't he?

If we squandered our only money on him, I'd be inclined to agree it could have perhaps been better used in more pressing areas.

 

[Blade58]

I see you've all sorted the forward line out. Just the midfield, defence and goal keeper to go and we might just sneak promotion

 

[coaxingstar71]

I suppose it depends on whether you percieve that the £500k spent on Sharp could have been used elsewhere. Phipps & Co always tell us there is money to bring players in and we are trying to do deals and that lack of funds is not the issue. IF we accept that as true, then signing Sharp has had no detrimental effect on squad building and therefore he has to be considered a good signing doesn't he?

If we squandered our only money on him, I'd be inclined to agree it could have perhaps been better used in more pressing areas.

I'm basing my opinion on the fact that so far, at least, we haven't spent anything else. I refuse to believe there were no other viable options for other positions. So, yes, that is my perception. Whether we believe Phipps and Co or not, the fact is, we haven't spent any more money on the purchase of players since.

 

[UnitedBlade]

I'm delighted he's back. He has an excellent scoring record for us: a goal every 130 minutes on the pitch.

Plus his energy - he must be a nightmare to mark as he's constantly on the go.

We have to fit him into our systems. I'd be tempted to let him have a free role to roam between midfield and up front. It's an unlikely luxury as most managers (including Adkins) are quite keen on players knowing their roles and keeping shape.

I haven't seen him live so far this season so I'm looking forward to seeing him on Saturday.

Could he become our talisman and kick start a drive up the table ?

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I'm basing my opinion on the fact that so far, at least, we haven't spent anything else. I refuse to believe there were no other viable options for other positions. So, yes, that is my perception. Whether we believe Phipps and Co or not, the fact is, we haven't spent any more money on the purchase of players since.

Fair enough mate. I'm just taing him for what he is, a hard working forward with good movement who scores goals and has improved our attack. I'll let the money men worry about whether we could afford him or whether it stops them affording to strengthen in other areas.

I can see how you've reached your conclusion, I just take the view that I don't know enough about the finances and what's going on behind the scenes to take that weight it in.

 

[Bartleby]

I agree about Done but I also rate Sammon, he made a hell of a difference when he came on against Bradford.

 

[Bartleby]

I think a combination of Done, Adams and McNulty up front would have been sufficient and we still could have got Sammon on loan.

Except Done has been out for 2 months, and Sharp's goals have been important.

Love Matty Done - easily one of the best signings Clough made, if not the best.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Pinchy]

One of a group of players with a future here on the comeback trail, someone who will cope with the championship should we make it, journeymen take note on his attitude and work rate, it's the reason you'll not get a contract at the end of this season...

Is "journeymen" a euphemism for McNulty?

 

[Slim Man]

All I know is Matt Done HAS to start, in any position you can find him.

I'd go with the following against Rochdale, Edgar still injured?:

Howard
Freeman Kennedy Collins/Edgar Wallace
Coutts Basham Baxter
Done Sharp Sammon

Bring Adams AND JCR on for whichever 2 of the front 3 are looking the most tired or least ineffective at around 70 minutes.

 

[Ginger Gnome]

I'd probably go with that too, although i'd love to see how teams react to having Done and Adams running at them from wide starting postions.

I'd definitely go with Collins over Edgar until Kennedy has had a run of games. For all I criticise Basham, he deserves a shot in a three in the middle, hopefully get Scougall on at some point in the midfield three, get Done off as soon as he starts to tire and replace him with Adams, and there's still a spare sub to throw JCR on or do something more boring and defensive.

 

[coaxingstar71]

Except Done has been out for 2 months, and Sharp's goals have been important.

Couldn't agree more!

But it has meant McNulty on the bench and Adams out of position on the left.

 

[coaxingstar71]

Fair enough mate. I'm just taing him for what he is, a hard working forward with good movement who scores goals and has improved our attack. I'll let the money men worry about whether we could afford him or whether it stops them affording to strengthen in other areas.

I can see how you've reached your conclusion, I just take the view that I don't know enough about the finances and what's going on behind the scenes to take that weight it in.

I think that's the problem for most of us and therefore we resort to speculation and conspiracy theory.

 

[Dec]

But it has meant McNulty on the bench and Adams out of position on the left.

Neither of which are anywhere near as good as Sharp upfront, so...

 

[coaxingstar71]

Neither of which are anywhere near as good as Sharp upfront, so...

Maybe, maybe not. McNulty must have had a pretty good goals per game ratio last season despite being in and out and being played as a lone striker. I'd say he hasn't had a decent chance yet. Adams has got bags of potential, scored twice v Spurs and is obviously better up top than on the wing.
Don't get me wrong, I like Billy and he's obviously a proven goalscorer, I just think there were more pressing priorities IF that was the only cash available for transfers.

 

[Dec]

Maybe, maybe not. McNulty must have had a pretty good goals per game ratio last season despite being in and out and being played as a lone striker. I'd say he hasn't had a decent chance yet. Adams has got bags of potential, scored twice v Spurs and is obviously better up top than on the wing.
Don't get me wrong, I like Billy and he's obviously a proven goalscorer, I just think there were more pressing priorities IF that was the only cash available for transfers.

Of course there are but I honestly think Nigel knows that. There's a reason he's tried to bring in Burn and Hammond - he knows we need improvement in these positions.

Buying Billy Sharp doesn't make this any more or less difficult. The Murphy money is there available to be spent... that doesn't mean we should necessarily spunk it all on whoever, just because we need a CB.

The same people moaning that we haven't brought in another CB would probably be up in arms if we spent £1.5M on someone like John Egan. Sometimes the 1st option isn't available. Sometimes the 2nd, 3rd and 4th might not be too - at least for a reasonable price.

 

[longinthe toothblade]

Maybe, maybe not. McNulty must have had a pretty good goals per game ratio last season despite being in and out and being played as a lone striker. I'd say he hasn't had a decent chance yet. Adams has got bags of potential, scored twice v Spurs and is obviously better up top than on the wing.
Don't get me wrong, I like Billy and he's obviously a proven goalscorer, I just think there were more pressing priorities IF that was the only cash available for transfers.

I am confident that Sharp will prove to be a good [hopefully a great] investment this season. 6 goals so far, and whilst he's missed a few sitters [like Vale on Saturday - don't know how he missed it!!!] he gets himself in good positions.

McNulty [IMO] isn't good enough and for me he hasn't shown a great deal of progress whilst he's been at the lane. Very disappointing obviously because you want players to do well. He's had good games for us don't get me wrong but he's had some shockers too. Overall, I think he's lacking in some key areas [not least pace] and as a consequence he doesn't cause the problems for defences [3rd division defences] like Sharp and Done do. That said, he's still a relatively young kid and it's worth keeping him around for another season or so [just in case I'm wrong] as he might be a late developer!

Adams, yep, he's shown a lot of promise. He's very raw but he looks like he could develop into a good, pacey striker. Time will tell and experience will prove whether he can step up or not. I do like his directness though - reminds me a lot of a young Kazim - Richards.

 

[BushBlade]

yes mate, to be honest it is rare that someone would get faster as they get older, so you are probably right, maybe he is fitter as well though

Or maybe he's now playing in a league where the players are a bit slower.

 

[BushBlade]

Of course there are but I honestly think Nigel knows that. There's a reason he's tried to bring in Burn and Hammond - he knows we need improvement in these positions.

Buying Billy Sharp doesn't make this any more or less difficult. The Murphy money is there available to be spent... that doesn't mean we should necessarily spunk it all on whoever, just because we need a CB.

The same people moaning that we haven't brought in another CB would probably be up in arms if we spent £1.5M on someone like John Egan. Sometimes the 1st option isn't available. Sometimes the 2nd, 3rd and 4th might not be too - at least for a reasonable price.

Heard an ex-manager on the radio the other day (can't remember who) saying managers shouldn't give 4th choices as that's what they'll generally end up with and a team of 4th choices will be much weaker than a team of first or second choices. Or to put it another way, you want someone decent and you end up with Ballotelli.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Only the skill of the Port Vale keeper (who was brilliant by the way, one of the best I have seen in a long while), stopped Billy from scoring a sure fire goal when Sammon crossed in from the by line. I think they play ok together, but it is all about opinions of course.

Sharp and Sammon up front, Matt Done and JCR out wide, with Adams coming off the bench for one of those two as the game wears on.

Sammon has been picked out by two sets of opposing fans as a key player for us. I watched the first half at Port Vale again the other night and he played well there too.

I think he may be a large part of the reason Billy got 6 in 6.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I am confident that Sharp will prove to be a good [hopefully a great] investment this season. 6 goals so far, and whilst he's missed a few sitters [like Vale on Saturday - don't know how he missed it!!!] he gets himself in good positions.

McNulty [IMO] isn't good enough and for me he hasn't shown a great deal of progress whilst he's been at the lane. Very disappointing obviously because you want players to do well. He's had good games for us don't get me wrong but he's had some shockers too. Overall, I think he's lacking in some key areas [not least pace] and as a consequence he doesn't cause the problems for defences [3rd division defences] like Sharp and Done do. That said, he's still a relatively young kid and it's worth keeping him around for another season or so [just in case I'm wrong] as he might be a late developer!

Adams, yep, he's shown a lot of promise. He's very raw but he looks like he could develop into a good, pacey striker. Time will tell and experience will prove whether he can step up or not. I do like his directness though - reminds me a lot of a young Kazim - Richards.

Sharp's wasn't really a miss on Satdi: it was a tap in, so he tapped it in, and the keeper (credit to him) just flung himself in that direction and was amazed not only that he stopped it but that it stuck.

You could see he knew how jammy he'd been but he quickly regained his composure and managed to pretend he'd meant it all along.

Didn't Alastair Cook get out to a short leg catch like this this summer: he hammered it and it just stuck on the guy's hands about two yards away.

(Being hypercritical I think there is work to be done on tap ins and some strikers may have lifted the ball to deny even the chance of a miracle save.)

 

[coaxingstar71]

Of course there are but I honestly think Nigel knows that. There's a reason he's tried to bring in Burn and Hammond - he knows we need improvement in these positions.

Buying Billy Sharp doesn't make this any more or less difficult. The Murphy money is there available to be spent... that doesn't mean we should necessarily spunk it all on whoever, just because we need a CB.

The same people moaning that we haven't brought in another CB would probably be up in arms if we spent £1.5M on someone like John Egan. Sometimes the 1st option isn't available. Sometimes the 2nd, 3rd and 4th might not be too - at least for a reasonable price.

I'd be up in arms if we spent £1.5m on the guy from Ever Decreasing Circles too!

I fully understand that it needs to be 'the right players' and all the other factors that are required to sign a player. I find it difficult to believe that we are still trying to find or sort out those deals. With regard to the cash, I'm not a conspiracy theorist that thinks its all an evil plot, but the fact is, apart from Billy, Adkins is yet to spend on anyone else. My main point being that given the balance of the squad that Clough left, I feel the money spent on Billy would have been better spent on a defender, midfielder or preferably both before the season started. Then, presuming the Murphy money is available, we could have got Billy then, as presumably he was surplus to requirements at Leeds.

 

[Dec]

I'd be up in arms if we spent £1.5m on the guy from Ever Decreasing Circles too!

I fully understand that it needs to be 'the right players' and all the other factors that are required to sign a player. I find it difficult to believe that we are still trying to find or sort out those deals. With regard to the cash, I'm not a conspiracy theorist that thinks its all an evil plot, but the fact is, apart from Billy, Adkins is yet to spend on anyone else. My main point being that given the balance of the squad that Clough left, I feel the money spent on Billy would have been better spent on a defender, midfielder or preferably both before the season started. Then, presuming the Murphy money is available, we could have got Billy then, as presumably he was surplus to requirements at Leeds.

I really don't think it's a case of 'if you do one, you can't do the other' and you don't necessarily have to purchase your players in order of importance. It's not impossible for Adkins and team to be looking at several players in several positions at the same time. It's not like they got to the club and thought: 'RIGHT THEN, first things first, lets bring a striker in'.

I hope, at least...!

 

[Bartleby]

But it has meant McNulty on the bench and Adams out of position on the left.

I'd play Sharp over McNulty any day, though there have been signs they could work as a pair .

 

[coaxingstar71]

I'd play Sharp over McNulty any day, though there have been signs they could work as a pair .

See last sentence of post #44. I'm not saying McNulty is better than Sharp, just that the money spent on Sharp could have been spent on a defender, midfielder or both as I believe those areas were (and still are) more lacking than up front.

 

[coaxingstar71]

I'd play Sharp over McNulty any day, though there have been signs they could work as a pair .

Sorry, and yes, I agree they could form a good partnership as witnessed when McNulty came on v Blackpool.

 

[Bartleby]

See last sentence of post #44. I'm not saying McNulty is better than Sharp, just that the money spent on Sharp could have been spent on a defender, midfielder or both as I believe those areas were (and still are) more lacking than up front.

I agree those are higher priority, but I guess Sharpy was available at the time and more than willing to rejoin us so possibly an opportunity not to miss?

 

[DronnieBlade]

I see absolutely feck all "chemistry" with Sammon and Sharp.

I am assuming that Sharp is the first name on Adkins team sheet as far as strikers are concerned.

I have seen good "chemistry" with Sharp n Mcnulty (briefly) and Sharp n Adams. I would bet my kidneys that this chemistry would exist with Sharp n Done. A strong hunch !!

While Sammon is tall, he doesn't use this height effectively in my opinion. And I do not see aggression in abundance either, not that this is vitally important. Connor's biggest attribute is his work rate which I admit is impressive and will be the major reason Adkins selects him.

Flynn is not match fit and so we have not seen the best of him. JCR will do fine until the real Ryan Flynn is back to his best.

Flynn will play an important role in the coming months. His workrate, energy, ability to skin a man, supply intelligent balls for the front men to feed of and also chip in a few goals himself will prove vital.

We have all seen what a raw talent Adams is. On form, he should always start. If not, it's a role from off the bench, late in the game.

So the conundrum is and remains how do you accommodate Done ?

As the team generally lacks pace, I do believe that you DO have to play him.

So who is the fall guy ?

The potential potency of a Sharp / Done partnership excites the hell out of me.

So sorry Connor, it's back on the bench for me fella !!

UTB

Bugger me I am good

And I get to keep my kidneys !!!

UTB