Deadbat
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- Joined
- Aug 6, 2009
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Playing Squad
Goalkeepers
Mark Howard Howard was involved in some of the pre season games but then he was on the bench when the season commenced with Long preferred. The odd game he did play he did not convince with him being at fault for goals against Hartlepool and also Rotherham. He seemed almost certain to be on his way out when his contract was up at the end of the season but a run of indifferent performances from Long saw him given another chance. He took it with two solid performances in the cup v Fulham and then a long run of clean sheets and almost faultless performances with good handling, command and cross taking. He made some excellent saves too and generally was most impressive looking more like the keeper who had done quite well when he started his United campaign.
There was no question of him being taken out of the team. We were winning, the defence looked tighter and we were barely conceding a goal. The only question marks were his poor distribution which was no better than Long’s and he would routinely each game kick 4 or 5 straight out from dead and from his hands. He had a sloppy couple of games with mistakes versus Wolves and at Swindon but also played well making saves at Tranmere and Crawley. He had little chance on the goals v Hull with clinical finishing. Overall, he suddenly has got back in and forced Clough to have to give him another deal. For me he still has to prove it over a season as his United career has been quite inconsistent and like Long he does have weaknesses in his game and can drop some real ricks. However, we seem more organised generally at the back with him in goal and he did well as we went on such an impressive run. If he maintains his overall form since he came back we should be fine.
Grade B-
George Long Long had of course been very decent the previous season and despite him and Howard rotating in pre season it was no surprise when Weir gave Long the nod to start the season. He had shown real promise with some excellent shot stopping, good handling mixed with poor distribution and maybe some questions over his command of the area and ability to organise.
These questions started to rise more and more after we had a poor start. To be fair to Long; the way Weir played which saw him continually under pressure and the defence doing things they were not comfortable with did not help matters. However he did make some mistakes and at times did not seem as secure as he had. In short you had the nagging feeling as young as he is for a keeper; he had not quite pushed on or developed his weaknesses and his strengths on shot stopping had not been at same level. Howard came in for a game at Rotherham but was really poor (Long away with England set up) so he was straight back in. Still I would say there were so many questions throughout the team he was not seen as one of main weaknesses. Even when Clough came in; he continued and he played well in some games (one outstanding display at Orient) but also had really some jittery games (Bradford, Crewe, Gillingham, Notts County spring to mind).
Questions did start to escalate over his command as he stayed on his line for crosses and through balls and rarely seemed to talk to the defence. However I would still say he had not been awful; just quite ordinary and was simply not making many saves. Still, it was maybe a bit of a surprise when Howard was given a start v Fulham. I did not think this was permanent and if Howard had not played well then I am sure Long would have been straight back in but Howard played really well. He was part of the great run and a number of clean sheets. He commanded better than Long, his handling was better than it had been in the few other games he had come in and there was no reason to go back to Long.
To be fair he came back in against Rotherham and played well not doing anything wrong and made 2 good saves. Not sure what the future holds for him. He is now 20 and has not pushed on as well as the club may have liked. There was talk of him being a future England keeper and was involved in the u20 squads etc but now he is struggling to even be first choice at League One. Some say he needs game but where? If he is deemed not good enough for League One, would a League Two side take him? He has had a meteoric rise and now he has hit his first real sticky spell but is young and in a position where players develop later. He may well come again. He is a good shot stopper and the things like talking, command and organisation may come. He possesses the right build and seems to have a decent attitude. In short, he needs to work hard over the summer and battle for his spot. It is that simple as he is not moving anywhere and unlikely Howard will move on now. He is 28 and knows now he has been quite nomadic for a keeper and needs to establish himself here or will become a bit of a journeyman.
Grade C-
The rest
George Willis Willis has spent time involved with the first team squad and been on the bench during the last few season. Still only 18; he has plenty of time on his side. Some have said he is a better prospect than Long but now with him being 3rd choice, unsure how they can both get games (you do not play many u21 games and he will soon be too old for the under 18’s (would be a backward step too). Seen him a few times and he is more of a shouter and organised than Long; if not quite as imposing height wise. He could do with some time on loan, even at non league level to get him some experience as otherwise be hard for him to push on. Like Long, the issue is we only have one player who can play and thus he is going to have to keep developing and hope in a few years he may be ready to be a genuine contender for the 1st team.
We also apparently have some other good young keepers coming through with Jake Eastwood involved in the youth set up for various age groups for England although Gareth Owen has been released; with so many other good young keepers around.
Next season
I will be honest and say at this level Howard with Long as his back up is more than acceptable and better than what most teams will have. I will say though that I am unsure either have been consistent or quite good enough if we do seek to move up the league/s; from the evidence so far Both have had good spells but both have had indifferent games and I still feel that it is a position that we will eventually have to improve. I will say that Howard had a really good second half and if he carries that on and Long can get back to his form there is no real issues for League One football with this position.
Returning players;
Player / Position Years remaining (contract expires)
Goalkeepers
Mark Howard Out of contract (2014)
George Willis 1 year (2015)
George Long 2 years(2016)
Defenders
Neill Collins Collins is a player I have knocked and often pinpointed as a weakness but I have probably been too harsh on him. In recent seasons and other than the first half of this one, our defence (for this level) has been very stingy and he plays nearly every game. He never gets injured, does not pick up many bookings and is a good leader for some of the younger players. He also seems to genuinely care. He has been a decent servant to the club (approaching 170 games played).
When the season started, he seemed quite ill at ease with the new style and the emphasis on keeping it and sometimes he would knock it sideways or over play and lose it. I felt he was one of the players that looked most uncomfortable under Weir. He is not a bad footballer for a centre back but is not a player that can do what Weir wanted (even less so than Maguire) and this led to us losing possession and some really daft goals. He along with others struggled but remained in the side (we had noone else as I pointed out at the time so no completion for places). When Clough came in he seemed to like him and said he was one of the player you wanted when in a dogfight and much like Doyle, despite the criticism, Clough was another who seemed to respect him.
His performances, like the rest of the team gradually improved even more and was part of the defence and side that went on such a good run. He actually missed a game (v Rotherham as was rested as he had been ever present before after this. He too struggled at Wembley and showed against quicker, sharper players he would not be quite good enough. Long term he won’t be here and is entering his last year but you would hope as cruel as it seems he and Maguire (and one other to be brought in) can be part of a defence that takes us up but then he will probably have to be improve on at a higher level (was not good enough when he played there before).
Grade C+
Harry Maguire Maguire has been player of the season for the last two campaigns so despite the notion he maybe had not quite pushed on after such an impressive first season in 2011/12; he still was maybe our key player to start the season. He started alongside Collins again but whilst comfortable on the ball; it did seem that he did not want to have so much of it as Weir wanted. We began to make mistakes in this area and he had some very unconvincing games despite scoring quite a few goals and being our leading scorer for a long time. He picked up a series of daft bookings and did make errors that led to goals (as did a few at the back). The new patient passing game and over play saw him and Collins often knocking it back and forth between themselves but going nowhere really.
The game at Rotherham saw this happen time after time and lead to chances and goals. He did keep scoring though and got 2 in Clough’s first game.
Clough clearly liked him and as went on the great run amidst the cup run, then his form got even better as he and Collins got to standards they had set in previous seasons when we had been quite tight at the back. He has some really impressive games as we became so hard to beat or even score against. Only knock was he kept picking up silly bookings or at times still made some silly mistakes by maybe overplaying.
Had a game as captain against Rotherham and was dominating in this game helping a young side (many even younger than him). Did not have his best game at Wembley and the movement and pace coming through caused him issues as he looked quite statuesque at times.
Seems like he has been around forever but only just 21 but he has played 160 games already. I think he will still be a key player moving forward and vital we keep him. Yes, he lacks pace and mobility still (got a bit better and a bit leaner recently) but if he had these qualities he would not be here. I still feel he is good enough (with a quick partner) to easily play Championship (there are lots of worse centre backs at this level – Charlton two for instance) and maybe if he develops even the top league (showed good displays v Benteke, Dempsey but less so v Hull). I have been critical of him at times but he is a really good footballer that can be quite dominant and reads the game really well. Despite the knocks on him, the facts remain that you rarely see such a good intelligent, footballer on such a big unit that can pass and control the ball quite effortlessly. I fear we may lost him this summer but hope we can keep him a bit longer and if we did go up then he would remain as we progress.
Overall I have to say from start to finish he has maybe still been our best player. A little shaky to start the season but he was still one of our better performers and he was consistent much of the way. Others have done well at times (most in the second half) but noone has maybe quite matched his standards all season.
Grade B
Goalkeepers
Mark Howard Howard was involved in some of the pre season games but then he was on the bench when the season commenced with Long preferred. The odd game he did play he did not convince with him being at fault for goals against Hartlepool and also Rotherham. He seemed almost certain to be on his way out when his contract was up at the end of the season but a run of indifferent performances from Long saw him given another chance. He took it with two solid performances in the cup v Fulham and then a long run of clean sheets and almost faultless performances with good handling, command and cross taking. He made some excellent saves too and generally was most impressive looking more like the keeper who had done quite well when he started his United campaign.
There was no question of him being taken out of the team. We were winning, the defence looked tighter and we were barely conceding a goal. The only question marks were his poor distribution which was no better than Long’s and he would routinely each game kick 4 or 5 straight out from dead and from his hands. He had a sloppy couple of games with mistakes versus Wolves and at Swindon but also played well making saves at Tranmere and Crawley. He had little chance on the goals v Hull with clinical finishing. Overall, he suddenly has got back in and forced Clough to have to give him another deal. For me he still has to prove it over a season as his United career has been quite inconsistent and like Long he does have weaknesses in his game and can drop some real ricks. However, we seem more organised generally at the back with him in goal and he did well as we went on such an impressive run. If he maintains his overall form since he came back we should be fine.
Grade B-
George Long Long had of course been very decent the previous season and despite him and Howard rotating in pre season it was no surprise when Weir gave Long the nod to start the season. He had shown real promise with some excellent shot stopping, good handling mixed with poor distribution and maybe some questions over his command of the area and ability to organise.
These questions started to rise more and more after we had a poor start. To be fair to Long; the way Weir played which saw him continually under pressure and the defence doing things they were not comfortable with did not help matters. However he did make some mistakes and at times did not seem as secure as he had. In short you had the nagging feeling as young as he is for a keeper; he had not quite pushed on or developed his weaknesses and his strengths on shot stopping had not been at same level. Howard came in for a game at Rotherham but was really poor (Long away with England set up) so he was straight back in. Still I would say there were so many questions throughout the team he was not seen as one of main weaknesses. Even when Clough came in; he continued and he played well in some games (one outstanding display at Orient) but also had really some jittery games (Bradford, Crewe, Gillingham, Notts County spring to mind).
Questions did start to escalate over his command as he stayed on his line for crosses and through balls and rarely seemed to talk to the defence. However I would still say he had not been awful; just quite ordinary and was simply not making many saves. Still, it was maybe a bit of a surprise when Howard was given a start v Fulham. I did not think this was permanent and if Howard had not played well then I am sure Long would have been straight back in but Howard played really well. He was part of the great run and a number of clean sheets. He commanded better than Long, his handling was better than it had been in the few other games he had come in and there was no reason to go back to Long.
To be fair he came back in against Rotherham and played well not doing anything wrong and made 2 good saves. Not sure what the future holds for him. He is now 20 and has not pushed on as well as the club may have liked. There was talk of him being a future England keeper and was involved in the u20 squads etc but now he is struggling to even be first choice at League One. Some say he needs game but where? If he is deemed not good enough for League One, would a League Two side take him? He has had a meteoric rise and now he has hit his first real sticky spell but is young and in a position where players develop later. He may well come again. He is a good shot stopper and the things like talking, command and organisation may come. He possesses the right build and seems to have a decent attitude. In short, he needs to work hard over the summer and battle for his spot. It is that simple as he is not moving anywhere and unlikely Howard will move on now. He is 28 and knows now he has been quite nomadic for a keeper and needs to establish himself here or will become a bit of a journeyman.
Grade C-
The rest
George Willis Willis has spent time involved with the first team squad and been on the bench during the last few season. Still only 18; he has plenty of time on his side. Some have said he is a better prospect than Long but now with him being 3rd choice, unsure how they can both get games (you do not play many u21 games and he will soon be too old for the under 18’s (would be a backward step too). Seen him a few times and he is more of a shouter and organised than Long; if not quite as imposing height wise. He could do with some time on loan, even at non league level to get him some experience as otherwise be hard for him to push on. Like Long, the issue is we only have one player who can play and thus he is going to have to keep developing and hope in a few years he may be ready to be a genuine contender for the 1st team.
We also apparently have some other good young keepers coming through with Jake Eastwood involved in the youth set up for various age groups for England although Gareth Owen has been released; with so many other good young keepers around.
Next season
I will be honest and say at this level Howard with Long as his back up is more than acceptable and better than what most teams will have. I will say though that I am unsure either have been consistent or quite good enough if we do seek to move up the league/s; from the evidence so far Both have had good spells but both have had indifferent games and I still feel that it is a position that we will eventually have to improve. I will say that Howard had a really good second half and if he carries that on and Long can get back to his form there is no real issues for League One football with this position.
Returning players;
Player / Position Years remaining (contract expires)
Goalkeepers
Mark Howard Out of contract (2014)
George Willis 1 year (2015)
George Long 2 years(2016)
Defenders
Neill Collins Collins is a player I have knocked and often pinpointed as a weakness but I have probably been too harsh on him. In recent seasons and other than the first half of this one, our defence (for this level) has been very stingy and he plays nearly every game. He never gets injured, does not pick up many bookings and is a good leader for some of the younger players. He also seems to genuinely care. He has been a decent servant to the club (approaching 170 games played).
When the season started, he seemed quite ill at ease with the new style and the emphasis on keeping it and sometimes he would knock it sideways or over play and lose it. I felt he was one of the players that looked most uncomfortable under Weir. He is not a bad footballer for a centre back but is not a player that can do what Weir wanted (even less so than Maguire) and this led to us losing possession and some really daft goals. He along with others struggled but remained in the side (we had noone else as I pointed out at the time so no completion for places). When Clough came in he seemed to like him and said he was one of the player you wanted when in a dogfight and much like Doyle, despite the criticism, Clough was another who seemed to respect him.
His performances, like the rest of the team gradually improved even more and was part of the defence and side that went on such a good run. He actually missed a game (v Rotherham as was rested as he had been ever present before after this. He too struggled at Wembley and showed against quicker, sharper players he would not be quite good enough. Long term he won’t be here and is entering his last year but you would hope as cruel as it seems he and Maguire (and one other to be brought in) can be part of a defence that takes us up but then he will probably have to be improve on at a higher level (was not good enough when he played there before).
Grade C+
Harry Maguire Maguire has been player of the season for the last two campaigns so despite the notion he maybe had not quite pushed on after such an impressive first season in 2011/12; he still was maybe our key player to start the season. He started alongside Collins again but whilst comfortable on the ball; it did seem that he did not want to have so much of it as Weir wanted. We began to make mistakes in this area and he had some very unconvincing games despite scoring quite a few goals and being our leading scorer for a long time. He picked up a series of daft bookings and did make errors that led to goals (as did a few at the back). The new patient passing game and over play saw him and Collins often knocking it back and forth between themselves but going nowhere really.
The game at Rotherham saw this happen time after time and lead to chances and goals. He did keep scoring though and got 2 in Clough’s first game.
Clough clearly liked him and as went on the great run amidst the cup run, then his form got even better as he and Collins got to standards they had set in previous seasons when we had been quite tight at the back. He has some really impressive games as we became so hard to beat or even score against. Only knock was he kept picking up silly bookings or at times still made some silly mistakes by maybe overplaying.
Had a game as captain against Rotherham and was dominating in this game helping a young side (many even younger than him). Did not have his best game at Wembley and the movement and pace coming through caused him issues as he looked quite statuesque at times.
Seems like he has been around forever but only just 21 but he has played 160 games already. I think he will still be a key player moving forward and vital we keep him. Yes, he lacks pace and mobility still (got a bit better and a bit leaner recently) but if he had these qualities he would not be here. I still feel he is good enough (with a quick partner) to easily play Championship (there are lots of worse centre backs at this level – Charlton two for instance) and maybe if he develops even the top league (showed good displays v Benteke, Dempsey but less so v Hull). I have been critical of him at times but he is a really good footballer that can be quite dominant and reads the game really well. Despite the knocks on him, the facts remain that you rarely see such a good intelligent, footballer on such a big unit that can pass and control the ball quite effortlessly. I fear we may lost him this summer but hope we can keep him a bit longer and if we did go up then he would remain as we progress.
Overall I have to say from start to finish he has maybe still been our best player. A little shaky to start the season but he was still one of our better performers and he was consistent much of the way. Others have done well at times (most in the second half) but noone has maybe quite matched his standards all season.
Grade B
