James McAtee

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?


Bergen Blade said:
Has he played in their first team at all this pre season?
Click to expand...

Would be interested to hear your thoughts about McAtee Bergen Blade and what he would bring to the current XI. I always thought he had a lower floor, higher ceiling in terms of his ability than Doyle. Heā€™s left footed as well which is what we needed, but is he better suited to a team which keeps more possession?
 
McAtee reminds me of a young Grealish, the way he takes on and commits defenders, it transformed our play last season, with back up from Doyle, and now we're back to Norwood wanting to spray passes about and then watch from a distance instead of driving on in support attack breaks down and frequently there's a massive area inbetween the strikers and midfield that the opposition exploits, imagine now with Souza, Doyle and Hamer in behind
 
Maidenhead said:
Relegation clauses are interesting.

I was talking to my Leeds supporting neighbour on Friday about the players that are refusing to play.

Apparently their totally arrogant board (his words) were so certain they'd stay up that they gave new signings a contractual benefit that they would be entitled to a loan move should Leeds be relegated.

The problem is that they have around 10 players with these terms but I'm told that the maximum number that a club is allowed to send out on loan is seven, and seven have already gone.

This has led to Sinisterra waving his contract at them and demanding a move and there's no way they can let him go without selling him, which they don't want to do.

I really love it when it all goes to shit at Elland Road šŸ¤£
Click to expand...
Already 5 points from the play off spots and 7 points from the autos šŸ¤£
 
i think the signings of souza hamer and davies make it much more likely that pep will let mcatee come back here before those 3 signings we were unlikely to have much possesion in midfield and mcatee wouldnt have seen much of the ball
 
Colombia Blade said:
For me the priority from City is McAtee. I can't think of any preferred way of playing that doesn't involve McAtee or at last someone in his position on the left. If he becomes available as a loan it's a no-brainer. Unfortunately, City won't make that decision right until the last minute as they'll be waiting to see who they sign, who gets injured or if anyone wants to spend Ā£30m+ on him. Loaning him will be the last on the list for him, which means it's a transfer deadline day deal.

To get Doyle in, it would either have to be a permanent signing, or a loan with no McAtee. If it's permanent with McAtee on loan, that means no new striker, or just a striker on loan (and I'm not sure what options there are for us there - some have suggested Origi but considering his wages I think that's highly unlikely). So essentially, if you want McAtee on loan and had a choice between signing Doyle or Archer (considering the asking price will probably be around the same), who would you choose? For me, considering we have options in Doyle's best position in a double pivot (Davies/Norwood/Hamer/Souza), it would have to be Archer (or similar type of forward).

On the other hand, I can see Souza and Doyle as a good double pivot in the middle, with McAtee and Hamer pushed forward to support the attack. This looks like it could be a very good lineup:
View attachment 168860

But that leaves just McBurnie and Osula competing for the lone striker role (assuming no money left for a new striker, tho we could loan one if we can find someone willing to loan us a decent striker). Now as much as I love McBurnie and have no problem with him in that position, it is a risk on the injury front. If McBurnie gets injured we're back to where we are now relying on Osula who can barely manage 60 minutes with no backup on the bench (unless we see Traore as a lone striker or Jebbo comes back from injury - but again, we're relying on young lads with little experience).

If we spend the Doyle money on Archer (or similar) instead, Hamer drops back into his natural role as CM (with Davies and Norwood as backup on the bench), and Archer takes that attacking wide role (with Traore as backup). If McBurnie is injured, Archer takes his place with Hamer moving forward and Davies or Norwood dropping into CM. That seems much more flexible to me.

Likewise, if we revert to a flat 3 (which is very likely when we need to be defensive), Souza surely takes the CM slot, and Hamer can play LCM or RCM. Would we be happy to play Doyle as RCM? I've always seen Doyle in the Norwood role in the middle, not the Berge/Lundstram role on the right (then again, he might be great there who knows?)

And in that case, why not prioritise Lewis O'Brien, who brings balance to the midfield (either as LCM or next to Souza in a double pivot like Doyle above allowing Hamer to push forward) whose defensive stats in the Championship are far superior to Doyle's, and who would probably cost half as much as Doyle? That would give us a defensive lineup something like this:
View attachment 168861

Maybe O'Brien could be signed instead of McAtee? Can he play further forward? If we're pushing Hamer further forward, and O'Brien is essentially a left-footed Hamer, then maybe we get O'Brien permanent and Doyle on loan? We'd still be in the same position needing a striker on loan (unless we have the money to sign both O'Brien and someone like Archer?):
View attachment 168862

I love Doyle and think he's a cracking player, and if we hadn't sold Ndiaye (Berge for Hamer happens every day of the week), it would have made perfect sense to sign Doyle to play next to Berge/Hamer with McAtee (or whoever on loan) and Ndiaye in the same positions as last season. As it is, we need to replace Ndiaye and we signed Souza, which means I can't really see how Doyle justifies either an expensive permanent transfer taking away a striker, or a loan taking away McAtee (or similar from another Prem team).
Click to expand...
A superb, thought provoking post. Thanks for taking the time out to write it.
 
Maidenhead said:
This has led to Sinisterra waving his contract at them and demanding a move and there's no way they can let him go without selling him, which they don't want to do.

I really love it when it all goes to shit at Elland Road šŸ¤£
Click to expand...

"Sell" him to (insert random club here) for a fee which is coincidentally the amount the loan fee would have been plus a packet of Space Raiders, insert buy back clause activated at the end of 23/24 for a packet of Space Raiders. Problem solved.
 
Beginning to think all the blades on here will burst into tears if one of these two sign, daren't imagine if both resigned! šŸ›«ā˜ŗ
All together now, to tie a yellow ribbon:-
" Now the whole darn crowd is cheering
And we can't believe we see
It's good ole Tommy Doyle
And James McAteeeeeee
!šŸŽ¼ā˜ŗšŸ˜…
 
I reckon the delay in getting Tom Davies in, that Hecky spoke about when we signed him, will have been a case of someone in recruitment deciding "not if we're getting Doyle back". Therefore the point at which we pulled the trigger for Davies is the point at which negotiations with Doyle broke down, and if he now wants to come back to the table and accept our terms he's left it too late as we'll have the money earmarked elsewhere. Not ITK but makes sense to me. How many more midfielders are we realistically going to bring in this window when it's the rest of the pitch that now looks light? šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø
 
Rodley said:
Would be interested to hear your thoughts about McAtee Bergen Blade and what he would bring to the current XI. I always thought he had a lower floor, higher ceiling in terms of his ability than Doyle. Heā€™s left footed as well which is what we needed, but is he better suited to a team which keeps more possession?
Click to expand...
I think he could do well for us again. He's also a good counter attacking player with decent pace and good running on the ball. As you say a left foot is a plus and we're desperate for more goal threats, creativity and flair, which he would bring.

The signings of competitive lads like Souza, Davies and Hamer, coupled with the sale of Berge and likely phaseout of Norwood may also allow him to use a little more energy going forward. I think he could be an option as LCM in a 5-3-2, LM in 5-4-1, or even behind the main striker in a 5-3-1-1, so would probably start regardless of tactics and opposition.
 
Probably the best loan to get, if done , very late in the window. Fingers crossed City sign a few to let this happen.
 

BladeInIreland said:
I bet we let them win to keep pep sweet.
Click to expand...

I canā€™t imagine weā€™d have to let them win.
But I did wonder about the possibility of a bit of controversy that goes our wayā€¦ could that possibly sour our current good relationship with City?? Who knows? I doubt the career of a promising footballer would be determined by such an incident.
 
CoatesyBlade said:
I canā€™t imagine weā€™d have to let them win.
But I did wonder about the possibility of a bit of controversy that goes our wayā€¦ could that possibly sour our current good relationship with City?? Who knows? I doubt the career of a promising footballer would be determined by such an incident.
Click to expand...
Didn't Pep have an absolute strop for us daring to give them a game in Wilders first prem season? Think it was the away game.
 
CoatesyBlade said:
I canā€™t imagine weā€™d have to let them win.
But I did wonder about the possibility of a bit of controversy that goes our wayā€¦ could that possibly sour our current good relationship with City?? Who knows? I doubt the career of a promising footballer would be determined by such an incident.
Click to expand...
I think that was the joke!
 
Lord Eddard Muir said:
I reckon the delay in getting Tom Davies in, that Hecky spoke about when we signed him, will have been a case of someone in recruitment deciding "not if we're getting Doyle back". Therefore the point at which we pulled the trigger for Davies is the point at which negotiations with Doyle broke down, and if he now wants to come back to the table and accept our terms he's left it too late as we'll have the money earmarked elsewhere. Not ITK but makes sense to me. How many more midfielders are we realistically going to bring in this window when it's the rest of the pitch that now looks light? šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø
Click to expand...

I think you might be close to the truth with your post, but that aside, I still think we could do with another midfielder (Doyle?), an attacking midfielder and a forward. I'd love to see Doyle, McAtee and and decent new forward up top (I'd like Archer but not at any cost).
 
Last edited:
i also think discussions will take place this weekend when their here im confident at least one of them will be back on loan and with us having signed 4 midfielders mcatee has to be the favourite am is what we need but still wouldnt be suprised if both ended up back with us
 
ā€˜Morning James, couple of options for you this season. Sheffield United, Premier League, obviously you were there last year, you know the club, the set up and players, less than an hour travelling from home. Or Southampton, Championship, other end of the country, ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦..fuck it, when shall I tell Paul Heckingbottom to expect you?ā€™ šŸ˜‰
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Champagneblade
Nagging regrets from the season
2
Replies
47
Views
3K
IdLiketoRogerMoore
IdLiketoRogerMoore
Champagneblade
Team vs Wolves
2 3 4
Replies
114
Views
9K
A Storm of Blades
A Storm of Blades
Isaw Joeshaw
Recruitment - Swings and Roundabouts .
2
Replies
44
Views
3K
Valley Blade
Valley Blade
ucandomagic
McAtee + Doyle = Ndiaye
Replies
9
Views
3K
BushBlade
BushBlade
Champagneblade
Current team vs 2018/19 Promotion team
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
Yewsman
Y

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Back
Top Bottom