As It Stands

[Dastardly and Muttley]

Sorry for the length of the post, but I was bored and getting fed up of waiting for Motæb, so here goes:

With the madness of preseason upon us and all the fuss of the transfer window, I thought I'd take the time to look at what we actually have in the squad NOW, as of 14th July 2008, and remind ourselves of the base we are starting from. I feel we have a great foundation here, upon which we could build a team capable of challenging for promotion, but we can't afford to lose any of our key players.

Goalkeepers:

Basso, Weale, Henderson.

Quality everywhere, every CCC side would settle for having those 3 keepers to pick from. No problems here. Basso is a must-keep player, although I do feel Weale will really push him this season for that number 1 jersey.

Defence

Orr, McAllister, Fontaine, McCombe, Carey, Keogh, Wilson B, Wilson J, Ribiero.

I have my concerns over McAllister at left-back, although I feel GJ will stick with Jamie and have Fonts as cover like last season. McCombe, Carey and Fontaine are 3 excellent CCC central defenders, and having Ribiero and J Wilson as cover for the RB and central defender roles is plenty. As proven last season, consistency and a solid defence is the key, so I expect this aspect of our team to remain the most stable throughout the season, with the youngsters again getting limited opportunities at first team level. Maybe loans for Ribiero and J Wilson.

We have a very solid defence that was one of the best last season, this will again be a great source of strength for us over the coming months.

Midfield

McIndoe, JMW, Skuse, Betsy, Artus, Elliott, Sproule, Noble, Murray, Williams, Johnson

GJ has many excellent options in this area. I do however have concerns over the balance of the side. McIndoe is quality on the left wing, but we do lack someone similar on the right. I feel Nick Carle was brought in to play the role of right winger, cutting into the centre, but never really filled it. It sounds to me like Gavin Williams is the type of player that will be able to do this more successfully, and whilst I rated Carle highly, it may just be that Gavin Williams is the square peg in the square hole that we've been looking for in the right midfield berth.

In the centre of midfield we have quality in Elliott and Johnson, and satisfactory cover with Skuse and Noble, although I wouldn't be happy if either had to step in for a long spell for whatever reason. I feel we may see another midfield signing, probably a left footer capable of pushing McIndoe, and providing more cover for Johnson.

Again, last season we had a very good midfield, even if at times it was powered out of games by some teams. When the confidence was flowing and Elliott was fully fit, our midfield was strong enough to compete with anyone. If Williams can fill the RM role, and we can sign a Premier League quality player to partner Elliott, I feel we could have the midfield to beat anyone in this league. (Watson would do nicely, although unlikely I know!)

Strikers

Adebola, Trundle, Brooker, Plummer

Without doubt our weakest area, but not without its positives either. Trundle was starting to gain form and look impressive towards the end of the season, and Adebola chipped in with several important goals last year. I feel Brooker will move on as new signings come in, as we must be looking for someone more mobile up top next year. A more mobile strikeforce can really take the pressure off our midfield and defence, preventing us from being overrun like we were at times by sides like Ipswich and West Brom. Dele and LT will have important roles to play this year, Dele mostly away from home or as a sub, I feel, but we must look to add pace and mobility to this aging front line.

All in all, we are starting from a very solid base. We have several players that are the envy of others in this league, Basso, Elliott, McIndoe and arguably Carey, Orr and Trundle.

We have quality impact players with people like Sproule and Adebola. We have excellent youngsters on the fringe in Artus, Ribiero and Wilson. Most of all we have a fantastic team spirit, helped by the unsung stars such as Brian Wilson, Kevin Betsy, Chris Weale, David Noble, Stephen Henderson and Scott Murray, who despite not featuring as much as they would have liked last season, kept their chins up and maintained the focus and determination of our squad.

Thanks for taking the time to read it, my general feeling is that even if we kicked off the season tomorrow, we would still survive and be mid-table at worst, so it's not all that bad!

[myol'man]

1st senible post i've read on here for a while.

All we've lost from last season's squad which got

very close to the promised land is Byfield and Showamni up front,

be honest, would you have kept either? Vasko from the back,

hopefully Ribero can step up, and the non scoring Aussie midfielder.

Williams sounds like a good addition, two pacy strikers and we're

in business.

Top 10 all season, with a late push for the play-offs is my tip

[CiderSomerset]

1st senible post i've read on here for a while.

Agreed. We havent lost anyone that we could not afford to lose, and two new forwards could be the difference between us challenging for top ten and challenging for top 2 this season.. If we get off to a good start again, we may take some stopping...

:Believe:

[cider mad]

agreed, if our key players can saty fit with a couple of new additions then I think we will be there or there abouts this season.

[Redhyde]

GK = Fine

Def - Unconvinced about the strength of the coverign fullbacks and indeed the starting ones. We need another centre half too although Skuse should shift there caus he won't be getting a look in in midfield.

Mid - Missing goals from midfield especially the attacking central midfielder and consistancy on the right hand.

Strikers - Depends how our new signings do. I like the Trundle Adebola partnership though and if it carries on like the end of the last year it will produce goals.