SO WHO'S THE WEAK LINK?

[generation1]

Been thinking it over trying to work out where we would need to recruit in January if we were in a good position.Problem is I can not make up my mind where we are at our weakest .I cannot remember a more balanced squad in all the years I have been coming here.

there is plenty of choice in defence, plenty of wide options in midfield ( maybe limited choices in the centre ) and we seem to have striking options that can get us the goals.

so I am interested in others opinions. where do you think we lack? what type of player? and within a sensible range who would you like to fill that gap.

over to you

[ZiderEyed]

Few more promising youngsters for the development squad, but bar no major slip ups, I don't think we need anyone. Perhaps line up another winger for when Leko is off.

[Selred]

It also depends who is available 

[Lrrr]

I would suggest an alternative to Pisano at right back and look to loan Vyner out. While he's very promising he's making some mistakes which will get punished with regular football at our level. Otherwise its just a case of continuing to highlight players who will improve us in all positions. 

[Charlie BCFC]

Fielding maybe?

[Cider-Head23]

The way were going, we wont need many.. maybe 1 or 2 to freshen things up a bit.

But we have already shown we have strength & depth.. there's no point buying for the sake of it.

[Judda]

Steele was quality Tues 

[Alessandro]

Taking nothing away from Pack, Smith and Brownhill, but i'd be looking for a classy game changing centre mid, especially going forwards.

[Kingswoodactor]

7 minutes ago, Flint says No said:

Fielding maybe?

We did just bring in Steele ya know 

[Kingswoodactor]

Would love someone like Alan Judge, sitting in front of Pack or Brownhill. 

[Guest]

Frankie's kicking needs work and needs to improve A LOT. Other than that we're good for now, although an injury to RB and playing Vyner there i'd be a little worried, I guess Wright has been playing there recently though? 

[LondonBristolian]

For me, the only area is another option is central midfield. But I think it would be a mistake to make our squad any larger. 

[LondonBristolian]

3 minutes ago, Eastside Moonwalker said:

Frankie's kicking needs work and needs to improve A LOT. Other than that we're good for now, although an injury to RB and playing Vyner there i'd be a little worried, I guess Wright has been playing there recently though? 

Indeed. In a weird way I think Pisano's injury has been helpful in meaning Wright, Flint and Baker are all getting to start regularly. With everyone fully fit there will be players who might get frustrated at not getting onto the pitch...

[Distortia]

For me, the 2 players in particular we need are a backup RB (even on loan, maybe someone like Walkers-Peters from Tottenham if available) so we can loan Vyner out, as @hodge suggested. That and a real playmaker in the midfield.

Overall though yes, our squad appears the strongest all-round it has been in years.

[054123]

Not a weak link as such, but when our pace drops off, we tend to just let opponents occupy the space in front of the back 4, whilst we regroup.

We need somebody who is able to still control the middle but even if only at half pace.

 

[Guest]

Your caps lock button

[generation1]

thought to see more constructive comments from admin, Tomarse

[Phileas Fogg]

The obvious ‘weak link’ is right back. Vyner has been fine but probably needs more games at a regular level. Wright has done well filling in but I’d rather see a specialist in that position.

 

[RedLionLad]

Mabye Anne Robinson could decide for us......

Goodbye !!!!

[Wanderingred]

1 hour ago, Alessandro said:

Taking nothing away from Pack, Smith and Brownhill, but i'd be looking for a classy game changing centre mid, especially going forwards.

Definitely this. As good as all three are, they did find a 46 game slog very tough last season and went through long periods of patchy form. It would be nice to see another experienced head there in the Hartley mould to help them out. Other than that, I'd be looking to get one or two out, rather than in. 

[cidered abroad]

1 hour ago, ZiderEyed said:

Few more promising youngsters for the development squad, but bar no major slip ups, I don't think we need anyone. Perhaps line up another winger for when Leko is off.

We have Opi Edwards in the U 23's who is very quick and very similar in build to Junior Bent. But I've been pleased with what little I've seen from Eliasson. O'Dowda is improving all the time and may soon also learn how to play a final killer pass instead of running into massed defence. 

[WECANDO]

O'Neil when fit shortly can add that bit of experience in midfield. He's also not as slow as some make out and he bites in tackles. Can see him reading the game quickly. Prefer him to Smith if fully fit. 

[David Brent]

1 hour ago, hodge said:

I would suggest an alternative to Pisano at right back and look to loan Vyner out. While he's very promising he's making some mistakes which will get punished with regular football at our level. Otherwise its just a case of continuing to highlight players who will improve us in all positions. 

Can't we just accept that Pisano is a decent enough right back and be happy with what we've got right now.

It's now a very decent squad so let's see where it takes us.

[cheshire_red]

Depends who is available at a value for money price both fee and wages, should never stop looking to improve if the right opportunity affords itself

[INCRED]

If Đurić is still struggling with fitness then maybe another striker on loan in Jan, maybe Crouch if he doesn't get much game time at Stoke?

[Robbored]

1 hour ago, Alessandro said:

Taking nothing away from Pack, Smith and Brownhill, but i'd be looking for a classy game changing centre mid, especially going forwards.

Exactly what I was about to post.

Difficulty is that all teams want the same type of player. If one becomes available he won't be cheap.

[megansdad]

At present very happy with what we have - LJ has plenty of options and all pretty good ones. Cant see any real weakness.

[deadredfred]

1 hour ago, 054123 said:

Not a weak link as such, but when our pace drops off, we tend to just let opponents occupy the space in front of the back 4, whilst we regroup.

We need somebody who is able to still control the middle but even if only at half pace.

 

Hegeler?

[ZiderEyed]

44 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

We have Opi Edwards in the U 23's who is very quick and very similar in build to Junior Bent. But I've been pleased with what little I've seen from Eliasson. O'Dowda is improving all the time and may soon also learn how to play a final killer pass instead of running into massed defence. 

Have you watched much of him? I've heard of him but I must admit I know very little about his game. There's Jonny Smith as well but his loan indicates he probably isn't ready yet.

[Robbored]

3 minutes ago, deadredfred said:

Hegeler?

I thought of him as well. 

No doubt he's a good player but whether he's got the type of ability required to play role is debatable.

Its likely that LJ has considered it a possibility. He played in midfield last season but that was before Hegelar had acclimatised to the speed and physically of the Championship. Now with more experience he could be given more opportunities in there.

[deadredfred]

2 minutes ago, Robbored said:

I thought of him as well. 

No doubt he's a good player but whether he's got the type of ability required to play role is debatable.

Its likely that LJ has considered it a possibility. He played in midfield last season but that was before Hegelar had acclimatised to the speed and physically of the Championship. Now with more experience he could be given more opportunities in there.

I don't think we have another player in the squad who looks as comfortable on the ball. He makes it look so easy, protects the ball well, and is never flustered. Standard German really. 

He didn't settle as well as I'd hoped last season but thought he had a good game Tuesday and made some great tackles whilst being fairly unspectacular in general. 

Hope he can push on this season but just another example of the quality of back up we have to choose from. 

Always good to have a German for a penalty shootout too. Play off final anyone? 

[Always Believesham]

2 hours ago, deadredfred said:

He didn't settle as well as I'd hoped last season but thought he had a good game Tuesday and made some great tackles whilst being fairly unspectacular in general. 

To be honest I thought he read the game better than Terry did for Villa. Albeit a totally different game, we were a lot more frenetic in the Villa game than Stoke were.

While JH can play CM/CB I think Flint will go in January and we'll need Hegeler as cover for the defence so.

For me, O'Neill still has to prove himself and may be the one to replace. He made a couple of costly mistakes last season because he took unnecessary risks - not the experienced pro I was expecting to see

Here's to hoping it's just his legs catching up with his brain, obviously an intelligent footballer but needed to adjust to his own limitations as an elder statesman

[Distortia]

2 hours ago, Robbored said:

I thought of him as well. 

No doubt he's a good player but whether he's got the type of ability required to play role is debatable.

Its likely that LJ has considered it a possibility. He played in midfield last season but that was before Hegelar had acclimatised to the speed and physically of the Championship. Now with more experience he could be given more opportunities in there.

He has played midfield in the Champion's League, of course he has the ability to play it in the Championship. The playing style, potentially not.

[Davefevs]

4 hours ago, Alessandro said:

Taking nothing away from Pack, Smith and Brownhill, but i'd be looking for a classy game changing centre mid, especially going forwards.

This....but can we afford one (wages and fees) and would they want to come here, unless we look nailed on top six.

4 hours ago, Kingswoodactor said:

Would love someone like Alan Judge, sitting in front of Pack or Brownhill. 

Is he back yet...was a fine player.

4 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

Indeed. In a weird way I think Pisano's injury has been helpful in meaning Wright, Flint and Baker are all getting to start regularly. With everyone fully fit there will be players who might get frustrated at not getting onto the pitch...

Also meant we haven’t had to rush him back.

[FNQ]

We may not know our weakest link until January when the window opens and potentially we lose one or two of our standout players like Bobby and Joe.... They are bound to continue to attract attention, along with the rest of our squad really... Would the club be aware of any confirmed interest in any of our players before the  window opens or is it taboo to start preliminary discussions before January? Disaster if we lost one or two and there was insufficient time to bring in the right replacements... 

[eardun]

3 hours ago, deadredfred said:

Always good to have a German for a penalty shootout too. Play off final anyone? 

Knowing our play off record, he'd probably miss! 

[Charlie BCFC]

6 hours ago, Kingswoodactor said:

We did just bring in Steele ya know 

True but we're not really set up for the future with GKs.

[palmerred]

Would like to see a proper Box to Box creative midfielder like Barry Bannan.

[spudski]

Thought about this...and it surely is horses for courses?

Totally depending on the style of play the manager wants.

Hence LJ bringing in his players to play the way he wants. That's why they have such a database of players, showing their strengths and weaknesses.

Would you choose Mo Farrah to run a 100m sprint? No...but he's a good runner no?

Same in football.

Example....is Đurić a better forward than Bobby Reid? Surely it depends on the game plan and opposition. Both have their individual strengths.

[hoxton casual]

6 hours ago, generation1 said:

thought to see more constructive comments from admin, Tomarse

Caps lock still needs a january upgrade

[Kingswoodactor]

12 hours ago, Flint says No said:

True but we're not really set up for the future with GKs.

If we finish top 10 and Brentford struggle all season. Go get Daniel Bentley next Summer IMO. 

[Bar BS3]

It's hard to identify a weak link at the moment. There will be times during the season when things aren't looking so positive, so I guess that is the time to ask these questions. 

[RedM]

Long time from now until January isn't it. We could be pushing to go up or struggling to stay up, or anywhere in between and they players we would need or can attract will be different for each scenario. 

It all depends who looks to be leaving, if any,  and what happens to all our players we have out on loan as their loan agreements finishing around then or before. 

The squad looks good at the moment and seem to have bonded and playing well, and I'm stressing squad not just 1st team. Is there anyone fit and available who hasn't played a part this season, I can't think of anyone without looking? Also from the opposition players I've seen I can't think of anyone we've had real difficulty with, no one I'd swop for any of ours at the moment. I'm enjoying football at the moment.

[UREDS_91]

Thankfully for us our weak link is injured at the moment so has no chance of influencing our game.... Sick note ONeil 

[Charlie BCFC]

33 minutes ago, Kingswoodactor said:

If we finish top 10 and Brentford struggle all season. Go get Daniel Bentley next Summer IMO. 

If they go down he'll be in very high demand 

[Davefevs]

24 minutes ago, streety_bcfc said:

Thankfully for us our weak link is injured at the moment so has no chance of influencing our game.... Sick note ONeil 

Are you saying that a fit GON is a weak link?

[Robbored]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Are you saying that a fit GON is a weak link?

He hasn't really shown what he can do thru different injuries so yeah, he is a sick note. Unfortunate for him and the squad. 

He looked useful in a couple of games last season but he's not the answer to the type of midfielder we'd all like to see. 

He's getting on a bit as well and City could well be his last club as a player. 

[Phileas Fogg]

1 hour ago, Flint says No said:

If they go down he'll be in very high demand 

They won’t go down 

[Robbored]

       You're quite a comedian aren't you?

Ever considered turning professional? You've obviously got a lack of original talent.....

[UREDS_91]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Are you saying that a fit GON is a weak link?

What exactly is a fully fit GON? I certainly haven't seen one. For me on the very rare occasion he is "fit" (loosest sense of the word) he gives the ball away way to much and generally slows the pace of the game down. The sooner we get rid the better, a waste of 15k per week. 

[Charlie BCFC]

2 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

They won’t go down 

I didn't say they will go down but with them winless atm it is a fairly strong possibility

[eardun]

2 hours ago, streety_bcfc said:

What exactly is a fully fit GON? I certainly haven't seen one. For me on the very rare occasion he is "fit" (loosest sense of the word) he gives the ball away way to much and generally slows the pace of the game down. The sooner we get rid the better, a waste of 15k per week. 

To be fair, I thought GON started last season well and helped us gain some confidence. I remember being impressed with his energy in the early matches. Went wrong from mid Sept when he was sent off v Sheffield Wed following Tomlins's pen hitting the post followed by injuries.