Mbude

[Selred]

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

https://www.transferroom.com/customer-stories-brentford

I'll be honest, I don't know much about it but Brentford seem to use it to reasonable effect...

Because they don't have a Teknical Director

[petehinton]

2 hours ago, joe jordans teeth said:

Maybe just like Twine where if he plays well his value will rise maybe we are doing the opposite with this lad and pick him up for nothing or he could just be shite 

I think it’s the final point. 
 

“Really isn’t what they thought he was” is the verdict I have heard about him. 
 

A totally pointless signing, even if it is a loan, and a waste of everyone’s time really. Feel sorry for the lad. 

Edited April 6 by petehinton

[Silvio Dante]

1 minute ago, petehinton said:

I think it’s the final point. 
 

“Really isn’t what they thought he was” is the verdict I have heard about him. 
 

A totally pointless signing, even if it is a loan, and a waste of everyone’s time really. Feel sorry for the lad. 

Assuming that is the case, what good does it do to..

- Not terminate the loan early so he can try and impress his parent club who still have a vested interest

- Put him on the bench in favour of a Nelson, Phillips, Meerholz when we have no intention of playing or keeping him

If he’s shit, he’s shit. It happens. The club fronting up that it hasn’t worked out is by far the most sensible solution though. Which is why it won’t happen.

[joe jordans teeth]

4 minutes ago, petehinton said:

I think it’s the final point. 
 

“Really isn’t what they thought he was” is the verdict I have heard about him. 
 

A totally pointless signing, even if it is a loan, and a waste of everyone’s time really. Feel sorry for the lad. 

You heard from who and why you feeling sorry for him,maybe the lad thinks he’s better than he actually is,have no inside knowledge myself 

[Ashton Fete]

Hopefully he gets some minutes and surprises us all but when Cornick’s ahead of you in the pecking order then jeez he must be struggling 

[fairweather]

On 01/04/2024 at 20:59, Major Isewater said:

I had one of these in black. 

The 4.2 litre v8?

[redsquirrel]

3 hours ago, Selred said:

Because they don't have a Teknical Director

speshly one who thinks hes doing it creckly

[Major Isewater]

On 02/04/2024 at 16:58, Selred said:

Feels like we didn't do our due diligence to be honest. Isn't there an online market place where you can basically court clubs to sign your players? I'm sure that's what happened with someone like Semenyo to Bournemouth?

For me it feels like a panic signing. Westerlo wanted him gone, we saw Man City history and snapped him up. 

I go with the idea that Maude’s agent or a former colleague asked Manning if he’d take a look at the lad because he’s having a dip in a previously promising career. Of course he has had a good footballing education at Man City and is a type of  player that we are trying to bring into the club so it sort of made sense.

It could have been a good deal if the lad had found his form from before but this is  City and we rarely get lucky. 

[RollsRoyce]

11 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

Assuming that is the case, what good does it do to..

- Not terminate the loan early so he can try and impress his parent club who still have a vested interest

- Put him on the bench in favour of a Nelson, Phillips, Meerholz when we have no intention of playing or keeping him

If he’s shit, he’s shit. It happens. The club fronting up that it hasn’t worked out is by far the most sensible solution though. Which is why it won’t happen.

Then Manning is a crap scout. He said he had watched him extensively last season. 

[1960maaan]

1 hour ago, Major Isewater said:

I go with the idea that Maude’s agent or a former colleague asked Manning if he’d take a look at the lad because he’s having a dip in a previously promising career. Of course he has had a good footballing education at Man City and is a type of  player that we are trying to bring into the club so it sort of made sense.

It could have been a good deal if the lad had found his form from before but this is  City and we rarely get lucky. 

Similar to how I've been thinking Major. Having a close look at someone who has seen to have potential, but has stalled. TBF it would be hard to scout him at Westerlo as he isn't playing. 
I do think it's annoying that a loan kid is making the bench but not someone like Yeboah, or another kid just for experience . Embude looks nowhere near getting minutes at the moment , it feels like he's only on the bench because he was loaned in, otherwise I think he would be in the same place as our other 21s. In fact I'm surprised he hasn't been playing for the 21's like others have done previously, just to get minutes in.  As i stands will will be making a decision based on seeing him train with the first team , not ideal. 

[robin_unreliant]

2 hours ago, RollsRoyce said:

Then Manning is a crap scout. He said he had watched him extensively last season. 

He also wanted to sign Mehmeti at Oxford. Not great signs imo if we are allowing him to spend the nest egg.

[MarcusX]

2 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

I go with the idea that Maude’s agent or a former colleague asked Manning if he’d take a look at the lad because he’s having a dip in a previously promising career. Of course he has had a good footballing education at Man City and is a type of  player that we are trying to bring into the club so it sort of made sense.

It could have been a good deal if the lad had found his form from before but this is  City and we rarely get lucky. 

He isn’t going to find any form rotting on a bench though.

Im fully willing to accept that maybe he’s just not that good, but he’s in an international under 21 squad, he must at least be able to offer our u21s something? He played 26 games in Man City’s u21s but can’t get in ours?

[MarcusX]

5 minutes ago, robin_unreliant said:

He also wanted to sign Mehmeti at Oxford. Not great signs imo if we are allowing him to spend the nest egg.

Mehmeti looked very good at L1 level though so not really a stick to beat him with

[Swede]

From what I've seen on the training clips he's finding it hard to fit in. An outsider, the competitive nature of being a footballer means that you are a team mate but also a rival for a position in the squad or a new contract.  He's low on confidence and I get the impression he's come with the big Man City fanfare build up and has been unable to live up to it. He knows it, the players know it and its only a matter of time before he's gone again.

Its sad, its not very nice seeing someone in life struggle to live up to expectations & it would be lovely if he could recapture his confidence for all concerned, club, fans, fellow players and more importantly Dire himself.

Good luck fella.

[Barrs Court Red]

Funnily enough, I was excited when we signed him as in my Football manager long play (into the mid 30s) Dire Mdude is a club legend at City (who apart from 1 season in League 1 have been Championship mid table stalwarts).
 

Anyway, fantasy land aside I think it’s reasonable to say this signing has been an absolute disaster for all parties involved, and it’s gently concerning.  There will always be ones that go wrong, that’s acceptable, but the energy and political capital that went into justifying this move in the first place doesn’t sit well. 
 

 

[Jacki]

Mbude seems to me to be a classic example of a player who is brilliant in age group football (and looking at his career, he absolutely was) who struggles to make the step up to the men’s game. It happens a lot.

A mate of mine’s son plays for one of the local academies and as part of his development he went out on a work experience loan to a Southern League team. He couldn’t believe the step up in intensity, physicality and just pure competitiveness, even at that level. The biggest thing for him was that he was playing first team football and that results mattered to people in a way they just don’t at U18s.

Mbude is playing about 7 divisions higher than that for us, having never played anywhere near the Championship before. It’s a huge step to make and it’s no surprise he’s finding it hard. As a percentage very few young players, even outstanding ones, actually get anywhere this high up the pyramid. I don't blame the club for looking at him as his youth career did suggest that he could be ‘the one’, but it does seem like this one isn’t going to work out. 

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, RollsRoyce said:

Then Manning is a crap scout. He said he had watched him extensively last season. 

It’s gonna be an interesting summer for sure.

The jury is massively out on Twine too.  I was a huge fan of Twine at £100k compo from Swindon, but not at £2.5-5.0m from Burnley.  And not a good fit for Bristol City in any manifestation of football style we will see next season.  I think he’s a player we’d have to carry to an extent.

At MK Dons you had such a heavy possession side he could flit around the inside left channel knowing he’d get on the ball in good positions and get set-piece opportunities.

At Burnley, another heavy possession team, injury held him back, but he was playing with players who we could only dream about signing.

At Hull, a team that play to attack, patterns that create attacking space, but he didn’t excel there, albeit coming of the left side, rather than central, or inside left.

I don’t think he’s a bad player, far from it, but I don’t think he’s right for us.

And good scouting is about fit more than ability.

I do think Bird is a sensible signing.

[Barrs Court Red]

4 minutes ago, Jacki said:

Mbude seems to me to be a classic example of a player who is brilliant in age group football (and looking at his career, he absolutely was) who struggles to make the step up to the men’s game. It happens a lot.

A mate of mine’s son plays for one of the local academies and as part of his development he went out on a work experience loan to a Southern League team. He couldn’t believe the step up in intensity, physicality and just pure competitiveness, even at that level. The biggest thing for him was that he was playing first team football and that results mattered to people in a way they just don’t at U18s.

Mbude is playing about 7 divisions higher than that for us, having never played anywhere near the Championship before. It’s a huge step to make and it’s no surprise he’s finding it hard. As a percentage very few young players, even outstanding ones, actually get anywhere this high up the pyramid. I don't blame the club for looking at him as his youth career did suggest that he could be ‘the one’, but it does seem like this one isn’t going to work out. 

You don’t have to look far for examples of your very valid point - My history of watching City is littered with the “next big thing” never getting further than an occasional bench player. 
 

Marvin Brown always sticks out to me.  And I wonder how his career would look if he came through our system now. 

[cidercity1987]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It’s gonna be an interesting summer for sure.

The jury is massively out on Twine too.  I was a huge fan of Twine at £100k compo from Swindon, but not at £2.5-5.0m from Burnley.  And not a good fit for Bristol City in any manifestation of football style we will see next season.  I think he’s a player we’d have to carry to an extent.

At MK Dons you had such a heavy possession side he could flit around the inside left channel knowing he’d get on the ball in good positions and get set-piece opportunities.

At Burnley, another heavy possession team, injury held him back, but he was playing with players who we could only dream about signing.

At Hull, a team that play to attack, patterns that create attacking space, but he didn’t excel there, albeit coming of the left side, rather than central, or inside left.

I don’t think he’s a bad player, far from it, but I don’t think he’s right for us.

And good scouting is about fit more than ability.

I do think Bird is a sensible signing.

What type of player do you think will fit in that position for us?

Seeing another season of workmanlike Knight in that crucial attacking midfield position is not for me and won't give us any of the creativity we have been so desperately missing this season 

[Andy082005]

9 minutes ago, Jacki said:

Mbude seems to me to be a classic example of a player who is brilliant in age group football (and looking at his career, he absolutely was) who struggles to make the step up to the men’s game. It happens a lot.

A mate of mine’s son plays for one of the local academies and as part of his development he went out on a work experience loan to a Southern League team. He couldn’t believe the step up in intensity, physicality and just pure competitiveness, even at that level. The biggest thing for him was that he was playing first team football and that results mattered to people in a way they just don’t at U18s.

Mbude is playing about 7 divisions higher than that for us, having never played anywhere near the Championship before. It’s a huge step to make and it’s no surprise he’s finding it hard. As a percentage very few young players, even outstanding ones, actually get anywhere this high up the pyramid. I don't blame the club for looking at him as his youth career did suggest that he could be ‘the one’, but it does seem like this one isn’t going to work out. 

Spot on 

Marvin Brown and on a lesser scale, Tristan Plummer spring to mind 

Marvin Brown especially. I can remember people taking about him potentially being the first £10m Bristol football player

He was a beast at youth level - then got found out very early when he stepped up to senior level 

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

What type of player do you think will fit in that position for us?

Seeing another season of workmanlike Knight in that crucial attacking midfield position is not for me and won't give us any of the creativity we have been so desperately missing this season 

It’s a good question, and to be honest it’s not easy to answer, because as it stands, the no10 we sign has to be flexible to play both centrally (when we play 4213) as a single no10, or “wider” as part of a two-pronged no10 (when we play 3421), or even wide and not as a no10.

I think you’re looking for a bit of a needle in a haystack or flip that around, you’re looking for someone so specific you’re narrowing your pool.

And until you know who your no9 is, do you know what no10 you need?  You can reverse that too.

Looking at how we currently set up and the constant switching of back-3 to back-4 and vice-versa, I just see confusion.  And that will extend into recruitment.  We’ve been here before havent we?

I agree re Knight.

But creativity comes from more than the right player, they still need service, just like our striker.  We’ve seen with Twine, it doesn’t guarantee anything.

As for type, I’d probably sacrifice some true teckers for a bit of robustness.  I’d also put into the melting pot whether it’s really a no10 you need or a striker who’s good at linking up.

[Sleepy1968]

16 hours ago, GrahamC said:

If he doesn’t get on the pitch at all against an already relegated Rotherham I think that will say a lot.

Of he's not good enough, and/or we aren't taking this forward (as would be clearly the case if we were a functional club), then our contracted youngsters are the ones who should be getting game time.

Odds are LM doesn't give experience to any of our youngsters.

Edited April 7 by Sleepy1968

[sunningdalered]

15 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It’s a good question, and to be honest it’s not easy to answer, because as it stands, the no10 we sign has to be flexible to play both centrally (when we play 4213) as a single no10, or “wider” as part of a two-pronged no10 (when we play 3421), or even wide and not as a no10.

I think you’re looking for a bit of a needle in a haystack or flip that around, you’re looking for someone so specific you’re narrowing your pool.

And until you know who your no9 is, do you know what no10 you need?  You can reverse that too.

Looking at how we currently set up and the constant switching of back-3 to back-4 and vice-versa, I just see confusion.  And that will extend into recruitment.  We’ve been here before havent we?

I agree re Knight.

But creativity comes from more than the right player, they still need service, just like our striker.  We’ve seen with Twine, it doesn’t guarantee anything.

As for type, I’d probably sacrifice some true teckers for a bit of robustness.  I’d also put into the melting pot whether it’s really a no10 you need or a striker who’s good at linking up.

Sorry to state the bleeding obvious, but it's going to take more than a single signing to effect the level of change that will propel us into genuine promotion contenders isn't it. We're so far off at the moment. We're really at square one. Don't know what shape we want to be in, what patterns we want to play, whether our head coach has the skills to navigate this league etc etc. 

A playmaker might be a decent start, but probably need 3 or 4 successful signings to get us anywhere near a pound-for-pound comparison with any of the top, say, 7 in this seasons championship over the course of a whole season (and not just the odd stellar performance). 

[Silvio Dante]

1 hour ago, MarcusX said:

Mehmeti looked very good at L1 level though so not really a stick to beat him with

I think this is one of the concerns - whether Liam knows what there is to succeed at this level as the gap is large. Just because Mehmeti may have been a good signing for Oxford, based on his overall performance level I can’t see there has been a case for him to play virtually every game LM has been in charge for. In short, is he picking players because they’d be good at league one or because they can do it in the championship?

51 minutes ago, Jacki said:

Mbude seems to me to be a classic example of a player who is brilliant in age group football (and looking at his career, he absolutely was) who struggles to make the step up to the men’s game. It happens a lot.

A mate of mine’s son plays for one of the local academies and as part of his development he went out on a work experience loan to a Southern League team. He couldn’t believe the step up in intensity, physicality and just pure competitiveness, even at that level. The biggest thing for him was that he was playing first team football and that results mattered to people in a way they just don’t at U18s.

Mbude is playing about 7 divisions higher than that for us, having never played anywhere near the Championship before. It’s a huge step to make and it’s no surprise he’s finding it hard. As a percentage very few young players, even outstanding ones, actually get anywhere this high up the pyramid. I don't blame the club for looking at him as his youth career did suggest that he could be ‘the one’, but it does seem like this one isn’t going to work out. 

Spot on - it’s a point I’ve made a few times. Football is littered with what are, for want of a better term, flat track bullies. Good at U18 in no way means a sure thing as a men’s footballer. I think you’re right in that the club having a look was fine, but again, not framed as such when he signed and we should be calling an end to this charade now for the players good as well as ours.

45 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It’s gonna be an interesting summer for sure.

The jury is massively out on Twine too.  I was a huge fan of Twine at £100k compo from Swindon, but not at £2.5-5.0m from Burnley.  And not a good fit for Bristol City in any manifestation of football style we will see next season.  I think he’s a player we’d have to carry to an extent.

At MK Dons you had such a heavy possession side he could flit around the inside left channel knowing he’d get on the ball in good positions and get set-piece opportunities.

At Burnley, another heavy possession team, injury held him back, but he was playing with players who we could only dream about signing.

At Hull, a team that play to attack, patterns that create attacking space, but he didn’t excel there, albeit coming of the left side, rather than central, or inside left.

I don’t think he’s a bad player, far from it, but I don’t think he’s right for us.

And good scouting is about fit more than ability.

I do think Bird is a sensible signing.

I think we’ve had the same discussion. And for me (having not seen yesterday) Twine has been peripheral at best. People may point to two wins, two draws from his four starts but correlation doesn’t equal causation. He’s not shown enough to date to want to spend money on a player who had a great season at league one two years ago, but since then has been indifferent at this level and has had two long layoffs. I’d pass on him currently unless the deal was unreal.

[Davefevs]

12 minutes ago, sunningdalered said:

Sorry to state the bleeding obvious, but it's going to take more than a single signing to effect the level of change that will propel us into genuine promotion contenders isn't it. We're so far off at the moment. We're really at square one. Don't know what shape we want to be in, what patterns we want to play, whether our head coach has the skills to navigate this league etc etc. 

A playmaker might be a decent start, but probably need 3 or 4 successful signings to get us anywhere near a pound-for-pound comparison with any of the top, say, 7 in this seasons championship over the course of a whole season (and not just the odd stellar performance). 

I sort of agree, but…If you took the current squad, nobody leaving and added a no9 and no10 that Tinnion talks bullishly about, how much difference could that make.

Say, Ellis Simms (£3.5m plus addons last summer) and Morgan Whittaker (£1m plus addons last summer) on top of what we have already.

Are we that far off?  We are in terms of the relegated clubs / PP clubs, but two players like that would galvanise this squad.

I think if you’re talking about having to replace James, Williams, Conway too, then that’s tougher.

[phantom]

3 hours ago, RollsRoyce said:

Then Manning is a crap scout. He said he had watched him extensively last season. 

At Manchester City? 

[JAWS]

55 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It’s a good question, and to be honest it’s not easy to answer, because as it stands, the no10 we sign has to be flexible to play both centrally (when we play 4213) as a single no10, or “wider” as part of a two-pronged no10 (when we play 3421), or even wide and not as a no10.

I think you’re looking for a bit of a needle in a haystack or flip that around, you’re looking for someone so specific you’re narrowing your pool.

And until you know who your no9 is, do you know what no10 you need?  You can reverse that too.

Looking at how we currently set up and the constant switching of back-3 to back-4 and vice-versa, I just see confusion.  And that will extend into recruitment.  We’ve been here before havent we?

I agree re Knight.

But creativity comes from more than the right player, they still need service, just like our striker.  We’ve seen with Twine, it doesn’t guarantee anything.

As for type, I’d probably sacrifice some true teckers for a bit of robustness.  I’d also put into the melting pot whether it’s really a no10 you need or a striker who’s good at linking up.

I'd go with ur last suggestion Fevs. I can't remember the last true no.10 that worked for us, mainly because they weren't utilised correctly. I'd keep things simple and bin the temptation for a true no.10 as it's a luxury for us & in my view a waste of a wage. I'd put Cornick in that bracket too

[JAWS]

4 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

I go with the idea that Maude’s agent or a former colleague asked Manning if he’d take a look at the lad because he’s having a dip in a previously promising career. Of course he has had a good footballing education at Man City and is a type of  player that we are trying to bring into the club so it sort of made sense.

It could have been a good deal if the lad had found his form from before but this is  City and we rarely get lucky. 

Did you mean 'rarely get it right' Major?

[Davefevs]

11 minutes ago, phantom said:

At Manchester City? 

Yes.

[Jacki]

24 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Spot on - it’s a point I’ve made a few times. Football is littered with what are, for want of a better term, flat track bullies. Good at U18 in no way means a sure thing as a men’s footballer. I think you’re right in that the club having a look was fine, but again, not framed as such when he signed and we should be calling an end to this charade now for the players good as well as ours.

 

There’s an awful lot to the transition from kid’s football to men’s. Ability is important of course, but there are loads of lads who are at a similar level in academies who go on the have fundamentally different career outcomes. Attitude and hard work mean way more than ability once you reach a certain level. 

The mental side of it is huge as well…. Suddenly playing in front of 20,000 people after spending your life in front of a few dozen is a massive shift and it’s no wonder a lot of players struggle with that.

In my experience, the academy system is pretty brutal for kids mentally. Having seen it at close quarters it’s an incredibly tough environment for a lot of the boys with very little support, despite what they say nowadays about player support etc. I imagine Mbude will have had all and sundry telling him how amazing he is for as long as he can remember and just won’t be prepared for how hard he’s finding things now. I really hope the kid makes it somewhere and doesn’t become another that got away.