| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad 10:28 - Sep 21 with 9385 views | unstableblue |
I think most of us agree Hladky is undroppable at the moment, so Walton will have to bide his time.
Williams looks very strong, but given Clarke performance on Tuesday and that Davis injury is lite and he’ll be back soon, I suggest he’ll drop back to the bench.
Axel needs time to get really robust and back strengthened - but he’ll surely be knocking on the door, and as he’s our highest paid player and part of the ‘Premiership Ready’ squad updates… he’s surely going to displace one of our CBs. Which is crazy given how well Wolfie and Burgess are playing. Which side would he play?! Will we see him alongside Baggot/Fridge against Wolves??
Taylor, Humphreys, and Evans push Luongo and Morsy.
Burns is on fire, Broadhead is doing well but patchy, but Omari is giving McKenna a wonderful headache.
And certainly for all of the above with this crazy run of games and yellow cards looming, rotation is going to happen.
One area of the squad which I think may be in McKenna’s January plans is centre forward. Don’t get me wrong the work rate of Hirst was remarkable on Tuesday. He ran so far and pressed all over the back line. But is he the next level? Could he have done better with his chances? Scarlett failed to impress. I think Freddie will get games.
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| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 09:49 - Sep 22 with 1252 views | StokieBlue |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 09:40 - Sep 22 by ArchiRob |
You are entitled to your opinion no matter how Daft and stupid it makes you appear |
As long as one doesn't believe that opinion carries equal weight to one that can be supported by evidence.
That is the real issue of our times, many feel even an idiotic opinion with no evidence is as valid and carries equal weight to one supported by robust evidence. It's part of the reason we are where we are as a society.
Obviously not that important with regards to football opinions but a more general observation.
SB [Post edited 22 Sep 2023 9:53]
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| Avatar - M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy - Taken on 29th April 2024 |
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| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 09:53 - Sep 22 with 1231 views | Pinewoodblue |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 09:30 - Sep 22 by BigCommon |
Yeah he looks a cracking player. Perhaps the player that we all wanted Edwards to be?
I'm interested to see how Broadhead and Burns react in the next few games. With Omari pushing for a regular start. Might get an extra gear out of them two.And maybe even Harness and Jacksonwill push themselves a bit more. It's all healthy competition at the end of the day. And gives KM plenty of options to rotate in game and on the bench.
Not sure if Omari would be an out and out replacement starter for anyone just yet, tbh. He's a talent, and he's just had a really decent game. Once we see him string 3 or 4 performances like that together, against different opposition ( which we probably will soon), then I suppose it would be Broadhead or Burns that get "rested". Chappers is pretty undroppable, isn't he? Unless he's jaded or picks up a knock. |
Wolves game comes at a good time for Omari, seems sure to be a starter. |  |
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| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 11:46 - Sep 22 with 1159 views | BigCommon |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 09:53 - Sep 22 by Pinewoodblue |
Wolves game comes at a good time for Omari, seems sure to be a starter. |
Be interesting to see what team we put out. A lot of squad players got run outs in the cups last season and did really well.... Flip side is, it will also be interesting to see what kind of team Wolves field.. They'll probably be safe lower mid table in the Prem, and might have a go at The League Cup..?.... Be a real scalp for us if we got a result, whoever plays. |  | | |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 12:14 - Sep 22 with 1136 views | Lion |
Have to say I broadly agree with most you have written. Freddie will get about 12-15 this season i think, I like George and really pleased we got him in and he can improve his finishing I hope with regular football. Both he and Freddy work really hard. Scarlett is really young and has great attributes and I hope KMc can improve him as he has already improved Omari. But Mark Ashton,KMc and his team have already said that they want to continually improve the squad ( with the right characters ) and with January coming up in just over 3 months, surely a striker who can play the lone role as per Freddy and George but score regularly, you know that type of striker who you think will pretty much score every game, is where and what they'll be looking for. Every team is looking for the same so probably the hardest position to secure, I think that M Ashton would admit that we didn't secure some of the players we were trying to in that position, so we got in Scarlett quite late in the window. If we had that goal a game striker, that would take us to the next level. I think that Freddie will always score in patches and that he can be most effective coming from the bench. Obviously i hope that George could get on a run and be that man to score every week, maybe Scarlett will get a game, score and go on that scoring run. I love every player in the squad, they literally ALL give it everything for the shirt, but if we're honest, a striker is the next place we would chose to ' level up ' the squad if it's possible, wouldn't we? |  |
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| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 14:54 - Sep 22 with 1035 views | CBMTOBWMMBG |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 12:23 - Sep 21 by StokieBlue |
It's about end product though surely?
He's not the type of player who is going to be constantly in matches (Chaplin isn't always in the match either, it's the nature of that position in games where we don't dominate the ball).
I don't think we can expect him to be fully in matches all the time, if he was I doubt he would be playing for us. I thought he was pretty heavily involved when he came on against the Saints.
Guess people see different things.
SB [Post edited 21 Sep 2023 12:26]
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so, is Broadhead 'being patchy' not altogether a volcanic hot take, just someone else seeing different things?
I guess patchy can mean different things: mostly great but inconsistent to one person; and indifferent and occasionally good to another.
That's what opinion is all about! | | | |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 15:20 - Sep 22 with 1018 views | jayessess |
As it stands, I think we'll still be looking at THE ELEVEN starting when they can.
Walton is the number one keeper, he just is. They'll be no biding time when he's fit.
Think we'll look to keep Davis and Clarke in the team when we can, not least to develop them both as assets. Though I think Williams is an excellent acquisition ( https://jacksaunders.substack.com/p/lets-go-brandon ).
Tuanzebe has all the pedigree, but hasn't consistently hit the level we'd want from him since 2018-19. He'll have a heck of a job displacing either CB.
Omari's done enough across his last 2 league appearances to more or less put himself alongside the three we usually put behind the striker. I think we'll see him get closer and closer to parity of esteem with Burns, Broadhead and Chaplin from here.
Taylor getting hooked after 55 minutes on Tuesday wasn't a great sign for him. That's a relatively early substitute for McKenna and an indicator that he wasn't getting what he needed there.
So, THE ELEVEN from last season's run-in is still the go to, Hutchinson and Williams pushing their respective starters hard but still substitutes if we were playing a cup final tomorrow. But when the winter attrition sets in, it's likely we won't have much choice in terms of promoting people! [Post edited 23 Sep 2023 7:53]
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| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 17:16 - Sep 22 with 938 views | ibbleobble |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 11:14 - Sep 21 by StokieBlue |
"Broadhead is doing well but patchy"
Another one of your volcanic hot takes there. Broadhead is our joint top scorer (having played less minutes) and also has an assist putting him second there. His stats are better than Chaplin in most areas (mins per goal, goal conversion, chances created per 90 etc). He was also excellent when he came on against the Saints. I don't think the evidence supports your "patchy" assessment at all.
"Taylor, Humphreys, and Evans push Luongo and Morsy."
Not sure about this one either. They are all great for the squad but I think Massimo and Morsy are the clear number one pair if both are available.
On Hladky, he's been brilliant but I'm not as convinced as many that Walton will have to bide his time, hard one to know what McKenna will do here.
SB [Post edited 21 Sep 2023 11:16]
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Agree on all those, especially regarding Walton. Hladky has done very well and gained my trust back that he can compete for the number one shirt and we have a solid alternative but Walton is a superior keeper who is one of the first names on the team sheet…although I’d write about 7 or 8 at the same time if I could the way some are playing. | | | |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 17:24 - Sep 22 with 922 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 17:16 - Sep 22 by ibbleobble |
Agree on all those, especially regarding Walton. Hladky has done very well and gained my trust back that he can compete for the number one shirt and we have a solid alternative but Walton is a superior keeper who is one of the first names on the team sheet…although I’d write about 7 or 8 at the same time if I could the way some are playing. |
Genuine question.
What makes Walton the superior keeper of the two?
Not saying he isn't. But with how hladky is performing.. apart from potentially claiming high balls.. I'm not sure based solely on recent performances that Walton is the superior keeper but happy to discuss thoughts on this. |  |
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| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 18:25 - Sep 22 with 886 views | Wickets |
Is Axel really our highest paid player , have I missed this ? |  | | |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 19:07 - Sep 22 with 869 views | jayessess |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 18:25 - Sep 22 by Wickets |
Is Axel really our highest paid player , have I missed this ? |
I would doubt it?
I think there's an assumption that PL players dropping down can crack on demanding similarish wages, but the last time Tuanzebe was playing at a £50k p/w level Paul Hurst was our manager! | |
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| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 19:13 - Sep 22 with 868 views | BigCommon |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 17:24 - Sep 22 by FrimleyBlue |
Genuine question.
What makes Walton the superior keeper of the two?
Not saying he isn't. But with how hladky is performing.. apart from potentially claiming high balls.. I'm not sure based solely on recent performances that Walton is the superior keeper but happy to discuss thoughts on this. |
The fact that we shelled out to replace Hladky a few months after his arrival should tell us who is/ was the better keeper at that time.... Although, its clear that Hladky has improved in confidence since those early days under Cook.... Not sure its fare to freeze out a player like Walton just because they got injured, tbf. Walton hasnt done a lot wrong and kept countless clean sheets..... But, in all honesty, I'd be confident with either of them playing now. Cant say I felt the same way, when Walton was initially ruled out...
In Hladky's defence, in his early days, we just didnt have the confidence running through the entire squad, that we have now. So, at times, we looked a little more shaky at the back... I think when Walton came in, he steadied the defence, which was needed.. But now, I just think that that assurance comes from a number of players , defensively. Which, in turn, gives Hladky that little less pressure whilst playing, and its showing, imo... | | | |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 07:16 - Sep 23 with 788 views | ibbleobble |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 17:24 - Sep 22 by FrimleyBlue |
Genuine question.
What makes Walton the superior keeper of the two?
Not saying he isn't. But with how hladky is performing.. apart from potentially claiming high balls.. I'm not sure based solely on recent performances that Walton is the superior keeper but happy to discuss thoughts on this. |
It wasn’t long ago Hladky was being derided for not being able to save a shot so it’s a big leap to say he’s now the number one. Hladky has already shown this season he has mistakes in him - we could have been two down at Sunderland in the opening ten minutes due to his ponderous, poor passing. As you say, Walton is better on crosses and more commanding. I’d also argue Walton is the better shot stopper and has more of a presence in the box. All keepers are prone to mistakes but Walton’s made few in his time here and it would be very harsh to not see him return imo. | | | |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 09:16 - Sep 23 with 767 views | Vegtablue |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 19:07 - Sep 22 by jayessess |
I would doubt it?
I think there's an assumption that PL players dropping down can crack on demanding similarish wages, but the last time Tuanzebe was playing at a £50k p/w level Paul Hurst was our manager! |
There is a lot of room below £50K for Tuanzebe to slot in and remain one of our higher earners if not our highest, likewise Williams. I doubt many think he's cracking on at a sum close to £50K. 😅
It would be interesting to know what the top earners are receiving across Championship clubs. A Mail article from 2020 claims the average top earner at Championship clubs was on £29K per week back then, which was repeated in the EADT among others, but understandably decent evidence of purported figures remains light. My gut tells me we will be in the bottom half of spenders if not the bottom third. | | | |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 09:27 - Sep 23 with 756 views | Vegtablue |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 07:16 - Sep 23 by ibbleobble |
It wasn’t long ago Hladky was being derided for not being able to save a shot so it’s a big leap to say he’s now the number one. Hladky has already shown this season he has mistakes in him - we could have been two down at Sunderland in the opening ten minutes due to his ponderous, poor passing. As you say, Walton is better on crosses and more commanding. I’d also argue Walton is the better shot stopper and has more of a presence in the box. All keepers are prone to mistakes but Walton’s made few in his time here and it would be very harsh to not see him return imo. |
Without wishing to bore anyone, Hladky's stats from the first 7 games put him at or near the top of Championship keepers. If he continues in this vein, which he may well not, Walton would need to perform at the same or higher level, which will be a challenge. It's a high bar. Sky made a 'team of the season so far' video weirdly after about 5 matches and Hladky came in second behind Begovic; he wouldn't have dropped away in the past two. I'll leave a link for anyone thoroughly unconvinced and highlight the advanced goalkeeping button, where the really boring details may be pored over.
Basic: https://fbref.com/en/comps/10/keepers/Championship-Stats
Advanced: https://fbref.com/en/comps/10/keepersadv/Championship-Stats [Post edited 23 Sep 2023 9:30]
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| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 10:50 - Sep 23 with 723 views | ibbleobble |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 09:27 - Sep 23 by Vegtablue |
Without wishing to bore anyone, Hladky's stats from the first 7 games put him at or near the top of Championship keepers. If he continues in this vein, which he may well not, Walton would need to perform at the same or higher level, which will be a challenge. It's a high bar. Sky made a 'team of the season so far' video weirdly after about 5 matches and Hladky came in second behind Begovic; he wouldn't have dropped away in the past two. I'll leave a link for anyone thoroughly unconvinced and highlight the advanced goalkeeping button, where the really boring details may be pored over.
Basic: https://fbref.com/en/comps/10/keepers/Championship-Stats
Advanced: https://fbref.com/en/comps/10/keepersadv/Championship-Stats [Post edited 23 Sep 2023 9:30]
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Thanks for sharing - Interesting reading. Would Walton have a higher or lower save % against the shots on target is probably the question. Would be good to see the ratio of inside and outside the box too to see how our defending was supporting these numbers. | | | |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 12:00 - Sep 23 with 697 views | Vegtablue |
| Thoughts on Williams, Axel and Walton in first team? And striker quality - squad on 10:50 - Sep 23 by ibbleobble |
Thanks for sharing - Interesting reading. Would Walton have a higher or lower save % against the shots on target is probably the question. Would be good to see the ratio of inside and outside the box too to see how our defending was supporting these numbers. |
The post-shot expected goals columns attempt to cover that area. I'll paste their descriptions to spare fingers.
"PSxG is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot.
xG totals include penalty kicks, but do not include penalty shootouts (unless otherwise noted).
Provided by Opta."
This column tells us which teams are conceding more and better chances to score, rather than any comment on the goalkeeper. We are 9th worst in this stat, but I expect we would be near the top for chances created.
"PSxG/SoT -- Post-Shot Expected Goals per Shot on Target.
Not including penalty kicks.
PSxG is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot
Higher numbers indicate that shots on target faced are more difficult to stop and more likely to score."
We are third worst in this stat, which tells us that the shots on target Hladky has faced this season have carried a higher probability of leading to a goal.
"PSxG+/- -- PSxG-GA
Post-Shot Expected Goals minus Goals Allowed
Positive numbers suggest better luck or an above average ability to stop shots
PSxG is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot
Note: Does not include own goals
xG totals include penalty kicks, but do not include penalty shootouts."
Hladky is first here by a good margin with +3.5: he's saved 3.5 goals more than expected from the shots on target he's faced, according to post-shot analysis from Opta. The next closest is Lee Nicholas on +1.6, who plays for Huddersfield. 16 goalkeepers have negative scores. It's for this reason I believe he would be selected in the team of the season if it finished today, but Hladky's sweeping is also #1 in the league, his long pass accuracy is #4 (no other passing data available) and his save % is #5, so these all contribute to a compelling package.
Only 7 games of course! | | | |
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