Come from away
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2006
- Messages
- 2,441
- Reaction score
- 431
1 Kenny SusP 11 Cotterill 12 Williamson
6 Kilgallon 3 Naysmith 10 Reid
4 Montgomery 13 Bennett 25 Little
18 Ward 28 Quinn 17 Cresswell
5 Morgan 7 Henderson 16 Taylor
34 Walker L 21 Davies L 9 Evans
2 France 26 Geary 27 Treacy L
33 Fortune 37 Camara 19 Stewart
15 Harper L 23 Bunn L
As I see it we have potentially 26 active players at the moment of which 17 would be Blackwell recruits. The question for me is, once fit do we have a quality squad. Recognizing that over a season all CCC clubs will start at least two dozen players, my quality standard is would they be in the squad of a CCC playoff team. I regard most of the Premiership players who come to the CCC as CCC players – real Prem players get picked off.
Cotterill – he is quick, can beat a player, puts in a good cross from either side and has good control when receiving the ball (it sticks), but although he does much better at tracking players he seems unable to tackle, and (though I can forgive not beating a player every time) he is quite inconsistent. Quality -Yes.
Williamson – not seen him play. Obviously brought in to improve midfield but if his back injury has not healed it is starting to look like he may be headed for surgery. Regardless: Quality - Unknown.
Reid – only seen one game, he reminded me of Dyer in that he was quick, direct and not too fancy but otherwise seemed a little lost. Quality - No evidence.
Little – is slow, can’t keep up with the game for a full 90 minutes but has a good understanding of the game, is hard to knock off the ball, and does have a creative flair. Quality – Yes.
Ward – fast, aggressive and energetic , seems to have found his shooting boots this year, if he can get going again he could be a real threat in this league. Certainly the find of the year. Quality – Yes.
Cresswell – only based on his Blades appearances feel he brings some of the same drive as Ward, some good touches, when heading the ball shows the same commitment as Morgan, so I think there is potential here. Quality – Yes.
Taylor – does not have the speed of Walker so has to play smart, got caught a few times early on but like Naysmith is a solid fullback, does contribute going forward and links well with Treacy, if Naysmith does not come back well, Taylor will be a solid deputy. Quality – Yes.
Davies – got off to a rocky start in a difficult game but has many of the characteristics of Morgan, strong, aggressive in the air but is quicker and does have some good ball skills, but does not match Morgan when attacking corners, so will be a good replacement for Killa. Quality – Yes.
Evans – was disappointed by most of his early performances as he was easily knocked off the ball and seemed quite lethargic, but he has picked up in the last few games, and against Barnsley I think we are beginning to see how he got the goals for Norwich (think that was his club), he will have a great chance against Peterborough to show what he can do. Quality – Yes.
France – definitely a utility player, and although used at fullback think he is much better in mid-field, does the simple things (pass and move), had he and Quinn arrived at the same time I think he would be ahead but don’t really see him getting a starting place in the absence of a lot of injuries, better quality players would not make a career out of sitting on the bench. Quality – Marginal.
Treacy – never heard of the guy (unlikeWard) but would think he is likely to stick as he has good control (the ball sticks), can make a pass, crosses well, some good pace and works hard on defense. Quality – Yes.
Fortune – one game, solid, strong, not very mobile (like Morgan), needs some match experience to sharpen up but could be a good back-up. Quality – Possible.
Camara – not much to judge on, has pace, decent control, good reputation, hard to show well in a few minutes of running around. Quality – Possible.
Stewart – has pace, looked uncomfortable at fullback, a defensive midfielder we could have used playing wide in a 4-5-1 when in the premiership, he could have offered the occasional break but with a primarily defensive role, can’t see a clear role accept when the rest are injured. Quality – Marginal.
Harper – disappointed at how long he has taken to settle, dislike all the easy jokes just cause he likes to direct traffic (it’s good when players talk to each other), but does seem to be getting into games more, if he continues that progress he will become a positive contributor. Quality – Yes.
Bunn – when he first arrived I thought we had a really good find, but his tendency to lose focus makes him vunerable, he sometimes appears to be watching the game rather than constantly adjusting his position on the assumption that any touch could be a shot, he gets caught by the “surprise” long shot or is slow to adjust as the ball moves back and forth across the field, without some real improvement I think we need to look for another keeper. Quality – Marginal.
So add these new players to what we have in place and I would suggest we do have a quality squad. I wish it were better, I wish we had fewer injuries, I wish it didn’t take players time to get up to or back up to match fitness/sharpness, but with most of them around it should be a squad chasing a play-off spot and the next eight games, with the majority back, will show whether we have that squad.
6 Kilgallon 3 Naysmith 10 Reid
4 Montgomery 13 Bennett 25 Little
18 Ward 28 Quinn 17 Cresswell
5 Morgan 7 Henderson 16 Taylor
34 Walker L 21 Davies L 9 Evans
2 France 26 Geary 27 Treacy L
33 Fortune 37 Camara 19 Stewart
15 Harper L 23 Bunn L
As I see it we have potentially 26 active players at the moment of which 17 would be Blackwell recruits. The question for me is, once fit do we have a quality squad. Recognizing that over a season all CCC clubs will start at least two dozen players, my quality standard is would they be in the squad of a CCC playoff team. I regard most of the Premiership players who come to the CCC as CCC players – real Prem players get picked off.
Cotterill – he is quick, can beat a player, puts in a good cross from either side and has good control when receiving the ball (it sticks), but although he does much better at tracking players he seems unable to tackle, and (though I can forgive not beating a player every time) he is quite inconsistent. Quality -Yes.
Williamson – not seen him play. Obviously brought in to improve midfield but if his back injury has not healed it is starting to look like he may be headed for surgery. Regardless: Quality - Unknown.
Reid – only seen one game, he reminded me of Dyer in that he was quick, direct and not too fancy but otherwise seemed a little lost. Quality - No evidence.
Little – is slow, can’t keep up with the game for a full 90 minutes but has a good understanding of the game, is hard to knock off the ball, and does have a creative flair. Quality – Yes.
Ward – fast, aggressive and energetic , seems to have found his shooting boots this year, if he can get going again he could be a real threat in this league. Certainly the find of the year. Quality – Yes.
Cresswell – only based on his Blades appearances feel he brings some of the same drive as Ward, some good touches, when heading the ball shows the same commitment as Morgan, so I think there is potential here. Quality – Yes.
Taylor – does not have the speed of Walker so has to play smart, got caught a few times early on but like Naysmith is a solid fullback, does contribute going forward and links well with Treacy, if Naysmith does not come back well, Taylor will be a solid deputy. Quality – Yes.
Davies – got off to a rocky start in a difficult game but has many of the characteristics of Morgan, strong, aggressive in the air but is quicker and does have some good ball skills, but does not match Morgan when attacking corners, so will be a good replacement for Killa. Quality – Yes.
Evans – was disappointed by most of his early performances as he was easily knocked off the ball and seemed quite lethargic, but he has picked up in the last few games, and against Barnsley I think we are beginning to see how he got the goals for Norwich (think that was his club), he will have a great chance against Peterborough to show what he can do. Quality – Yes.
France – definitely a utility player, and although used at fullback think he is much better in mid-field, does the simple things (pass and move), had he and Quinn arrived at the same time I think he would be ahead but don’t really see him getting a starting place in the absence of a lot of injuries, better quality players would not make a career out of sitting on the bench. Quality – Marginal.
Treacy – never heard of the guy (unlikeWard) but would think he is likely to stick as he has good control (the ball sticks), can make a pass, crosses well, some good pace and works hard on defense. Quality – Yes.
Fortune – one game, solid, strong, not very mobile (like Morgan), needs some match experience to sharpen up but could be a good back-up. Quality – Possible.
Camara – not much to judge on, has pace, decent control, good reputation, hard to show well in a few minutes of running around. Quality – Possible.
Stewart – has pace, looked uncomfortable at fullback, a defensive midfielder we could have used playing wide in a 4-5-1 when in the premiership, he could have offered the occasional break but with a primarily defensive role, can’t see a clear role accept when the rest are injured. Quality – Marginal.
Harper – disappointed at how long he has taken to settle, dislike all the easy jokes just cause he likes to direct traffic (it’s good when players talk to each other), but does seem to be getting into games more, if he continues that progress he will become a positive contributor. Quality – Yes.
Bunn – when he first arrived I thought we had a really good find, but his tendency to lose focus makes him vunerable, he sometimes appears to be watching the game rather than constantly adjusting his position on the assumption that any touch could be a shot, he gets caught by the “surprise” long shot or is slow to adjust as the ball moves back and forth across the field, without some real improvement I think we need to look for another keeper. Quality – Marginal.
So add these new players to what we have in place and I would suggest we do have a quality squad. I wish it were better, I wish we had fewer injuries, I wish it didn’t take players time to get up to or back up to match fitness/sharpness, but with most of them around it should be a squad chasing a play-off spot and the next eight games, with the majority back, will show whether we have that squad.
