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Time for some straight talk...!


Michael McIndoe

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31 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

I'm more surprised that we didn't bring in a right back . 

Pisano is good but obviously out injured and not one of our younger players . 

Vyner is à Centre back and ,even  if we played him at right back , he is inexperienced.

A team aiming for promotion to the Premier League shouldn't be making do and mending .

There are no guarantees in football but a Championship experienced striker and a right back were my hopes for the last transfer window .

Maybe We aren't aiming for the Prem ! 

I agree in relation to the "making do and mending" @Major Isewater the team should be stable, steady and new signings should be slowly integrated rather than thrown in. But as many have said the squad is clearly not strong enough yet. 

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6 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

If I was to ask you now what are Diony's strengths and weaknesses, what style does he enjoy playing and what system does he operate the best in...what would you say? 

No idea. Maybe LJ will try him at right back :facepalm:.

Given the club have been tracking him for a while, hopefully LJ and the coaches do know what his strengths are, and more importantly his weaknesses and think they can improve his game.

IIRC, when we signed him it was commented that he plays well when he's happy, so we need to sort his head out, so hopefully we can do that. I do feel that LJ is doing all he can, given our tendency to sign French players he is learning French.

Would be nice to know if the club have improved helping new signings settle in, showing them round the city, where the training ground is etc, which I think some new signings have struggled with in the past.

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6 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

I'm not saying it's not working, just identifying areas where you could enhance and reasons for the dip in form. 

We would do better if Arseholes didn't come on wind-up but feel free to post crap I will leave you alone now.

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33 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

Yes absolutely, hopefully we turn it into a positive though and use it as incentive. 

After the last few games, I think a few of these players have points to prove.

You will definitely find out over the next few games how mentally tough your squad is and how much hunger and desire they have in their belly's. 

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31 minutes ago, Fat Cigar said:

@Michael McIndoe, interesting observations. Thanks. Without wanting to sound like a kiss arse, I hope us City fans realise how much of a coup/privilege it is having one of our former players now posting regularly on here. Testament to the quality and diversity of threads of here.

Thanks @Fat Cigar ! Very kind of you. The privilege is more mine though! To be able to interact freely without facing a media ban from Gary on a Monday morning is great! :clapping:  

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38 minutes ago, 29AR said:

I think it is more complicated than that. I think it's a question of how much would all but guarantee promotion. If you are going to go for it, there can be no holding back, the cost of failure and being hamstrung the year after is too much. 

Looking back I would agree the table was too tight at that point to make going for it a reasonable gamble. With all the other teams, their quality and depth of squad - look at Derby's strikers, villa's squad, Fulham looking like getting a warchest... I think we would have had to spend too much to assure promotion. 

The club was ready, the league was not favourable to support an assault. 

I agree; however how much will it cost to replace the likes of Flint, Reid, Smith and Bryan. Its very realistic to say this maybe our best chance in gaining promotion, and our lack of "going for it" in the January window maybe seen by our better players as a huge lack of ambition, which would see us having to spend huge amounts to replace such players, or years in building such a squad as we had pre January, I genuinely think the cost of not spending money now will cost us in the long run.

The decisions made imho will prove to be abysmal.

Even small decisions like sending Vyner, a young hungry defender who is definitely a better choice at right back than Brownhill, a player who has been excellent when paired with Smith is ridiculous. Vyner could do a job there for a few games, more importantly he would have enabled the midfield two to keep their partnership.

The decision to bring Woodrow here seems baffling, especially when bringing in Lois, whos clearly unfit and out of form and never played English football, surely cover for Bobby was paramount, or arguably the likes of Madeine, someone who can hit the ground running.

Id like to think Im being dramatic, but is this the best chance of having a go at promotion we may see for a while, especially as we remain a small percentage of clubs operating without parachute payments, another problem we will face again next season and possibly with some of our best players seeking football at a higher level.

We can still make the top 6, but not with this form, and especially with the January window failing to bring in the vital competition for places so desperately needed. There is little to show that we are going to find ourselves turning things around, quite the opposite but we simply must, weve commanded such a positive position all season, and we do have some vital players coming back........

Still we go again, and hopefully with a with a rocket up their arses, a fit Bobby Reid and Baker and Pisano Imminently back in the fold and raring to go, picking up where they left off. 

 

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9 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

If I was to ask you now what are Diony's strengths and weaknesses, what style does he enjoy playing and what system does he operate the best in...what would you say? 

From his own perspective, he claims to be someone who likes to bully defenders, enjoys the physical side of the game & has a fair bit of pace which he is happy to try & utilise. He & Diedhiou also know each other fairly well so I don’t think it’s beyond reason to believe that Diedhiou would of been asked for his opinion of Diony & considering they both play in the same position, I think it’s safe to say Diedhiou hasn’t given a negative report back especially as we tend to only use one out & out striker so he’s come in as direct competition for Diedhiou.

As for what system he prefers to operate in, I guess you’d have to ask those scouts that have watched him since we’ve been aware of him because I haven’t been to France for about 33 years, I don’t like the culinary delights of snails & frog legs! Or you could ask LJ these questions as I’d guess you have his phone number? Which I don’t.

The thing that has to be remembered with City is that we’re not in the market for the finished article who is unlikely to improve value wise so we end up having to gamble on players that may be a surprise to other teams rather than a Madine who everyone knows what his game is about & at a rumoured £6m few, I’d be surprised if there’s any financial profit in him. Diony on the other hand, has probably cost us a nominal loan fee & if it works out he’ll join for less than what Madine cost & if it doesn’t work out, he goes back to St. Etienne & he’s cost us relatively little.

The advantage we now have (since after December) is that we now have options because we never lost anyone in the transfer window, we have players coming back from injury & we signed 3 first team squad players so we now have options which is something we haven’t had for most of this season.

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24 minutes ago, Beni71 said:

@Michael McIndoethanks for the post. Just a quick question, how easy is it to bring 3 new players in the Jan window and integrate them into the squad? From a fans perspective there is always a clamour for new and improved talent, but not convinced it always delivers the results on and off the pitch.

It should be relatively easy if you've identified the right players. I can only judge from my past experiences. The hardest bit is trying to get to know your team mates strengths and weaknesses. The integration process should only take a couple of weeks if you and your agent are organised and ready to go. I appreciate for some of the foreign players it takes them more time because of different hurdles i.e. language, different styles of play and sometimes but not often, players don't want to pass the ball in training to the new signings because they're about to take their position in the team. 

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23 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

It could well be the case, but I'd like to think knowing Steve as I do, he'll want to be mixing it with the best in the top flight, which would in theory give a lot more marketing power to the Bristol brand. 

Spot on. Remember that Bristol Sport is Steve Lansdown, and you can be sure he isn't in this for profit (although that would be nice). SL has been clear that football (and hence BCFC) is his first love and he's not really a rugby man. 

Steve wants PL football for City and is prepared to pay big to get there, that should be patently obvious to everyone. 

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31 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

How much does 'real quality' cost you in January though? That's part of the problem. Madine £6m. Hugill  £8m. Neither in my view represent good value signings long-term, especially Madine.  

Another problem for us is wages. I don't know how close you have your ear to the ground Michael but City will not pay top half of the table wages at the moment. So how do we attract the quality players?  

This thread has been a great read so far, by the way.

Hi again @Kid in the Riot You need to get better/more chief scouts who can bring in players to fit your wage structure. 

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1 hour ago, Michael McIndoe said:

I said a few weeks ago I didn't feel that the current squad would finish higher than 8th and I still stand by that. With 1 win in the last 7 league games and some of BC's best performers this season already losing a bit of form, the biggest question I ask is have the players got the fitness levels and energy to play the high pressing, counter at speed game for 50 matches in a season? I don't think certain football fans understand how much energy it takes to do this for 10 months. On average it requires a player to run (including training) 50-75 kilometres every week. Managers tend not to play this type of style because they have always struggled to find players fit enough to consistently do it for a whole season. This is why Man City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and most of Pep's teams have been so successful, he not only has the best players but they are also coincidently the fittest.

Personally I think Lee has got it spot on in terms of his approach, and yes he'll make mistakes because he is, in football terms still an inexperienced manager. However I think if BC are to go up and stay in the PL, this is the style that must be embedded into all BC players both current and future. The PL pay so much money to top players, not just for their footballing abilities but because they are the fittest athletes out there at what they do. Lee has definitely identified this, as well as certain patterns of play he learned from his dad. I think eventually this style will equal promotion.

Bear what I've said in mind when the players are not at their best, or the team doesn't win as many matches as you think they should. 

On the recent form, yes there will definitely have been some kick on effect from the congestion of fixtures and the style of play we try to use, however January presented a difficult question of how much do you strengthen given we had and still have players returning. I think we've done fantastically to stay where we are, no Diedhiou, Pisano or O'Dowda for a long time. Diedhiou has hit the ground running since returning so if you bought a 'proven' goalscorer you're looking around the same as we paid for Diedhiou and then who do you leave out of the starting line up when Reid and Fam have been such a success when they've played.

What I think we've really missed has been a real 'third' striker, the hope was for it to be Woodrow but he's not lived up to it, Taylor frankly just doesn't score enough for someone you rely on to do so (no doubting him as a supporting striker). However I am surprised we didn't bring in a right back, while Bailey has been exceptional we're seeing what happens when Baker is out and playing Korey at RB. Perhaps its merely a case we couldn't fit someone to play our style in our budget. 

Speaking of our style I feel this is definitely being ingrained, it seems the same high press, patient build up is being used through the age groups so hopefully we get more young players first team ready without having to coach it into them. But as said its hard to find players who will slot into our play style quickly, which way back when, is why LJ said it would take a few windows to see the benefit, which we have. We're 90% there with the starting line up, we're now filling out the rest of the squad with players. As for 'not learning from last time' I think SL has learned from the years that followed after, the throwing money at it and hope to get results solution, it saw us relegated, we now have a system that has seen us go from relegation candidates to promotion candidates. If not for injuries we could even perhaps be automatic promotion candidates. 

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31 minutes ago, Cider_boy said:

No idea. Maybe LJ will try him at right back :facepalm:.

Given the club have been tracking him for a while, hopefully LJ and the coaches do know what his strengths are, and more importantly his weaknesses and think they can improve his game.

IIRC, when we signed him it was commented that he plays well when he's happy, so we need to sort his head out, so hopefully we can do that. I do feel that LJ is doing all he can, given our tendency to sign French players he is learning French.

Would be nice to know if the club have improved helping new signings settle in, showing them round the city, where the training ground is etc, which I think some new signings have struggled with in the past.

Apologies I probably didn't get my point across here as well as I could have! What I was trying to say was if the fans don't know what Diony's strengths and weakness are, and what style he plays etc remembering fans generally watch more football than players, then how long is it going to take his teammates to work that out?! I can promise you it won't be quickly! But if the club had signed somebody who was a proven Championship goalscorer fans, players, staff alike would know how he wants to play therefore having a much better chance to hit the ground running. 

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5 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

Apologies I probably didn't get my point across here as well as I could have! What I was trying to say was if the fans don't know what Diony's strengths and weakness are, and what style he plays etc remembering fans generally watch more football than players, then how long is it going to take his teammates to work that out?! I can promise you it won't be quickly! But if the club had signed somebody who was a proven Championship goalscorer fans, players, staff alike would know how he wants to play therefore having a much better chance to hit the ground running. 

But that's where we come back to the point I made above; we aren't going to be bringing in a proven C'ship goalscorer anytime soon unless we start paying higher wages!

I completely agree with what you say in regard to player fatigue in your first post, by the way.

In fact Mark Ashton said yesterday in hospitality that the players had significant dips in the ground they covered (distance ran) in the league games after the Man U and Man City cup games and obviously results have suffered as a direct result of that.

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2 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

Apologies I probably didn't get my point across here as well as I could have! What I was trying to say was if the fans don't know what Diony's strengths and weakness are, and what style he plays etc remembering fans generally watch more football than players, then how long is it going to take his teammates to work that out?! I can promise you it won't be quickly! But if the club had signed somebody who was a proven Championship goalscorer fans, players, staff alike would know how he wants to play therefore having a much better chance to hit the ground running. 

he hit the ground running , yes he did not shine as we wanted but hey ho shite happens and shite also comes on this site every so often why not worry about your team and let us worry or rejoice in ours 

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58 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

If I was to ask you now what are Diony's strengths and weaknesses, what style does he enjoy playing and what system does he operate the best in...what would you say? 

A bit like Bobby Reid as the second striker. But not yet up to speed thought wise with Championship or the way team mates are thinking. In other words, he's not reading what others will do. If he's bright enough, that will come in time. Neither does he seem to have Bobby's engine and stamina. 

With what has been said on this thread, I wonder if the club are really keen to try for top six this season or are building a squad, incoming recruits and Academy under 23's for a real go at it next season or the one after. 

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29 minutes ago, Tipps69 said:

From his own perspective, he claims to be someone who likes to bully defenders, enjoys the physical side of the game & has a fair bit of pace which he is happy to try & utilise. He & Diedhiou also know each other fairly well so I don’t think it’s beyond reason to believe that Diedhiou would of been asked for his opinion of Diony & considering they both play in the same position, I think it’s safe to say Diedhiou hasn’t given a negative report back especially as we tend to only use one out & out striker so he’s come in as direct competition for Diedhiou.

As for what system he prefers to operate in, I guess you’d have to ask those scouts that have watched him since we’ve been aware of him because I haven’t been to France for about 33 years, I don’t like the culinary delights of snails & frog legs! Or you could ask LJ these questions as I’d guess you have his phone number? Which I don’t.

The thing that has to be remembered with City is that we’re not in the market for the finished article who is unlikely to improve value wise so we end up having to gamble on players that may be a surprise to other teams rather than a Madine who everyone knows what his game is about & at a rumoured £6m few, I’d be surprised if there’s any financial profit in him. Diony on the other hand, has probably cost us a nominal loan fee & if it works out he’ll join for less than what Madine cost & if it doesn’t work out, he goes back to St. Etienne & he’s cost us relatively little.

The advantage we now have (since after December) is that we now have options because we never lost anyone in the transfer window, we have players coming back from injury & we signed 3 first team squad players so we now have options which is something we haven’t had for most of this season.

Interesting football points there. A lot of what you have said is spot on, but after having the privilege of playing with Gary at Coventry, if I had the choice I now which one I would've signed. 

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2 hours ago, Michael McIndoe said:

You make a very valid point @Alessandro about the January transfer window. I would love to know on whose recommendation it was to choose a player from France who is completely unknown in the English game over all the other possible striking options out there! Bringing players to a football club is a fine art. This is why most chief scouts tend to be older, because the wise owls know real quality when they see it. 

Uncle Pete innit. :shifty:

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44 minutes ago, City Rocker said:

Spot on. Remember that Bristol Sport is Steve Lansdown, and you can be sure he isn't in this for profit (although that would be nice). SL has been clear that football (and hence BCFC) is his first love and he's not really a rugby man. 

Steve wants PL football for City and is prepared to pay big to get there, that should be patently obvious to everyone. 

Of course its obvious, as you say mate, however this transfer window has been awful, but Im sure that's down to our policy which by know should be embedded in every fans mind, not to say agreed with by all, especially when weve been sat in such a good position all season. There are a handful of teams in a similar position to us who simply put are more appealing and have more financial clout!

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1 hour ago, Michael McIndoe said:

Apologies I probably didn't get my point across here as well as I could have! What I was trying to say was if the fans don't know what Diony's strengths and weakness are, and what style he plays etc remembering fans generally watch more football than players, then how long is it going to take his teammates to work that out?! I can promise you it won't be quickly! But if the club had signed somebody who was a proven Championship goalscorer fans, players, staff alike would know how he wants to play therefore having a much better chance to hit the ground running. 

I don't really get that Michael.

Players will only see as much of him as us fans - the same 90.

I also think you overestimate how many fans then watch neutral games on top, or rather that many more than your average footballer. Plus they have the advantage of training - and when you think of the analysis in training (drones for instance) and immediate feedback - I would say the coaching might have moved on a long way, especially in integrating than may have been your experiences. 

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2 hours ago, 29AR said:

I think it is more complicated than that. I think it's a question of how much would all but guarantee promotion. If you are going to go for it, there can be no holding back, the cost of failure and being hamstrung the year after is too much. 

Looking back I would agree the table was too tight at that point to make going for it a reasonable gamble. With all the other teams, their quality and depth of squad - look at Derby's strikers, villa's squad, Fulham looking like getting a warchest... I think we would have had to spend too much to assure promotion. 

The club was ready, the league was not favourable to support an assault. 

I think that was key to recruitment decisions in the window.  The gamble versus other clubs in the mix.  All would probably blow us out of the water with wages if we went in for the same players.  I think that came into it, let alone West Ham coming in for the likes of Hugill.  I think we have had to be a bit content with being here a season too soon.  That’s tough to take for us fans, and you run the risk of the players that get you into a position either move on in the summer or don’t hit the heights the following season.  Bit like buying a house.  The one you want us always £20k (or whatever ballpark you’re playing in) over budget and you gave to compromise.  

1 hour ago, Michael McIndoe said:

It should be relatively easy if you've identified the right players. I can only judge from my past experiences. The hardest bit is trying to get to know your team mates strengths and weaknesses. The integration process should only take a couple of weeks if you and your agent are organised and ready to go. I appreciate for some of the foreign players it takes them more time because of different hurdles i.e. language, different styles of play and sometimes but not often, players don't want to pass the ball in training to the new signings because they're about to take their position in the team. 

On the back of the initial post, interesting, but how difficult do you think it is for LJ to risk upsetting a squad in various key decision areas, e.g.

- The creative but industrious Central Midfielder Who will take us to the next level but mean 1 maybe 2 out of Smith, Pack and Brownhill (let alone Walsh and others) don’t start each week.  

- the striker that takes us to the next level, but means Reid (local hero) or Diedhiou (record signing 6 months ago) don’t start.

I posted earlier that Cotts struggled to bring in players and break the loyalty to his 14/15 squad.  I’m not sure LJ would have the same issue, but he must fear causing a divide, e.g. Flint upset because Pack isn’t playing (only an example because they are very pally).

49 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

Interesting football points there. A lot of what you have said is spot on, but after having the privilege of playing with Gary at Coventry, if I had the choice I now which one I would've signed. 

I think his "previous" would have knocked him off our radar.....you know that I think on pure footballing ability he is a handful.  Will be interesting to see his he fares at Cardiff.

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You've only got to look at the majority of players bought in over the past three windows, to see that they were bought in with the purpose to play the way we play...the high pressing game.

Making Reid a 'Forward', wasn't so much for his scoring ability, but more for his energy and ability to keep running and close down from the front line.

It was so noticeable yesterday in the second half, how much we missed that. His replacement Diony didn't do it. This allowed Sunderland to build through the lines.

When Reid presses, it triggers all the others. We work as a team, hounding and intercepting. Especially after the opposition have just received the ball.

Diony didn't do it, Famara did it less, with less urgency and this started to reflect throughout the rest of the team.

Reid is the energy...the button that energises everyone else. He runs...everyone else see's what they need to do. It's infectious.

When you get a forward labouring when we don't have the ball, it has a knock on effect....especially when it's a high pressing game that we play.

It was the same last season when we had Tomlin playing...not so bad going forward, but we struggled when not in possession.

The same happened yesterday.

I agree about the high pressing game being energy sapping over a season...The injuries to key players, sapping Cup run, bookings and sending off's have all had a negative effect.

Baker, Odowda, Fielding, Pisano, Duric, Famara, Taylor, Hegeler...all side lined at some point or still....it's taken it's toll. These would have all been used and rotated more.

Leko was a disappointment. Eliasson and Gus...still not in favour. Woodrow indifferent.

We've done well to keep in the top 6 all this time considering tbh.

Having watched most games this season, Reid is the key player for us doing well.  Not just in his energy, but the positive effect he has on everyone else.

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58 minutes ago, Michael McIndoe said:

Interesting football points there. A lot of what you have said is spot on, but after having the privilege of playing with Gary at Coventry, if I had the choice I now which one I would've signed. 

The thing is, as mentioned by someone else further up the thread, we don’t pay the higher end of the wage scale, so just using Madine as an example, if we end up in straight battle for a Championship (or better) established player, then the chances are we will lose out because we’re not as likely to break our current wage budget.

My big thing coming into January was to try & keep our squad / first team players here, give them what they are worth in the current market, just for instance, if Flint is rated at £10m+, then to keep him here, we have to pay him what a £10m+ rated defender earns, you’ll obviously know what clauses tend to be added to players contracts when they join another club (percentage of transfer fee, signing-on fee etc) so there are much bigger sums to be gained elsewhere, especially if we are paying someone the going rate for let’s say a £2m+ rated defender & obviously nowadays the figures involved aren’t £3 per hour extra, they are thousands of pounds a week & in theory bang average players are earning extortionate amounts at other Championship clubs, you only have to look at the rumoured figures that Birmingham, Hull & Sunderland are probably paying their players who are struggling at the wrong end of the Championship, I guess some of it comes down to a players motivation but if we’re in a straight battle with any of the top 8 teams in the Championship for a player, then we can’t compete so while we were rumoured to be interested in Hugill at Preston, we were never likely to ever have realistic chance to sign him & the same could of been said for Madine.

We will rarely pay over the top for player now & that goes for transfer fees & wages & that is probably why we go for young players from lower down the football pyramid or go abroad with the offer of giving Jonny Foreigner the opportunity to get their foot in the door in England where the financial riches are there if they succeed.

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9 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

@spudski totally agree re pressing triggers come from Reid....we mates again :P :P :P

 

6 minutes ago, spudski said:

Never weren't mate...:thumbsup:

Okay, I know it’s that financial rip-off day coming up this week (and no I don’t mean pancake day) but d’you two need to get a room sorted out?

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