Leaders On The Pitch

[bcfcnick]

I think with the imminent departures of Orr and Hartley along with the injury to Carey then the Club needs to focus on bringing in a leader or two.

McCombe has also gone and he had a leaders presence as well when he played. In fact I think a fit McCombe was a real asset with his height and ability to win the first ball. People have said he wasn't championship quality because of a lack of pace but I think he was playing when carrying an injury and when injury free he excelled in a couple of matches marking Premier League strikers. He scored more than his quota of goals for his position and was the type of ball winning centre half the team needs if played alongside someone with more speed. The main issue though was he was injury prone with shin splints etc. and maybe he would always struggle to remain fit for with the rigours of the championship.

At the moment Nyatanga, the right back trialist and young Joe Edwards are not the defensive answers although Edwards could come good. Carey is injured, McCallister is recovering from an injury and needs someone to challenge for his place as well. The jury's out on whether Cisse can slot in as an effective centre-back so I think that highlights that quality defenders as well as leaders on the pitch are much needed. Fontaine is the remaining real asset but he needs the right player alongside him to bring the best out of him - a fit and motivated Louis Carey does that job but he will have missed a pre-season which is more essential for someone of his age than it is for someone like Maynard.

Anyway, the main point is that the team do need a strong leader on the pitch - especially in defence. I do have great confidence in Steve Coppell's ability to build a team but, at this stage, it does look very much a work in progress at this late stage and this season may be transitional one. That said, sometimes teams can prosper when there isn't any great element of expectation and Coppell doesn't strike me as someone who is going to settle for a season of mediocrity. SC recognises the need for players with the competitive streak Bradley has and he said this was the type of player he wanted to retain in the interview covering Brad's departure so I hope and think a commanding quality central defender who can organise the defence will be his top transfer priority.