Taylor Gardner-Hickman - Signing confirmed

[Finley_Smith10]

We need quality if we want to get top 6. Not another one with potential to grow

[cityexile]

8 minutes ago, Finley_Smith10 said:

We need quality if we want to get top 6. Not another one with potential to grow

We also need enough fit players covering positions to stay out of the bottom six...

[Selred]

18 minutes ago, Jacki said:

he’s nowhere near Scott level which is no surprise.

We will never sign anyone like Scott's level unless we get to the Prem.

[bcfc01]

17 minutes ago, Finley_Smith10 said:

We need quality if we want to get top 6. Not another one with potential to grow

He'll have a decent level of quality if he's been capped for England at u20 level whilst with a non-EPL team.

And he's been involved in over 60 first team games for WBA (all comps), so must have something about him at his age.

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by bcfc01

[Mr Popodopolous]

22 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Yes of course we will but if we extend in one year then we save 12 months worth of extra wages paid out, is my point 

Problem is their head maybe turned by then. Especially if they do well and some PL interest is further reported.

Not sure is best to leave it to the last 12 months tbh, there is no simple answer but when it starts to get down to that last 18 months..

We should be taking a medium to long term view where possible. How might the side look in theory , 2 to 3 Windows ahead. Not just the side but the squad.

If not graduated rise then promise to pay them £x in a years time and I don't mean promise I mean contractually.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[RedRock]

Always held the view that unless you are a truly exceptional talent (eg an Alex) a ‘Mr Versatility’ ain’t what’s needed for any Club serious about getting promoted to the Prem. You need specialists approaching the top of their game. Weaknesses of run-of-the-mill utility players are ruthlessly exploited in this league. 

It the same when I hear we buy players in that we think can be transformed into something different/adopt a different role. My heart sinks when I hear that said on an incoming player …. of the recent batch definitely heard that for Cornick, possibly also Mehmeti.  Rarely do such player transformations work in a positive way. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by RedRock

[IAmNick]

Blimey, so now we're turning our noses up at young (but experienced) Championship players as well as ones from L1 and L2?

[And Its Smith]

6 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Problem is their head maybe turned by then. Especially if they do well and some PL interest is further reported.

Not sure is best to leave it to the last 12 months tbh, there is no simple answer but when it starts to get down to that last 18 months..

We should be taking a medium to long term view where possible. How might the side look in theory , 2 to 3 Windows ahead. Not just the side but the squad.

If not graduated rise then promise to pay them £x in a years time and I don't mean promise I mean contractually.

I agree. Just saying why we might not be looking at it yet 

[RedRoss]

3 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

Blimey, so now we're turning our noses up at young (but experienced) Championship players as well as ones from L1 and L2?

I know its weird.. these are posters who have never seen him play. We all know if he had a foreign name and youtube highlights they'd be onboard.

[Shauntaylor85]

38 minutes ago, Finley_Smith10 said:

We need quality if we want to get top 6. Not another one with potential to grow

We aren’t getting top 6. Nowhere near! Be lucky to avoid bottom 6 at this rate. 

[Simon bristol]

This lad sounds decent,,, can he bring swift and/or wallace with him??

[deadredfred]

20 minutes ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

We aren’t getting top 6. Nowhere near! Be lucky to avoid bottom 6 at this rate. 

3 games in 

[Shauntaylor85]

1 minute ago, deadredfred said:

3 games in 

I agree but it’s been so underwhelming. Scott and Conway are a massive loss as is Semenyo and we haven’t replaced any of them. 

[sludge]

1 hour ago, Jacki said:

A guy I work with is a Baggies ST holder and said he’s not bothered to be losing Gardner-Hickman. He said he could make it but that he would be surprised if he did, and that he’s nowhere near Scott level which is no surprise.

I wouldn’t prejudge this one though, he looks like a logical signing of the type I’d expect us to make. Let’s hope we get him in and we can see the best of the lad. 

If he was Alex Scott level he wouldn't be signing for us would he?

[W-S-M Seagull]

29 minutes ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

I agree but it’s been so underwhelming. Scott and Conway are a massive loss as is Semenyo and we haven’t replaced any of them. 

Sorry to break this to you but we're never going to be able to replace a talent like Scott. 

 

[GrahamC]

1 hour ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

We aren’t getting top 6. Nowhere near! Be lucky to avoid bottom 6 at this rate. 

W1 D1 L1.

Doesn’t strike me that we are nailed on for bottom six yet based on that.

Plus, less than 7% of the season played..

Pretty sure you were one of the posters saying Scott would stay, followed by numerous seriously ludicrous suggestions for signings.

Dear oh dear.

[RedRoss]

7 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

W1 D1 L1.

Doesn’t strike me that we are nailed on for bottom six yet based on that.

Plus, less than 7% of the season played..

Pretty sure you were one of the posters saying Scott would stay, followed by numerous seriously ludicrous suggestions for signings.

Dear oh dear.

Thank god for reason on here.

Who actually knows how the season will play out we can judge better around the 10 game mark.

All the negativity on here has been crazy considering we've only played 3 games with varied results. Admittedly we were bad in the last game but not as horrendous as portrayed. Think some fans get way too high on a win ie Millwall and way too low when we've lost.

[DaveF]

13 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

W1 D1 L1.

Doesn’t strike me that we are nailed on for bottom six yet based on that.

Plus, less than 7% of the season played..

Pretty sure you were one of the posters saying Scott would stay, followed by numerous seriously ludicrous suggestions for signings.

Dear oh dear.

3 reasonably tough games against teams you'd expect to have good season as well.

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

4 minutes ago, RedRoss said:

Thank god for reason on here.

Who actually knows how the season will play out we can judge better around the 10 game mark.

All the negativity on here has been crazy considering we've only played 3 games with varied results. Admittedly we were bad in the last game but not as horrendous as portrayed. Think some fans get way too high on a win ie Millwall and way too low when we've lost.

Thankfully the players and management don't. 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, RedRock said:

Always held the view that unless you are a truly exceptional talent (eg an Alex) a ‘Mr Versatility’ ain’t what’s needed for any Club serious about getting promoted to the Prem. You need specialists approaching the top of their game. Weaknesses of run-of-the-mill utility players are ruthlessly exploited in this league. 

It the same when I hear we buy players in that we think can be transformed into something different/adopt a different role. My heart sinks when I hear that said on an incoming player …. of the recent batch definitely heard that for Cornick, possibly also Mehmeti.  Rarely do such player transformations work in a positive way. 

Problem is, a lot of people just see the word “versatility” and think “Jack of all trades, master of none”.  It’s possible to be good / excellent in one position, but also have the propensity to play other positions, maybe not to the same level as their best position.

[Jacki]

57 minutes ago, sludge said:

If he was Alex Scott level he wouldn't be signing for us would he?

Of course he wouldn’t, which is why I said it’s no surprise that he’s not in that class. Clearly whoever we bring in is either going to be a downgrade or a project with potential. 

Just passing on what I was told by someone who’s watched Garner-Hickman a lot more than most of us have. 

[W-S-M Seagull]

11 minutes ago, RedRoss said:

Thank god for reason on here.

Who actually knows how the season will play out we can judge better around the 10 game mark.

All the negativity on here has been crazy considering we've only played 3 games with varied results. Admittedly we were bad in the last game but not as horrendous as portrayed. Think some fans get way too high on a win ie Millwall and way too low when we've lost.

Aka Tony Wilkins. 

[W-S-M Seagull]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Problem is, a lot of people just see the word “versatility” and think “Jack of all trades, master of none”.  It’s possible to be good / excellent in one position, but also have the propensity to play other positions, maybe not to the same level as their best position.

Many central midfielders are able to play rb.

[Major Isewater]

17 minutes ago, RedRoss said:

Thank god for reason on here.

Who actually knows how the season will play out we can judge better around the 10 game mark.

All the negativity on here has been crazy considering we've only played 3 games with varied results. Admittedly we were bad in the last game but not as horrendous as portrayed. Think some fans get way too high on a win ie Millwall and way too low when we've lost.

The negativity is from being sold one thing , front foot , high press attacking football to actually, up until now , being shown the opposite. 
We haven’t had much to shout about with  3 shots on target in 3 Championship matches. 
We have sold our star boy , lost Conway to injury, lost our Mcrorie boy to a mysterious bacterial Illness etc 

I am sure we will turn it round but no one associated with the club can say that this is what we wanted.

 

[RedRoss]

7 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

The negativity is from being sold one thing , front foot , high press attacking football to actually, up until now , being shown the opposite. 

So this is supposed to click straight away? I do understand where you are coming from but surely that takes time. I do admit the club does set us up to fail by constantly reiterating the top 6 as the target without much substance. With Jason Knight he must demonstrate we are trying to recruit for a high press.

We haven’t had much to shout about with  3 shots on target in 3 Championship matches. 
We have sold our star boy , lost Conway to injury, lost our Mcrorie boy to a mysterious bacterial Illness etc 

I agree our attacking output has been very poor but again let's just relax and see where we are at around 10 games. Right now we shouldn't hit the panic button. Conway has been a dent to this.

It was always inevitable that Alex was going to go. Do we have to continue to lick our wounds for the foreseeable? Injuries happen to every club not much we can do about that so what's the point in getting overly upset we just need to adapt i.e TGH potentially signing.

I am sure we will turn it round but no one associated with the club can say that this is what we wanted.

Of course every fan is full of  excitement for the new season but we've only played 3 and only lost one of those. If a neutral was browsing our forum and had no context they'd assume we had lost all three games were destined for relegation and we were entering administration with a points deduction.. that's how overly negative its been and blown out of proportion.

 

 

[JoeAman08]

4 minutes ago, RedRoss said:

 

You’d think we’d click a bit faster as we have gotten everyone in well before the season started. No I think it is fair to be worried already. We don’t have a style of play I don’t think. We aren’t a good possession side. We aren’t a high pressing side. We do counter alright at times but I wouldn’t say we are as strong as Birmingham were in that sense. 
 

Someone mentioned against 3 tough sides. Yea sure but that is basically every team in the division. I don’t think any of the 3 were looked at as playoff sides by anyone who makes predictions. You can say who cares but most had us in the 12-18 range and it is hard to argue based off early evidence. 

[Merrick's Marvels]

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

W1 D1 L1.

Doesn’t strike me that we are nailed on for bottom six yet based on that.

Unfortunately, it's not the results - it's the performances. That's the main, but not only, reason for the downbeat mood. 

Still early days though and let's see how we're fixed at the end of the transfer window. 

Anyway, back to this lad - hopefully he'll have something about him, even if he is another one "learning the game" as he goes - you still in touch with that fella who's a mad Baggies fan? What can he tell us? 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Merrick's Marvels

[Davefevs]

14 minutes ago, RedRoss said:

 

Statistically, we are actually one of the highest pressing teams (7th) in the championship!

.

What we haven’t done yet is turn our high press into high turnovers, and then shots and then goals.

What we are doing is pressing, forcing our opponents to play a bit more direct, but we are getting the ball back deeper, ie in our own third and having to start from there.

So we are pressing, just not “pinching it” at the mo’.

Vs Millwall for example we pressed them back to their keeper, who then punted it long, the turnover happening in our half.

So it’s it’s efficient in getting the ball off of the opposition, which is good.  Just not getting those pressing goals like we did pre-season when we won it high up and punished the opposition.

Thats the data and a simplistic explanation.

The above pic is something I created.  You can see PPDA is better than average (to the right of the black average line).  But High Turnovers is below average (left of black line).

Press Index is something I made, a simple High Turnover / PPDA…again below average.

 

[OliOTIB]

2 hours ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

I agree but it’s been so underwhelming. Scott and Conway are a massive loss as is Semenyo and we haven’t replaced any of them. 

Sold Semenyo and binned off martin, bought Cornick and Mehmeti. Only issue is I think Cornick was bought in as a NO9 and Nige obviously hasn’t thought that hes impressed there.

[Fordy62]

Here’s the convo I had about him. 

And the follow up convo about Jamie Paterson.