Ex Player #36 Jay Matete

East Stand Fan said:
The risk was him being signed ahead of a different target who could've been fit and in a more needed position. Nobody expected us to sign another defensive midfielder in January and many on here were expecting us to strengthen in other positions.
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Was it an 'either-or' decision then? If so, who was the other option in a different position we considered? Isn't it more likely that whilst trying to get various signings across the line this option came up and the club took it?
 
billyturleyscurlywurly said:
I don’t want to shoehorn Leigh in. Never said that did I?

I think we should set up in a way that allows our best players to play so for me it’s a major issue long term. I rate Leigh as one of the best full backs in the league.

I think the swap of Stevens/Leigh to Long/Bennett under Des is a major issue going forward as well as the roles of McGuane/Rodrigues.

I think he’s only really improved Murphy & possibly Harris since coming in.

I’m not sure what his actual style is since coming in.
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I think that it is clear what he is trying to do.
That has Murphy and Dale as the high up attacking wingers and the full backs being more defensively sound and less attacking ( feeding the wingers).
I am not sure that Des should change his whole pholosophy/ playing style to shoehorn in a player?
 
billyturleyscurlywurly said:
The changes could be justified if it led to better performances of more players and better results. Factually the tiny changes of tactics & personal have been for the worse.
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Until the Peterborough game the playing style and tactics were attempting to be similar to those under Manning.
 
We seem to have a great habit of signing/recuperating injured players, for them to then pick up an injury in their other leg.

Browne and Edwards both did their other hamstrings after returning.
Gorrin did his other knee after returning from his first ACL.

Matete has an issue with the other knee to the one that had kept him out since the start of the season.
 
East Stand Fan said:
The risk was him being signed ahead of a different target who could've been fit and in a more needed position. Nobody expected us to sign another defensive midfielder in January and many on here were expecting us to strengthen in other positions.
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I think a lot of us were delighted to see us bring in a defensive midfielder, and it was exactly the right position to be trying to fill in January - unfortunately, it was just the wrong player (or at the very least, at the wrong time).

Right now, we're going into the business end of the season in the unusual, luxurious position of having at least two players for every position with the single, glaring exception of central midfield. I'm sure we would love to be playing two in the centre - but we only have Cam, a horribly out of form McGuane, and maybe Oisin Smyth but he doesn't seem to be trusted. So we're going to have to try and get by with Cam playing behind two attacking midfielders. Which may well be fine for the next three games against poor sides (it was against Vale) but I worry what will happen when we come up against someone who has a powerful, physical midfield like Bolton's.
 
tonyw said:
I think a lot of us were delighted to see us bring in a defensive midfielder, and it was exactly the right position to be trying to fill in January - unfortunately, it was just the wrong player (or at the very least, at the wrong time).

Right now, we're going into the business end of the season in the unusual, luxurious position of having at least two players for every position with the single, glaring exception of central midfield. I'm sure we would love to be playing two in the centre - but we only have Cam, a horribly out of form McGuane, and maybe Oisin Smyth but he doesn't seem to be trusted. So we're going to have to try and get by with Cam playing behind two attacking midfielders. Which may well be fine for the next three games against poor sides (it was against Vale) but I worry what will happen when we come up against someone who has a powerful, physical midfield like Bolton's.
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We have McEachrean. And after Bolton someone suggested Sam Long in midfield. Cometh the hour ...
 
werthersoriginal said:
We have McEachrean. And after Bolton someone suggested Sam Long in midfield. Cometh the hour ...
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Yes, I did forget about him., didn't I. Which sort of illustrates the season he's having!

While we're idly wondering about lunatic left field options.....wonder if we've even considered playing Greg Leigh in the centre? Would give us that athletic, physical presence there that we've otherwise desperately lacked.
 
tonyw said:
Yes, I did forget about him., didn't I. Which sort of illustrates the season he's having!

While we're idly wondering about lunatic left field options.....wonder if we've even considered playing Greg Leigh in the centre? Would give us that athletic, physical presence there that we've otherwise desperately lacked.
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Also where's Josh Johnson? It's quite usual to bring in kids to fill gaps when necessary, even if just on the bench.
 
captainox said:
We seem to have a great habit of signing/recuperating injured players, for them to then pick up an injury in their other leg.

Browne and Edwards both did their other hamstrings after returning.
Gorrin did his other knee after returning from his first ACL.

Matete has an issue with the other knee to the one that had kept him out since the start of the season.
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Would have that is as much a result of putting more pressure on the stronger body part to compensate for the weak/troubling part.
 
tonyw said:
Yes, I did forget about him., didn't I. Which sort of illustrates the season he's having!

While we're idly wondering about lunatic left field options.....wonder if we've even considered playing Greg Leigh in the centre? Would give us that athletic, physical presence there that we've otherwise desperately lacked.
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We also have Oisin Smyth.
 
I think this discussion is illustrating the point that a January transfer window that looked so promising at the time (a new striker and a CDM were on *everyones* shopping list) has turned out to be quite disappointing. The very expensive striker turned out to be more injured than we thought (will we never learn?) and the CDM was even more knackered (obviously not!) - we have had a few half games out of the former and very little out of the latter, who has now gone again. Yes, Dale was a plus of course, but Edwards got injured (was that a surprise?) and the jury is very much out on Cumming (I suppose at least he is fit enough to play though, which would seem to be a major bonus compared to many of the other signings!)
 
tonyw said:
I didn't forget about him - I mentioned him in my post. But it just doesn't seem like the management trusts him at all.....and certainly not to play in midfield.
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Apologies, missed it when skim reading through.
 
ZeroTheHero said:
I think this discussion is illustrating the point that a January transfer window that looked so promising at the time (a new striker and a CDM were on *everyones* shopping list) has turned out to be quite disappointing. The very expensive striker turned out to be more injured than we thought (will we never learn?) and the CDM was even more knackered (obviously not!) - we have had a few half games out of the former and very little out of the latter, who has now gone again. Yes, Dale was a plus of course, but Edwards got injured (was that a surprise?) and the jury is very much out on Cumming (I suppose at least he is fit enough to play though, which would seem to be a major bonus compared to many of the other signings!)
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Both of them have always had injury issues.
 
tonyw said:
And while I'm rolling with the full-back rant, I'll just add that the best team I've ever seen in yellow (started going to games early 90s) had Mike Ford at LB. He had his moments going forwards, but was mostly a solid-as-you-like fullback. And the second best team I've ever seen in yellow had Joe Skarz, who was the definition of no nonsense. Every great team has to have the right balance of attacking flair and defensive solidity.

Greg Leigh is a terrific player, but if you're going to play Murphy and Dale on the flanks, and give them the freedom to do their thing (and the way they've both been playing lately, I think you have to), then you've in turn got to be more pragmatic at the fullback positions. That can be just asking Leigh to blunt his attacking instincts, but when you've got a quality backup like Bennett, then sacrificing Leigh for at least a few games might be the better option.
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Your analysis is really good. It pains me though as I love Greg and his beautiful singing voice
 
tonyw said:
And while I'm rolling with the full-back rant, I'll just add that the best team I've ever seen in yellow (started going to games early 90s) had Mike Ford at LB. He had his moments going forwards, but was mostly a solid-as-you-like fullback. And the second best team I've ever seen in yellow had Joe Skarz, who was the definition of no nonsense. Every great team has to have the right balance of attacking flair and defensive solidity.

Greg Leigh is a terrific player, but if you're going to play Murphy and Dale on the flanks, and give them the freedom to do their thing (and the way they've both been playing lately, I think you have to), then you've in turn got to be more pragmatic at the fullback positions. That can be just asking Leigh to blunt his attacking instincts, but when you've got a quality backup like Bennett, then sacrificing Leigh for at least a few games might be the better option.
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I’d also add Les Robinson. We had 2 solid full backs who were solid at defending and allowed the wingers to do their thing.
 
tonyw said:
And while I'm rolling with the full-back rant, I'll just add that the best team I've ever seen in yellow (started going to games early 90s) had Mike Ford at LB. He had his moments going forwards, but was mostly a solid-as-you-like fullback. And the second best team I've ever seen in yellow had Joe Skarz, who was the definition of no nonsense. Every great team has to have the right balance of attacking flair and defensive solidity.

Greg Leigh is a terrific player, but if you're going to play Murphy and Dale on the flanks, and give them the freedom to do their thing (and the way they've both been playing lately, I think you have to), then you've in turn got to be more pragmatic at the fullback positions. That can be just asking Leigh to blunt his attacking instincts, but when you've got a quality backup like Bennett, then sacrificing Leigh for at least a few games might be the better option.
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You can't have a balanced LB discussion without including Matteo Corbo. Not only did he have ability, but he was amusingly psychotic. A South American Garry Briggs.
 
I just dont get whats happened to Oisin Smyth scores a worldie and plays really well and yet has barely featured since. What is the official or unofficial explanation?
 
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