John Egan

[Champagneblade]

I have no intention to doubt you and thank you for sharing, though I do wonder why we didn’t sign him for free in the summer when he was available.

Because he wouldn't have been first choice here and there he would.

If Egan goes then that all changes.

I'd prefer continuity but I did think Uremovic was decent apart from the Reading home game when quite a few were poor.

 

[Belvedere Blade]

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

No shit sherlock

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Uremovic is made for that middle role so if he was available would be a good number 1 choice

But again I don't see why he'd have a low release clause - Hertha was a great move for him

Could we offer him better wages? Maybe. The range he could be on at Hertha is quite wide

He was bang average at best & struggled with the ball at his feet. He’s not the tallest either, shite signing & to be honest don’t really believe the source.

We keep this squad & aim for promotion if it doesn’t work out then we look to sell. Can’t start selling you captain in January that’s suicidal

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

Thought it was obvious Uremovic looked like a proper defender, not a pacy silky type but very much like Egan, always likely to be in the right place and get blocks in, and plenty of aggression

 

[McDonagh Blade]

Thought it was obvious Uremovic looked like a proper defender, not a pacy silky type but very much like Egan, always likely to be in the right place and get blocks in, and plenty of aggression

Yes but Uremovic can't pass a football. Gives everything he has got, but not good enough to take us forward. For me he's an old fashioned right full back, in a four. Similar to an earlier version of George however nowhere near as good.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Thought it was obvious Uremovic looked like a proper defender, not a pacy silky type but very much like Egan, always likely to be in the right place and get blocks in, and plenty of aggression

He literally had one good game vs Bournemouth then had an absolute stinker vs Reading & we never saw him again.

Egan has the ball so much throughout the game often linking up with Norwood, we need someone competent in that position.

 

[Paisley Blade]

He was bang average at best & struggled with the ball at his feet. He’s not the tallest either, shite signing & to be honest don’t really believe the source.

We keep this squad & aim for promotion if it doesn’t work out then we look to sell. Can’t start selling you captain in January that’s suicidal

I'm not sure you play 6 times for Croatia by being 'bang average'.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

I'm not sure you play 6 times for Croatia by being 'bang average'.

Did you see anything from him that would suggest he would/ could replace Egan & would be a decent premiership player?

He’s a half decent championship centre half & would suit a team aiming for mid table / play offs - Sunderland maybe.

He last played for Croatia two years ago. I’m not sure that makes you good or bad so I’m not basing my opinion on that.

 

[dc_blade]

Did you see anything from him that would suggest he would/ could replace Egan & would be a decent premiership player?

He’s a half decent championship centre half & would suit a team aiming for mid table / play offs - Sunderland maybe.

He last played for Croatia two years ago. I’m not sure that makes you good or bad so I’m not basing my opinion on that.

He played 200 minutes for us across 3 appearances. It’s simply not enough to make an accurate judgment of what sort of player he is. Our coaching and recruitment staff, on the other hand, working with him in training every day and will have watched him play a lot of more games.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

He played 200 minutes for us across 3 appearances. It’s simply not enough to make an accurate judgment of what sort of player he is. Our coaching and recruitment staff, on the other hand, working with him in training every day and will have watched him play a lot of more games.

Yes and they decided against signing him permanently & chose Ahmedhodžić who’s far better.

They also rushed Bash back as they didn’t feel he was up to that position. I’m not saying he’s a bad player, but I definitely don’t think he’s a championship winning centre back/ premiership centre back

 

[Balham]

He was bang average at best & struggled with the ball at his feet. He’s not the tallest either, shite signing & to be honest don’t really believe the source.

We keep this squad & aim for promotion if it doesn’t work out then we look to sell. Can’t start selling you captain in January that’s suicidal

Uremovic is 1cm shorter than Egan. He's an out and out defender too so it's not surprising that he wasn't a natural replacement for Basham. You're also forgetting that Egan isn't exactly at Platini levels with the ball.

If Egan wants to force his way out in January when West Ham offer us £15m then we could do a lot worse than Uremovic as a replacement.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Uremovic is 1cm shorter than Egan. He's an out and out defender too so it's not surprising that he wasn't a natural replacement for Basham. You're also forgetting that Egan isn't exactly at Platini levels with the ball.

If Egan wants to force his way out in January when West Ham offer us £15m then we could do a lot worse than Uremovic as a replacement.

You all have your own opinion on him which you’re entitled to. I don’t see the potential at all, I think it’s telling we didn’t go in for him again in the Summer when he was effectively a free agent.

He’s had a bit of a mixed spell since joining Hertha Berlin from reading bits over the last few days.

He didn’t fill me with confidence defensively at all, but he did have a good game vs B’Mouth. If we get £12-15m for Egan then I think that money could get us a better player.

Look at what we got with £4m this summer.

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

For anyone to compare him to George (Baldock?!) is baffling

We didn't go for him in the summer because in our system he'd strictly occupy Egan's position and Egan wasn't leaving, the staff knew all that

He only played RCB for us because that was the only position available. He showed characteristics of someone ideal for CB but clearly not ideal for RCB in our system

Anel fits like a glove at RCB

If Egan leaves and Uremovic is available we'll probably try to get him because he fits like a glove at CB - in my view at least, and I think the view of the management too

 

[dc_blade]

Yes and they decided against signing him permanently & chose Ahmedhodžić who’s far better.

They also rushed Bash back as they didn’t feel he was up to that position. I’m not saying he’s a bad player, but I definitely don’t think he’s a championship winning centre back/ premiership centre back

We went for Anel first in January and when he wasn't available went in for Uremovic. This summer, Anel was available and so we made him our top priority.

I don't know how good Uremovic is because I've only seen him play for 200 minutes. It's not enough to judge. If the management and recruitment team decided he's not good enough, then I trust their judgment. If they've decided he wasn't the right fit at RCB but could do a job in Egan's position--as our friendly ITK is suggesting--then I'm inclined to trust their judgment again. Neither you nor I have seen anything like as much of him as they have.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

We went for Anel first in January and when he wasn't available went in for Uremovic. This summer, Anel was available and so we made him our top priority.

I don't know how good Uremovic is because I've only seen him play for 200 minutes. It's not enough to judge. If the management and recruitment team decided he's not good enough, then I trust their judgment. If they've decided he wasn't the right fit at RCB but could do a job in Egan's position--as our friendly ITK is suggesting--then I'm inclined to trust their judgment again. Neither you nor I have seen anything like as much of him as they have.

But we signed Clark who is seen as a back up to Egan as we have Robinson & RND for LCB.

I don’t think Hecky trusted Uremovic. He brought Bash back in vs Bristol City when he was visibly unfit.

As I’ve said on a different response some people saw something about him that they liked which I appreciate we see games differently. I think he struggled.

If Egan goes I think Clark will come in as first choice. If Egan goes end of January and we’re still top and heading up then I don’t think Uremovic is a premiership player.

I’m not saying he’s a bad player by any stretch, I think he’d do well for Blackburn/ Sunderland mid table team with aspirations of the playoffs but we want & need better than that to hit our target.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

If Egan leaves and Uremovic is available we'll probably try to get him because he fits like a glove at CB - in my view at least, and I think the view of the management too

Why didn’t we sign him instead of Clark then? We could have signed him on a free permanently & bedded him in but we went for a loan with Clark instead.

If he fits like a glove then we should have snapped him up, now we’re going to have to pay a fee to get him from Hertha, he’s kept one clean sheet & been sent off in his 7 games.

I think there’s better options for that position available if we have a few million to spend from the sale funds

 

[dc_blade]

But we signed Clark who is seen as a back up to Egan as we have Robinson & RND for LCB.

I don’t think Hecky trusted Uremovic. As I’ve said on a different response some people saw something about him that they liked which I appreciate we see games differently. I think he struggled.

If Egan goes I think Clark will come in as first choice. If Egan goes end of January and we’re still top and heading up then I don’t think Uremovic is a premiership player.

I'm not saying I saw something about him that I liked. I'm saying you can't judge how good he is based on watching him for 200 minutes.

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

Why didn’t we sign him instead of Clark then? We could have signed him on a free permanently & bedded him in but we went for a loan with Clark instead.

If he fits like a glove then we should have snapped him up, now we’re going to have to pay a fee to get him from Hertha, he’s kept one clean sheet & been sent off in his 7 games.

I think there’s better options for that position available if we have a few million to spend from the sale funds

Because Clark is a LCB and Uremovic isn't, obviously. And because a starting place at LCB was more up for grabs

We couldn't have signed him without guaranteeing him a starting spot when he had options like Hertha, that's also obvious

Not saying there can't be better options but he's certainly not a bad one and if someone is coming in mid season it helps a lot to have familiarity like he does, to hit the ground running in the middle of a promotion race

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Because Clark is a LCB and Uremovic isn't, obviously. And because a starting place at LCB was more up for grabs

We couldn't have signed him without guaranteeing him a starting spot when he had options like Hertha, that's also obvious

Not saying there can't be better options but he's certainly not a bad one and if someone is coming in mid season it helps a lot to have familiarity like he does, to hit the ground running in the middle of a promotion race

Clark was more cover for Egan imo. They knew he wouldnt be gliding forward, he’s never played in a 3 before from what I’ve read on The Athletic so seemingly that LCB & the way we play it was pretty foreign to him too.

When we saw Ahmehodzic over 7-8 games similar to Uremovic game time you could just tell we’d signed a good player.

This debate could go on forever, my original point was I think keeping Egan is vital over a cheap replacement that’s not as good as all things tend to do on here it escalated and next minute I find myself doing research on all things Uremovic since he left us.

 

[Bergen Blade]

It's a bit unfair to assess Uremovic when he never played in Egan's role, but he wasn't quick, nor big nor good on the ball, and not a big threat from set pieces. If Egan goes those attributes are among those I'd look for.

 

[LJBlade]

Clark was more cover for Egan imo. They knew he wouldnt be gliding forward, he’s never played in a 3 before from what I’ve read on The Athletic so seemingly that LCB & the way we play it was pretty foreign to him too.

When we saw Ahmehodzic over 7-8 games similar to Uremovic game time you could just tell we’d signed a good player.

This debate could go on forever, my original point was I think keeping Egan is vital over a cheap replacement that’s not as good as all things tend to do on here it escalated and next minute I find myself doing research on all things Uremovic since he left us.

Clark might have been signed with the potential to cover Egan but he was predominantly brought in to play LCB. That is distinctly obvious.

 

[Balham]

It's a bit unfair to assess Uremovic when he never played in Egan's role, but he wasn't quick, nor big nor good on the ball, and not a big threat from set pieces. If Egan goes those attributes are among those I'd look for.

To be fair, Egan is not outstanding at any of those things either. He's adequate at all of them which is unusual for a second tier player where usually you get at least one weakness.

 

[WORKSOPBLADE]

Egan won’t leave to be a bit player/reserve at his age, especially if we look likely to be promoted.

 

[LJBlade]

Egan won’t leave to be a bit player/reserve at his age, especially if we look likely to be promoted.

Personally, I reckon he would if he could double or even treble his wages. Especially given his age. I wouldn’t think poorly of him for doing so either.

 

[chesblade]

I thought we wanted to sign him but was offered better wages so went there

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Clark might have been signed with the potential to cover Egan but he was predominantly brought in to play LCB. That is distinctly obvious.

Yes, I should have worded it that he was brought it to cover both positions. He’s never played attacking though so could suit the central position more. RND would still be my first choice in that position if everyone else’s fit.

I’m sure Hecky saw it as:

Bash / Amed
Clark / Egan
Clark / Robinson / RND

If Egan was injured & Clark fit he’d be in the middle above the rest

 

[Bergen Blade]

To be fair, Egan is not outstanding at any of those things either. He's adequate at all of them which is unusual for a second tier player where usually you get at least one weakness.

When we do replace him I hope we'll find someone who'll at least grow to be an upgrade. I personally didn't see that in Uremovic.

 

[Tarqs]

Egan is a lot better on the ball than he gets credit for imo.

 

[Champagneblade]

It's a bit unfair to assess Uremovic when he never played in Egan's role, but he wasn't quick, nor big nor good on the ball, and not a big threat from set pieces. If Egan goes those attributes are among those I'd look for.

Any Scandinavian players who fit the bill that have caught your eye?